History from OHA: Sig Sautelle’s Big Show – Central New York’s Own Circus

Central New York has a long and eclectic association with the American circus, with the first one coming to Onondaga County in 1825. The early circus emphasized dangerous and astonishing acts, often punctuated in between by tension-reducing humor. They also pandered to an audience’s desire to view the seamier side of humanity. 

Circuses and shows sponsored by P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Colonel Tim McCoy, and the Ringling Brothers all came to Syracuse in the 19th and early 20th centuries, causing audiences to laugh, shriek, or gasp in amazement at high wire and trapeze acts, clowns, ferocious animals, or sideshow freaks. Along with circuses that came from afar, local entrepreneurs created and marketed their own circus entertainment. One such homegrown circus was established by George Satterlee, alias Sig Sautelle. 

George Satterlee was born in Luzerne, Warren County, New York on Sept. 22, 1850, the son of Halstead Satterlee, a shoemaker. At age 13, Satterlee joined the 18th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War as a drummer boy. This infantry regiment was mustered into service in Albany and saw its share of combat action at First Bull Run, the Seven Days Battles, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. While in camp, young Satterlee entertained his fellow soldiers with ventriloquism and magic tricks. After mustering out with his regiment in 1865, Satterlee initially became a printer and worked at that business for several years. However, entertaining audiences continued to grasp his attention. While still employed in the printing business, Satterlee further honed his skills as an entertainer, earning accolades with his version of the Punch & Judy puppet show. At age 24, Satterlee left the print shop and took his Punch & Judy puppet show and magic act on the road. With only $47 to invest, Satterlee bought a blind horse for $12, a broken harness for $6, and a wagon for an additional $6, but could not afford to buy his own tent. With his printing skills, Satterlee created his own handbills to distribute around the communities where he performed. He also changed his performance name to Signor Sautelle, later shortened to Sig, a pseudonym with more dramatic flair than George Satterlee. So began the humble foundation for the circus that would become the Sig Sautelle’s Big Show. 

With the success of his Punch & Judy puppet show and magic trick performances, Sautelle launched his own circus in 1880. Slowly, his small troupe of performers grew in number and skills as they traveled around the countryside in several wagons. After hauling his circus along the rutted roads for a couple of years, Sautelle decided to take advantage of better travel conditions on the Erie Canal. He loaded his wagons onto canal boats and took his Sig Sautelle’s Big Show from town to town utilizing the canal system, establishing his canal boat circus headquarters at Syracuse from 1882 to 1887. Some of Sautelle’s canal boats were 12 feet wide and 88 feet long, and carried his entire circus. One boat was named for his wife, Ida Belle, whom Sautelle had married in 1876. Sig and Ida Belle also became business partners, with Ida Belle playing a significant role in the business side of the circus. Along with the Punch & Judy show and magic tricks, Sautelle directed a band of cats that played musical instruments with his assistance. The rest of his circus was comprised of bareback riders, trapeze artists, tumblers, clowns, high wire walkers, as well as a menagerie of animals. Sautelle advertised his circus as “always first-class and conducted upon purely honorable principles.” When the Erie Canal closed in the winter, Sautelle docked his boats in Clinton Square but still offered the public a smaller, stationary circus with dog shows and other entertainment. 

In 1887, Sautelle returned to transporting his circus on an improved road system, using sturdier wagons with wider wheels that provided a more comfortable ride. That same year, the Sullivan and Eagle Wagon Company of Peru, Indiana built Sautelle’s famous band chariot. Sautelle used the wagon until he sold it in 1915. After passing through a few owners, the wagon returned to Peru, Indiana in 1986, and is now in the collection of the International Circus Hall of Fame. By transporting his circus on better maintained roads, Sautelle was able to lengthen his season and set up his circus in additional towns, and it flourished even more than it did during his canal days. He traveled throughout New York and New England, entertaining audiences in many small towns and larger cities. By 1891, Sautelle had 225 employees, two elephants, animals in fourteen cages, and 150 horses and ponies. By this time, the Sig Sautelle’s Big Show had become one of the big-name circuses in the East. Sautelle’s headliners had some colorful superlatives attached to their names: William Irwin — the most marvelous equilibrist that lives; Irwin’s wife, Mademoiselle Irwin –— the strongest lady in the world; Conora Berato — the sylph of the floating wire; Sam Alix — the wonderful human spider on the swinging perch; and John Blendinger — the champion Egyptian fire juggler. At the turn of the 20th century, Sautelle’s letterhead promoted his business as “Sig Sautelle’s Big 25-cent Shows” and “The Great Sig Sautelle Shows. A Colossal Menagerie, Royal Roman Hippodrome, 2 Ring Circus and Wild West.” 

Sautelle moved his circus operation to Homer, New York in 1900. In Homer, Sautelle bought a hotel to house his employees and built three octagonal buildings, resembling circus tents, that were used as an animal barn, a training barn, and, the third, for his and Ida Belle’s personal residence. He also bought other buildings for additional storage and wagon repairs. However, in 1904, Ida Belle suffered a stroke and the business component of the circus began to wane. Sig was the showman and lively entertainer but Ida Belle was the financial crackerjack who kept the circus afloat through her business acumen. Unable to entertain and keep track of the finances, Sautelle decided to sell his circus to James McCaddon of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. McCaddon took the circus to France where, unfortunately, it failed and was disbanded. 

Sautelle then tried to retire, raising chickens and vegetables on his Homer property while Ida Belle recovered. However, that endeavor did not last long, and in 1911, Sautelle partnered with Oscar Lowande and George Rollins to open Sautelle’s Nine Big Shows, transported by railroad cars. Two years later, this circus was thriving with eight lions, five elephants, 200 horses and two trains of 40 cars each to transport everything throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and some southern states. But in 1914, Sautelle’s situation changed again when his beloved Ida Belle suffered another stroke. At that point, he lost interest in the circus and decided to sell it to the Phillamon Brothers of St. Louis. Ida Belle passed away in Homer two years later in 1916 and it was virtually the end of the Sautelle circus days. 

After Ida Belle passed, Sautelle continued to live in Homer for a few more years, and worked at a local hardware store. He then relocated to Fort Edward, where Ida Belle was buried, and lived for a time with an old friend, and former employee, Frank Stowell, as the couple had no children. While living in Fort Edward, Sautelle appeared as an entertainer in the Humpty Dumpty Circus. In the 1920s, he traveled back to Syracuse a few times to perform his Punch & Judy puppet show at the New York State Fair.  

Sautelle continued to perform in small shows for school and community groups and other events for several more years until his death in 1928 at the age of 78. He often referred to these performances as Great Sig Sautelle’s Suitcase Circus. George and Ida Belle Satterlee are buried in the Union Cemetery in Fort Edward, New York.  

Thomas Hunter is museum curator at the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.