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Boomer was a big, burly dog that rode into Harlowton on a
freight train in 1940. He immediately adopted Phil Leahy, the
roundhouse foreman who fed and watered him. Phil trained the
dog to stand on his head, wear safety goggles, carry a
flashlight at night, and smoke a curved stem briar pipe.
Boomer patrolled the depot platform and accompanied Leahy as
he met the trains. Passengers on the trains took hundreds of
photos of the dog as he puffed on his pipe and did his tricks.
Military personnel traveling through on troop trains were
particularly enthralled with him. Pictures and stories
appeared in publications all around the country and postcards
were also sold to add to his fame. Boomer died in 1949
and Leahy purchased a baby burial case from the local undertaker, and he
was buried in Phil’s back yard where the hillside site overlooks the
railroad yards that had been his home for those many years. In
honor of Boomer, today's Harlowton Rail Trail project is named
the Smoking
Boomer Rail Trail.
Jerry Miller
Harlowton, MT
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