1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I'm happy to report 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: that this story involved one of my very favorite headlines 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: I have ever come across in a newspaper. Oh good, 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: I'll point it out when we get there. This is 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: a story that is to this jay debated in terms 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: of its truthfulness. But what I found really fascinating was 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: being able to examine how it was written about and 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: perceived during the time it was happening. And it was 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: written about a lot, because it's quite a story, so 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: I had plenty of things to go through. This is 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: a story that any of our listeners from Texas probably 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 1: know because today we are talking about Old Rip, a 15 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: much beloved legendary reptile for our animal enthusiasts and biologists 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: in the crowd. I feel like I should apologize upfront 17 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: because the write ups of the events that we're talking 18 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: about today played really fast and loose with terminology, using 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: the words frog, toad, and lizard completely interchangeably. I think 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: I tried to correct most of the ones where we 21 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: are talking to lizard, but I may have not done 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: that everywhere, so we'll try our best. There's quoted material, 23 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: there's so much quoted material that call it a frog. Yeah. 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: I'll also say that as the sort of person who 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: catches bees and spiders and takes them outside, I just 26 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: found like the setup of this a little disturbing. Agreed. 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: I have thoughts to share on Friday about sure animals 28 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: and their treatment. Yeah. Yeah, so just brace I guess 29 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: if you're also the sort of person that if you 30 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: found a little reptile, we're like, oh, I'm gonna carefully 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: take you outside. Just no human behavior not always cool. Yeah. So, 32 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: so we're all on the same page about what animal 33 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: we are actually talking about and what that animal actually is. 34 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: While it has often been called a Texas horned toad 35 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: and as we just said, also a frog, it is 36 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,559 Speaker 1: really a lizard. There are more than a dozen species 37 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: of horned lizards in North America. They all fall under 38 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: the genus Frinisoma. The Texas horned lizard is Frenisoma cornutum. 39 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: Please excuse my Latin. So, yes, this is one of 40 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: the lizards that can shoot blood from its eyes to 41 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: ward off predators. But that is not at a tale 42 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: in today's particular story. Yeah, it's actually coming out of 43 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 1: its eyelid when it does that, but that's usually to 44 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: ward off much bigger predators like coyotes that might think 45 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: it's tasty. Never comes up in today's story. The horns 46 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: of the horny lizard form this sort of crown on 47 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: the animal's head. There are slight different variations from species 48 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: to species, and in the Texas horned lizard there are 49 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: two prominent horns on the skull and then smaller horns 50 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: around it, and then there are these stripes of spikes 51 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: which are sometimes called fringe, that run down the body. 52 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: They're very cute. I see why they got called frogs 53 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: or toads because they have a very rounded body compared 54 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: to the sort of like linear appearance of many lizards. 55 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: They're not very big animals though, they're just three and 56 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: a half to five inches in length that's about eight 57 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: point nine to twelve point seven centimeters. Their main diet 58 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: is harvest or ants. That's actually where they get most 59 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: of the not just their nutrients, but also their water. 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: They live an average of about seven years. They're most 61 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: commonly found in the mid southern areas of the us SO, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, 62 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: and New Mexico, and then south into northern Mexico. They 63 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: also go into broomation. That's the reptile version of a 64 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: mammal's hibernation. They do that from late autumn to early spring, 65 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: and they kind of burrow into the ground and bury 66 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: themselves for winter. The story of Eastland, Texas and its 67 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: horned lizard goes like this. In eighteen ninety seven, Eastland 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: had grown to the point where it needed to have 69 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: a proper city hall built, and as part of that project, 70 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: the community included a little time capsule in the cornerstone 71 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: of the building while it was under construction. In that 72 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: time capsule were a newspaper, some coins, a bible, other 73 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: odds and ends to represent life in the town at 74 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteenth century. All of this sounds 75 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: very normal for a time capsule, and also the pet 76 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,679 Speaker 1: horny toad of a boy named will Wood, so Willwood's father, 77 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: Ernest Wood, recounted this story for the papers years later. 