Virgil William Walter
Born 16 September 1895 in Exline, IA
Died 10 February 1991 in Exline, IA
2x Great Uncle on mom's mom's side
Several years ago when I was a child I remember going to a little restaurant in the tiny town of Exline, Iowa. We were probably out visiting cemeteries for memorial weekend. Hanging on the wall of that restaurant was a newspaper article about Virgil Walter. Over the next several years I remember the story that was told but a part of me thought it may be folk lore. We went back to that same restaurant several times but it had changed hands that the article was gone off the wall and apart of me thought maybe it wasn't true. But then once I got into genealogy I found that the story was true and found proof from a newspaper article that was written about him.
In September of 1923 my 2x Great Uncle Virgil Walter did something that no man at the time had done and probably never will again! He shot an elephant in a field in southern Iowa. Yes you heard me right he shot an elephant! This elephant had escaped his home 30 miles south from owner and Circus man Bill Hall of Lancaster, MO.
In September of 1923 my 2x Great Uncle Virgil Walter did something that no man at the time had done and probably never will again! He shot an elephant in a field in southern Iowa. Yes you heard me right he shot an elephant! This elephant had escaped his home 30 miles south from owner and Circus man Bill Hall of Lancaster, MO.
I got this poster from the Schuyler Co Mo Historical society. It hangs on the wall with my newspaper clipping of the article about Uncle Virgil.
The elephant made its way to Iowa terrorizing people and animals in it's path. But finally someone gave my 2x great uncle a gun that they got from WW1 and he shot the elephant. They then buried the elephant right there in the field.
Above is the newspaper article written about Uncle Virgil and his photo. Below is what the article says.
It all happened in 1923 and this is the story as told by Charles B. DePuy in the Iowegian.
“The elephant began its journey in the jungles of Siam. It went thousands of miles over land and sea to end its days in a cornfield on the John McClurg place five miles east of Exline in Appanoose County, Iowa. It never got the chance to take its death walk to the escarpment of its ancestors.”
“The hectic last days of Jumbo began in Lancaster, Mo. They led through a fusillade of shotgun and small rifle fire until a 30-30 Enfield rifle in the hands of Virgil Walters of Exline brought an end to the running battle and probably saved the lives of some who might have crossed the elephant’s trail later.”
“It was Sept. 23, 1923, that Walters became the first man to ever shoot an elephant in the fields of Iowa or the U.S. for that matter. Other elephants had been shot at circus grounds or in zoos but this was the first elephant hunt ever staged in the open fields or woods of the U.S.
“It all began when Billy Hall, circus owner of Lancaster, Mo., bought among other animals, in a shipment, two elephants. They were chained together until they got off a truck in Lancaster. Then they broke the chains and one elephant was herded into a barn but the other started off toward Appanoose County.”
“Colonel Hall wasn’t too excited. He knew that an elephant couldn’t stay hidden long in Iowa and he was right. As Jumbo made his way into Appanoose County, calls were going to Lancaster. Hall came on the double. He found his elephant the object of all sorts of gun fire. However the .22 caliber bullets and shotgun pellets failed to penetrate Jumbo’s hide but they did make the big animal fighting mad. Hall, in an effort to turn Jumbo around, took a shotgun and going close range, fired it full in the face of the beast. It didn’t turn Jumbo around but it did cause him to charge Hall.”
“The circus man fled and jumped into a 10 foot ditch just in time to avoid the elephant’s sweeping trunk. Hall came very close to losing interest in all things here below and quit the chase right there. Jumbo came on. He reached Coal City and stayed overnight. The next day he headed into Appanoose County. It is said that some 200 people swarmed in the area to see the big beast and to take shots at him.”
“According to Virgil Walters, Jumbo used his left front leg to break down fences. He would put his foot on the top of the wire, and posts, staples and wire would give way and the animal would walk across.”
“According to Walters, the elephant got into quicksand on the Chariton river bottom but did not sink in it. Walters almost did when he tried to cross the same ground. Just how this happened he does not know. Maybe it was due to the size of Jumbo’s feet.”
In the meantime the elephant was cutting wide swaths in cornfields, and in orchards it pulled up trees that did not suit its taste.”
“People who wittingly or unwittingly got in the path of the elephant often had to run for it. The story is told of one young newlywed who was weeding in his father-in-law’s pickle patch. He looked up, did a double take and then jumped in his wagon, whipped the horses and headed for his father-in-law’s house. Now it seems that his father-in-law was not too happy with him anyhow and promptly accused him of being drunk because he said there weren’t any elephants in his pickle patch. However, his son-in-law maintained that there was and that he wasn’t drunk and papa-in-law was quickly convinced and both had to run for it.”
“It came to the Jess Exline farm and Jess had a horse that was pretty fast. He told his son Earl that the elephant couldn’t outrun Betsy. Earl mounted and took after the elephant but it turned on horse and rider and Earl found that the elephant was faster on its feet than Betsy. However, it didn’t charge the horse and rider.”
“At another farm the elephant chased Esper Hart up a tree and then shook the tree until Hart fell. That seemed to satisfy the beast and it went its way. Other men it chased ran for home and the elephant would follow them to the doors of their home and then stop as though contemplating whether it should try to push the house over. This it never did however.”
“Things were getting pretty hectic and it was only a matter of time until the elephant would have killed someone. John Sales had a 30-30 Enfield army rifle and he handed it to Virgil Walters. Virgil went to the field where the elephant was and when it came up broadside to him he shot it twice just back of the front leg on the left-hand side. The big beast went almost to its knees and regained its feet and went into an adjacent field where it fell down, groaned a couple of times and died.”
