1840 Wild Man...Detailed Account of Capture of a Possible BigFoot and Two Cubs

I love to do searches with Historical Online Newspapers.

I found this account of Native Americans capturing a 8'3" Wild Man.

After capturing this Wild Man two Cubs appeared and were also captured.

Below is an account of this possible captured Bigfoot and it's Cubs.

Now, remember this is from an 1840 Newspaper and facts are scarce.

Either way it's a great read. Here are some excerpts...

They then began to retrace their steps towards the place of encampment, and when within about a mile of the cavern the Wild Man crossed their path within twenty rods. They immediately gave chase again and ac ctdently drove the creature from the forest to an open prairie. At length he suddenly stopped and turned upon his pursuers. Mr. - Lincoln was then in the advance. Fearini that he might attack them or return to the woods and escape, he fired up on bun and lodged a charge or buck shot in the calf of his leg. He fell immediately, and the Indians sprang forward and threw their ropes over nis head, arms ana legs, and with much effort succeeded in binding him fast He struggled however most disperate- iygaitheri his teeth and howled in a fright ful manner. They then formed a sort of lit ierof branches and limbs of trees and plac ing him on it they carried him to the en campment. A watch was then placed over him and every effort made thai could be de vised to keep him quiet but he continued to bowl piteously all night. Towards tjorn . ine two small cubs about three feet high arid

Look at this description. Is this where the Legend originated ?

quaintance, we went down to his rooms to examine this monster. He is a horrid looking creature. and reminds tis very siroiiij ly of the fabled satvrs as we have pictured them to our own mind. He is shout eihl feet three inches hhrh when stan-Iing erect, this frame is of a giant proportion in every part. His lees are not irtraiijht but like Those of any other four footed animal and his whole bodj is covered with a hide very much like that of the cow. His arms are very lare and long and ill proportioned. It does not appear from his manner that ho ever walked on all-fours. Tne fingers and toes are mere branches arm ed with stout claw?. Hts head is covered with thick course bl.tck h nr. Iik the main of a horse. The nppearaive of his counte nance, it such it miy he c.lie.l. is very ttis gusting nay, almost horrible. It is cov - ered with a thinner and lighter co:it than the rest of the bod v there is no apiic iryn.-e ofeve-bro-.vr now-, the mouth is vervlar- .- wide, & si.ml.tr to ihtloftho baboon. H- eyes Sic quite dull and heavy and there no indication of cunning or activity ah iit them. Mr. Lincoln s ivs h? is ho vend doubt carnivorous, as he universally rejects bread and vegetables and eats flesh with ureat a- vidity. He thin' he is of the ourang ou ting specit4;hut from what we have seen, we re iii':lnie I to consider him a wild animal Mi'd'a.ii resembling a m.iu. He is, to say t;ie I mi on of -Jie mot extraordinary crea tu.es ever brought before the public from any part ol the earth, or water nnder the brute and does nt :ipar to p issess more instinct than co union domestic animals. lle!pain au.nn a proporuon wi.icn woui.i wv is now queit tame and quie', nnd is confined : choice of operating with advantage. As with a stout chain att.itched to his ls. j tr discreiplions of American tohac

Is it just a story. Is it the first detailed Bigfoot sighting. I don't know.

Chronicling America

That, to me, is more compelling proof than I've ever read or seen anywhere.

No reason, in 1840, to concoct "a lie" with such telling details that subsequent witnesses have verified for a large bipedal primate. This reporter is convincingly describing exactly what he sees in scientific detail.

Thank you, whyamihere, for pointing something out I would probably never have seen, otherwise!

a reply to: Gryphon66

The early nineteenth century was a period known for newspaper hoaxes.

Probably the most famous is The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 which was an elaborate story of strange civilizations on the moon. Even Edgar Allan Poe participated in one in 1844 called "The Balloon-Hoax" which was a made-up story of a transatlantic balloon trip.

This isn't to suggest that this story isn't true. It might be. It's just to place it in context. And inform ATS readers that this occurred in the middle of a period when newspapers were prone to print outlandish and fanciful hoaxes to expand readership and best their competition.

a reply to: Moresby

Yes, they are full of all kinds of stories.

It's the description...It sounds like what we call BigFoot.