78 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: Ernest was going to be involved in the laying of 79 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: this cornerstone for the new building because he was a 80 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: county clerk, but he was also a member of the 81 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: town's band. He played coronet, which was playing at the ceremony. 82 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: He is very connected to all the things going on 83 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: this day, and Wood told reporters that when he left 84 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: for the day to go to this event, he noticed 85 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: his son Will playing with what he called a horned frog. 86 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: It was this horned lizard that the boy had caught 87 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: and made into a pet. And Wood believed the old 88 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: saying that a Texas horned toad could live for a 89 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: hundred years, and so he thought this would be a 90 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: good way to prove it and a fun thing to 91 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: include in this little project. So he handed this animal 92 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: off to a friend who was involved with the time capsule, 93 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: and that friend saw to it that the lizard, which 94 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: was named Blinkie, into the cornerstone. Over the course of 95 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: the next thirty years, the town grew quickly, so quickly 96 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: that it outgrew that eighteen ninety seven courthouse structure. Plans 97 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: were made to raise that structure to make room for 98 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: a new building, and on Saturday, February eighteenth, nineteen twenty eight, 99 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: the demolition was underway and the time capsule was bed. 100 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: Several of the town's most prominent citizens were on hand 101 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: for this event, and people knew there was a horned 102 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: lizard in there somewhere. The Eastland Argus Tribune and other 103 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: papers wrote about it in the days leading up to 104 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: the opening of the Time Capsule. Accounts estimated that fifteen 105 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: hundred people were in attendance at the opening. Yeah, and 106 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: it does appear that Ernest Wood was the one who 107 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: reminded everybody, hey, you remember we put that lizard in there, 108 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: we should get a lot of people to see if 109 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: it's still alive, because he thought it was going to be. 110 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: When this cornerstone was excavated and opened, an oil man 111 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: who was part of the town named Eugene Day was 112 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: the one to brave, sticking his hand into the open 113 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 1: cavity to retrieve the lizard. That lizard got handed off 114 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: to County Judge Edward S. Pritchard, who held it up 115 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,239 Speaker 1: by its hind leg to show to the gathered crowd, 116 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,679 Speaker 1: and it looked dusty and still, and then, according to legend, 117 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: the other leg twitched the other back leg, and the 118 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: lizard is said to have exhibited signs of breathing, and 119 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: then the crowd just erupted in cheers, and the days 120 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: immediately after this astonishing situation, the people who had witnessed 121 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: the opening of the box were asked to give statements 122 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: to the press about what had happened. Ed Pritchard, the 123 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: County Judge, said that quote, the frog was in the 124 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: cornerstone at its opening, and the stone gave no evidence 125 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: of having been opened prior to that time. Employees of 126 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: the construction company that was handling the tear down of 127 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: the building also corroborated that the frog was in the cornerstone, 128 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: and that the cornerstone appeared to have not been touched 129 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: between its original positioning in eighteen ninety seven and that 130 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: day in February, a superintendent of the demolition named H. A. 131 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: Park stated quote, the stone had not been tampered with. 132 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: One of his employees, a man named Roy Wheatley, said 133 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: that he had opened the stone with a pick himself, 134 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: that it had not been opened before that moment, and 135 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: that the frog, as he called it, was in the stone. 136 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: A Baptist minister, Reverend fe Singleton, had been on hand 137 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: for the opening of the cornerstone and was the first 138 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: person to see the frog. According to accounts, he exclaimed, 139 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: there's the frog. When the demolition team Pride open the cornerstone. 140 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: There was also assurance in the paper that quote spectators 141 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: of unimpeachable integrity declare that a frog was taken from 142 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: the box on February nineteenth, nineteen twenty eight. The following 143 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: article was published by the Associated Press and was picked 144 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: up by newspapers around the US. Quote A horned toad 145 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: sealed alive in the cornerstone of the courthouse here in Eastland, 146 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: Texas thirty one years ago, was alive when the stone 147 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: was removed yesterday. According to Judge Pritchard, the old courthouse 148 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: is being raised. It is a West Texas tradition that 149 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: a horned toad can exist century without food or water. 150 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: A skeptical newspaperman had to judge verify the report that 151 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,839 Speaker 1: the toad was alive when taken from its long intubment. 