The California Gold Rush brought not only people to the gold fields but dogs as well.
In some cities, such as Los Angeles, they outnumbered humans by nearly two to one.
Bummer and Lazarus ambling along Montgomery Street.
Illustration by Edward Jump.
Dogs were regularly poisoned.
Municipalities often paid bounties for them, and many were killed, skinned and turned into gloves and belts.
The only way a dog could save its neck is by turning into a rat catcher.
Dogs regularly drew a crowd when they were loosed upon their prey in city streets.
As in every other city in California, San Francisco also had a terrible dog problem.
Sometimes at night, their howling is enough to drive one distracted.
It was frequented by many reporters and newspaper journalists who would later make the dog famous.
The saloon-goers named him Bummer, because of his regular begging for food.
Bummer and Lazarus begging scraps from Emperor Norton.
Illustration by Edward Jump.
With a few weeks, the dog was up and soon the duo were seen patrolling together Montgomery Street.
The new dog was named Lazarus, for his remarkable recovery.
Lazarus proved to be an even more prodigious ratter than Bummer.
According to one report, Bummer and Lazarus once finished off 85 rats in twenty minutes.
At another rat-catching contest the duo beat out all other competition, including pedigree dogs.
Once, Lazarus nipped into a stationary store and got locked in overnight.
He tried to break jail but it was a no-go, theAlta Californiareported.
They pitched in, tearing the mans clothes and barking his legs until the man fell to the ground.
When news of his impounding reached citizens, a mob marched down to the pound and demanded his release.
The dog catcher sensibly released Lazarus into their custody.
Hundreds of people signed the petition and presented it to the Board of Supervisors.
Despite receiving protection from the city, the life of a stray was still full of perils.
In October 1863, someone deliberately fed Lazarus meat laced with poison.
Angry residents put up a $50 reward for the capture of the poisoner.
The city mourned his death.
We may soon expect to chronicle the death of the faithful and inconsolable friend.
Someone suggested that Lazarus be buried in a place of honor alongside other great men of the city.
An imaginary funeral of Lazarus.
Illustration by Edward Jump.
Without his faithful companion, Bummer became morose but he slogged on for a few more years.
The city immediately arrested the drunkard and threw him in the jail.
When his cellmate learned of his crime, he apparently popped him in the smeller.
Now, however, he will be forgotten in a few days.
TheBulletinreferred to them as two dogs with but a single bark, two tails that wagged as one.
In 1992, a plaque was mounted at Transamerica Redwood Park on Montgomery Street, honoring the two dogs.
It declares: They belonged to no one person.
They belonged to San Francisco.
The death of Bummer.
Illustration by Edward Jump.
A plaque commemorating the dogs Bummer and Lazarus in Transamerica Redwood Park in San Francisco.
