What?! People In Wyoming Used To Ride Elk
Now, that is something that I didn't know. I mean, elk aren't really the nicest of animals or any that I would assume anyone would try and tame. I guess if you were in a pinch in 1883 and didn't have a horse, but had the gumption to tame an elk, have at it.
According to the author of the video, one of the pics he found was from Wyoming in 1910. The guy is straight-up riding an elk through the streets of Sheridan(though someone in the comments says it's Lander?). I think more impressively, though, is that they trained them how to pull a wagon.
Check out the video for yourself.
I'm pretty impressed. I did Google "Can you ride an elk" and it felt weird that there were so many pages that popped up with the answer. I guess we've wondered that for a while.
I mean, sure, the idea that Santa is pulled by reindeer came from something. I'm not saying they're the same species, but to me, it's the same idea. Seeing a wild animal and just assuming you can tame it enough to be able to use it as a resource. The idea came from somewhere.
What do you think? Are you ready to run out into the wilderness and get yourself a nice riding elk? I'm kidding of course. That's super dangerous. Please don't do that. Just sit back and rewatch the video if you want to get a better idea of how it was to have a "tamed" elk.