The story behind the story (of the Corral Bar and Riverside Grill lithograph): Miles Orton and his circus
DURAND—Wis. The giant lithograph advertisement found two years ago during the beginning of the banquet room expansion at the Corral Bar and Riverside Grill, called those who got to see it, with its magnificent pictures of the 24 car train it would arrive on, the daring knight in shining armor, the large wild buffalo, the daring bareback horse-rider speedily galloping with a young boy suspended from each of his sides, the aerial acrobatic wheel, and the menagerie of land mammals and aquatic creatures, to come see the “The Great Anglo American” circus on Aug. 17th, 1885. But what do we know about this circus? Plenty!
The owner/manager of the circus as of that date was named Miles Orton. The reason he got into the circus business was that of his father, Hiram Orton. Hiram Orton, according to the Pictorial History of the American Circus (which by the way you can check out at the Durand Public Library), had been a Great Lakes sailor before 1854. His daughter-in-law (the wife of Miles Orton) wrote a letter to J. Lou Sampson, an Iowa circus historian, answering his inquiry for information on Hiram Orton, for an article printed in Bandwagon magazine – Vol. 5, No. 5 (June), 1950 – a publication of the Circus Historical Society (of America). In that letter, she details Hiram Orton’s beginnings in the circus business. She wrote, “In the year 1853, Hiram Orton was a sailor on the Great Lakes and made his home at Portage, Wisconsin, which was at that time Portage City. In the fall of 1853 he made his last trip with a load of freight from Milwaukee, down to Chicago, and as the lakes froze over during the winter months, there was no shipping until the next spring. While in Chicago, Hiram Orton went to see a show which was making its closing stand and performance for the season and made up his mind that his own children could do everything he saw there. After the show was out Hiram Orton hunted up the clown whose name was Doc Gilcoson and asked what he was going to do during the winter and was told he was going to repair and point the wagons for the next season. He also got hold of the Strong Man whose name was Charles Tubbs, and asked what he was going to do, and was told nothing until Spring. Orton asked both men if they would go home with him to Portage, and they wanted to know if he had a show, after that they were informed that he had no show, but that he was going to have one the next spring. He told Doc Gilcoson that he wanted him to paint up his wagons, and he told Charles Tubbs that he wanted him to train his children, which he did, and (they) started out in the spring of 1854. The show entered the state of Iowa at Dubuque on Monday, July 10,
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