Robert Jones

Robert Fremont "Fish" Jones (?–1930) was a Minneapolis, Minnesota businessman and showman. His prominence led to him driving Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman down Nicollet Avenue (later Nicollet Mall) in downtown Minneapolis for their post-war tours. The fish market prospered so much that Jones was able to buy a front-page advertisement in the St. Paul Pioneer Press that displayed him as a bird with oysters for wings. The advertisement earned him the nickname "The Oyster King" which stuck for the rest of his life.

Animals and the Zoological Gardens Jones had a bear imported and tethered in front of his market to both amuse and scare customers. He built his zoo up and by the late 1920s, it included a polar bear, seals and elephants. His relatives tried to keep the zoo open, but failed and closed it and sold most of the animals to the Como Zoo by 1936. His son, Roy Jones, built a barge and gathered the remaining animals to create a floating zoo on the Mississippi River. He was not heard from again after he left Minnesota. Jones's house still stands as an interpretive center run by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.