Shorty and Bum - Fairplay, CO
Posted by: 
Web-ling
N 39° 13.490 W 106° 00.118
13S E 413512 N 4342204
A single gravestone of a burro and a dog on the lawn of the Old Park County Courthouse.
Waymark Code: WM804Z
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2010
Views: 7
This peculiar burial spot is at the corner of the lawn of the Old Park County Courthouse, now the Fairplay branch of the Park County Library.
Shorty, the burro, died in 1951, age 45.
Bum, the dog, born 1949, died 1951.
The granite headstone has drawings of Shorty and Bum.
According to this Website:
"This story begins not with a dog, but with a burro named Shorty. After years of service in the mines around town, Shorty turned into the 'beloved town mooch' in Fairplay, Colorado. When he died, it seemed only natural to bury him on the courthouse lawn. Enter Bum. Bum was a stray and, apparently, Shorty's best friend. Bum was so broken-hearted at the loss of his friend that he laid down on Shorty's grave. For days, he refused to move or eat, no matter what the townspeople did. Finally, Bum died as well. The townspeople were so moved by this act of devotion that they buried Bum next to Shorty and erected a monument to the two that still stands to this day."