Walter Bernard "Ben" Hunt (March 13, 1888 – March 30, 1970) was an American artist, outdoor educator and author whose books and articles covered topics such as Native American arts and performance,

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

whittling Whittling may refer either to the art of carving shapes out of raw wood using a knife or a time-occupying process of repeatedly shaving slivers from a piece of wood. It is used by many as a pastime, or as a way to make artistic creations. Backgr ...

scoutcraft Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and k ...

, pioneering,

jewelry making Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery. It is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest-known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesopota ...

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

, and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. Hunt was born in

Greenfield, Wisconsin Greenfield is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 37,803 as of the 2020 census. Greenfield is one of many bedroom communities in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History On March 8, 1839, the Town of Kinnik ...

and grew up in a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

. He attended

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

South Division High School South Division High School is a public high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. South Division is part of the Milwaukee Public Schools. History The building was built after an 1890 motion by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, as a second Mi ...

, but did not graduate, dropping out to become "a lithographic engraver (now graphics designer) at the Bruce Publishing Company". Hunt moved to

Hales Corners, Wisconsin Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History The land in the are ...

with his wife, Laura, in 1920. In 1924, Hunt, along with his father-in-law and brother, Edwin C. Hunt, built a log cabin behind his home. The cabin, "a 16x28-foot structure" made of

tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

logs, was the subject of Hunt's first article, "How We Built Our Log Cabin". During the late 1930s, Hunt began to study the work of Native American artists. As part of his research, Hunt met with artists and leaders such as Nick Black Elk, Frank Smart (or Chief Gogeoweosh), and James F. "Buck" Burshears. Hunt shared his knowledge of "Indian lore" with Milwaukee's

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

leaders and, in 1942, Hunt started writing articles for ''

Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are children between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is published ...

.'' He became a regular member of its staff, ultimately writing "over 1,000 articles, an average of three to four per issue". He wrote as "Ben Hunt" as well as "Whittlin' Jim". Hunt's work for ''Boys' Life,'' led him to serve on the staff of the

National Boy Scout Jamboree In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts and/or Girl Guides who rally at a national or international level. History The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been tw ...

in 1950, 1953, 1957, and 1960.

Books

*''Fifty Alphabets'' (1931), with Edwin C. HuntWorldcat, accessed April 3, 2011.
/ref> *''Sixty Alphabets'' (1935), with Edwin C. Hunt *''Lettering of Today'' (1935), with Edwin C. Hunt *''Indian & Camp Handicraft'' (1938), with Fred Schmidt *''The Flat Bow'' (1939), with John J. Metz --- available from the online site The Archery Library:
The Flat Bow
' *''How to Build and Furnish a Log Cabin'' (1939) *''Rustic Construction'' (1939) *''Single Stroke Alphabets, Slant & Vertical, Plain & Ornamental'' (1941), with Edwin C. Hunt *''Indiancraft'' (1942) *''Ben Hunt's Big Book of Whittling'' (1944) *''Ben Hunt's Whittling Book'' (1944) *''More Ben Hunt Whittlings'' (1947) *''Building a Log Cabin'' (1947) *''American Indian Beadwork'' (1951), with J. F. "Buck" Burshears *''Indian Silversmithing'' (1952) *''The Golden Book of Indian Crafts and Lore'' (1954) *''101 Alphabets'' (1954), with Edwin C. Hunt *''Kachina Dolls'' (1957) *''The Golden Book of Crafts and Hobbies'' (1957) *''Whittling with Ben Hunt'' (1959) *''Let's Whittle'' (1962) *''Crafts and Hobbies'' (1964) *''Comment Vivre en Indien'' (1967), with Robert Doniol *''Contemporary Carving and Whittling'' (1967) *''Come Vivere da Pellerossa'' (1967), with Robert Doniol *''Ben Hunt's Big Indiancraft Book'' (1969) *''The Complete How-To Book of Indiancraft'' (1973) *''The Complete How-to Book of Indian Crafts and Lore'' (1974) *''American Indian Survival Skills'' (1991)

References

External links

*
Video from Boy Scouts of America: ''Knifecraft''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, W. Ben 1888 births 1970 deaths Writers from Wisconsin People from Greenfield, Wisconsin 20th-century American artists People from Hales Corners, Wisconsin South Division High School alumni