152 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: After the cornerstone was removed, the toad appeared lifeless for 153 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: some time, but in a little while it opened its eyes. 154 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: In about twenty minutes it began to breathe. The mouth, however, 155 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: appeared to have grown together. Efforts will be made to 156 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: induce the toad to take food, and if necessary, the 157 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: mouth will be opened by an operation. The toad is 158 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: now on exhibition. That exhibition really just meant that the 159 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: specimen had been put on display in a store window. 160 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: It was technically in the care of county officials, but 161 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: interest in the creature was so great that placing it 162 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: somewhere that people could come and look at it for 163 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,719 Speaker 1: themselves was probably the best possible scenario. People observed as 164 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: the lizard, which the town nicknamed Old Rip in a 165 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,599 Speaker 1: nod to Rip dan Winkle, became more and more animated 166 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: in its movement as time. Allegedly, there were offers made 167 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: to buy this unique creature for significant amounts of money. 168 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: On February twentieth, the Associated Press article was released that claimed, quote, 169 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 1: more than ten thousand persons from all parts of this 170 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: country yesterday viewed the frog which is on display in 171 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: the window of a local drug store. Aside from being 172 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: slightly emaciated in a front leg, the frog was in 173 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: normal condition. This notice recounts the lizard having seemed dead 174 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: when the box was open, showing quote slight signs of 175 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: its breathing, and it states that it is quote about 176 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: the size of the palm of a human hand. It 177 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: also mentioned that the creature would be kept in confinement 178 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: for as long as it lived. Eventually, Ripp's mouth did 179 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: become unsealed, and after that he ate a steady diet 180 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: of ants and cockroaches. If you're thinking disbelieving thoughts, you 181 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: are not alone. And we will talk about the reaction 182 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: to the news of this resurrected lizard in nineteen twenty 183 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: eight after we return from a sponsor break. So listen. 184 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: All of this old rip talk sounds unbelievable, and people 185 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: thought so. In nineteen twenty eight two, an article titled 186 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: Texas horned frog upsets scientists was published by the Associated 187 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: Press on February twentieth. That's circulated throughout the country, and 188 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: it includes a quote from doctor William M. Man, director 189 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: of the National Zoological Park. Doctor Man's statement reads as follows. Quote. 190 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:39,839 Speaker 1: A horned toad, which as a matter of fact, is 191 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: not a toad at all, but a variety of lizard, 192 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: is a surface creature and could live only a short 193 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: time without air and food. Doctor Man mentions that there 194 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: are instances that the creature can go for several months 195 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: without eating, presumably referring to the natural brumation cycle. But 196 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: he continued his assertion that thirty one years was aposterous, 197 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: stating quote, under no circumstances, however, would it be possible 198 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: for a toad to retain life for thirty one years 199 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: inside of an airtight cell. Two other biologists, doctor dB 200 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: Castile and doctor J. T. Patterson, both from Texas, were 201 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: also consulted for their take on the horned lizard situation. 202 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: Neither was willing to denounce the claim completely on record, 203 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: but noted that there was no other known instance of 204 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: such an occurrence that would offer precedent. It definitely seems 205 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: like these two did not want to reign on anyone's parade. 206 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: They made it clear that they were not reptile specialists, 207 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: and then they named several other experts that the papers 208 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: should contact yeah biologists, but were neither of us specializes 209 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: in reptiles. Doctor Raymond L. Ditmars, who was the curator 210 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: of Mammals and Reptiles at the Bronx Zoo in nineteen 211 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: twenty eight when all of this happened, weighed in and 212 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: he deemed the story of the animals survival quote utterly impossible. 213 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: Doctor Dintmar shared the same information about the species that 214 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: other biologists had, mentioning that a horned lizard could go 215 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: without food for three or four months, and without water, 216 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: possibly as long as six months, but breathing was going 217 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: to be an issue. But there were a couple of 218 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: prominent animal experts who thought the story might have some validity. 219 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: One was doctor William Temple Hornday. He served as the 220 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 1: Director General, Curator and Curator of Mammals for the New 221 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: York Zoological Gardens now known as the Bronx Zoo for 222 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: twenty seven years, and had retired from that job two 223 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: years before Eastland's miracle reptile made news. When asked about 224 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: the likelihood of a reptile surviving thirty one years entombed, 225 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: Horniday cited an example of another seemingly impossible animal survival story. 