It’s a tale that warms a dog lover’s heart. One cold day in 1888, the story goes, a cute Irish terrier mutt wandered into the Albany, New York post office. The mail bags strewn on the floor looked comfortable, so the clever canine decided they would make a nice bed. More than likely, he probably spun himself around a couple of times, as dogs do, to stomp down the mail until the bed was more to his liking. Then he indulged in a well-deserved rest. He must not have snored, because it’s said that one noticed him until the next day.
A dog in an official U.S. postal facility? More than likely it was illegal, but dog lovers in any period in history show their true colors, especially for a mutt who is down on its luck. Instead of chasing the rascal out, the Albany Railway Mail Service employees adopted the dog, fed him and let him continue to sleep on the mail bags.
After a while, the dog seemed to think that it was his responsibility to watch over these mailbag beds. Diligently discharging his duties, he would follow the postal employees when they carted the mailbags to the local railroad depot. But, the mail must move on, and that’s when the dog, who became known as Owney, the Mascot of the U. S. Railway Mail Service, started his remarkable travel adventures.
The Magnificent Journey Begins
At first, he just traveled the short route between the Albany and New York City. But then he became more adventurous, expanding his travels to other destinations. As Owney started traveling farther and farther away from his home base, his adopted humans became more concerned that they wouldn’t see him again. They didn’t want to curtail his fun, so they decided that a collar with proper identification was in order. “Owney, Post Office, Albany, New York,” the inscription read. Now he could ride the rails to his heart’s content.
At this time, mail was sorted on trains as they rumbled across the nation, so Owney had plenty of company during his travels. Soon, Railway Mail Service workers across the nation joined their Albany colleagues and established an unofficial network to ensure that Owney was fed and watered as he followed the mail from one station to another -- and that he could sleep on his beloved mail pouches.
To find out just how far Owney traveled, the Albany employees pinned a note to his collar that asked fellow employees to attach a baggage tag to his collar. Others willingly followed the suggestion. According to the National Postal Museum, on April 9, 1894, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that “Nearly every place he stopped, Owney received an additional tag, until now he wears a big bunch. When he jogs along, they jingle like the bells on a junk wagon.”
Owney’s medals of honor became so numerous that he was soon weighted down. That’s when none other than John Wanamaker, then Postmaster General of the United States, gave Owney a jacket that would display his “trophies,” and documented his destinations, along with other medals from his loyal fans. But Owney continued to receive so many medals that neither he, nor the jacket, could hold all of them. Sympathetic postal employees would occasionally remove some of the medals and mail them to his Albany home, where his vast collection was preserved. Owney accumulated over 1,000 medals, tokens and trinkets during his travels.
Owney Saves the Day
The traveling postal dog was not only fun to have around, but was apparently regarded as bringing very good luck. Train wrecks and derailments were common in these days, and no train that Owney was on ever encountered such ill fates.
Apparently Owney took his responsibilities as a deliverer of the U.S. mail very seriously. In the May 18, 1892 edition of Weekly Stamp News, the National Postal Museum reports, there was a story about his heroic actions in safeguarding the mail. It told about how the dog boarded a loaded mail wagon, but wasn’t there when it reach its destination. Mail workers also discovered that a sack of mail was missing, so they retraced their steps to retrieve it. When they located the mail sack, they saw that it was in good hands or, in this case, good paws. Conscientious Owney was lying on it to protect it from falling into evil hands.
By August 19, 1895, the postal dog had become quite famous, and he then embarked on his most adventurous trip: a journey around the world. Traveling as Mr. Owney, “registered dog” on trains and steamships, he made his way from Tacoma, Washington, to Canada, Mexico, across Europe, China, Japan, Suez, Algiers, and the Azores and back again to Albany. The always polite Japanese even presented him with a passport that gave him free access to the country. Apparently they thought that, with all of his medals, he must belong to someone very important, and they didn’t want to offend anyone.
Owney was a true workaholic. While on shipboard, he didn’t have any official mail duties. So rather than lounge about on deck chairs, he devoted his time to earning his keep by chasing, and capturing unsuspecting rats.
For the final leg of his magnificent journey, Owney boarded the British steamer Port Phillip and sailed to New York City. From there, postal employees rounded out his trip by having him travel by train to where he embarked: Tacoma, Washington, where he was greeted with a cheering crowds. According to the Postal Museum’s records, the trip took 132 days and, over his career, Owney traveled over 143,000 miles.
Even More Awards
As a dog of mixed breed, Owney had to rely on his accomplishments to win awards—and he did receive many. In April 1893, he received the Los Angeles Kennel Club award for “best traveled.” In 1896, a dog show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, awarded him a medal inscribed, “Owney, the Globe Trotter.”
Although he received other awards, perhaps the one that meant the most to him was the one he received when he attended the National Association of Railway Clerks convention in San Francisco. According to the National Postal Museum, his admirers gave him a “rousing fifteen minute ovation,” where they “cheered, clapped, and whistled for their faithful four-legged friend.”
After a most remarkable career, Owney was given disability retirement, something he apparently didn’t like. In June 1897, he decided to continue his itinerant life when he boarded a mail train for Toledo. The details are sketchy here, but supposedly he was mistreated while being shown to a reporter and reacted by biting a postal worker. On July 11, 1897, he died of a gunshot wound.
Owney Lives On
Thanks to many loyal postal workers, Owney has a permanent place in history. They raised money to have this incredible dog preserved, and he was displayed at Post Office headquarters, until he was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. Today Owney, is a very popular exhibit at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., at the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NE, next to Union Station. It is open every day except Christmas. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1_museum.html
In July 2011, the Postal Service will issue a stamp honoring Owney!
Owney the Educator
In 1996, a group of school children read “Owney the Traveling Dog,” by Lynn Hall, and it inspired a very innovative project. A teacher and a class from each state hosted a stuffed dog named Owney. As the dog traveled, each class sent postcards that listed interesting things about their state and mailed them to other classes. They also sent an e-mail to the project coordinator so it could be included in Owney’s journal.
Another children’s book, “A Lucky Dog, Owney, U.S. Rail Mail Mascot,” by Dirk Wales, also tells about the journeys of this special dog.
