"The Wind Cries Mary"

"The details of the aftermath are confused in a maze of sensationalist newspaper stories and folklore. Most accounts indicate that she calmed down afterward and didn't charge the onlookers, who began chanting, "Kill the elephant!" Apparently^{[according to whom?]} within minutes, a local blacksmith tried to kill Mary, firing more than two dozen rounds with little effect. Newspapers^[which?] published claims that Murderous Mary had killed several workers in the past and noted that she was larger than the world famous Jumbo the elephant. Meanwhile, the leaders of several nearby towns threatened not to allow the circus to visit if Mary was included. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the potentially ruinous situation was to kill the elephant in public. On the following day, a foggy and rainy September 13, 1916, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee, where a crowd of over 2,500 people (including most of the town's children) assembled in the Clinchfield Railroad yard.

The elephant was hanged by the neck from a railcar-mounted industrial crane. The first attempt resulted in a snapped chain, causing Mary to fall and break her hip as dozens of children fled in terror. The severely wounded elephant died during a second attempt and was buried beside the tracks. Although the authenticity of a widely distributed (and heavily retouched) photo of her death was disputed years later by Argosy magazine, other photographs taken during the incident confirm its provenance." the whole article is here

SO sad, poor Elephant should have never been in captivity in the first place. When I was in Thailand years ago, the girl I was with wanted to ride an Elephant. I went along with her even tho I didn't really want to and I will never do that again. The way they hit the elephant in the head with the sharp metal poker SUCKED, I wanted to grab it out of the guys hand and crack him in the head with it. I didn't tho bcuz I didn't want to end up dead in the Thai Jungle.