Lions and tigers and . . . kangaroos?! In Pennsylvania?
I love new projects, and I've got a pretty nifty one right now.
On May 30, 1893, the circus made an unscheduled stop in Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
The research for this project has been a blast so far! I've discovered that there is LOTS more to this story than just a train wreck.
The train carrying the Walter L. Main Circus was on its way from Houtzdale to Lewistown. As it came down the Allegheny Front between Philipsburg and Tyrone, the engineer lost control, and 14 of the 17 cars left the track.
This particular circus was known for its horses and for its large menagerie of wild and exotic animals. Well, as you can imagine, the wreck caused a lot of animal cages to be smashed to smithereens. The animals that weren't killed or injured suddenly found themselves free. Most of them were rounded up pretty quickly, but a few did escape into the surrounding forest. A few more were captured in the next week or so, but a handful were never accounted for.
For years after the crash, every dead chicken or calf was blamed on a starving predator fugitive from the circus. Some of the stories are quite fantastic!
My research is also revealing some real surprises. I think this is going to make an interesting book. Until then (later this summer), I'll provide sneak previews here at StoryTrax, and also at our company website -- America's Stories, Inc.
Some things I'm working on:
Who were the people who were killed? What were THEIR stories?
Where were the 53 horses that died in the accident buried near the crash site? (I'm sharpening my trowel . . .)
Did other wrecks damage the tracks and contribute to this accident?
Is there a Tyrone circus jinx? (Wait 'til you hear what happened to some other circuses and wild west shows that visited, or tried to visit, Tyrone.)
What was it like to have a circus troupe move into your town for a week or two? And who were they?
There's so much more I'm trying to learn -- stay tuned!
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Walter L. Main Circus Train Wreck of 1893
I've been trying to research this since I was in 9th grade (that was only 5 years ago). But I went to Gardner's Candies in Tyrone to see the pictures they have on the wall and see if they had anything else. On the way home I saw a sign for Vanscoyc Hollow Road, which was mentioned in an article I had read earlier, and I drove back the road and drove right past the memorial. I agree that this is a very interesting story and would make a wonderful movie! If you need help with anything, (digging!?! he, he, he) just post it here & I'll be there in the 15 minutes it takes me to get there!! Well...maybe not that quick. Someone needs to make a documentary about this sooooonnn!!!!! The article I was given in 9th grade also mentions that the skull of one of the big kitty cats is in Tyrone... I forget exactly where. Jim Strayer (from Houtzdale, PA) had just joined the circus the day before and was the last body retrieved from the wreck. There is just so much interesting information about this!!
A great story, well overdue
You're absolutely right, this is a great story. I can't believe there hasn't been more done about it, and I'm grateful to have a shot at it!
Supposedly, the skull is at the Sportsmen's Club. I have also seen accounts that say the skin is somewhere in town, too. The stories of the escaped animals, and where they showed up, is fascinating. Reports of unusual animals attributed to the wreck of the circus train continued for at least five years!
I've been working with Susie O'Brien, and she has lots of information that has been handed down through her family. I've also been through the Tyrone newspapers of the time, and other newspapers around the U.S. -- it was very widely reported!
Thanks for your offer of help. I'll make sure I get updates posted here as often as I can.
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i'd no idea...
i've never heard this...we 'city folk' in Altoona don't always get the scoop on Tyrone, haha.
Are you going to be excavating around the crash site? Do you think you'll find animal remains? what kinds of animals?
Won't know until we dig
I've been trying to find what animals the Walter L. Main Circus had in its menagerie, but it's been difficult. There are photos of elephants, a lion, and a zebra at the wreck site. There are written accounts of other lions, tigers and something called a "silver tipped panther." A large ape was captured, a small monkey was found alive in one of the damaged cars by workmen in Altoona a day or so after the car was moved there. Most unnerving to me, as an archeologist who shares Indiana Jones' reaction to certain critters, are the remarks that the "large snakes" and other reptiles disappeared into the woods and were never found. Yikes! I get goose bumps just thinking about it. For at least a year after the wreck, there were reports from all around central PA of unusual animals, and they were always, of course, blamed on the wreck.
As near as I can tell, there may have been as many as 120 horses traveling with the circus, which was known for its "hippodrome" events (chariot races, bareback riders, etc.), so I'm confident that most of the animals buried there are horses. The newspaper says there was one big trench, but the oral tradition suggests that there may have been more than one. I think a couple of quick lines of small shovel tests could tell us a lot. I'm trying to convince some colleagues to come out with their Ground Penetrating Radar equipment. That could be cool.
I love these "backyard" mysteries!
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The Conversation Around Town
Just imagine walking around Tyrone during that week. As you walked into the store and you passed by the world's fattest man, or walked to town on a quiet dark road (was that a roar?). Can you imagine what it must have been like for the people of Tyrone? Did anyone from the circus decide to stay in Tyrone after the accident?
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Lots of visits
As far as I know, no one moved there, but over the years many came back to visit. There's one clown who came back every year for many years. And most of the circuses that passed through on the railroad made a point of at least stopping and making a trip to the graves of the circus people and trainmen buried there in Tyrone.
This would make a great movie in the hands of somebody like John Sayles (Matewan, Eight Men Out).
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