DCHP-1 Online
fan hitch North 
a method of harnessing sled dogs. See 1956 quote.
See also: draw line Eskimo fan hitch fan (def. 2) Nome hitch tandem hitch
- 1770 (1792) [They make use of any number of dogs, as occasion may require: and their thongs are of different lengths; always minding that the dog which is best trained, has the longest.]
- 1936 . . . and there can be no doubt in rough difficult climbing, or while on thin or broken ice and on detached floes of open leads, the fan hitch ranks supreme.
- 1956 In the eastern Arctic the fan hitch is used, the lead dog having the longest trace and running out in front of the others; they, on shorter traces, fan out on each side.
- 1770 (1792) [They make use of any number of dogs, as occasion may require: and their thongs are of different lengths; always minding that the dog which is best trained, has the longest.]