In August 1936 a casket containing a sheepherder's body was loaded on a baggage car headed East for burial. A dog, of collie strain, watched with anxious eyes. He was to be there to meet every train year after year.
Conductor Ed Shields by 1939 pieced the dog's story together, linking Shep with the body shipped that August day. With the real story known, Shep became famous. Many, many well-intentioned offers to adopt him were gently declined; friends knew Shep's sole aim was to keep his vigil. Shep died on January 13, 1942, slipping on the tracks before an incoming train. His passing was mourned by all who knew his story. He was laid to rest atop the bluff above the depo (sic); his funeral was attended by hundreds. Reverend Ralph Underwood took as his theme Senator George Graham Vest's "Eulogy on the Dog," a tribute to a dog's faithfulness to his master which Shep so fully exemplified.
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