The Bryars acquired a fine string of male Seppalas from the kennels of J. D. McFaul. The following McFaul dogs were owned by the Bryars:
- MINTO OF SEPPALA
- NANUK OF SEPPALA
- RIKKI OF SEPPALA
- WESEN OF SEPPALA
- FOX OF SEPPALA
- NIM OF SEPPALA
- BOYARKA OF SEPPALA
- CHAUN OF SEPPALA
- MARKO OF SEPPALA
The Bryars also purchased males from Allan Gagnon, but were unable to secure a Seppala female from either of the Maniwaki, Quebec, breeders. Eventually they acquired FOXSTAND'S RUMBA from William L. Shearer, III, probably paying quite a high price for that female, given the circumstances. The purchase of Rumba allowed the Bryars to move forward with a pure Seppala breeding programme, as they had a goodly number of fine males.
Jean Lane was never committed exclusively to a Seppala breeding programme. Both in the early years and later on there were mixed-lineage litters with the Bryar name, as well as others bred under the Mulpus Brook and Norvik affixes. The well-known Can. Ch. BRYAR'S TEXAS, widely thought to be pure Seppala, was actually a mixed-lineage dog sired by BOYARKA OF SEPPALA on TAMARA, a daughter of IZOK OF GAP MOUNTAIN. Some Bryar pedigrees include the bloodlines of Roger Welcome, Steve Tassey, Doris Cassady and others of the New England family of racing Siberian breeders.
The purchase by Keith Bryar of the Alaskan village dog single leader BRANDY in 1962 for $1001 dollars (along with Dr. Roland Lombard's acquisition of RING and NELLIE around the same time) was rather a watershed in the history of New England sleddog racing, marking the turning point as racers moved away from the Siberian Husky into purpose-bred racing stock of unrecorded lineage from Alaska. Keith Bryar won the Fairbanks Open North American Championship in 1965, and in recent years his son Keith Bryar II has in his turn been prominent in open-class North American dogsled racing. For many years Jean Bryar was a spectacular participant in New England races and in the Women's North American Championship in Alaska. At least one spectator is recorded as having stated that he attended dogsled races mostly "to watch Jeannie Bryar."
In the late 1960s there were still a number of pure Seppala dogs of Bryar lineage to be found. Some of these (most prominent of which was Am. Ch. MIKIUK TUKTU TORNYAK, a long-coated red saddleback by BRYAR'S SILVER out of BRYAR'S QUEEN) were among the stock responsible for the perpetuation of Seppala strain in the period of the Markovo rescue.
SAMPLE
PEDIGREE -- Am. Ch. Mikiuk Tuktu Tornyak (Opens in a new window.)
SAMPLE
PEDIGREE -- Can. Ch. Bryar's Texas (Opens in a new window.)