“There are many people still living in Appanoose County today who took part in the one and only elephant hunt ever staged in Iowa. They’ll remember it as long as they live. Wolves, foxes, maybe a bear, geese and deer there are, but elephants there are not in this county.”
“And over in the jungles of Siam some mother elephant may wonder what has become of her son Jumbo. She would never guess that he lies in a grave on the John McClurg place in Appanoose County, near the Daily schoolhouse, U.S.A. And in some future century when the skeleton is found and dug up, some long-haired paleontologist will proclaim loud and long that he has discovered that mid-America was once a steaming jungle before the Indians and Christopher Columbus took over.”
Above is the newspaper article written about Uncle Virgil and his photo. Below is what the article says.
It all happened in 1923 and this is the story as told by Charles B. DePuy in the Iowegian.
“The elephant began its journey in the jungles of Siam. It went thousands of miles over land and sea to end its days in a cornfield on the John McClurg place five miles east of Exline in Appanoose County, Iowa. It never got the chance to take its death walk to the escarpment of its ancestors.”
“The hectic last days of Jumbo began in Lancaster, Mo. They led through a fusillade of shotgun and small rifle fire until a 30-30 Enfield rifle in the hands of Virgil Walters of Exline brought an end to the running battle and probably saved the lives of some who might have crossed the elephant’s trail later.”
“It was Sept. 23, 1923, that Walters became the first man to ever shoot an elephant in the fields of Iowa or the U.S. for that matter. Other elephants had been shot at circus grounds or in zoos but this was the first elephant hunt ever staged in the open fields or woods of the U.S.
“It all began when Billy Hall, circus owner of Lancaster, Mo., bought among other animals, in a shipment, two elephants. They were chained together until they got off a truck in Lancaster. Then they broke the chains and one elephant was herded into a barn but the other started off toward Appanoose County.”
“Colonel Hall wasn’t too excited. He knew that an elephant couldn’t stay hidden long in Iowa and he was right. As Jumbo made his way into Appanoose County, calls were going to Lancaster. Hall came on the double. He found his elephant the object of all sorts of gun fire. However the .22 caliber bullets and shotgun pellets failed to penetrate Jumbo’s hide but they did make the big animal fighting mad. Hall, in an effort to turn Jumbo around, took a shotgun and going close range, fired it full in the face of the beast. It didn’t turn Jumbo around but it did cause him to charge Hall.”
“The circus man fled and jumped into a 10 foot ditch just in time to avoid the elephant’s sweeping trunk. Hall came very close to losing interest in all things here below and quit the chase right there. Jumbo came on. He reached Coal City and stayed overnight. The next day he headed into Appanoose County. It is said that some 200 people swarmed in the area to see the big beast and to take shots at him.”
“According to Virgil Walters, Jumbo used his left front leg to break down fences. He would put his foot on the top of the wire, and posts, staples and wire would give way and the animal would walk across.”
“According to Walters, the elephant got into quicksand on the Chariton river bottom but did not sink in it. Walters almost did when he tried to cross the same ground. Just how this happened he does not know. Maybe it was due to the size of Jumbo’s feet.”
In the meantime the elephant was cutting wide swaths in cornfields, and in orchards it pulled up trees that did not suit its taste.”
“People who wittingly or unwittingly got in the path of the elephant often had to run for it. The story is told of one young newlywed who was weeding in his father-in-law’s pickle patch. He looked up, did a double take and then jumped in his wagon, whipped the horses and headed for his father-in-law’s house. Now it seems that his father-in-law was not too happy with him anyhow and promptly accused him of being drunk because he said there weren’t any elephants in his pickle patch. However, his son-in-law maintained that there was and that he wasn’t drunk and papa-in-law was quickly convinced and both had to run for it.”
“It came to the Jess Exline farm and Jess had a horse that was pretty fast. He told his son Earl that the elephant couldn’t outrun Betsy. Earl mounted and took after the elephant but it turned on horse and rider and Earl found that the elephant was faster on its feet than Betsy. However, it didn’t charge the horse and rider.”
“At another farm the elephant chased Esper Hart up a tree and then shook the tree until Hart fell. That seemed to satisfy the beast and it went its way. Other men it chased ran for home and the elephant would follow them to the doors of their home and then stop as though contemplating whether it should try to push the house over. This it never did however.”
“Things were getting pretty hectic and it was only a matter of time until the elephant would have killed someone. John Sales had a 30-30 Enfield army rifle and he handed it to Virgil Walters. Virgil went to the field where the elephant was and when it came up broadside to him he shot it twice just back of the front leg on the left-hand side. The big beast went almost to its knees and regained its feet and went into an adjacent field where it fell down, groaned a couple of times and died.”
“There are many people still living in Appanoose County today who took part in the one and only elephant hunt ever staged in Iowa. They’ll remember it as long as they live. Wolves, foxes, maybe a bear, geese and deer there are, but elephants there are not in this county.”
“And over in the jungles of Siam some mother elephant may wonder what has become of her son Jumbo. She would never guess that he lies in a grave on the John McClurg place in Appanoose County, near the Daily schoolhouse, U.S.A. And in some future century when the skeleton is found and dug up, some long-haired paleontologist will proclaim loud and long that he has discovered that mid-America was once a steaming jungle before the Indians and Christopher Columbus took over.”
