[2] The Lake Superior Zoo was founded in 1923 by a West Duluth businessman, Bert Onsgard, when he built a pen for his white-tailed deer "Billy".

The zoo went through some difficult years during the Great Depression but eventually managed to build an elephant house.

One recounting of an event tells of a neighbor who had to call a zookeeper one evening because Bessie was standing on his front porch.

After arriving, the seaman who had smuggled him in decided the troublesome animal needed a new home, and donated him to the zoo.

Following much public outcry about the order, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall granted a pardon that spared his life.