Mighty Mary

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Mighty Mary was a five ton Asian elephant in a circus named Sparks World Famous Shows. Her death is sometimes interpreted as a cautionary tale of circus animal abuse during the early twentieth century.

On September 11, 1916 a hotel worker named Red Eldridge was hired as an assistant elephant trainer by the circus. On the evening of September 12 he was killed by Mary in Kingsport, Tennessee while taking her to a nearby pond to splash and drink. There are several accounts of his death but the most widely accepted version is that he prodded her behind the ear with a hook after she reached down to nibble on a watermelon rind. She went into a rage, snatched Eldridge with her trunk, threw him against a drink stand and deliberately stepped on his head, crushing it.

The details of the aftermath are confused in a maze of sensationalistic newspaper stories and folklore. Most accounts indicate that she calmed down afterward and didn't charge the onlookers, who began chanting, "Kill the elephant!" Apparently within minutes, a local blacksmith tried to kill Mary, firing more than two dozen rounds with little effect. Newspapers published claims that Murderous Mary had killed several workers in the past and noted that she was larger than the world famous Jumbo the elephant. Meanwhile, she was impounded by the local sheriff, and the leaders of several nearby towns threatened not to allow the circus to visit if Mary was included. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the potentially ruinous situation was to kill the elephant in public. On the following day, a foggy and rainy September 13, 1916, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee where a crowd of over 2,500 people (including most of the town's children) assembled in the Clinchfield railroad yard.

The elephant was hanged by the neck from a railcar-mounted industrial crane. The first attempt resulted in a snapped chain, causing Mary to fall and break her hip as dozens of children fled in terror. The severely wounded elephant died during a second attempt and was buried beside the tracks. Although the authenticity of a widely distributed (and heavily retouched) photo of her death was disputed years later by Argosy magazine, other photographs taken during the incident confirm its provenance.

[edit] References in popular culture

A 2002 short story by Glen David Gold entitled "The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter" fictionalizes some elements but unmistakably refers to Mary. (McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, ed. Michael Chabon, Vintage Books 2003)

Chuck Brodsky's song Mary the Elephant commemorates the incident.

Contemporary artist Alexander Eddy painted a rendition of the famous photo, which he entitled "Murderous Mary."

In 2007, a local theatre group called the People's Branch Theatre put on a play entitled Hanging Mary at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, TN. The play is expected to run March 8 - 17.

The band the Swinging Pachyderms made up of native Erwinians got their name from Murderous Mary. They also have a song entitled "Murderous Mary" paying tribute and recounting her legend.

Elephant's Graveyard, A play currently in workshop in the University of Texas at Austin Cohen New Works Festival combining historical fact and legend as it explores the only known lynching of an elephant in America, written by George Brant a graduate student at the University. The play will premiere in the UT Department of Theatre and Dance 2007 Fall Season.