Editing Hugo, Oklahoma (section)

==Circus City==
Beginning in 1941, when the Al G. Kelly and Miller Brothers Circus relocated to Hugo from Kansas, there have been circuses based in this city. The Kelly and Miller Brothers were recruited by Vernon and Jewell Pratt, a local couple who owned a grocery store. In return the circus offered free Sunday performances for many years.

Hugo became a popular wintering place for circus and rodeo companies, because of its mild climate.  Townspeople and circus people formed relationships and collaborated on civic projects. An estimated twenty circuses at times were based in Hugo, and in 2018 three still operate here: Carson and Barnes, Kelly Miller, and Culpepper & Merriweather. All are tent circuses that travel the region by road.<ref name="winick">{{cite web|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/12/everybody-works-documenting-circus-life-in-hugo-oklahoma/|title=Everybody Works: Documenting Circus Life in Hugo, Oklahoma|last1=Finchum|first1=Tanya|last2=Nykolaiszyn|first2= Juliana| work=Blog: Folklife Today|publisher=Library of Congress|date=29 December 2018|access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>

David Rawls (born 1948) grew up in a circus family, who performed with Famous Cole Circus. In addition to performing on trampoline with his brother, he later learned all aspects of the business. In 1984 he became owner/manager of his own show, Kelly Miller Circus. He sold it in 2009. During this period, he also had been selected as City Manager of Hugo for a time, and was elected and served as Mayor of the city at another time.<ref name="winick"/>

A portion of Mt. Olivet Cemetery was set aside as Showmen's Rest: buried here were circus owner D. R. Miller and rodeo cowboys Freckles Brown, Lane Frost, and Todd Whatley.