Bummer and Lazarus
Bummer and Lazarus were two stray dogs who roamed this part of San Francisco in the 1860s. Their devotion to each other endeared them to the citizenry, and the newspapers reported their joint adventures, whether sealing a bone from another dog, uncovering a nest of rats or stopping a runaway horse. Though authorities destroyed other strays on sight, the city permitted these two to run free. Indeed, they were welcomed, regular customers at popular eating and drinking establishments on Montgomery Street. Contrary to common belief, they were not Emperor Norton's dogs. They belonged to no one person. They belonged to San Francisco. When Lazarus died in October of 1863 (followed by Bummer in November, 1865), a reporter for the “Bulletin” described them thus:
“Two dogs with but a single bark, two tails that wagged as one.”
Marker can be reached from Washington Street, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
