Arokiaswami Arumei Singh, twelve police officers, and an elephant walked eastward down 29th Street in Topeka, Kansas after a circus performance held at a shopping center in 1964. The elephant had stopped at two gas stations to drink and hose itself off while on its way out of town. They went four miles out of town (roughly to Croco Road) and then went south to a farm where the elephant was going to stay.
Singh had come to the United States from India in 1947 with Louis Reed and a shipment of elephants. Originally Singh and the elephants were part of the Dailey Brothers Circus which then became the Ben Davenport Circus. According to various circus sites online and people who saw the show, the elephants--Myrtle, Tillie, and Jenny--were very popular.
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| Myrtle, Tillie, and Jenny the elephants. Louis Reed is in the foreground. His wife, Adele Nelson poses on top of an elephant. |
Singh, not wanted to work for the Davenport Circus anymore for what he was getting paid, claimed ownership of Myrtle, citing that he received the elephant as back pay, and left the circus. According to elephant databases, Myrtle continued to perform in various circuses until her death in 1983. It's estimated that Myrtle was around 55-years-old.
I couldn't find any information on Arokiaswami Singh after 1964. Congress granted him citizenship in 1952, but what happened after he left the circus is unknown.
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| A poster illustration by Bill Balentine showing an Adele Nelson Elephant Circus show. Adele is inside the ring, surrounded by her elephants, Myrtle, Tillie, and Jenny. |
