Editing Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (section)

==Name==
The race's namesake is the [[Iditarod Trail]], which was designated as one of the first four [[United States|US]] [[National Historic Trail]]s in 1978.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bittner |first=Alan |date=28 December 2016 |title=Iditarod National Historic Trail |url=https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/national-scenic-and-historic-trails/iditarod |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324010256/https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/national-scenic-and-historic-trails/iditarod |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=16 April 2023 |website=U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management}}</ref> The trail, in turn, is named for the town of [[Iditarod, Alaska|Iditarod]], which was an Athabaskan village before becoming the center of the Inland Empire's{{efn|1=The Inland Empire refers to a vast area in inland Alaska where gold was found and which was explored for gold around 1908 and following years.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/cultural/ak_history/iditarod_nht_historic_overview.print.html |title = The Iditarod National Historic Trail: Historic Overview |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160414093304/http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/cultural/ak_history/iditarod_nht_historic_overview.print.html |archive-date = 2016-04-14 |first = Robert E. |last = King |publisher =  Bureau of Land Management |access-date = 20 December 2015 }}</ref>}} Iditarod Mining District in 1910, and then becoming a [[ghost town]] at the end of the local gold rush. The town was named after the Iditarod River. The river's name ultimately comes from the Athabascan word Haidilatna.