226 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: He told a reporter quote, I was in Ceylon digging 227 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: for elephant bones and tusks in sand which had been 228 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: packed so hard it had almost the consistency of rock. 229 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: So far as could be observed, that sand had been 230 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: lying there for a thousand years, and this impermeable mass 231 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: about two feet beneath the surface, we uncovered a frog 232 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: which was absolutely entombed there. Fortunately, it escaped spades and 233 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: pickaxes and was lifted out alive. Its stomach was full 234 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: of water, which it ejected and then hopped away. It 235 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: opened my eyes to the possibilities of things at which 236 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: the scientists are prone to scoff. It was impossible for 237 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: that frog to have entered the excavation after it had 238 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: been dug. It was uncovered by a shovel in part 239 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: of the soil which had not been touched. There was 240 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: no fissure or burrow anywhere in that indurated mass. Doctor 241 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: Hornaday's story is something we can't really verify, but it's 242 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: interesting that he really broke from the herd of other 243 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: animal experts to suggest that sometimes unexplainable things happened. Incidentally, 244 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: he's pretty interesting and sometimes horrifying, and might be an 245 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: episode himself at some point. Yeah, deeply horrifying. Another was 246 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: Prentice E. Reid of Sherman, Texas. Mister Reid was a 247 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: professor of biology and he was head of the Austin 248 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: College Biology department, and he actually had a similar take 249 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: to Hornaday, although he did not have examples of similar 250 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: stories to tell. He actually said he couldn't think of 251 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: any case on record like the one in Eastland, but 252 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: he did think that if the conditions were right, an 253 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: animal might survive. Specifically, he thought that there would need 254 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: to have been a bit of moisture sealed into the 255 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: cornerstone with the lizard. Less than a week after the 256 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: alleged revival of the Eastland lizard, a collection of articles 257 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: under the banner frog question Acute and Threatens to Become 258 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: National appeared in the Wichita Falls Times paper. Is that 259 00:15:55,600 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: your favorite headline Holly of all time? The headline at 260 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: all of page six of the paper on February twenty six. 261 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: Then about eighty percent of the text on the page 262 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: is about the toad, with small subheaders that approached the 263 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: topic from different angles. The first chunk of text makes 264 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: it pretty clear that this entire debate is tongue in cheek. 265 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: The opening paragraph reads quote information received by the Time 266 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: Saturday on the horned toad question, which has arrayed brother 267 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: against brother, wife against husband, and children against parents through 268 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: the length and breadth of this country. Indicated that the 269 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: controversy will probably be an issue in the forthcoming presidential campaign. 270 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: An effort will be made to have a congressional investigation 271 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: of the matter. It was learned in order that the 272 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: public may have all the facts. Yeah, this is like 273 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: the hot topic of the day. It's like, is the 274 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: dress blue or white? It? Was the lizard really alive 275 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: or was it in fact a fake? The paper then 276 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: shared that due to the high profile while toad news, 277 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: many readers had sent in stories of their own experiences 278 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: with toads, and in some cases allegedly brought their own 279 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: toads to the papers offices. We're using toads a lot here, 280 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 1: because that is the word the paper was using. One 281 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: account tells of the locals pet toad named Bull, which 282 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 1: sounds almost almost plausible, similarly long brumation type thing, But 283 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: then the reader realizes the whole thing is satire when 284 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: it's reported that Bull took voice lessons at the Chicago 285 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: Conservatory of Music. One of the offshoots of this entire 286 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,879 Speaker 1: alleged revival of old rip was the desire to entomb 287 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 1: another Texas horned lizard in the new Courthouse. When construction began, 288 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 1: a toad was sealed into a cornerstone of the new structure, 289 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: but this time concerned citizens criticized the move and took 290 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,399 Speaker 1: legal action to prevent another animal being purposely sealed in 291 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,160 Speaker 1: a construction project. On May fourteenth, nineteen twenty eight, an 292 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: article appeared in the New York Times which read quote, 293 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: a group of humanely inclined citizens obtained a court order 294 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 1: today against the ceiling of a horned toad in the 295 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: corner of the New Courthouse, and the toad placed in 296 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: the stone Saturday was release, none the worse for its 297 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: forty eight hour and tument. Despite