Tuesday, October 11, 2005

M.L. Clark Circus c1919/ "Ned" and "Mena"


This is the way it was done with overland shows when horses pulled the wagons and the elephants, camels, etc. walked. Since it is daylight they might just be arriving from the previous town. While enroute the elephant man might stop, remove the collar chains and either hobble them or chain them to a tree so they could graze while he got an hours sleep.
As we all know, "Ned" was sold to Al G. Barnes in 1921 who renamed him "Tusko".

Posted by Buckles at 10/11/2005 07:33:00 AM

18 comments:

GaryHill said...

Tusko must have really put on the pounds after they let him ride instead of walk everywhere? Was he as tough then as he got later? Gary

12 October, 2005 00:51
Buckles said...

As a rule, those males that had to walk overland were more interested in finding a nice place to lie down and sleep during the day rather than bother anybody.
Once they were transported by rail and received an abundance of hay and grain it was another story.

12 October, 2005 07:17
Anonymous said...

That's interesting. Did anybody on the rail shows ever trying "marching" males for miles and miles every morning to recreate the overland routine and keep them out of trouble -- or would that just have been too much work?

12 October, 2005 14:13
Anonymous said...

Now this looks like a REAL cowboy. Did I miss his name?

12 October, 2005 14:32
Buckles said...

No idea, but he resembles photographs we see of William "Billy the Kid" Bonney.

12 October, 2005 15:24
Anonymous said...

For some reason I want to say "Holy cow, look at the horns on that cow" Just had to say that. That anonymous comment doesn't know the meaning of work. They should spend just one day working with elephants instead of their mouth.

13 October, 2005 10:52
Anonymous said...

This week in October is the 76th anniversary of the infamous incident in Corsicana Texas involving Black Diamond.
Do you have moe photos of him?
What is the earliest known photo?

13 October, 2005 17:14
Anonymous said...

Which was the last circus that toured with a wagon show
that walked its elephants from town to town?
They probably couldnt afford to
transport the show by rails or afford a truck(which elephants hated riding inside I hear
during the 1920's)
BTW the big female next to Ned is"Mena".
Reportly she died in a town by the same name,a coincidence?
Yes Tusko turned to flab in his later years at the zoo and before that being cribbed up for weeks and months when he was in musth.

13 October, 2005 19:29
Anonymous said...

Back in the old days(old,old days)
early nineteenth century.
They use to walk the elephant at night so that the townsfolk did not get a free show.
Why pay when you can see the
elephant walk along the road for free?
Back then of course they didnt have electric lights or reflectors along the roads.
also it wasnt uncommon for a elephant to fall through a wooden bridge and either seriously hurt or get killed.
The minium weight for a bridge along a public highway back in the early mid-nineteenth century was
6 tons.They werent always kept in best repair.

13 October, 2005 19:35
Anonymous said...

What elephant got killed or injured while walking at night? Are you that old to have seen such a thing? Or just spreading mean gossip for fun. I will bet you wear tennis shoes.

13 October, 2005 19:55
Buckles said...

I have pictures of "Diamond" when he was small with the original Gentry Bros. Circus, later with R.T. Richards and several with my Dad taking him overland with Atterbury Bros.

13 October, 2005 23:33
Buckles said...

Without looking it up, I think the Newton,s and maybe even the Haag Show walked elephants overland up into the early 1930's.

13 October, 2005 23:36
Anonymous said...

The M.L Clark Wagon show was reportly the last wagon show ,it still traveled that way up until the late 1920's anyway.So that probably means that Mena,
"The Largest Elephant in Captivity"(as she was advertised) was the last wagon show elephant after the show sold Ned to Al. G Barnes in the early 1920's.
There was another wagon show drawn by mules still active in the late 1920's called the Rose Kilian Show that toured Texas
and nearby states,but I dont know if that show ever had any elephants.
BTW for a good article about the M.L Clark Wagon show,check out Bandwagon March-April 1965.

15 October, 2005 16:09
Anonymous said...

Methusala here,
Im not quite that ancient,
however I did read about it in a book.
One famous elephant that fell through a bridge is Raymond&Co.'s Columbus who fell through a wooden bridge in North Adams Massachusetts in 1851.
Someone mentioned this over at the discussion board at,
www.circushistory.org(question # 887)

15 October, 2005 17:18
Anonymous said...

BTW What happeded to the M.L Clarks
baby elephant"Tony" which they purchased in the Spring of 1908?
He was transported in a wagon drawn by 4 mules(along with another baby elephant called'Babe".

15 October, 2005 17:21
Buckles said...

You are right they were bought in the Spring of 1908 however "Babe" was sold to Al G. Barnes the following year and
"Tony" remained with the Clark Show but I have no record of her after 1912.

15 October, 2005 17:58
Anonymous said...

Methusala, One insodent does not make it an "wasn't uncommon" event. You made it sound as if this was an everyday event. It reads from your comments, if you are anonymous. that you are finding fault with the circus and its animals every comment. Makes me wonder what your motive is for commenting at all. I smell tennis shoes here.

15 October, 2005 20:12
Anonymous said...

Ned walked on foot for the M.L Clark show for 17 seasons.
Also at least for part of his circus career ,Black Diamond was also a wagon show elephant when William P. Hall sold him to the A.M Cauble wagon show in the early 1920's.His feet became real sore and they had to make boots for him to travel roads.
R.L

18 October, 2005 15:12

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