American Hippo bill
House Resolution 23261, also known as the "American Hippo bill", was a bill introduced by Representative Robert F. Broussard of Louisiana in 1910 to authorize the importation and release of hippopotamus into the bayous of the state.[1][2]
Overview
Broussard argued the hippos would eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging the rivers and also produce meat to help solve the American meat predicament.[2][3] The chief collaborators and proponents of Broussard's bill were Major Frederick Russell Burnham and Captain Fritz Duquesne.[4][5] Former President Theodore Roosevelt backed the plan, as did the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, which praised hippo meat as "lake cow bacon".[6][4] Although the "American Hippo Bill" developed a broad base of support, it was never passed by the US Congress.[2]
In popular culture
Author Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth series depicts an alternate history United States in which the American Hippo bill was passed.[7]
References
- ^ Miller, Greg (20 December 2013). "The Crazy, Ingenious Plan to Bring Hippopotamus Ranching to America". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015.
- ^ a b c Mooallem, John (2013). American Hippopotamus. New York: The Atavist. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ^ Mooallem, Jon (10 August 2014). "Lake Bacon: The Story of The Man Who Wanted Us to Eat Mississippi Hippos". The Daily Beast. ISSN 0028-9604. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ a b Eplett, Layla (27 March 2014). "The hunger game meat: How hippos early invaded American cuisine". Scientific American. ISSN 0036-8733.
- ^ Burnham, Frederick Russell (1944). Taking Chances. Los Angeles: Haynes Corp. pp. 11–23. ISBN 978-1-879356-32-0.
- ^ "Lake Cow Bacon". The New York Times. 12 April 1910.
- ^ Gailey, Sarah (2018-05-22). American Hippo: River of Teeth, Taste of Marrow, and New Stories. Tordotcom. ISBN 978-1-250-17643-1.
Further reading
- Ratliff, Evan, ed. (2016). Love and Ruin: Tales of Obsession, Danger, and Heartbreak from The Atavist Magazine. Introduction by Susan Orlean. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393352719.
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