Modoc Overnight

Modoc the elephant spent her third night of freedom in the woods to the north. Somewhere near here, Kenneth Kindley and Modoc ran into each other. Kenneth was left with a spinal injury which had him walking with the aid of a pair of crutches for the rest of his life.

Modoc the elephant spent her third night of freedom in the woods to the north. Somewhere near here a group of men surrounded her trying to aid in her capture. When she broke through the circle Kenneth Kindley and Modoc ran into each other. Kenneth was left with a spinal injury which had him walking with the aid of a pair of crutches for the rest of his life.

Her journey began on Wednesday, November 11^th, 1942, when she and her sister pachyderms were waiting to enter the gymnasium at the Wabash high school for a fund raiser. A pack of dogs began barking and running through the elephant’s legs. All three elephants left the scene. Empress and Judy didn’t go far and were soon back under control, but not before making a mess in nearby basement. Modoc ran further. Far enough that she caught the enticing smell of roasting peanuts in the Bradley Drug Store at the corner of South Miami and Market Streets. Entering the store, she did considerable damage, but made away with a belly full of fresh-roasted peanuts. From there she was off to IN-13. That night she crossed the Wabash. Thursday, she made it past Lagro then had a rest in a thicket. Friday morning, she was near the Salamonie and had an encounter with a female reporter that escaped by climbing a nearby tree. Modoc continued her escape, crossing either the Wabash or Salamonie Rivers as necessary to elude her pursuit. By Friday morning she was on the J. R. McDaniel home, and/or a little ways away in an extensive thicket that was on a farm belonging to Glenn Barnett and where a man named Kenneth Kindley lived. Police and well-meaning locals surrounded the area. Somehow, Modoc was scared further and in making her escape “rolled” on Mr. Kindley, injuring him so badly the papers gave him only a 50-50 chance of surviving. After her escape, she started towards Monument City putting a panic into the townsfolk who immediately hid or left the area. She circumvented the town and wound up in another copse of trees on the farm of Lloyd and Claude Krieg. (See tour stop Modoc Capture.) One more cold night and then she was captured as the sun set Sunday evening.

Today, Bradley’s Drug Store is called Modoc’s Market in memory of her escapades there. Kenneth Kindley survived and was given the nickname “Modoc Man.” Unfortunately, his encounter with the elephant left him permanently disabled; he was only able to walk with the aid of two crutches.

1. Various news articles from November 1942 from local and non-local papers describing her escapades. Collected in a History Topic file at the Huntington City-Township Public Library.
2. Chicago Tribune, Friday 13 Nov 1942, page 4
3. Highway and Drainage Map of Huntington County, Indiana. 1949. [County Engineering Office.]