the debates and the doubters, 298 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: almost immediately people everywhere wanted horned frogs of their own 299 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: to keep his pets. People as far away as Australia 300 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: ordered them from Eastland, and when Houston hosted the National 301 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,959 Speaker 1: Democratic Convention in June of nineteen twenty eight, so just 302 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: a few months later, the most popular souvenir there was 303 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: a live horned frog, which could be purchased for two 304 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: dollars or fifty cents. There was an entire pop up 305 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,719 Speaker 1: industry of shipping these animals to buyers around the world, 306 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: which depleted the local population to the point that the 307 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: Department of Agriculture got involved. A bulletin was published explaining 308 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: that the drop in horned lizards because they were all 309 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: being shipped away, was impacting crops because the insects that 310 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: they normally ate were going unchecked and then could attack plants. 311 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say it's not a great idea to 312 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: introduce no reptiles into different places. As this horned lizard 313 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: mania grew, demands to see Old Rip did as well. 314 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: Since will Wood, who was now an adult in his thirties, 315 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: was still alive and Old Rip had been his pet, 316 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: he once again claimed ownership over the celebrity reptile, and 317 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: will took him to Dallas for a theatrical run in 318 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: a venue there. This led to issues back home, though 319 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: Eastland was still getting waves of tourists who had come 320 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: to see Old Rip, and when he was not there 321 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: but in Dallas, they were disappointed. Will Wood decided to 322 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: bring the lizard back to his hometown, but the theater 323 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: owners in Dallas didn't want to lose the tourism revenue either, 324 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: and they sued for breach of contract. As part of 325 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: this legal tangle, Old Rip was taken into custody and 326 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: it cost will Wood a thousand dollars to get him back. Additionally, 327 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: the city of Eastland felt that it was technically the 328 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: owner of the lizard. All this happened very quickly, in 329 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: the space of a week after Rip had been pulled 330 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: from the cornerstone. Will Would, Eastland and Dallas appear to 331 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: have worked things out. It's not entirely clear what those 332 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: terms were, but once those legalities were settled, an actual 333 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: tour for Rip was planned at the Saint Louis Geological Gardens. 334 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: He was said to have drawn forty thousand visitors in 335 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: a single day. He went to New York City, and 336 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: there filmmakers made short movies of him. A bug wrangler 337 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: was even hired to catch food for Rip at the 338 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,400 Speaker 1: rate of fifty cents per insect. You would bring those 339 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: bugs to the set and they would film him eating. 340 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: When Will and Rip visited Indianapolis, the local press described 341 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: Rip's living quarters to readers quote a fish globe with 342 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: a trifle of sand at the bottom, and gcribed the 343 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: famous reptile as quote hard to interview, noting that quote 344 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: horn toads or perhaps not good conversationalists by nature. The 345 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: lizard gained such a level of celebrity that in May 346 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty eight, President Calvin Coolidge was given a 347 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: chance to see it as part of Old Rips tour. 348 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: Will Wood was actually fifteen minutes late to the meeting 349 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: because of a bit of confusion on his part. He 350 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: first went to the office of Texas Senator Earl B. Mayfield, 351 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: who had arranged the visit, instead of going directly to 352 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: the White House. At the time, the toad was quote 353 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: wrapped not too handsomely in a bundle of newspaper and 354 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: accompanied by Senator Mayfield and other prominent Texans. When it 355 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: was brought before the President, will Wood told Coolidge Old 356 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: Rip's story and answered the President's questions about the lizard. 357 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: According to a newspaper account, quote, mister Coolidge, though amused, 358 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: limited himself to looking at the creature and touching it 359 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: with his spectacles. I will confess that when I first 360 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: read that quote, I thought it was one of those 361 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: like plays on words, like touch with your eyes, not 362 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: with your hands. But in fact, he apparently did run 363 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 1: the edge of his spectacles along the lizard's back, but 364 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: he wouldn't actually touch it with his hand. Maybe he 365 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: thought that he would get warts, which is another common 366 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:29,239 Speaker 1: myth about the animals. Maybe so, after that audience with 367 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 1: Calvin Coolidge, Will and Old Rip headed back to Eastland, 368 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: and there Rip became part of Will's family for a 369 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: little while. Six months later, Old Rip died on January nineteenth, 370 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty nine. Some modern write ups mentioned his cause 371 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: of