Nothing quite says “America” like a cowboy and his hippo.

Now Lawrence has a little piece of that Americana. The skeleton of Bonton, a 3,600-pound hippopotamus ridden in circuses by early screen cowboy Tom Mix, is for sale at a Massachusetts Street antiques store. The price tag: $20,000.

The skeleton of Bonton, the hippopotamus ridden by famed old-time movie cowboy Tom Mix, resides in the window of The Variety Store, 1007 Mass. Dan Koehler, who runs the store, hopes to sell the hippo remains, which have a price tag of 0,000.

“It’s a real good conversation piece,” said Dan Koehler, who runs The Variety Store at 1007 Mass. Bonton’s remains are displayed prominently in the store’s front window.

Mix appeared in 336 movies between 1909 and 1935, reputedly performing his own stunts with his wonder horse, Tony. His acting career petered out after the advent of “talkie” pictures in the late 1920s, after which he performed on his own radio show and, frequently, in circuses.

According to the lore, one of those circuses the Hagenback and Wallace rolled through Kansas. Mix was with it. One of the animals that he rode was Bonton.

“In about 1930, Bonton died at Emporia,” Koehler said. “A group of students and teachers took his skeleton as a class project.”

Bonton’s skeleton stayed at the College of Emporia, then a Presbyterian school that eventually became The Way College, which closed in 1989. Many of the school’s possessions, including Bonton, were auctioned off soon after.

This poster for the Sells-Floto Circus touts an appearance by movie cowboy Tom Mix.

Eventually, Bonton ended up in the hands of Lawrence resident Mike Elwell, who owns The Granada and Abe and Jake’s Landing. Elwell could not be reached for comment.

When The Variety Store opened in May, Bonton was one of the first items to go on sale. So far, there have been no takers.

“A lot of people ask about it,” Koehler said.

Experts on Tom Mix said they had never heard of his exploits on Bonton.

This 1933 newspaper clipping from the Emporia Gazette describes Tom Mix's return trip to Emporia and shows the movie cowboy posing with the skeleton of Bonton, a circus hippopotamus. The clipping, along with the hippo skeleton, is on display at The Variety Store, 1007 Mass.

“No, not a thing,” said Peggy Berryhill, director of the Tom Mix Museum in Dewey, Okla.

“All I know is he had one elephant named ‘Babe’ and a couple of horses, as well as some other animals,” said Paul Mix, a biographer of Tom Mix and a grandson to a first cousin of the cowboy. “I’ve never seen his name on the same line as a hippopotamus. That’s not to say it isn’t true, though.”

Indeed, the Bonton display at The Variety Store features a September 1933 clipping from the Emporia Gazette, describing a return trip to the town by the cowboy. The clipping features a photo of Mix with Bonton’s skeleton, along with dozens of College of Emporia faculty and students.

The article describes Mix’s relationship to Bonton, as well as the fact that Mix “dressed in a black cowboy outfit with black ’10-gallon’ hat and large spurs which tinkled every time he moved his feet.”

Koehler is hoping for more proof of Bonton’s lineage.

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“We’ve heard there are circus posters out there of Tom Mix riding the hippo,” he said. “But we’ve never seen it.”