Editing Jumbo (section)

==Death==
[[Image:Jumbo04.dead.jpg|thumb|left|Jumbo after being hit by a locomotive on September 15, 1885, in [[St. Thomas, Ontario]]]]
[[File:Interior view of Barnum Museum with Jumbo.jpg|thumb|An 1889 photograph of Jumbo at [[Barnum Hall]] on the [[Tufts University]] campus, the taxidermy work of [[Carl Akeley]]]]
[[File:Jumbo the elephant - 3b52419u.jpg|thumb|Poster of Jumbo's skeleton]]
[[File:Tail fragments of Jumbo.jpg|thumb|left|Surviving fragments of Jumbo from the conflagration<ref>{{cite web|author1=Maeda|author-link1=Wendy|title=A Portion Of Jumbo The Elephant's Tail At Tufts University|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portion-of-jumbo-the-elephants-tail-is-housed-at-tufts-news-photo/134858467#portion-of-jumbo-the-elephants-tail-is-housed-at-tufts-university-picture-id134858467|website=Getty Images|publisher=Boston Globe|access-date=19 December 2016}}</ref>]]
Jumbo died at a railway [[classification yard]] in [[St. Thomas, Ontario]], Canada, on September 15, 1885. In those days, the circus crisscrossed North America by train. St. Thomas was the perfect location for a circus because many rail lines converged there. Jumbo and the other animals had finished their performances that night, and as they were being led to their box car, a train came down the track. Jumbo was hit and mortally wounded, dying within minutes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Friday January 5, 2018 Full Text Transcript|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-january-05-2018-1.4473373/friday-january-5-2018-full-text-transcript-1.4475448#segment2|work=CBC Radio|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=David Suzuki|title=Jumbo: The Life Of An Elephant Superstar|url=http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/jumbo-the-life-of-an-elephant-superstar|agency=CBC|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Tufts Magazine, Spring, 2002">{{cite journal|author=Susan Wilson|date=Spring 2002|title=An Elephant's Tale|url=http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html|url-status=dead|journal=[[Tufts Magazine]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123215504/http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html|archive-date=January 23, 2015}}</ref>

Barnum told the (possibly fictional) story that Tom Thumb, a young circus elephant, was walking on the railroad tracks and Jumbo was attempting to lead him to safety. Barnum claimed that the locomotive hit and killed Tom Thumb before it derailed and hit Jumbo, and other witnesses supported Barnum's account. According to newspapers, the freight train hit Jumbo directly, killing him, while Tom Thumb suffered a broken leg.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2010/09/08/jumbo_the_elephant_leaves_a_big_legend_in_southern_ontario.html|title=Jumbo the elephant leaves a big legend in southern Ontario|last=Brennan|first=Pat|date=2010-09-08|work=[[The Toronto Star]]|access-date=2018-01-23|language=en-CA|issn=0319-0781}}</ref><ref>"Jumbo's Death", ''[[The Globe (Toronto newspaper)|The Globe]]'', September 17, 1885, p. 1.</ref>

Many metallic objects were found in the elephant's stomach, including [[History of the British penny (1714–1901)|English pennies]], keys, rivets, and a [[police whistle]].{{efn|"A postmortem revealed his stomach to contain 'a hat-full' of English pennies, gold and silver coins, stones, a bunch of keys, lead seals from railway trucks, trinkets of metal and glass, screws, rivets, pieces of wire and a police whistle."<ref>{{cite book|last=Meredith|first=Martin|title=Elephant Destiny: Biography of an Endangered Species in Africa|year=2009|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-0786728381|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYtYbS7QA7MC&q=jumbo%20elephant%20metal%20stomach&pg=PA117|access-date=16 January 2013|page=117}}</ref>}}

Ever the showman, Barnum had portions of his star attraction separated, to have multiple sites attracting curious spectators. After touring with Barnum's circus,<ref name=rochester>{{cite web|title=Jumbo: From Our Special Collections|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3599|publisher=University of Rochester Libraries|access-date=2 January 2014}}</ref>  the skeleton was donated to the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[New York City]], where it remains.<ref name = "Immolation" /><ref name="nyt">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/22/arts/barnum-s-jumbo-is-back-in-museum-s-center-ring.html | title=Barnum's Jumbo Is Back In Museum's Center Ring | first=Glenn | last=Collins | date=22 January 1993 | newspaper=[[New York Times]] | access-date=10 December 2017 }}</ref> The elephant's heart was sold to [[Burt Green Wilder]] of [[Cornell University]], and had been lost by the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001 |title=Guide to the Jumbo the Elephant Material |url=https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMA03205.html |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Cornell Rare Manuscript Collections}}</ref> Jumbo's hide was stuffed by William J. Critchley and [[Carl Akeley]], both of [[Ward's Natural Science]], who stretched it during the mounting process; the mounted specimen traveled with Barnum's circus for two years.<ref name=rochester />

Barnum eventually donated the stuffed Jumbo to [[Tufts University]], where it was displayed at [[Barnum Museum of Natural History|P.T. Barnum Hall]] there for many years. The hide was destroyed in a fire in April 1975.<ref name = "Immolation" /> Ashes from that fire, which are believed to contain the elephant's remains, are kept in a 14-ounce [[Peter Pan (peanut butter)|Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter]] jar in the office of the Tufts athletic director, while his taxidermied tail, removed during earlier renovations, resides in the holdings of the Tufts Archival Research Center.<ref name="Tufts Magazine, Spring, 2002"/> Jumbo is the official [[Tufts University]] athletic mascot.<ref name="Tufts-mascot">{{cite web|title=Jumbo the Elephant, Tufts' Mascot|url=http://www.tufts.edu/home/get_to_know_tufts/history/jumbo/|publisher=[[Tufts University]]|access-date=27 December 2013}}</ref>