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 Texas : Features : Columns : "Texas Tales"
Elephant
by Mike Cox
Mike Cox
That Texas cowboys tended to kick up their heels after a long trail drive is well documented. But one driver’s experience deserves serious consideration as the lead steer of all wild cowboy tales.

In the summer of 1896, a circus arrived in Denver. That had nothing to do with Texas cowboys except that it reminded a Colorado newspaper editor of the time a circus ran out of operating capital in Pueblo. One of the show’s creditors went to court and got a judgment against the owner. To satisfy the judgment, the county sheriff would auction some of the circus stock.

As preparations proceeded for the auction, a visitor from Texas was having a little better luck financially. The cattleman had driven a large herd of cattle from the Panhandle and sold the steers, as the newspaper writer recalled, “on the Arkansas (River) to John Hill.”

Though the editor used the name of the buyer, he did not identify the seller from Texas by anything other than his nickname: Buzzard. The only other clue he offered, not something that would really set one Texas cattleman apart from another, was that Buzzard had a fondness for booze.

On the day of the forced sale of circus stock, Buzzard, in the vernacular of the Victorian press was “full.” Today, we would use the word “drunk.”

His pocket book also full, Buzzard got caught up in the spirit of the moment and “commenced bidding on everything that was offered for sale.”

Buzzard’s first successful purchase was a 17-foot-long snake. He got the reptile for a mere $500. A Texas-sized snake was exciting enough, but then a Bengal tiger caught Buzzard’s eye. Through the cowboy’s sheer persistence, the big cat was his for $2,000 – surely a bargain at twice the price.

“He bid on everything in such a reckless manner that the sheriff and the show people were in an ecstasy of delight,” the editor recalled.

Next on the block was an elephant. Buzzard checked his wallet and flung himself into the spirited bidding. To his boozy delight, he came in as high bidder on the pachyderm for just $5,000.

“Buzzard paid for everything, and being troubled with an irresistible desire to treat everybody, he soon had the show people, and every one who would drink with him, as full as himself,” the editor continued.

No one in Pueblo was having a better time than the owner of the circus, who not only had gotten out of debt, thanks to Buzzard, but had more money than the whole show had been worth. And Buzzard was still buying the drinks.

Traipsing from saloon to saloon with his entourage of citizens and show people, Buzzard decided to get into show business himself. The first step, of course, would be a parade. The circus people hitched up their wagons and saddled Buzzard’s elephant.

At first, Buzzard wanted to open the show by getting in the lion cage. “The circus people,” the newspaper writer related, “discovering that he was an apparently inexhaustible mine of gold, whiskey and fun, were not disposed to feed him to the lions yet...and they persuaded him that the post of honor and danger was on the back of the royal elephant.”

Wearing a turban and brandishing a sword, Buzzard mounted the elephant. Then he helped his wife and children on board. With the band playing “Dixie,” the parade wound through Pueblo. When the procession neared the Arkansas River, the elephant charged toward the stream. The Buzzards had managed to stay astride the animal, but he had other ideas. Sucking up a trunk full of water, he sprayed the Texas family. Then he rolled over, spilling the Texans in the river.

Buzzard managed to get his family ashore, somehow even saving his sword.

“Seated on the bank,” the newspaper continued, “they presented a picture to excite pity, but the spectators laughed until everybody was hoarse.”

The crowd drifted off, but the Buzzards remained on the river bank. Whether the alcohol was beginning to wear off, or whether it was the immersion in the river that had a sobering effect, Buzzard’s good mood evaporated a lot faster than the muddy water soaking his clothes.

“The old man suddenly developed a belligerent spirit that caused people to do their laughing at a distance,” the newspaper went on. “Every time any one approached them he would flourish his sword and swear like a pirate.”

What Buzzard did with his share of the circus was not reported. And who Buzzard was remains a mystery. One thing for sure – he was a Texas cowboy who knew how to have a good time.
© Mike Cox
"Texas Tales"
- Dec. 1, 2003 column
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