The brass tag of a dog named Tresor is one of the most recent additions to the Museum’s permanent display. Tresor was one of thirty-three Siberian sledging dogs on Scott’s British Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition (1911-13).
The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who beat Scott to the South Pole and got back alive, was an expert in using dog teams: they were a key factor in his success. By killing a certain number of the dogs at each stage of his journey to create food for the others, Amundsen reduced the weight of supplies needed for the trip. He also ensured that his men would not have to pull the sledges themselves, which was Scott’s exhausting method in his fatal attempt on the Pole.
Unlike Amundsen, Scott didn’t believe that dog teams would be effective as a means of transport in Antartica, but the members of the expedition felt a great deal of affection for their dogs. They must have been a welcome reminder of the normality of home in the strange and lonely Antarctic environment.
The expedition geologist and founder of SPRI, Frank Debenham, wrote a story about one of them, Stareek. In the Antarctic, a book of light-hearted stories from the expedition published in 1952, gives us a wonderful sense of how the presence of the dogs gave things a domestic feel, writing that “sledging-dogs have just as much individuality as we know exists in our own pets in civilised life.”
He also described the pleasure of working with them, explaining that
“One of the delightful things about dog-driving is their eagerness for work. When you came out of the hut with the dog-harnesses on your arm the loose dogs would rush up to you and try to insert their heads into the loop of the harness, begging to be taken.”
They were a lot more fun than the stubborn and obstinate ponies which were more heavily relied on for transportation by Scott and his men.
Despite his scepticism about the dogs’ usefulness, Scott himself was profoundly compassionate and concerned for the wellbeing of all the animals he took with him to Antarctica. On one occasion, a team pulled by thirteen sledge dogs crossed a concealed crevass. Only the lead dog made it across: the rest were left hanging by their harnesses in the sudden chasm, and two had slipped out and fallen to the bottom completely. It took the men hours to rescue the dogs; Scott himself insisted on being lowered 65 feet into the crevasse in order to rescue the two who had fallen.
When Debenham finally left Antarctica in February 1913, of all the surviving sledging dogs it was Tresor he took with him, whom he described as “a marvel of quietness and amiability.” Looking at the photographic portrait of Tresor, it’s not hard to read those human characteristics in his face – he seems peaceful and benevolent; his gaze passes off into the middle distance as if he’s gently contemplating something. Debenham’s sketch makes his affection for Tresor palpable – he’s given him a friendly smile and that same contemplative expression.
Returning to England via Sydney, Debenham left Tresor with a young man called Archbold. After Tresor’s death, his dog tag was kept in a button box for many years. Luckily, its connection to a well-travelled dog and a historic expedition was identified and we are delighted to see it join The Polar Museum collection.