John "Jack" Holmes was born in May 1880, probably in either Seattle or Tacoma, Washington. He graduated from Stanford University in 1901, with an A. B. in metallurgy. Letters written the year he graduated from Stanford suggest that he had a job waiting for him in Alaska. There were no letters for five years, until he moved to Candle; however, references in the letters from Candle suggest that he had been working as an assayer, possibly at the Miners and Merchants Bank in Nome. In 1906, John Holmes went to Candle and, by 1911, he was in Iditarod. He worked as a cashier, assayer, and then Vice-President of the bank in Iditarod. In 1912, John Holmes writes that he bought "three Irish setters to go along with the six half-setter pups that we had." He developed his dogs into a team, and he won the 62-mile St. Patrick's Day Iditarod race in 1912 with five of his Irish setters. These dogs were known and referred to as "The Red Devils with the Big Hearts." In his letters, Holmes often refers to his dogs, including his lead dog, Bob; he also mentions Nora, a house dog he took hunting. He also recorded several harrowing trips by dog sled, which was the only way to get from one place to another in the winter. Although he does not write in his letters of other specific sled dog races, a search through the Iditarod Pioneer for the time period reveals that he entered other races and remained active in the sport. Around November 1916, Holmes went to Seattle, perhaps planning only to visit, but there are two letters written from Seattle in April and May of 1917, which indicate that Holmes had been, and still was, very ill. A letter from Louis Holmes (John Holmes' brother) says John died on July 18, 1917 of arterial sclerosis at age 37.
From the description of John Holmes photographs and letters, 1906-1916. (Alaska State Library). WorldCat record id: 525573377
