05/27/2026
The Elephant In The Room: Selma Zimmerman-
In 1924 Selma Zimmerman was a young newsstand clerk in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania train station, reading magazines during the down time between trains and waves of emerging customers. Reading of exotic places served as momentary escape from her tedious existence and she became captivated by an article on the 101 Ranch. Inspired, she wrote Ranch manager Joe Miller that she would be arriving shortly in search of work, despite never having even seen a cowboy before.
Joe was not impressed. He had his secretary, Bill Christian, write the most discouraging response he could, essentially lying to her. He wrote that there were almost no women on the ranch when they already had a whole cadre of cowgirls; that the cowboys all hated women, which was generally far from accurate; and finally that they only paid starvation wages although pay was decent, and far better than that of a retail worker in a newsstand. Nevertheless, Selma was undeterred and arrived days later, refusing to be turned away. She was put to work doing double shifts waiting tables in the men’s mess hall under the assumption that the heavy load would break her and she would flee, but she persevered without complaint.
With greater respect came more free time as they reduced her hours and Selma began visiting the newly acquired elephant herd (purportedly because the handler did not know enough English to tell her to go away). The elephants had been part of an entire circus the Miller brothers had bought, the handler coming along as part of the deal. Within weeks Selma had gained the trust of the herd and taught them to hold her in their trunks or step around her if she was lying on the ground. When the time came to go on tour with the Wild West Show, it is said that the elephants made sure that Selma went with them.
Known affectionately as the “Elephant Girl”, before long Selma was the 101’s official elephant handler. She became one of the most respected in the country, working very closely with the herd’s alpha male, Babe, to keep the others in line. In the off-season she served as manager of the ranch’s Top Hand Café, and became a trusted friend of Zach Miller, nursing him back to health after he had a nervous breakdown in 1932 following the forced sale of the 101’s assets. That forced dispensation also included her beloved elephants, and after 1932 she pretty much disappears from history after returning home to Pittsburgh.
