Shep the Tollbooth Sheepdog

Part Toll Booth Attendant. Part Sheepdog. Part Legend.

This stray mutt embodied the best of the West: independence, gregarious openness, an enterprising spirit. Workers on the Denver-Boulder Turnpike found and befriended Shep in 1951, and he became a regular presence in the tollbooths. Drivers donated money to pay for Shep’s food, and worried about him when he went off to roam the countryside or harass local sheep herds. His death in August 1964 inspired widespread mourning; tollbooth workers buried him nearby with a memorial inscribed simply “Our Pal.” To this day, commuters fondly remember him. Photo Broomfield Enterprise.

 

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