Description

A lion pelt that has been turned into a taxidermy rug. The head has been shaped into an open mouthed roar with tongue and teeth on display. The body of the lion has been left intact, with the paws and tail apparent. Donated by Marion Jones Rowell, daught of Robert "Fish" Jones on 9/13/1960. Hiawatha was the "premier lion" and beloved pet of "Fish" Jones, proprietor of Longfellow Gardens and Zoo. He was so treasured by Fish that when the lion passed away in the later 1920s, he took him to a taxidermist so he could be preserved. Robert "Fish" Jones moved from New York to look for opportunities out West in 1876, and settled in Minneapolis. Missing the fresh fish that was so easily found on the East coast, he established his own fish market - soon giving him the moniker, "Fish" Jones. Jones love of animals led him to create Longfellow Gardens, the largest collection of exotic animals in the united States at the time. The gardens hosted a wide variety of animals; cats, bears, wolves, camels, elephants, monkeys, antelopes, porcupine, storks, cranes, flamingoes, falcons, peacocks, ostrich, parrots, and owls to name a few. He greatly admired the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, erecting a statue on the grounds of the writer, modeling his home after Longfellow's own, and even taking names for a few of his animals from "The Song of Hiawatha."
Fish Jones