When Ambaugh’s Great Menagerie and Circus visited south Louisiana in 1878, newspaper ads promised that “you will see many strange animals never before on exhibition, and in the Circus many daring acts by the Best Performers ever congregated … in the history of American Amusements.”
The traveling show made stops in Washington, Ville Platte, Opelousas, and Grand Coteau, promising “A Refin...