Visitors to Elko, Nevada always go to the hot tourist spots around the city. Breathtaking views and fun activities are usually popular among tourists. For those who have been to the city numerous times and who want to see a few new attractions in Elko should check out these three things.

 

The White King

The White King is the world’s largest polar bear, with a height of 10 feet, 4 inches (3.2m) and with a weight of 2,200 pounds (998 kg). The preserved White King is being displayed at the Commercial Hotel and Casino’s coffee shop at the corner of 4th Street.

The gigantic stuffed polar bear from the Arctic Circle died in 1957 and was featured in a Rolling Stone story written in 1992 by Hunter S. Thompson called “Fear and Loathing in Elko”.

Guests can take pictures with the glass-encased White King as memorabilia or as a postcard.

Cow Rustling Boots

Back in the 1920s, one small-time thief named Crazy Tex Hazelwood made a pair of ingenious boots so he would not get caught stealing cattle from his neighbors. This pair of “boots” look like slippers attached on top of two cow hooves on each slipper. Whenever he stole cattle, there was no other evidence left behind except for cow hoof prints. Eventually, local authorities tracked down him down and he confessed his crimes. After serving his sentence for a few years he went back to cattle rustling on his release.

These odd boots are now being displayed at the Northeastern Nevada Museum at 1515 Idaho Street, east of Elko.

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Ready for some quirky Nevada history? Read on… . For a few months in the late 1920's, cows were rustled on the huge UC Ranch in northeastern Elko County and no human tracks were found at the scenes of the crimes. It had ranchers scratching their heads in bewilderment. . Then, a couple of UC cowpokes were following the trail of a couple of cows to bring them back to the herd. They topped a hill and saw a steer being driven by a man. They raced down the hill and caught J.R. "Crazy Tex" Hazelwood wearing THESE shoes. Tex even admitted to practicing walking like a cow on his inventions. The cowboys took him and his shoes back to ranch headquarters and held him until Sheriff Joe Harris arrived from Elko to arrest the cow thief. . Crazy Tex spent a couple of years in prison then came back to northeastern Nevada and remained a nuisance for many years. He died in 1953 at age 72, shotgunned to death by a feuding neighbor while sitting in his pickup truck at Contact, Nevada. . It might never have crossed his mind that he had rustled cattle using the most unique methods ever recorded. Crazy Tex? Perhaps he was crazy like a fox. . See these shoes in person at the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko and click the link in our bio to nerd out on more Nevada history. . . . . . . #TravelNevada #DFMI #MuseumMadness #Nevada #NV #Elko #CowboyCountry #CowboyCorridor #NVRoadTrip #NortheasternNevadaMuseum #USHistory #NVMuseums #History

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Wanamaker Wildlife Wing

Housed in the same museum as Crazy Tex Hazelwood’s Cow Rustling Boots, another peculiar attraction in Elko would be the Wanamaker Wildlife Wing which honors various exotic wildlife species from all around the world.

In one wing of the Northeastern Nevada Museum, businessman V.H. “Jack” Wanamaker’s vast collection of mounted and preserved animals are on display to the public.

As hidden and uncommon these sites may be, they can be a breath of fresh air for visitors who want to see new things in Elko!