Larry “Cowboy” Smith, known for his dog mushing, rodeo days and as a trapliner, died early this week.

"He was everywhere," Frank Turner, who ran several Yukon Quests alongside Smith, said Thursday. "A lot of people, if you chronicled his life, people would think you were inventing stuff.

"Larry walked his own path. He was a tremendous Yukoner. Jim Robb recognized that years ago. He recognized that Larry was very special."

Smith was an "iconic figure" in so many ways in respect to dogs, said Turner.

He ran in five Iditarods, from 1980 to 1984. Smith was also no stranger to the Yukon Quest, having run the race from 1988 to 1995.

"We ran a lot of miles together on the Quest," said Turner. "The way I came to value him was that for the Quest, it gets cold or you deal with overflow. It is challenging.

"When we got into tough spots, when someone would say it has dropped two more degrees or the wind was picking up, Larry was happy, he'd smile. His eyes were so piercing. You could see it in his eyes that this was good."

This attitude, this willingness to face what was in front of him was a rare ability of Smith's, said Turner.

"He has the rare ability to take adversity and turn it to his advantage," said Turner. "He knew he was going to do it.

"He never hung back and let people break trail for him. There is a code on the trail. Larry would be out there and if someone was having trouble, he'd say, 'move over, let me give it a go.'"

Whether you are a fan of dog mushing or not, Turner said, Smith's death is a huge loss for the territory.

"He was a super person," said Turner. "He was so colourful. He will be appreciated for a long time. He's an unforgettable character.

"He did it all, he truly did it all. When we lose some of the storytellers, it is a big hit.

"In the Yukon, we have a sense that we live in a special place with the mountains, rivers, and tundra. But, mostly it is about the people. Larry was one of those people."

John Firth, who worked for the Star when Smith was racing the Iditarod, said Thursday he was very into his dogs.

"He'd come into the Star office, he'd sit there and talk about his 'dawgs', not dogs, d-a-w-gs, and how they were doing," said Firth. "It was interesting; he came to talk to me for about six months."

Firth said he wasn't sure why Smith decided to come chat with him since on the trail, he took little interest in talking with the media.

"He was notorious for not talking to the media," said Firth.

Because of his shyness, "he became the focal point of media coverage," wrote Firth in the March 21, 1983 edition of the Star.

Before Smith, Firth said, the Iditarod was once considered a competitive camping trip.

"People loved him on the Iditarod," said Firth. "It used to be a camping trip for 10 days, then they'd sprint like hell.

"Larry came in and said, 'I can do this in 10 days.' He changed the race and forced top mushers to go a little faster and test the limits of what they could do.

"He never did break the 10 days but that is why people loved him. The little villages liked those types of people."

Smith's best Iditarod finish was third in 1983.

Firth didn't just run into Smith on the trail but had a few other encounters over the years.

"He was an interesting person," said Firth. "I ran into him in Dawson City at the Eldorado Hotel. I told him the ice froze up the brakes on my truck; it was about -38 below.

"Larry grabbed an axe from his truck, slide under mine and banged the ice off my brakes. Then we went back into the bar for another beer."

Another time, Firth delivered mail to his cabin on Coffee Creek.

"I delivered mail to him when I was paddling the Yukon River," said Firth. "He wasn't home so I left the mail out front. About a year later, he told me he had gotten it."

Turner said Smith didn't want a big fuss, but he wanted the Yukon to know that another good one has been lost.