The one time a ‘mad elephant’ chased a family near Downey in 1913
Published at | Updated at
DOWNEY — Sometimes the stories featured in the weekly “Looking Back” series, which looks back on what life was like during a certain time period in east Idaho history, are so unbelievable they warrant a follow-up story.
Remember the “mad elephant” on the loose in Downey that chased a car with a family inside? This is the perfect example of that.
In July 2023, EastIdahoNews.com shared a story that was reported in the Sugar City Times on July 17, 1913. The incident involved A.H. Ensign and his family. The article said an elephant escaped from a small circus in Downey and “charged them on an unfenced road.”
“Ensign did not have time to turn completely around and had to take off at right angles to the road with the maddened beast whipping his trunk in the air only 20 feet behind,” the Sugar City Times wrote.
After a “wild chase of a mile or more,” the elephant gave up the chase “just as a canal blocked the further progress of the auto.”
EastIdahoNews.com could not find more information from local papers on the unexpected chase. However, the Ogden Standard in Utah published an article on July 15, 1913, with more details.
The paper said Ensign was a Salt Lake City insurance man. He, his wife and their son were on a road trip through Wyoming and Idaho when the incident with the elephant happened. When they returned home, they told friends all about “their remarkable experience and their wild race to safety.”
Ensign said they were near Downey when an elephant belonging to a small circus there became “unmanageable and escaped.”
“We did not know that until we saw the huge beast rushing toward us in the road, bellowing and snorting furiously with its trunk raised,” Ensign told the paper.
He said the elephant was coming towards them quickly, and it “completely blocked” the road ahead, so Ensign turned their car around and started in the opposite direction.
“The animal was scarcely more than 10 feet behind us,” he said. “Then began the most thrilling and hair-raising race I have ever taken part in. We knew the beast had escaped from its trainers, and its action plainly showed it to be in a mad animal rage.”
He continued, “The beast raced after us, whipping its trunk in the air and continuing the hideous noises. Realizing we were in the gravest danger, that it probably meant death for us if the animal overtook us, I coaxed speed out of our machine.”
In order to get away from the elephant as quickly as possible, Ensign said he did not turn completely around in the road. Instead, he “started off to one side.” He recalled the ground being uneven and with how fast they were going, it “added to the danger of our situation.”
“For a time, I thought we would have to plunge into a canal and endeavor to escape across it,” he pointed out. “But as our car generated speed, we gained on the elephant. Also, the animal began to tire. In a few minutes, we were beyond danger.”
Ensign explained that “circus people” on horses and “armed with huge hooks” soon appeared “in pursuit of the elephant.”
“The fact that the beast had got tired in its wild charges made it possible for the circus people to subdue it after a considerable struggle.”
If there are other looking back stories that you’d like us to explore further, please let us know! Until then, stay away from Idaho’s angry elephants.
Note: This is a photo above is an illustration of the elephant chase that took place in July 1913 near Downey. It was created by Alex Lemoing of EastIdahoNews.com in October 2023 and is not a real historical image.