Creature record / 1978
December 21, 1978. Near Toluca, in the hills of upper Cleveland County, North Carolina, 88-year-old Minnie Cook went outside to see what was disturbing her dogs. Afterwards, she never left her house without her rifle in hand. Over the next few months, at least 16 sightings followed around Carpenter's Knob. A dark, hairy figure about six feet tall. A flat face. A scream like a woman in pain. A Charlotte reporter gave it a name. Knobby. Searchers found tracks. A wildlife officer blamed a bear. A local television station gave it a half-hour special. The creature itself was never found.
Carpenter's Knob rises to 1,592 feet in the northern reaches of Cleveland County, North Carolina. Small places lie around it. Toluca, straddling the Lincoln and Cleveland county line. Casar, about six miles to the west. Farm ponds, back roads and branch banks. In the winter of 1978, something began moving through them.