Mighty Haag Railroad Shows

Mighty Haag Circus

Company type	Private
Industry	Circus entertainment
Founded	1891 in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Founder	Ernest Haag
Defunct	1938
Fate	Closed; successor entities included Bud Hawkins Circus and Haag Brothers Circus
Headquarters	Shreveport , United States
Area served	Southern United States, Eastern Canada, parts of the United States west to Montana
Key people	Ernest Haag (founder), Harry E. Haag Sr., Ruby Haag Brown, Henry Haag, Roy Haag
Products	Circus performances including animal acts, acrobatics, clown entertainment, musical bands, aerial acts

Mighty Haag Circus was established by American businessman Ernest Haag (1866–1935) in Shreveport, Louisiana. The circus operated continuously from 1891 until 1938, employing a variety of transportation modes such as boats, carts, trains, wagons, and trucks. It grew to become one of the largest traveling circuses within the United States.

Several performers associated with Haag later achieved significant recognition. Among them, Harry James (1916–1983) was raised in the circus environment; his father Everett Robert James led the band while his mother Myrtle Maybelle (Stewart) performed as an acrobat and horseback rider. The family departed from the circus in 1931. Other notable alumni include Laurence Brasfield of Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield, cornetist Don Essig, and the vaudeville pair Rube Walters and Heinie Emgard. Following the circus’s closure, Fisher's Performing Elephants continued touring. Ruby Haag Brown had a distinguished career spanning five decades with Mighty Haag and other prominent circuses.

Beginnings

Born in 1866 in Plymouth, Indiana to German immigrant parents Joseph N. Haag and Elizabeth (Schoner) Haag—likely hailing from Bavaria—Ernest Haag left home at around age 12 to join a circus. Initially working as a musician, he also started a juice business that evolved into a minstrel show. After acquiring a small tent from side-show operator Squire Bowman, he began producing side shows at local fairgrounds.

At 24 years old in 1890, Haag purchased a flat-bottomed boat moored on the Red River near Shreveport to host performances, recruiting local entertainers under the name "The Big Show." By 1895, this venture was rebranded as Mighty Haag Shows.

Haag relocated his show down the Catawba River toward Bayou Teche and then along the Atchafalaya River, anchoring near Morgan City, Louisiana. From there, he transitioned from riverboat-based presentations to overland tours utilizing carts and wagons across Louisiana and Kansas, expanding his enterprise accordingly.

Mighty Haag Circus

For approximately ten years, Mighty Haag Shows toured states such as Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other parts of the Southern United States. By 1909, the circus shifted from horse- and mule-drawn wagons to a fleet of 14 railroad cars, adopting the name Mighty Haag Railroad Shows. These trains transported intricately carved wagons, animal cages, Pawnee Bill calliope wagons, and chariots.

Between 1910 and 1912, the Railroad Shows expanded their route into Eastern Canada, including stops in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, while also reaching U.S. states as far west as Montana. Their animal acts featured elephants, bears, ponies, camels, lions, tigers, blue-faced monkeys, a hyena, ocelot, and badger. Capt. J. C. Farley led a troupe performing with Tuckapo ponies.

In 1915, admission was priced at 35 cents. By 1918, the circus employed around 100 personnel producing a three-ring spectacle under a tent measuring 180 feet by 80 feet with a collection of 45 varied vehicles. Acts included one-legged clown Roy Fortune; high-wire walkers and aerialists; as well as sword swallower Marguerite Davis.

That same year saw Haag selling his railroad cars to Great Wortham Shows and reverting to wagon-based transport under the new title Mighty Haag Circus. The wagons toured regions including Louisiana and Texas. By the early 1930s, advancements in road infrastructure and motor vehicles allowed equipment transport by trucks; elephants were occasionally enlisted to free stuck vehicles. Winter quarters moved from Lecompte, Louisiana to Shreveport and later to Marianna, Florida in 1920. Prosperity enabled Haag to construct a family residence in Shreveport.

Ruby Haag Brown—daughter of Charles William Fisher and Ruth Eleanor Gregory—was renowned for her performances with Alice the elephant and aerial acrobatics. She was married for 29 years to Harry Eugene Haag Sr.

Following Ernest Haag’s passing in 1935, management passed to family members. In summer 1936, Harry Haag alongside Ruby Haag and the Fisher family initiated the Bud Hawkins Circus, which specialized in horse acts and trained dogs.

In January 1937, the primary circus was renamed Haag Brothers Circus, overseen by cousins Henry Haag (Ernest’s son) and Roy Haag (Ernest’s nephew). The final performance occurred in 1939 at Climax, Georgia.

After closing operations, Harry Haag together with Silverlake and Fisher families formed the United Amusement Company, featuring Alice the elephant along with select acts for one year.

Ernest Haag married Alice N. Hubbard (1879–1951). Their son Harry Eugene was born during a tour stop in Oklahoma, followed by daughter Helen. Beyond entertainment ventures, Haag invested in properties across Louisiana, Florida, and Oklahoma and served on the board of directors for Commercial National Bank of Shreveport.

