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    Bill Adams, the hunter and A&M graduate. PHOTO SUBMITTED

Treasures from stepfather, rogue elephants, charging lions

When my editor suggested a story about elephant tusks, my immediate reaction was “aren’t they illegal?” The immediate answer was that they were indeed legal and I might get an interesting story out of them.

Elephant tusks and other parts were banned under the last president, but are again legal under current laws. When they were imported during the late 80s, they were also legal. The story behind the tusks is just as interesting a story as the tusks and other trophies themselves.

Paul Teas and his wife Cyndy live in Dripping Springs and they house numerous trophies of Bill Adams, his stepfather. Adams married Teas’ mother, a later marriage for both of them.

An A&M graduate in the 1930s, Adams was a Silver Star decorated soldier, in charge of the 7thCavalry in the Philippines during WWII. He served on Gen, MacArthur’s staff and helped plan the invasion of Japan, which thankfully never had to happen. He was the first Allied soldier to go to Tokyo, according to Teas, Adams remembered that on the way to Tokyo, the civilians turned their backs while the vehicle passed them on the road, due to shame.

“He was a hunter who actually hunted,” Teas said. “He hunted the Big Five.” The big five are: African elephant, Black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, African lion, and African leopard. “Luck just followed him,” Teas said.

“In one story, he was on safari and a male lion started to run towards them. He calmly asked his gun-bearer for his weapon and shot the charging lion, with the lion’s head landing at Adam’s feet, it was that close and he remained calm throughout.”

Another story had Adams killing a wild bull elephant that had gone rogue. The elephant had killed numerous villagers and had trampled their crops. “Bill was that kind of hunter, a hunter with a conscious.”

When you hear the word trophy, one usually thinks of shiny brass winning cups with an inscription for best athlete, etc. Nope, not these trophies. Describing the many trophies, Teas continued.

“In the game room, you were greeted by a Kodiak bear, mounted fish on the wall, like a tarpon, and a stuffed lion on top of the bar. At each end of the bar sat one of the elephant tusks.” There was also a rhino and other trophies, plus a bronze and glass table that has a bronze alligator coming through the glass top to catch a bronze antelope for a meal. There is also a hand carved relief of an African jungle scene with a cape buffalo on a tabletop.

The tusks themselves are very impressive, smooth to the touch, unlike anything else. Picturing the bull rogue elephant that used to go with the ivory weapons was another thing to consider. But by far the story behind the trophies is the story worth relaying.

Dripping Springs Century-News

P.O. Box 732
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

Phone: (512) 858-4163
Fax: (512) 847-9054