What Was Silverton Bobbie's Incredible Journey?

Dog’s Homing Instinct is a Case of Animal Psychic Ability, Anpsi

Oct 15, 2009

Bobbie found his way home, traveling 3,000 miles through unfamiliar places, after he was lost in the midwest. His trek was validated by people who encountered him.

Bobbie was separated from his family during a summer vacation. His journey was well-documented by people who fed him and gave him shelter during his odyssey. It took six months for Bobbie to travel to his Silverton Oregon home from Wolcott, Indiana.

M. N. Davis wrote an article about him for The American Boy in the September, 1925 edition. Charles Alexander published a book, Bobbie: A Great Collie of Oregon, in 1926.

Bobbie, a Dog Lost in Indiana

Bobbie's family, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brazier, restaurateurs, were vacationing in the Indiana town when Bobbie leaped from the running-board as the car slowed. Several snarling dogs chased him. That was the last time the Braziers saw him.

Bobbie was a six-month-old puppy, primarily collie, but thought to have English sheep dog blood. The family searched for him for several days. They ran an ad in the local paper. More people joined the quest. The Braziers went to Ohio, but stopped in Wolcott, hoping to find him. Finally, they had to return home, leaving Bobbie behind. In August 1923, Bobbie began his long journey.

Bobbie’s Incredible Journey Begins

Initially, he tried to get his bearings and wandered in circles. He traveled many miles, but only about a couple of hundred were in the right direction. Finally, in late autumn, he found the right way toward Silverton.

Bobbie would trudge through Illinois and Iowa, swim across rivers, including the ice-filled Missouri, and travel over the Rocky Mountains. He would trudge across eight states, sometimes making detours as far as one hundred and fifty miles.

People Documented Bobbie’s Laborious Odyssey

There are criteria to be met in cases of homing, especially one’s like Bobbie’s, to validate this category of anpsi. They are the witnesses’ credibility, the reliability and consistency of their accounts, unquestionable identification of the animal and other supporting evidence.

Bobbie caught his own dinners when people weren’t available to feed him. They also gave him shelter. Witnesses’ reports included people seeing him jog through an Illinois village, a Minnesota family giving him a meal, being sheltered in an Idaho garage, hoboes sharing food with him and a family sharing Thanksgiving dinner and providing him with several weeks’ sanctuary.

Bobbie’s Psychic Journey Ends

There are two versions of the dog’s winter homecoming. One is that Bobbie went into the Brazier’s restaurant and to the family’s living quarters on the second floor where Frank was sleeping. The collie/mix jumped on the bed and licked his face.

The other account of Bobbie's return home holes that Bobbie scratched on the restaurant’s door and rushed inside when it was opened. It doesn’t really matter which on is true; fact is that Bobbie ended his long journey with a reunion.

Bobbie is Honored for his Spectacular Feat

The Oregon Humane Society’s president validated this amazing odyssey by reconstructing the dog’s route and interviewing people who saw or cared for Bobbie. The dog was allowed to freely roam Silverton’s streets without a human escort.

The superintendent of schools presented Bobbie with a medal from the Oregon Humane Society. The dog received a miniature bungalow and a silver collar with an engraved account of his journey during a Portland home show.

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