The Sheridan Zoo's Beginnings

Many Sheridanites long for those halcyon days when Kendrick Park (a.k.a. Pioneer Park) hosted Wyoming's largest zoo.

The zoo began operations around 1909 after John B. Kendrick donated the land to the city four years earlier, making a home for mostly critters native to Wyoming. According to various newspaper articles, the zoo was "amateur," which probably meant it was not-for-profit.

Among the first critters housed at the zoo in 1910 were deer, monkeys, goats, and two bears. In March of that year, Kendrick's wife donated an assortment of red squirrels and a pair of golden pheasants.

Photo of the zoo in 1910. Used with the generous permission of Roy Schwartz.

Today, you can see the famous elk and bison inhabiting Kendrick Park. The elk persist thanks to a herd of 25 that spent April, 1910 here en route to the Big Horn Game Preserve from the Jackson Hole area.  The Sheridan Rod and Gun Club spearheaded the endeavor.

The original herd consisted mostly of young elk that were "tame and gentle" and happily oblivious to city officials inspecting them. The 20 that survived were successfully transplanted to the reserve, some distance beyond Eaton's Ranch.

 More happy news greeted June, as the Daily Enterprise reported the hatching of several pheasants and Indian runner ducks.

From the June 2nd, 1910 edition of
the Daily Enterprise. Click to enlarge.

Later that summer, the zoo added a pair of bears, monkeys, and Belgian hares. The monkeys, Abe and Laura, and bears, Nora (black) and Susie (brown), were star attractions. Later that year, the zoo grew by leaps and bounds, adding Columbia river black-tail deer, Bantam Buff Cochin chickens, a dog, and two thousand bass for the pond.

The Pioneer Park pond and fountain in 1930. From the Byron Photo collection.

Through the first years of its life, the zoo continued to grow. In 1914, it added four young bison to the collection, a gift from Kendrick, a collection that also included wolves, coyotes, deer, bears, badgers, porcupines, monkeys, pheasants, a pair of great horned owls, and an assortment of smaller beasts, including rabbits, white rats, and guinea pigs.

Sheridan's Kendrick Park Zoo remained a staple of local activity for decades, including the arrival of Major Sheridan (he will get his own blog post one day). According to a Sheridan Press interview with Tony Pelesky, Sheridan's former public works director, the city dissolved the zoo in 1971. Many Sheridan folks lament its passing, looking back on fond memories of  visits to the park and its critterly residents.