Park County Museum was founded in 1977. Community members and Park County purchased the historic North Side School, built in 1907, to house the museum, now known as the Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park County.
Bruno
3 - 29 - 1929
The Story of Switch Engine Bruno
The only dog known to be a switchman
Dogs have been known to adopt many things but to adopt a Switch Engine is unheard of. Bruno got tired of herding sheep in the Montana Mountains so he took on another duty in 1924. As a puppy he came to Bozeman and took on old Engine 911 that switched Bozeman yards at that time. For five years he followed old 911 throughout the day and knew every move backward and forward by the sound of the engine, covering about 60 miles a day. His whole attention was with the engine and its movements, for five years.
He was inseparable from old 911 sleeping beside it when it was housed. He made the mistake of being too close one day and was run over and all who knew him missed him throughout the years. As a switchman carries a break club, Bruno carried a stick. The crew always catered to Bruno as a partner. The untimely death was carried in newspapers from Seattle to New York.
When Bruno was deceased the crew took him to be buried east of the Bozeman station and then took up a collection for a memorial marker, A few years ago when BM & Mri were getting out of the passenger train business they were In the process of doing away with the station grounds. Some of our local railroad employees thought about Bruno and decided that if they couldn't have Bruno they would settle for his marker. Homer Berrum and Warren McGee thought it a good idea to place the marker not by old 911 but another railroad pal, the 1266. We "rails" always think of Bruno and the many dogs and people that were a part of our railroad life.
As told by Vince VanAken
There are two newspaper articles in the gallery:
2-6-1927: Bozeman Dog Breaks Established Custom And Adopts Switch Engine
4-10-1929: Switch Engine Crew Will Erect Marker For Grave Of Bruno