Wild West

EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY

n October 1863 San Francisco cartoonist Edward Jump captured one of the finest funerals in the young city’s history. Scores of prominent citizens make up the solemn cortege. The decedent, one Lazarus, is borne aloft on an unadorned wooden litter, all four of his legs pointing heavenward. Leading the procession is a black-and-white mutt named Bummer, who in life had been Lazarus’ faithful companion. The city dog catcher brings up the rear. Presiding over the funeral ceremony is Emperor Joshua Abraham Norton, a celebrated local eccentric who, like Bummer and Lazarus, wandered the city streets relying on the kindness of strangers. Afterward, the body of the deceased was surrendered to Ernest F. Lorquin, taxidermist, who tactfully brought Lazarus to life for shelf display in a Montgomery Street

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