On July 12, 1975, two performing Asian elephants reacted t a loud noise at the Carson and Barnes Circus's off-season camp near Hugo, Oklahoma, and fled into the surrounding dense forest. Several circuses first established themselves at Hugo in the 1940s, and consequently circus employees had some experience attempting to recapture the occasional lost animal in southeastern Oklahoma. In fact, author Susan Nance has established that elephants that are confined t small spaces often try to escape, and experts debate the ethics of containing such a nomadic species.

Truden, John. Notes and Documents: The Great Southeastern Oklahoma Elephant Hunt. Chronicles of Oklahoma 97, no. 3 (Fall 2019): 343-348. https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1725834/m1/88/?q=the%20great%20southeastern

John Truden is the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Center for the Futures of Native Peoples at Dickinson College.

For more information on the published version and to access Full Text of the article visit Oklahoma Historical Society's Website. https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2017474/

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