Team and Trail™

The Musher’s Monthly News Since 1963

A Brief History of Team and Trail™

In the late 1950s Dick Molburg started up a dog team to follow his trap lines and one of those dogs, a Saint Bernard, was the first Molberg racing dog when it pulled Debbie in a Kid-n-Mutt race in 1957.

It was not long before Dick had his own string of racing huskies. At a race in Quebec, the Molburgs became friends with Lee and Mel Fishback who had begun Team and Trail three years earlier. Cindy had some newspaper experience having worked first as a proofreader and then as a reporter for local papers. Mel asked Cindy to become the Eastern Editor for the sled dog newspaper, and not too much later, Cindy took over full Publisher/Editor status.

The paper was printed on a press that Cindy bought and set up in her front room, and her six children all took a role in collating the pages lined up on the long kitchen table.

From Cindy’s kitchen table, Team and Trail became a major factor in the growth of sled dog racing around the world. When sled dog racing needed an international association to standardize rules and racing events, the Molburgs were called upon because of their knowledge and dedication to the sport to assist with first the formation of ISDRA (International Sled Dog Racing Association), and then rule making for that organization.

Now sled dog racing takes place in the form of different kinds of events in nearly every part of the world and much credit belongs to Cindy Molburg for this.

The Molburgs not only supported the sport in far-flung places, but also devoted tremendous amounts of time and effort with the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club in keeping the Laconia World Championship a yearly event. The Laconia race was a special favorite of Cindy’s as, living in the Lakes Region; it was her “hometown” race.

Cindy may have retired as Editor/Publisher, but she never retired from loving sled dogs. In 2011, she co-authored a book, The History of Dog Sledding in New England. Her hand as an editor and the wealth of information and photos from Team and Trail archives has made that book a truly definitive history.

In 2023 Robert and Michele Forto, the owners and publishers of Mushing Magazine were approached to purchase Team and Trail from the late Cindy’s two children Johnn and Deborah and they brought it to Alaska to preserve the history and make it available for generations to come.