The Carson and Barnes Circus, which performed in Astoria earlier this month, may be the last big tent circus to visit our city. For better or worse, Astoria has a long history sprinkled with circuses.

Long ago in 1879, a different sort of circus arrived here. It was a sideshow really. There were no wild beasts, only human oddities. Like everyone, the performers arrived by boat. The Daily Astorian registered its disgust.

“A batch of human monstrosities landed in Oregon on the arrival of the last steamer.” In addition to a “two-headed woman,” there was an individual who was half man, half woman. “She was ‘a man’ to all appearances from the waist up; the lower part had the appearance of a woman. Is there no law to prevent such beings from running at large?”

Two weeks later, The Daily Astorian took an about-face regarding the “double-headed” woman. In fact, the newspaper was downright charmed by her. “Both heads,” the paper reported, were “well educated.” They had separate arms and legs, but shared a trunk. One woman was named Millie, the other Christine. Collectively they were called Millie Christine. Both girls were vocalists. Millie was a contralto while Christine was a soprano. They played the guitar and sang duets with “exquisite taste and sweetness.” “Millie Christine is without a doubt one of the greatest curiosities of the world,” the paper concluded, “and everybody should see her – or them.”

According to Stanford Magazine’s review of Joanne Fish Martell’s book Millie-Christine: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, there was more to the story. Born to slaves in North Carolina, the women were kidnapped at the age of two, sold three or four times, whisked off to Britain, tracked down by a private detective and returned to their “rightful owner” when they were nearly six years old.

Back at home, their owners, Joseph and Mary Smith, ignored Southern laws by educating the black slave girls. The Smiths, who by Millie Christine’s account were reluctant slave owners, treated the girls like family and also managed their careers. As young women, they became international stars touring Europe. Gifted with above-average intelligence they were fluent in German, French, Spanish and Italian.

“The Two-Headed Nightingale” performed before Queen Victoria, who was so enchanted she gave the women diamond hairpins.

Millie Christine’s European tour proved extremely profitable, enabling the women to become both affluent and independent. The sisters bought the plantation on which they were born and gave it to their father – providing homes and employment for their nine siblings. The women also founded a school for black children and gave money anonymously to colleges. Millie Christine died in 1912, at the age of 61.

Few circus stories are as remarkable – and surprisingly inspirational – as that of Millie Christine. But as circuses passed through Astoria, all claimed to be the end all of entertainment. In 1882, Westman’s Great Eastern Circus promised “educated horses,” “grotesque comicalites,” and a daring “Funambulist” who walked a tightrope outside the circus tent. In 1897, there was the Walter L. Main Grandest and Best Shows. The three ring circus featured “The Mighty Bovalapus, The rarest, strangest and awfulest of all the monstrous mammals of the deep.” And, who would dare miss the “Grand, Glorious, Unparalleled, Free, Gorgeous Street Parade.”

A glimpse of fairylandIn 1903, Norris & Rowe’s Big Shows promised 500 performing animals and 20 “rollicking, romping, mirth-provoking clowns.” They promised children the colorful show was a “glimpse of fairyland.” Two years later, Norris & Rowe’s circus returned. The two-ring circus featured bareback riders, acrobats, gymnasts and a “million dollar managerie” of rare wild beasts.

The “Grand Gold Glittering Street Parade,” was more than magnificently memorable, it was literally horse heart halting. Grocer S. L. Nanthrop’s horse was so disturbed by the music and activity that it dropped dead on the spot.

In 1916, the Sells-Floto Circus arrived by two long trains of “gadily-painted” cars. The “Grand Free Street Parade,” was a little less grand than it could have been. Astoria was in the middle of raising the commercial district by four feet; its rotted wood planked streets were also being replaced. Elephants, hippopotami, camels and the steam-powered calliope skirted the downtown. Instead, the parade consisted of elegant horses and color-crazed clowns.

A large circus tent was erected near 17th and Commercial. Though close to downtown, it was not an ideal location. Deep sand on the lot hindered the equestrian acts and the “hippodrome” races. There was no separate space for the animals. Lions, tigers and the like were left in cages open to the street. Performers draped canvas below the open sidewalk viaduct on Duane, converting the area to dressing rooms – a stone’s throw from the City Hall, police station and public library.

DangersSpectators were also endangered. A circus wagon, loaded with equipment, slipped from the hands of its operators. The wagon burst through the guardrail on 17th Street causing half a dozen Uppertown residents to fall with it to the lot below. Though shaken, the people were not seriously hurt.

Then there was the matter of trespassing. W. J. McCann, owner of the property, claimed the circus never asked to use the lot. He wanted $250 in rent. With the help of the sheriff and attorneys Norblad and Hess, a noted circus performer was snatched for collateral.

A Morning Astorian headline declared, “Baby Elephant Arrested. Hard-Hearted Sheriff With the Papers Seizes the Pet of the Circus.” According to legal documents, the circus took possession of McCann’s real property and “brought, moved and deposited thereon a great number of cars, wagons, tents and other paraphernalia, lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, elephants, snakes and other wild and ferocious animals and reptiles, and a great deal of other personal property of various description…” They also drove posts and poles and generally made a mess of the property.

The attorneys debated, with tongues-in-cheeks, whether to give the elephant to the street department for use in the street washing gang or to give it to the port commission as a replacement for a recently purchased coal handling machine. Sells-Floto paid the bond and the elephant was released.

As the years passed, circuses found other locations to raise tents or simply perform. Miles Crossing and the old armory were host to a number of performances. Astoria saw the likes of Howe’s Great London Circus, Barnes’ Big 4-Ring Circus and the Tom Mix Circus & Wild West Show.

No matter which circus arrived, Astorians gladly paid admission. The public had an insatiable appetite for exotica, suspense and pathos. And the performers delivered the goods every time.

John E. Goodenberger is a historic building consultant who lives in Astoria.