Old Bet (died July 24, 1816) was the first circus elephant and the second elephant brought to the United States. There are reports of an elephant brought to the United States in 1796, but it is not known for certain that this was the elephant that was later named Old Bet.

Biography

The first elephant brought to the United States was in 1796, an

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of three extant recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, native to mainland Asia. The species is smaller than the African elephant species with a convex back and the highest body po ...

aboard the ''

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

'' which set sail from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

for New York on December 3, 1795. However, it is not certain that this was Old Bet. The first references to Old Bet start in 1804 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

as part of a

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...

. In 1808, while residing in

Somers, New York Somers is a Town (New York), town located in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 21,541. The nearby Metro-North Commuter Railroad provides service to Grand Central Terminal i ...

, Hachaliah Bailey purchased the elephant for $1,000 and named her "Old Bet".. On July 24, 1816, Old Bet was killed while on tour near

Alfred, Maine Alfred is a town in York County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,073. Alfred is the seat of York County, and home to part of the Massabesic Experimental Forest. National Register of Historic Places has tw ...

by local farmer Daniel Davis who shot her, and was later convicted of the crime. While many people believe that the farmer thought it was sinful for people to pay to see an animal, another suspected reason is jealousy.

Legacy

In 1821, the Scudder's American Museum in New York announced that they had bought the hide and bones of Old Bet and would mount the remains at the museum. The elephant was memorialized in 1825 with a statue and the Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York. In 1922 the elephant John L. Sullivan walked 53 miles to lay a wreath for the memory of Old Bet at her memorial statue. In the 1960s a monument was approved and laid outside of the York County Emergency Management Agency on Route 4, where she was killed.

References

External links

"First Circus Elephant" (video)
— Old Bet, featured on a segment of '' Monumental Mysteries'', (originally aired: 25 July 2013 on

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

) 1816 animal deaths Year of birth missing Place of birth missing Circus elephants Individual elephants in the United States Individual Asian elephants Animal cruelty incidents

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links