Wildman Joe

Every now and then you run across a piece of local history that feels too wild to be real. In this episode, I look into the wild, unbelievable collision of two totally different lives right here in Evansville back in the late 1800s.

First, there's Jeremiah "Doc" Kohler, a former St. Louis saloon keeper with a criminal record who turned to the circus world. He became famous for running a trained flea circus where his performers pulled tiny gold chariots and juggled (he even got dragged into court over a star flea named Prince Henry).

Then there's Joe Rettig. Joe was born into slavery in North Carolina, gained his freedom after the Civil War, and worked steamboats on the Ohio River until a brutal boiler explosion left him permanently scarred. Back in Evansville, he was just barely scraping by as a ragman collecting scrap in the alleys to survive.

When Doc Kohler arrived in town after his flea circus collapsed, he spotted Joe and saw an opportunity. He offered to turn Joe’s real-life physical scars into a sideshow act, rebranding him as "Wildman Joe," a savage captured in the Philippines.

While sideshow acts like that carry a heavy and questionable history, joining the circus completely changed the course of Joe’s life. He went from sifting through garbage in Evansville to traveling the country, earning a steady income, and eventually performing in front of 30,000 people in Canada.

Check out the full episode to hear how this strange partnership unfolded and how Joe managed to adapt and survive against all odds. If anyone out there happens to have any old records on what eventually became of Joe Rettig after his circus days, drop a comment.

Show notes:  https://www.rivercitymystery.com/20

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