Pete Geissler

Who Murdered Jumbo? Pete Geissler

September 15, 1885, 8:15PM, Saint Thomas, Ontario: Circus workers are loading elephants on the train that will take them to a tomorrow's performances in a nearby town. The workers have ignored simple safety rules and a special freight train piloted by an experienced engineer rams and kills Jumbo, history's most famous and beloved elephant and the world's first animal superstar. Join Sarah Scrivener, America's first female investigative journalist, as she unwinds this twisted, bizarre, inexplicable death that plunged the world into infinite sadness. Was Jumbo's death a gory accident? An elaborate hoax perpetrated by the master of hoax, P. T. Barnum? A conspiracy to commit murder for fame and fortune? If so, who were the conspirators? Was Matthew Scott, Jumbo's devoted keeper, petty thief, and clever negotiator, part of a scam? Was Frank Perley, Barnum's enthusiastic publicist? Henry Ward, his taxidermist? Only Barnum and others in his inner circle know for certain, and they took their certainty to the grave.