Truman Knight Hunt (1866 – February 16, 1916) was an American military officer, medical doctor and

showman Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context and depending on the country. Australia Travelling Funfair, showmen ("showies") are people who run amusement and side show equipment at regional shows, state capital shows, events ...

. In 1904, he put on a traveling

human zoo Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were a colonial practice of publicly displaying people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays of ...

show performed by

Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...

, which was eventually shut down by the

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due to

wage theft Wage theft is the failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law. It can be conducted by employers in various ways, among them are failing to pay overtime; violating minimum wage, minimum-wage laws; the m ...

Biography

Early life and career

Truman Knight Hunt was born in 1866 in

Baldwin, Iowa Baldwin is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 99 at the 2020 census. History Baldwin was originally called Fremont. The present name is for Edward Baldwin, the original owner of the town site. In 1910, Baldwin c ...

to Josiah Knight Hunt (1840–1899) and Eunice Melissa Cobb (1847–1916). After working a number of jobs with no luck in securing a permanent trade, Hunt enlisted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, where he was assigned to the

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

as a hospital steward. Following the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Hunt was sent to the

Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, where he was appointed as an administrator in the province of

Bontoc Bontoc may refer to: * Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines * Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines * Bontoc people, an ethnic group from Central Luzon, Philippines * Bontoc language, spoken by the Bontoc people {{disambig, geo Language and ...

Showman career

In 1904, after his tenure in Bontoc had ended, Hunt decided to enter the entertainment business by putting on a

exhibition. Hiring a number of locals in Bontoc, Hunt brought them back with him to the United States, where he set up his exhibition at

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903), Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Islan ...

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. Billed as "

Head-Hunting Headhunting is the practice of human hunting, hunting a human and human trophy collecting, collecting the decapitation, severed human head, head after killing the victim. More portable body parts (such as ear, rhinotomy, nose, or scalping, scal ...

Igorrote The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ...

s", the actors were forced to dress half-naked and perform mock tribal rituals for public audiences. Because there was a belief that people in the Philippines ate

dog meat Dog meat, also known as fragrant meat or simply fragrant, is the meat derived from dogs. Historically human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, dog meat is consumed to a limited extent in ...

, stray dogs were taken from Brooklyn's dog pounds to be killed and eaten by the performers as part of the show. Though Hunt's show was initially extremely popular among show-goers and even gained some international acclaim, Hunt would soon draw criticism for the alleged mistreatment of his performers. During an exhibition in Chicago, it was reported that Hunt's Igorrotes "were crammed into three small A-frame tents in a muddy scrap of land underneath the trestlework of the roller coaster." Two of Hunt's performers died on the road. As a result of these incidents, the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

assigned federal agent Frederick Barker to investigate the matter. Hunt attempted to flee to Canada with his performers, though by October 1906 he was found by authorities and arrested. During the investigation it was found that Hunt, despite having promised pay of $15 a month to his performers, had nonetheless withheld $9,600 in wages from the tribespeople, and had often physically assaulted them to rob them of their money. However, while his performers were allowed to return to the Philippines, Hunt's charges were eventually dropped.

Later life and death

Following his acquittal by the government, Hunt moved back to Iowa with his wife, Sallie Ann Gallagher, whom he had married bigamously. He became a snake oil salesman and unsuccessfully attempted to start a family, with three of his four children dying before the age of six. Hunt died aged 49 on February 16, 1916, in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, and was buried in an unmarked grave.

References

1866 births 1916 deaths {{Improve categories, date=February 2023