A Scion White as Snow: Jeuahnee of Cold River

In the world of dog breeding, bloodlines come and go. Many never contribute to a broader whole, dying out when a kennel or breeder leaves the breed. Others are absorbed by unrelated breeding philosophies—surviving, but without their establishing principles. Cold River Kennels, operated by Marie “Millie” Turner and her mother Marie Lee Frothingham, gave way to one Siberian bloodline with a unique tale to tell. A single, snow-white male dog from Cold River breeding would have an influence on Seppala Siberian Sleddog lineage that stands unique among the fates of many other Cold River names. His lasting impact would likely have been lost to time if it were not for dedicated breeders and historians striving to understand the names in pedigree charts as something more.

Cold River and the Seppala Siberian Lineage

Based in North Sandwich, New Hampshire, Cold River Kennels was a fixture during the early history of Siberian sled dogs in the “Lower 48”. Millie drove the kennel’s second-string team, while the first-string was driven by professional musher Donald ‘Don’ Shaw. Pedigrees between 1930 and 1950 reveal that Cold River followed the same philosophy as Harry Wheeler: using exclusively dogs descended from Leonhard Seppala’s Poland Spring sources.

Cold River was a dedicated steward of the Seppala Siberian legacy in its undiluted form. As late as 1940, news clippings featuring Millie Turner and her leader ‘Vanka of Seppala II’ used the term “Seppala Siberians” to describe the team, rather than “Siberian Huskies,” despite the breed having been recognized by the AKC for a decade.

As with many kennels, time took its toll. Eventually, the remaining Cold River stock was sold to professional driver Peggy Grant. Grant’s breeding choices moved toward cross-breeding with Eva Seeley-derived bloodlines to produce dogs for the Marlytuk show lines. The stunning variation of the early Cold River stock—piebalds, pure whites, and splash-coats—disappeared as show ring trends became the major influence. While famous dogs like ‘Ch. Helen of Cold River’ and ‘Duchess of Cold River’ remained influential in other bloodlines, they were bred to Chinook/Seeley-derived lines and contributed no further to the unique Seppala philosophy. All, except for one.

The Markovo Bottleneck and Foxstand Influence

By 1970, the unique Wheeler/Shearer/McFaul Seppala Siberian lineage was in trouble. The Seppala-derived Cold River bloodline had all but vanished—save for a single male deep in the pedigrees of several remaining dogs: ‘Jeuahnee of Cold River’.

A gorgeous, long-haired pure white dog sired by ‘Sapsuk of Seppala’ and birthed in 1939 by ‘Sky of Seppala’, ‘Jeuahnee’ was used at stud in the mid-1940s by Bill Shearer of Foxstand Kennels. On June 11th, 1947, a litter was whelped that included ‘Foxstand’s Shamus’ and his sister ‘Foxstand’s Sherry’. While Shamus’ bloodline eventually ended up in mixed-lineage matings, ‘Sherry’ became the only offspring of a Cold River dog to survive in pure Seppala-lineage pedigrees through the 1970s Markovo and Seppineau programs.

When J. Jeffrey Bragg set about to preserve the Seppala lineage, ‘Foxstand’s Sherry’ provided the crucial link to the Cold River name. She is found deep in the ancestry of several second-foundation dogs:

LYL OF SEPSEQUEL (through Foxstand’s Sherry)
FROSTFIRE ANISETTE (through Foxstand’s Sherry)
MOKA OF SEPSEQUEL (through Foxstand’s Sherry)
MALAMAK’S OKLEASIK (through Foxstand’s Sherry)

Credit for the direct Cold River contribution to the core Seppala bloodlines emphasized today belongs alone to ‘Jeuahnee of Cold River’. This history teaches us not to underestimate the influence of a single animal. Hidden in the pedigrees of dogs long gone, this legacy serves as a lesson for anyone who considers themselves a preservationist.