death as pneumonia. It's not clear to me where 372 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: that information may have come from. Maybe some reptile expert 373 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 1: determined that was the case. Did they do a chest 374 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: X ray? I mean, animals could certainly get pneumonia, but 375 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: I'm dubious that a nineteen twenty nine veterinarian would have 376 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: done that because they did not do an autopsy, because 377 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: they did something else. We'll talk about Old rips life 378 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: after death after we hear from the sponsors that keep 379 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: the show going. Even in death, Old Rip retained his 380 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: celebrity status in Eastland. A small mausoleum was made for 381 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: him in the new Courthouse, with a glass lids that 382 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,159 Speaker 1: people could peer inside. An eight inch long casket with 383 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: a red velvet lining was specially made so visitors would 384 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: see Old rips carefully preserved body in the most luxurious 385 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: and regal state imaginable. There was also an image of 386 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: Old Rip carved into the entryway of the building. When 387 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: the ten year anniversary of Old Rips Unboxing approached, the 388 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: story was once again in the papers, this time The 389 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: Fort Worth Star Telegram recounted the entire tale and had 390 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,959 Speaker 1: Boyce House, the newspaperman who broke the story, originally write 391 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: the update. One of the main points of the write 392 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: up was that no one had ever disproven the legitimacy 393 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,919 Speaker 1: of the story of the lizard's thirty one year broomation. 394 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: No evidence of a prank or stunt had ever been revealed, 395 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,959 Speaker 1: and as the paper stated, quote, if it was false, 396 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: surely someone who was on the inside would have unwittingly 397 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: given it the secret away. House also wrote that once 398 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: the cornerstone had been opened quote, the Eastland frog became 399 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: the most famous animal since the serpent in the Garden 400 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: of Eden. Old Rip made headline news again in nineteen 401 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: sixty one, this time it had nothing to do with 402 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,120 Speaker 1: the longevity debate. The reptile on display at the Eastland 403 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: County Courthouse was stolen, or, perhaps more accurately, lizard nap 404 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: because there was a ransom note. It was noticed that 405 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: Rip was missing on Wednesday, September twenty seventh, nineteen sixty one, 406 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: a search of the building was begun. Newspaper accounts don't 407 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: list where the ransom note was found, merely that it 408 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: was discovered and it read quote, if you want your 409 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: famous frog back, get ten thousand dollars. Instructions will follow, 410 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: but no ransom was paid. According to an account in 411 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: the Austin American Statesman from September twenty ninth, quote, a 412 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: telephone call from an unnamed person cleared up the mystery. Yesterday, however, 413 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: when Sheriff LEEH. Horn was told that Old Rip was 414 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: in a paper sack in Room four hundred of the 415 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: Eastland National Bank Building, officers found Rip and returned him 416 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: to his red casket in the courthouse. It was never 417 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: discovered who took the reptile, and the article merely states, 418 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: quote A lot of people think they know, but no 419 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: one has been convicted. And that was not the only 420 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: time that Rip was lizard napped. The next disappearance happened 421 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: in April nineteen seventy two, and this one has its 422 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: own layers of intrigue. Mayor HV. O'Brien, who was newly elected, 423 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 1: asked the public for the toad napper to please return Rip. 424 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: Not long after the town mascot had vanished. A search 425 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: win underway, just as before, and this time someone found 426 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: him pretty quickly. Where not entirely clear but soon he 427 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: was back in his display case, or was he. Four 428 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: years after that second disappearance, the fort Worth Star Telegram 429 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: received an anonymous letter. The letter writer claimed that they 430 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: had taken Rip in nineteen seventy two, and that they 431 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: in fact still had him. The found version of Rip 432 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: on display had four intact feet, whereas the original only 433 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: had three, apparently from an interaction with politician John Connolly, 434 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: who visited Eastland during his nineteen sixty two campaign for 435 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 1: governor and picked Rip up, damaging his leg. This currently 436 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: viewable Rip was, according to this letter, a fake. The 437 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 1: letter writer shared with the Star Telegram that they had 438 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: been part of a team of three hoaxters who had 439 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: snuck a live lizard into the courthouse cornerstone shortly before 440 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: it was publicly opened in nineteen twenty eight. They wrote 441 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: to the paper quote, in recent years, I have become 442 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: increasingly regretful of my actions so long ago, and so 443 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,919 Speaker 1: after all these years, I realized that I would have 444 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: