George Miller was born in Central Pennsylvania and his Newfoundland Dog Aaron accompanied him when he enlisted in the Union Army. His dog saved him in several battles.
The above is fiction, but there was a real Newfoundland dog who participitated in several battles in the Civil War. His name was Major and he was part Newfoundland and part mutt. I found his story on HISTORYNET and the link to it is here.
Back to my fictional story. George bought land in Northeast Indiana and started his breeding business. His farm was located near Fort Wayne Indiana. Rail lines ran through that city linking Fort Wayne to Chicago to the west, Detroit to the north, and Cleveland to the east.
When people found out that George Miller’s dogs were related to Aaron, demand for the puppies exploded. Seeing George’s success, other Civil War veterans moved near George and began breeding dogs of their own. The railroad network criss crossing Indiana/ Michigan/Illinois and Ohio made shipping dogs to customers easy and convenient for that time.
For the Love of Our Dog Brownie 