Milestones Icon: Shep: The Turnpike Dog

In the 1950s and early 1960s, when Broomfield was still changing from a nondescript farming town into a bedroom community, there was little doubt who claimed the title of the town’s best known – and most beloved – resident.

That honor belonged to a black-and-white mutt named Shep who became famous as The Turnpike Dog.

Like many legends that community members pass down from generation to generation, the details of Shep’s life are a bit mysterious or in some dispute.

No one really knows Shep’s story before he came to the toll booth beside the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, which was still under construction when workers found him.

Shep initially was thin and timid around people, but toll collectors took to the mutt, quickly adopting him and letting him make the toll booths under the Wadsworth overpass his home.

They weren’t the only people to find Shep irresistible, and soon the dog became a local mascot and a minor celebrity.

Passing motorists would bring Shep treats and toys to leave at the toll booth. There also was a donation box to pay for his upkeep. Longtime Broomfield residents who grew up in the area still fondly remember leaving bones and donations as children and their families passed through the toll booth.

In addition to being well loved, Shep had connections, too. Dr. Clyde Brunner, the scion of one of the community’s oldest families and Broomfield’s mayor from 1967 to 1971, was Shep’s personal vet.

Brunner helped save Shep’s life in 1958, after Shep was found shot. The assailant was never identified, but the shooter most likely was a farmer who misidentified Shep as a coyote preying on his livestock.

While remembered as being very good natured, Shep was known to get into occasional scrapes with coyotes and other carnivores.

Shep enjoyed the good life for more than a decade, a fate no one would have guessed a stray dog in a small rural community would have. His days came to an end in 1964, when he was euthanized after gradually losing his sight and hearing.

Shep’s story would have ended there, if not for another act of devotion from the highway workers. They buried Shep next to the turnpike along the eastbound entrance ramp and erected two small memorials. One bore his picture and the inscription “Shep 1950-1964, Part Shepherd Mostly Affection.” The other just said “Our Pal.”

While the memorial might have been a mystery to most of the tens of thousands of travelers passing it every day, most of Broomfield’s old timers knew the story. Unknown visitors would frequently leave small treats, toys and even flags and stuffed animals at the shrine. Shep’s story also lived on the Internet, where websites about local history and roadside curiosities spread the story.

Shep remained next to U.S. 36 until the autumn of 2009, when his grave was relocated to a plot next to the Broomfield Depot Museum, 2201 W. 10th Ave.

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