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Creature record / 1869

The Wild Man of Woodhull: 200 Men Hunt a Shrieking Figure Through the Steuben County Woods

June 1869 · Woodhull and Troupsburg, Steuben County, New York, United States
34Partially documented Cryptid Creature 17 sources 1 videos

Summer, 1869. Steuben County, New York. For four weeks, something had been prowling the woods of Woodhull and Troupsburg. It stepped out onto roads and cleared fields. It rapped on schoolhouse windows. Some schools closed. Then, on the 12th, about two hundred men gathered at the house of S. G. Brown to hunt it down. They found a campfire and a bare footprint in the marsh. That afternoon they saw him at the edge of the woods. Long matted hair. A jet black beard. Wild, bloodshot eyes. He gave a wild, unearthly shriek and bounded away with the agility of a deer. A rifle was raised. No shot was fired. The wild man was never caught.

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The wild man

At first most people took it for a hoax, "intended merely to frighten old women and children." Then prominent citizens vouched for it. At least one hundred people, the correspondent said, could confirm the story.

Sources (17, most influential first)

  1. From Wild Man to Monster: The Historical Evolution of Bigfoot in New York State · New York Folklore Society (Voices)· 2009 · Academic / paper of record · academic
  2. From Wild Man to Monster (PDF) · New York Folklore Society (Voices)· 2009 · Academic / paper of record · academic
  3. Wildman of Woodhull · sasysquatchgirl· 2022-08-01 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
  4. Historical Sasquatch Encounter Reports From New York · Sasquatch Chronicles · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
  5. Part 2: Mysterious Creatures of Western New York · Hornell Sun· 2024-07-02 · Press, book, documentary · news