Sunday, October 16, 2005

Poetic License #2


Another drawing, this time "Baby Bridgeport" born Feb. 2, 1882, a male from "Queen" and "Chief".
The calf only lived two years, died in Bridgeport in 1884. Both parents became difficult to deal with and were sold to Adam Forepaugh in 1886.

Posted by Buckles at 10/16/2005 07:12:00 AM

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just reading an artical in Band Wagon and this caught my eye. No one elephant could be half the grief of a hundred unattached females. I will figure out why this struck me as funny later.

18 October, 2005 14:07
Anonymous said...

Whatever became of Queen?
I read that Addie Forepaugh had to execute Big Chief in Philadelphia
December 1888(he was choked to death by two elephants Basil and Bismark.

18 October, 2005 15:08
Anonymous said...

BTW you can see the mounted hide of Baby Bridgeport at the Barnum Museum in Brideport Ct.
But from what I understand they had the hide refurbished a few years ago,and all the wrinkles were ironed out of the hide!

18 October, 2005 15:54
Buckles said...

I have no reason to dispute your story about the execution of "Chief" in Philadelphia. I have no record of him after 1887.
In my fathers files I have a letter from old time trainer Harry Parkhurst relating how he walked "Queen" and "Jess" from the Penn. RR site in Bunker Hill to the Wallace Qtrs. after their purchase from 4-Paw in 1891.
In those days Ben Wallace never carried many elephants with his show (Cook & Whitby). For example in 1892 he owned 8 elephants but four were leased out. "Gypsy" with Bartines Circus, "Jeanette" (African) with Frank J. Taylor, "Jess" with Sells & Rentfrew and "Queen" with Bob Hunting Circus. I have no further record of "Queen" after 1893.

18 October, 2005 18:25
Buckles said...

I have no reason to dispute your story about the execution of "Chief" in Philadelphia. I have no record of him after 1887.
In my fathers files I have a letter from old time trainer Harry Parkhurst relating how he walked "Queen" and "Jess" from the Penn. RR site in Bunker Hill to the Wallace Qtrs. after their purchase from 4-Paw in 1891.
In those days Ben Wallace never carried many elephants with his show (Cook & Whitby). For example in 1892 he owned 8 elephants but four were leased out. "Gypsy" with Bartines Circus, "Jeanette" (African) with Frank J. Taylor, "Jess" with Sells & Rentfrew and "Queen" with Bob Hunting Circus. I have no further record of "Queen" after 1893.

18 October, 2005 18:25
Anonymous said...

Yes,I have a newspaper article dated December 18th 1888,concerning it.
Reportly Chief's carcass was to be sent the University of Pennsylvania(they do not appear to have the specimen now though).
His hide at one time was prepared and dispalyed in the big window at Tiffany's in NYC.
BTW The Barnum&Bailey Chief should not be confused with the
John Robinson show"Chief' famous for killing the boss animal man, John King at Charlotesville North Carolina in 1880.
That "Old Chief" was later donated to the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens were he was executed in December 1890(shot)That elephant was only about 26 years old..

20 October, 2005 16:56
Anonymous said...

Was that Queen also aka Victoria(Queen Victoria)of the Howe's Great London show?,Before they joined up with Cooper&Bailey?
There have been other elephants named Queen of course in the late nineteenth century,
Queen Anne of the Cole Bros circus in the 1870's.

20 October, 2005 17:13
Buckles said...

The "Queen" in the drawing went back to 1874 with the Barnum Show.
According to my notes "Queen Victoria" with HGL was an African.

20 October, 2005 18:00
Anonymous said...

What about the"Queen" that was executed at the Frank Robbins WQ/William Bartel Wild Animal farm at Jersey City,NJ in November 1910?
She had formely been with the Cole Bros. Show
Reportly(according to which newspaper account you read)
She had killed 4 or as many as 10 men in her career.
She weighed 8400 pounds.
They killed her with a dose of 12 grains of cyanide of potassium contained in apples.It took 45 minutes for her to die.

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

Then there was the Sells Bros. Queen of the Ringling-Barnum&Bailey Show.
She died from exposure while in the boxcar at Madison Square Garden
March 22.1930.It was unuaslly cold and they had not heated up the building when the elephants arrived.
According to George"Deafy"Denman,
Queen was 62 years old in 1926,which made her 66 years old in 1930.According to him,Queen was
not only the oldest elephant in the herd ,she was also the smartest elephant in the herd and still performing.
His three favorite elephants were"Old John","Babe" and Queen.

22 October, 2005 17:18
Buckles said...

O'BRIEN QUEEN

1870 J.N. French Circus
1871-87 John "Pogey" O'Brien Circus
1888-90 Clark Bros. Circus
1891-92 Ringling Bros. Circus
1893-95 George W. "Popcorn" Hall
1896-01 Harris Nickel Plate
1902-05 Sells & Downs Circus
1906-09 Cole Bros. Circus
(Martin Downs)
1910 Frank A. Robbins Circus

22 October, 2005 19:10
Anonymous said...

What became of the O'Brien elephant
and later Cole Bros. elephant
in the 1870's
"Queen Anne"?
That was the first elephant trained by George Conklin.

27 October, 2005 17:09

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