The Dogs at the Buenos Aires Zoological Gardens

Abstract

This chapter details two simultaneous series of events taking place from May 1912 through October 1912: The sled dogs’ disastrous stay at the Buenos Aires Zoo, and the marketing strategy to use the sled dogs for the promotion of Roald Amundsen’s career. A series of letters between Amundsen’s brother and business manager Leon, and the newly-selected American talent agent Lee Keedick of New York, sheds light on the intricacies of the marketing campaign, the crafting of perception and persona, the positioning of Amundsen as a brand, and the utilization of the dogs for commercial public consumption. Personal letters between Leon, Amundsen, and Thorvald Nilsen reveal the fate of the surviving dogs, who have begun to experience the consequences of captivity at the Buenos Aires Zoological Gardens. As the first casualties occur among the confined canine community on exhibit at the zoo, the skins of previously deceased sled dogs are shipped to Norway to be exhibited on the lecture tour. An analysis is made of the dogs’ new status as artefacts—living and deceased—and the role they now played as promotional tools. The dogs described in this chapter are identified by the author using crewmembers’ personal correspondence and diaries.

Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources

All Roald Amundsen letters of correspondence quoted in this chapter, written from and to Roald Amundsen and Leon Amundsen, are in the Manuscripts Collection at the National Library of Norway (NB) in Oslo. (The excerpts quoted that were originally in Norwegian were translated for the author by Anne Melgård during the author’s research at the National Library of Norway.)

• 1. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 29 August 1911, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 2. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 19 January 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 3. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 27 March 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 4. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 27 March 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 5. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, telegram in English, 13 April 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 6. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 27 May 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 7. R. Amundsen to L. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 15 June 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 8. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 17 June 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 9. L. Keedick to L. Amundsen, letter in English, 17 June 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 10. L. Amundsen to L. Keedick, letter in English, 1 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 11. L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 1 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:3:R.A.5.

• 12. T. Nilsen to L. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 3 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 13. L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 31 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 14. L. Amundsen to L. Keedick, letter in English, 11 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 15. L. Amundsen to L. Keedick, letter in English, 11 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:2:g.

• 16. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 18 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 17. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 18 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 18. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 27 July 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 19. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 6 August 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 20. C. Doxrud to R. Amundsen, letter, 29 August 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 21. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 8 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 22. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 15 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 23. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 15 October 1912, this portion written at the bottom of the last page and dated October 16th, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 24. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 15 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 25. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 21 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.

• 26. T. Nilsen to R. Amundsen, letter in Norwegian, 21 October 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1.