Eugene, Oregon - Skeleton of the Mighty Tusko Elephant

Tusko was the largest and most famous elephant brought to America since Jumbo (Tusko's shoulder height was 10-ft. 2=inches tall, weight 7 tons 312 pounds, measured in 1932).Imported here in 1902 from Siam and freed from the lumber camps of Tibet, Tusko was already huge at 12 years old. Over the next years he tramped on foot from town to town on the ML Clark circus (then known as "Ned," he was later sold to the AL G. Barnes Circus and re-named Tusko. In 1922 Tusko almost single-handedly destroyed the town of Sedro Woolley, Washington while on a drunken rampage. Years later, old Tusko belonged to no circus and finally ended his last years at the Woodland Park zoo, Seattle, Washington, where he died June 10, 1933 as a result of a fist-sized two-pound blood clot.

Tusko was dissected and his hide and skeleton were put into storage.Then in 1954 the son of one of his owners donated his skeleton to the University of Oregon, where the bones of been in storage ever since. However there has been talk of once again putting the bones on public exhibit at the University's Museum of Natural and Cultural History. [Kenton . Cornish, 08/23/2009]