Jeff Smith's Parlor restoration: Locked horn moose, part 16

"Forever Locked: The Battling Bull Moose of Fowlertown"
Two bull moose that fought to the death when their antlers became entangled
in a forest in New Hampshire. Now on display at the L. L. Bean store.

(Click image to enlarge)

The actual moose from Jeff Smith's Parlor
(photo by Bob Lyon)

 
(Click image to enlarge)

he two photographs above are not of the same display. The top photo is to give the reader an idea of what the locked horn moose display from Jeff Smith's Parlor sort of looked like. I found the top photograph by Googling "moose with locked horns" and was surprised at how many images there were of two moose who had died with their horns locked.

      Bob Lyon, the park service historian who has been keeping us posted on the progress of the restoration project on Jeff Smith's Parlor, took the lower photograph a number of months ago as it sat in storage, but a recent post from the internal NPS website indicates the two moose had to be moved to save them from damage. Mr. Lyon sent me the message.

Tuesday, September 25

Maintenance staff offers sanctuary to stuffed moose at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

      Klondike Gold Rush NHP’s maintenance staff greatly assisted a pair of dueling moose by shepherding them into a new temporary residence on September 14. Moving the enormous taxidermy mount required a ten-person crew and a flat-bed trailer. The new temporary residence for the moose is the Meyer’s Meat Market, a building that the park is restoring. The unusual taxidermy mount is part of the park’s museum collection and is scheduled to go back on display in Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum in 2016 after the museum’s restoration is complete.

      The moose had been temporarily placed in a storage unit outside of the park to allow space for restoration work in Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum. Museum staff recently found evidence of rodent activity and mild flooding around the taxidermy mount, and requested help from the Maintenance Division to find the moose a safer place to live while the mount’s permanent home is under construction. Storage in the Meyer’s Meat Market will provide the mount with rodent-proof, dry storage until its permanent home is ready. The Meyer’s Market space will also allow room for conservation work that needs to be performed on the taxidermy mount before exhibit. “The moose definitely fits in the category of large and unwieldy museum artifacts. We’re just so appreciative of the Maintenance crew and their willingness to help us with the moose’s care,” said Curator Samantha Richert.

      Skagway entrepreneur and showman Martin Itjen commissioned the moose mount after acquiring the skulls of two moose locked in combat. The mount was completed by local taxidermist Percy Colton in the 1930s, and became the centerpiece of a diorama in Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum. The diorama also includes taxidermy mounts of a deer, a wolf, a great horned owl, and a moose skull covered with barnacles. The park acquired both the Meyer’s Meat Market and Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum as part of the Rapuzzi Collection, which was donated by the Rasmuson Foundation and received in partnership with the Municipality of Skagway in 2007

(Submitted by Cindy Von Halle, KLGO)

 









Bob Lyon
Jeff Smith's Parlor restoration

February 4, 2009 (Part 1)
February 19, 2009 (Part 2)  
March 31, 2010 (Part 3)  
August 7, 2010 (Part 4) 
February 11, 2011 (Part 5) 
April 5, 2011 (Part 6)
May 8, 2011 (Part 7)
May 17, 2011 (Part 8)
November 20, 2011 (Part 9)
March 21, 2012 (Part 10)
March 30, 2012 (Part 11)
June 20, 2012 (Part 12)
August 8, 2012 (Part 13)
August 29, 2012 (Part 14)
September 1, 2012 (Part 15)

"With regard to Mr. Soapy Smith’s business, to be sure he wraps up a $50-bill in a soap package, puts it down in his bag, and the person that buys it probably don’t get the $50; but if people don’t want to lose they shouldn’t buy a package of soap. If they don’t want to lose a jack-pot, they shouldn’t put up their ante. I have often backed three queens with a $50-bill and lost the pot, but I had no one to blame but myself. "

—Judge Belford (Soapy’s attorney)
Rocky Mountain News, August 6, 1889.