Distinguished performers, ensembles, and personnel

• Ernest Haag – founder and proprietor of the circus
• Alice Haag – sales director and spouse of Ernest Haag
• Harry E. Haag Sr. – offspring of the Haags; partial heir to the circus
• Helen Haag (Durrett) – daughter; first female lifted by an elephant’s trunk during a performance
• Ruby Fisher Haag – acrobat, aerial artist, and elephant trainer; joined in 1928; married Harry Haag Sr.
• Roy Haag – sales director and subsequently co-owner alongside cousin Harry after Ernest’s passing
• Henry Eugene Haag – sales director for Haag Brothers Circus
• Harry Haag Jr. – trainer specializing in horses
• Naomi Haag (Carpenter) – performer with elephant, pony, and dog acts; daughter of Harry E. & Ruby
• Charles Ernest "Doc" Haag – elephant trainer; son of Harry E. & Ruby
• Ed Conklin – juggler and initial performer recruited
• Everett James – leader of the band
• Myrtle Maybelle (Stewart) James – acrobat and equestrian rider

• Fisher Family (joined 1928):
  • Josephine "Jo" Helen (Fisher) Silverlake – acrobat, aerialist, trick rider (married Brownie Silverlake)
  • Sarah Mann Fisher ("Tootsie") – aerialist and acrobat
  • Ruth Eleanor Fisher – aerialist and acrobat
  • Arthur Gregory Fisher – aerialist and acrobat
  • Doc Charles Fisher – veterinarian and trainer for elephants and dogs

• Silverlake Trio (Flying Silverlake aerialists, joined 1928):
  • Archie Silverlake – aerial artist
  • Brownie (Melvin) Silverlake – aerial performer
  • Billy Silverlake – aerialist
  • Marcus Silverlake – bareback riding specialist
  • Franklin Silverlake – trapeze artist
  • Myrna Silverlake – swinging ladder performer
  • Melvin "Col Mel" Silverlake – rope spinning, whip cracking, gunspinning (son of Archie)
  • Jimmy Silverlake – elephant trainer
  • Joe Silverlake – juggler

• Lulu Del-Fuego (Mrs. Frank Foignet) – tattooed lady featured in side show
• Ezra Joseph 'Corine' Smith (Hazel) – elephant trainer
• Albert Armor – master of riding acts
• Amores – performer specializing in impalement arts
• Fennell – tightrope artist
• The four Alvedo Brothers – performers on aerial bars
• Billy Burton, Roy Barrett, Col. Billy Barlow – clown entertainers
• The six De Ivey Troupe, Hodge's Troupe & Matsomoto Troupe – groups of acrobats
• Fred De Ivey – side show entertainer
• Ray Forbes, Roy Fortune; Millie Blondine Irwin & Mlle. Blanc, Bert Deare – wire and ring performers
• DeMarlo ("The Great DeMarlo") – balancing act specialist and grotesque artist
• Irene James and Mickey O'Brien – artists on wire and trapeze apparatuses
• Harry Rhodes – band leader
• The Linsleys – pantomime artists and comedic acrobats
• Ned Bottinere – magician specializing in illusions
• Mrs. Bottinere ("Go-Won-Mo-Hawk") – performer portraying an Indian princess act
• Blacky’s performing lions
• Kitty May Irwin & W.H. Whitlark, Ann Woods – contortionists
• Wm. J. Irwin and Frank Smith – double head balancing trapeze act
• Trip Triplett – comedian entertainer
• "Spider" Mardello – director of equestrian acts
• Doc Grant – court jester
• Chas. Duncan – trainer of elephants
• Larkin's Troupe – jugglers and wire performers
• The Parentos – novelty acrobats and contortionists
• Mr. and Mrs. Willie C. Clark – foot jugglers and trapeze artists
• Capt. Pete Loftus – lion act specialist
• Frenchie Miller – horse acts and phony show producer
• Earl Moss, Prof Harry Rhoods, Don Essig – bandleaders
• George and Georgie – trampoline performers
• The Johnsons– aerialists combined with foot juggling acts
• Ab Johnson, C.W. Denney, Al Armer, Roy Forum, Frenchie Miller – clown performers
• Miss Marion Drew– manager of performing elephant herd
• Miss Drew– clown and juggling performer
• Three Moralis Girls– iron jaw act specialists
• The Three Georges– acrobats executing 60 somersaults within 60 seconds
• Geo and Geo with Mrs. Fern, Tan, and Carrie Arakis– revolving ladder performers
• James O'Neill and Renee Jenelle– acrobatic duo
• LeRoy's performing elephants
• Mrs. Della Larkins, "Curly" Womick– calliope musicians

• Fisher's Performing Elephants: Alice the Elephant (1914–1942), Tip the Elephant, Judy the Elephant (featured in later performances)
• Early elephants included Babe, Tony, Trilby
• Dewey, Duke, Major– trained riding dogs
• Despot– miniature horse standing 19 inches tall weighing 26 pounds

See also

• Ringling Brothers Circus
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• The Greatest Show on Earth (film)