Arkansas Postings

Greatest show on earth

Circuses have long history of Arkansas popularity

The recent decision by Ringling Brothers Circus to retire its elephant troupe reminded me that circuses have traveled the roads, rivers and rails of Arkansas for many generations. For many early Arkansans, the circus offered a respite from the demanding labors of the farm, field and factory.

Professor Harold C. Tedford, the primary student of early Arkansas circus history, has noted that circuses were preceded by small traveling shows: "This act sometimes consisted of a man who walked from settlement to settlement with a trained monkey, acting dog or a wrestling bear."

The bear might not have been much of a draw given that a surprising number of early Arkansans had pet bears. Bears do not make good pets, and news accounts sometimes reported accidents, injuries or even death resulting from pet bears. In 1847, for example, a steamboat engineer on the Arkansas River was killed when dragged overboard by his pet bear.

The lone traveling entertainers were soon replaced by larger shows, usually traveling by wagon. According to Tedford, "by the late 1830s these shows had developed into a full complement of riders, clowns and acrobats," and many shows also offered menageries of exotic animals.

The first real circus to make its way to Arkansas seems to have been the Waterman Circus, which raised its tent in Batesville on Aug. 20, 1838 -- only two years after statehood. The Batesville newspaper was unstinting in its praise of the equestrian feats -- the major emphasis of the show -- but the reporter also liked "Mr. Lyons, the celebrated tumbler, plate dancer and balancer." Admission prices were steep for 1838 -- $1 for adults and 50 cents for children and slaves.

It seems that clowns have always been popular components of circuses. A newspaper editor in Van Buren described an 1848 circus clown in Rockwell's Magnificent Equestrian Show thusly: "The originality of his humor, and adaptability and applicability of his acts, looks and words, all go to prove him excellent in his line. All agree that a better clown never trod the ring."

Writer and humorist C.F.M. Noland gave us an example of clown humor when he reported that the most popular joke from the 1838 Batesville performance was the story of a youngster who stumped his toe, fell on a lawyer and was never again able to tell the truth.

Circuses became more common in Arkansas in the decade before the Civil War. In 1859 alone, northwestern Arkansas was visited by Mabie's Menagerie and Circus, the Caribow and Great Southern Menagerie, and the Rivers and Derious Dramatic Company.

The pitiful condition of the state's roads was a major challenge to circuses. In June 1848, Stickney's Grand National Circus had to cancel its foray into western Arkansas due to the muddy roads. River transport sometimes offered easier access. In 1858 Signor Carlos Donetti brought his "Great Parisian Troupe of Acting Monkeys, Dogs and Goats" to Fort Smith and other river towns on the steamboat Banjo.

While acting monkeys, dogs and goats no doubt had their appeal, it was the elephants and other exotic animals which turned out the crowds. The first elephants to appear in Arkansas came in 1859 when the Mabie Menagerie and Circus performed at Fort Smith. Just before the performance began, the elephants pulled a "musical chariot" in a "grand procession" leading to the circus tent. This was probably the first circus parade in Arkansas history.

A much larger parade occurred in 1898 when the Ringling Brothers Circus performed in Little Rock and advertised "a novel free street parade" which included 10 bands, 30 floats and tableaus, many gaily painted cages of roaring lions and tigers, East Indian cavalry and a caravan of "towering camels and dromedaries" -- all guarded by "fully armed Bedouins."

Bedouins and Arabs were often associated with circuses, probably because of their skills as horsemen. Indeed, when Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show to Little Rock in 1898, the Arkansas Democrat reported he would bring along "a lot of faithful sons of Allah, whose horsemanship and weird and wondrous athletic feats Mahomet himself would view with much pious satisfaction and pride."

Not everyone welcomed circuses to 19th century Arkansas. Many former Confederates refused to attend circuses which were usually northern owned. This explains why the Stone Rosston & Murray Circus specified in newspaper advertisements prior to its 1866 appearance in Little Rock that it was a "southern circus."

Newspaper editors often complained that circuses took money out of the local economy and that circus people were, as one Russellville editor wrote in 1888, "a mob of thieves, pickpockets and disreputable characters." But, as a Dardanelle editor admitted in 1875, nothing could challenge the popularity of the circus: "The children can grow up without schooling and Christians can get along without preaching, but all must go to the show."

Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in Hot Springs County. Email him at [email protected].

NAN Profiles on 04/26/2015

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