to act again to rectify the unfortunate situation for which 445 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: I was partially responsible. Confronted with the fact that the 446 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:44,239 Speaker 1: city of Eastland was building its future around a dried up, 447 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: horned frog, this was not the first letter from this 448 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: lizard Napper. The first one had actually been sent in 449 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two and Rip had vanished, and it offered 450 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: a five thousand dollars reward to anyone who could prove 451 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: that Rip had survived thirty one years in a cornerstone 452 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy six letters, So the second letter doubled 453 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: down that amount to ten thousand dollars, with the added 454 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: challenge to prove that the one that had been found 455 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: and was on display was the real Rip. It doesn't 456 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: seem that anyone ever collected any cash, so no one 457 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 1: rose up to those challenges, and it sort of seems 458 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: like at least some people just accepted that, no, this 459 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: probably was not the original rip, but they also didn't 460 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 1: seem too chagrined about it. In a nineteen seventy seven 461 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: right up in The Odessa American, the story of Rip 462 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: is relayed and it ends with quote Rip later died 463 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 1: and his body was eventually stolen from the Eastland County 464 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: Courthouse and was never returned. But on September seventeenth, Old 465 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: Rip Spirit will prevail at the first Annual International Old 466 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: Rip Memorial. Hornytoad racing competition, Rip had become such a 467 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: legend that maybe the particulars and the veracity of the 468 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: story just weren't all that critical anymore. In the decades 469 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: since the nineteen seventies, Old Rip has been honored in 470 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: a variety of ways, and now on the first Saturday 471 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: of October each year you can visit rip Fest, which 472 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: has an art festival, a pageant, a parade, and even 473 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: an Old Rip five k. Today, the Texas horned lizards 474 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: an a state of decline in some areas. While some 475 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: populations are stable, others have seen a significant drop off. 476 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: The Texas horned lizard is currently classified as a threatened 477 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: species in the state Oklahoma lists it as a species 478 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: of special concern and a species of greatest conservation need. 479 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: According to researchers working in the twenty teens, the biggest 480 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: problems for the Texas horned lizards survival were our habitat 481 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: destruction and invasive ant species. Yeah in particular, red ants 482 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: are really moving into the territory of the ants that 483 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: these lizards normally eat, and so they are losing their 484 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:05,239 Speaker 1: food sources. You can incidentally, still visit Old Riff at 485 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: the Eastland Courthouse though he is probably not going anywhere. 486 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: Probably one never knows. Do you have a listener mail 487 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: for us? I do. This is from our listener Lucy. 488 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: It is about our Human Hovel episode, and she writes, 489 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: high Holly and Tracy. My name is Lucy and I 490 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: live in Canberra, Australia. I'm sure I'm pronouncing that slightly 491 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: differently than most Australians. It just is what it is. 492 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: I write this as I'm driving home on the Hume Highway. 493 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: The highway runs between Sydney and Melbourne at eight hundred 494 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: eighty kilometers five hundred forty seven miles. I drive approximately 495 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: six hundred kilometers of that between Canberra and Melbourne. I 496 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: pulled out of a rest stop as your next episode 497 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: started playing into my surprise, it's Human Hovel. I've driven 498 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: this highway dozens of times throughout my life to visit 499 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,240 Speaker 1: family or to holiday in Melbourne. We also have a 500 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: William Hovel Drive in cam Brah and I commute on 501 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: it regularly. I had never heard the story of their expedition, 502 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: and I always love hearing your episodes related to Australian history. 503 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: I love the show and have listened to every episode 504 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: just finishing the most recent episodes that I saved for 505 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: this current road trip. I have attached pictures of my kiddies. 506 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: Marvin and Trillion goes by Trill. Keep up the great 507 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: work and I look forward to your episodes every week. 508 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: Marvin and Trillion are these beautiful tabbies that are silvery 509 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: looking per this thing, and I'm entranced. Fluffiness. The fluffiness 510 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: of Marvin has me forever. I presume I know where 511 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: those names are from. Thank you so much for this email, Lucy. 512 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: We just love it and your kiddies are beautiful. If 513 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 514 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can 515 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 1: also find us on social media as missed in History 516 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: and we are here easy pacy to subscribe to on 517 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 518 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 519 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 520 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.