Every year, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission administers a program of historical markers to capture the memory of people, places, events and innovations that have affected the lives of Pennsylvanians over the centuries since William Penn founded the Commonwealth. More than 2,000 cast aluminum markers tell the important and interesting stories that are part of the history of Pennsylvania.
On July 23, Dr. Edward H. McCleery, famously known as the “Wolf Man” of Kane, will join those who’ve had a positive impact on their community with the dedication of a historical state marker along U.S. Route 6 — the previous location of the famous Wolf Park that McCleery himself created.
The dedication of McCleery’s historical marker will begin at 11 a.m. July 23, according to local organizers. It is open to the public.
“Please come and join the celebration of a truly visionary man,” organizers encouraged.
Nominations for historical markers may be submitted by any person or organization, and new markers are approved and dedicated each year, according to Howard M. Pollman, director of external affairs at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
“The McCleery marker was approved in 2015,” Pollman stated. “Dr. McCleery is credited with saving the Great Plains Wolf, or Lobo Wolf, from extinction.”
In the 1920s, cattlemen in the West, aided by the federal government, waged war against wolves to stem herd loss.
McCleery, a Pennsylvania physician with an interest in wildlife, asked the Biological Survey to spare four wolf pups. He had them shipped to his home in Kane, where he cared for them, bred them, and created a tourist attraction along Route 6. There, he educated the public about wolves, which could be seen in their natural habitat.
“My parents and grandparents took me to see the Kane Lobo Wolves when I was a very young child,” recalls Nancy A. Avolese on her Amazon.com page. “They left quite an impression on me. I often wondered what had happened to them over the years.”
The Middletown resident, who worked for the School District of Lancaster, found out and shared her knowledge in her book “The Wolf Man of Kane, Pennsylvania: An Historical Novel About Doctor Edward H. McCleery and His Lobo Wolves.”
McCleery petitioned the United States Biological Survey to allow him to pay for the wolves they captured to be sent to him rather than killed, according to Pollman. He instituted a breeding program within his pack to retain the pure bloodline. The wolves were moved to the western United States following McCleery’s death and a park was established in Montana in 1980 where it continues today.
“It was usual for Doctor McCleery to keep around 20 or 30 adult wolves, but at times he had as many as 40 to 60 at the wolf park in Kane,” Avolese stated. “At one point, he had over 100 wolves and decided to open another wolf park in Coatesville. He also had ducks, a horned owl, an African lynx, a Mexican bald eagle, a mountain lion, and various other animals from time to time.”
McCleery prevented the Great Plains Wolf, a subspecies of the grey wolf, from being completely eliminated, Pollman said. McCleery then started a tourist attraction to educate people about wolves and prove that, with care and kindness, wolves could live in harmony with humans. By doing so, he singlehandedly saved the Canis lupus nubilus (Lobo Wolves) from extinction.
However, many were part of the effort to raise the $2,000 necessary to nominate and fund the historical marker for McCleery, according to Pollman. The 2013-14 Kane Area Middle School Entrepreneurial Business Elective class raised $1,100 of the total for McCleery’s marker, in addition to the many others who also “acknowledged the importance” of recognizing McCleery’s work.
“Most markers are dedicated in public events featuring public officials, local historians, community representatives and others,” Pollman explained. “Each dedication presents opportunities for Pennsylvanians to celebrate and understand their heritage. Dr. McCleery’s historical state marker is well-earned, and the celebration that is set to take place on July 23 is an incredible opportunity for Kane and the surrounding region to bear witness to, as a collective whole.”
