My fascination with the place was in the animals that were once there. There were reindeer, elk, black bear, mountain lions and American bison. I was always told, and I've always read in books on the area, that they all made one great escape after a deep snowfall enabled the zoo animals to scramble over the fences of their prisons and disappear into the deep woods. It was also said that the animals' descendants can still be found in the wilds. So, Hank and I searched for the descendants of the zoo animals that escaped their confines forty years earlier. To the west they would most likely go, where water and thick ground growth were of abundance, as was the way to take to avoid humans. Through Mescal Canyon and into the valley floor of the desert side was ideal. After zig-zagging through narrow canyons and fighting buckthorn and scrub oak, we never found any trace of them. There were plenty of deer and tracks of black bear...but after awhile I got to believing that I was dumb as a fence post for looking. They were never going to be found. Years later I would find out why. There was a 'great escape' in a way, just not the type that I expected. The secret came out, with the help of a guy named Frank Bogert and his saddle partner and friend named Jimmy Prince.
The Big Pines Park was opened to the public in 1924 and instantly it was very popular to city visitors. The attractions that brought unbelievable amounts of crowds were the ski jumps, the ice rink, lake skating, the many toboggan and sled runs, the Recreation Hall and its entertainment, and the small Zoo Center. When 1931 came around, interest in the Zoo Center petered off and soon the reindeer and elk were taken from the center, as was the mountain lion. Finally, in the later summer of 1932, the only animals left were a dozen black bear, cub and adult, and the American bison. There were six cows, three spikes and one very big ill- spirited bull. That is when Frank Bogert and Jimmy Prince came in the picture. They were hired by the Big Pines Park officials to transport the remaining zoo animals to their new place of residence in the Griffin Park Zoo in Los Angeles.
The two saddle partners temporarily traded in their horses for a large military-style stake side truck, and thus began an adventure that only legends can be made of. The first to go were the many black bear, and the sweaty tiring job of putting each bear in individual cages became quite a chore. Finally, with cages secured in the bed of the stake side truck, Frank muscled the vehicle into first gear and exited the opened gate at the entrance of the Zoo Center. Stopping at the gate to say a quick 'adios' to the gate keeper, the gate keeper told them, "Sure is an interesting way to haul animals." Looking out the windows of the large truck, the two saddle partners saw that most of the black bear decided that they didn't want go anywhere. The bears had somehow escaped their cages and were either lunging up the slope or heading straight for their comfortable cages back at the Zoo Center! After some time of scrambling around and shooing the troublesome creatures back into their individual cages and loading the truck once again, the trek to the city continued. So, technically, there was a great escape...just not the type one might expect.
Next to go were the American bison. The little spikes and cows were not that hard to load, just a little shove here, a slap in the rear there, and a pile of feed to urge the way. Frank and Jimmy were satisfied with the lot. The only one left to load was the one that the two saddle partners dreaded the most. The bison bull! The shaggy 1600 pound cantankerous ill-matter bull bison lived up to the reputation of it's ancestors of being able to run forty miles and hour, jump six feet high and have a general dislike for humans if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time around them. With wild snorting and foam flying from it's nostrils and flaring mouth, the two saddle partners had to resort to using whips and slaps and jabs with gun barrels to get the beast loaded. But the bull's disfavor to the situation didn't stop. Savage kicks and head strikes from it's massive noggin' began splintering and breaking the stake sides of the transport truck! Frank and Jimmy quickly fixed the stake sides, only to have the bull smash them again! Finally enough was enough, and the pair tranquillized the bull bison. Without further ado, the last of the zoo animals were taken away...and a padlock locked the gate of the zoo forever.
Big Pines Park's famous ski jumps, it's many specially designed toboggan runs, it's refreshing pool and the ice skating rink, are all gone now. But the ruins of the Big Pines Park Zoo still stand, a mute testimony of the bygone glorious years of Big Pines Park...the last piece of old Big Pines had made it's final great escape.
From the History of Big Pines, by T. Graham
