All Dogs go to Heaven
A tribute to a few of Montana’s most notable canines.
Around here, dogs occupy more than our back seats and back yards—they are companions, guardians, and members of the family. When they die, it can be as devastating as losing a two-legged loved one. Here’s an homage to those who touched our lives: the dogs who made us think, cry, care, and remember. Though their paw-prints may be gone, their stories remain, etched into our trails, our towns, and our hearts. Long live the great dogs of Montana, and may they never be forgotten.
Bruno the Rail Dog
Mixed-breed Bruno, sometimes described as a staghound, became a mainstay of Bozeman’s Northern Pacific rail yard in the 1920s. Indifferent to humans, Bruno drew an interest in Switcher L6 engines 911 and 914, ignoring all the other locomotives. He walked approximately 60 miles a day alongside his favored engine, carried a stick like a switchman, and was posthumously made an honorary Northern Pacific Switchman. He died in 1929 after being struck by engine 911, and railway workers buried him with a grave marker near the roundhouse. His monument continues to be cared for by rail historians and lives on at Yellowstone Gateway Museum in Livingston.
Ole Faithful
They say the mountains take as much as they give, and in January 2012, they took plenty—claiming the life of Bozeman resident Dave Gaillard in an avalanche near Cooke City while he, his wife Kerry, and their pup, Ole, were cross-country skiing along Hayden Creek. But from that same snow-choked wilderness came an improbable spark of resilience: Ole, who was also buried in the slide, somehow managed to crawl out from the debris. Four days later, he showed up—muddy, starving, but alive—at the motel where the couple had stayed. He and Kerry were quickly reunited.
Hubba Bubba
In a town that knows a thing or two about grit, Bubba—the Flynn family’s lovable Lab—became a quiet symbol of it. One afternoon in the backyard, mid-fetch, he collapsed from a rare spinal stroke. He was paralyzed from head to tail. The vets didn’t sugarcoat it: there was a one-percent chance he’d walk again. Bubba didn’t get the memo. With a homemade PVC walker and some treats for motivation, he slowly regained his strength—beginning with a tail wag. After only three months of rehab, Bubba returned to the trails, the riverbanks, and the upland bird fields he loved. Bubba’s incredible comeback inspired Joe Flynn to write The Miracle of Bubba: An Inspirational Dog Story.
Loyal to a Fault
In August 1936, a sheepherder passed away and his body was sent east by train for burial. His collie-mix pup watched the casket loaded onto the baggage car, and returned daily to the train station, waiting for his master to come back. Shep held that watch for over five years, until January of 1942, when he slipped in front of an oncoming train. The town of Fort Benton hosted a memorial for Shep, with hundreds in attendance. They buried him on a bluff above the station, overlooking the tracks he never left behind.
Auditor of the Pit
Hailing from Butte, “the Auditor” was a large, shaggy feral dog who showed up at the Berkeley Pit in 1986. His name was coined by the miners in the area, due to his tendency to show up when least expected. The Auditor survived hazardous, polluted terrain until his death in 2003. Even as he shunned company, miners cared for him, adding aspirin to his dinner to ease his aches. A hair test later revealed arsenic levels 128 times higher than normal—yet he endured. Statues of the Auditor can be found around Butte, including one at the Butte Plaza Mall.
If you know of a pup who deserves recognition, send along a short write-up and photo to [email protected] for the chance to be featured on our website or in a future issue of the magazine.
