So, which of the following legends are Fact and which are Fiction?�  We know, do you??

LEGEND...The Wild mouse left its track and plunged into the lagoon with a mother and child, killing both.
Fact or Fiction?

The Wild Mouse never did plunge into the Lagoon.  This was a rumor that spread rapidly and was probably due to the fact that the nose end of the mouse car was designed to extend way over the edge of the track before the wheels actually turned the car.  It made any rider worry although it was locked to the track with underlock wheels.  This myth is strictly fiction.

LEGEND...Elvis Presley rented the park for his private use in the middle of the night after performing at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in the late 1950's when he saw the Riverview Park ad next to his concert ad in the Des Moines Register newspaper.
Fact or Fiction?

Several people living across the lagoon reported they heard the rides start up and saw the lights go on in the park after midnight one evening in the late 1950's.  A small handful of employees have recalled being scheduled in to work for a "private group" after hours that night.  Years later when W. Earl Kooker (an owner) was asked if he knew the details of the private group, he simply smiled wryly and said "If there was $150 to be made from a private party, why wouldn't I do that?" and nothing else.  Was it an Elvis entourage?  Alas, sadly those that know for sure are either no longer with us......or else not talking yet.

LEGEND...A Chris Craft about to take passengers under the bridge crashed into the bridge.
Fact or Fiction?

Although many times it appeared the boat was on a collision course with the bridge, the opening it was to pass through was actually twice as wide as the boat was long.  Of course from the perspective of a rider in a speeding boat it looked much smaller..thus this myth is fiction.

LEGEND...A rider fell off the Coaster and was killed.
Fact or Fiction?

In the early 1950's, a young man stood up in his seat to joke with his friends in the seat behind him just as the coaster train was leaving the lift chain.  Sadly he was unaware that a light pole rose from the side of the track and hung a lamp over the track.  Normally, well above a seated rider, the light was not a hazard, but for someone standing in a train it did pose a threat.  Since he was turned away and facing the back of the train he didn't see it and it swept him out of the train and he fell 65 feet from the top curve to the ground.  This terrible tragedy did in fact happen.

LEGEND...A car drove off the bridge into the lagoon.
Fact or Fiction?

The wooden bridge could become slippery after a rain or even when the dew from a warm summer night formed.  Unfortunately many a bold "hot rod" driver decided to exit the park with a squeel of tires, "laying some rubber" on the way out over the bridge.  They were surprised by the slippery surface and very little room to regain control with the result of their reckless driving putting them over the edge and in the lagoon.  Although it was not an annual event, it did happen on several different occasions.  Fortunately, everyone was lucky and no one was ever seriously injured.  This legend is true..

LEGEND...A fireworks technician was killed during a Fourth of July fireworks show mishap at Riverview Park.
Fact or Fiction?

Riverview was always known for having a special fireworks display on the fourth of July.  In mid 1970, the fireworks specialist, Cliff Loving, who had set up and fired off the Riverview show for several years was again back to work his magic.  The show had just started at 10 pm and Cliff and an assistant were loading the mortar launch tubes on the levee and lighting the fuses at a rapid pace.  This was in the day when Fireworks were lit by hand and not electronics.  Cliff liked to keep a fireworks shell in the air at all times with little or no pause between bursts.  Suddenly, there was a large burst at ground level and the fireworks stopped.  Quickly through the crowd of several thousand, the cry to "call an ambulance" could be heard.  When the ambulance arrived, Cliff had been carried by stretcher to the first aid station with one of his legs badly damaged and bleeding profusely.  A fireworks shell had exploded prematurely just as it was at the top of the mortar tube at ground level and Cliff was hit by the concussion and shrapnel of the blast.  He recovered but his knee was damaged permanently.  Thus this legend is partly true: there was a bad fireworks accident but no one was killed.

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