The movie is a fictionalized account of the 1917 Winnipeg-to-St. Paul dog-sled race, sponsored by the Great Northern Railway. The main character in the movie, Will Stoneman, is based on two real-life participants in the 1917 race: Albert Campbell, the eventual winner, a mixed-blood Cree trapper from Manitoba who endured harassment from his racist competitors throughout the race; Fred Hartman, one of only two U.S participants, touted as a hero during the race by U.S newspapers. His sled dogs fought among themselves and his lead dog was killed. The other U.S racer dropped out two days before the finish but Fred continued, coming in last and then collapsed. J.W. Harper, the president of the St. Paul Winter Carnival in the movie, is based on Louis W. Hill, son of railroad magnate James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad.
The trains used in the movie were from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum (LSRM) in Duluth. Due to being actual operating trains, actors could not interact as engineers or the conductors. These were instead all volunteer employees of the museum. Some of them still work there (As of August 2004).
Much of the movie was filmed in northern Minnesota near the town of Duluth. Many of Duluth's citizens were extras in the movie, a large number at the end of the race
David Bedford, owner of Black Ice Dog Sledding Equipment and real-life dog sledder, did the mushing for "Borg" throughout the movie. He used his own 7-dog team led by "Chase", a malamute. Filming his scenes took 3 months. David's wife Shilon helped to establish the Minnesota Malamute Club
David Ogden Stiers and August Schellenberg both performed in historical films about Pocahontas. David voiced Governor Ratcliffe in Disney's animated musical film as well as its direct-to-video sequel and Schellenberg acted as Chief Powhatan in New Line Cinema's live action film The New World (2005).
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