I tried to find more...Details are scarce.

originally posted by: whyamIhere
a reply to: Moresby

Yes, they are full of all kinds of stories.

It's the description...It sounds like what we call BigFoot.

I tried to find more...Details are scarce.

It's a great find. And I starred and flagged you for it.

I just wanted to place it in the context.

a reply to: whyamIhere

Cool find.

Anyone ever hear of that story where a guy was out in woods and a bigfoot ate his chewing tobacco and gagged on it? I think I might have asked this on here before but can't find it.

I hate how the optical reader screws up the lettering. I having the same problem looking at articles from old newspapers in the 60s and 70s. I suggest carefully cleaning it up for the readers. I could get through it and do find the description compelling.

New (old) find, very cool.

True or not very good read.
Makes on think ...hmmmm

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
I hate how the optical reader screws up the lettering. I having the same problem looking at articles from old newspapers in the 60s and 70s. I suggest carefully cleaning it up for the readers. I could get through it and do find the description compelling.

New (old) find, very cool.

I was unable to get the image of the Newspaper a readable size.

But, I agree it's annoying.

originally posted by: OrphanApology
a reply to: whyamIhere

Cool find.

Anyone ever hear of that story where a guy was out in woods and a bigfoot ate his chewing tobacco and gagged on it? I think I might have asked this on here before but can't find it.

I have not heard of that one.

Did you hear about the guy that went into a cave to escape lightning ?

When he got in there a BigFoot was hiding in the back of the cave.

H left an apple on a rock for the Creature. The apple was gone on his return.

a reply to: whyamIhere

I haven't heard of that one either but I found an article about the one I'm talking about.

www.bigfootencounters.com...

I realize that early "newspapers" especially from the American "frontier" were known for wild stories, but it's a good point to make.

I've been following the Bigfoot/Sasquatch material for about 40 years. What struck me as unique about the 1840 article was a) how detailed the observations were that are later echoed by other eyewitness accounts and b) it's easy at this late date, after the widespread popularity of the Patterson film et. al., to believe that the perceptions of observers have been biased. However, I'm not aware (far from meaning it doesn't exist) of other reports in English of this level of detail which square so well with later accounts.

Thus, by the way I think of such things, this would seem to be a mostly "uncorrupted" account of what we would call a Bigfoot.

originally posted by: Gryphon66
I realize that early "newspapers" especially from the American "frontier" were known for wild stories, but it's a good point to make.

I've been following the Bigfoot/Sasquatch material for about 40 years. What struck me as unique about the 1840 article was a) how detailed the observations were that are later echoed by other eyewitness accounts and b) it's easy at this late date, after the widespread popularity of the Patterson film et. al., to believe that the perceptions of observers have been biased. However, I'm not aware (far from meaning it doesn't exist) of other reports in English of this level of detail which square so well with later accounts.

Thus, by the way I think of such things, this would seem to be a mostly "uncorrupted" account of what we would call a Bigfoot.

P T Barnum was not born yet.

Or, I would give it no credibility.

The article seems to be reprinted from a Boston Paper.

I would love to know what happened.

I guess the media hasn't changed much in 180 years.

a reply to: whyamIhere

Point well-taken, LOL.

But also, my mind lends some of the greatest credibility to the "Mystery Airships" reports of 1896-97.

I don't know what they were, but the folks saw something, and didn't have 50 years of sci-fi to prejudice their observations.

Again, thanks for the post.

Just an FYI for anyone doing research on Google...

A text search surrounded by quotes often turns up alternative copies to reference.

For example, searching for:

"He fell immediately, and the Indians sprang forward and threw their ropes over his head"

Turns up these two sources that contain the same text quoted in the OP with less trouble:

www.bfro.net...

www.cryptozoonews.com...

BTW: that last link above mentions something about the story appearing on April 1st and the possibility of it being an 'April Fools' prank:

Scott McClean wonders if this is actually a newspaper hoax or merely is it a coincidence that has appeared on April 1st? He writes me: “I still think this one should be investigated more at the Boston Public Library….None of the content of the surrounding stories seem like April Fools or are far-fetched. This story was also reprinted in several newspapers later with no mention of it being a tall tale. Although, it could have been a well-crafted story based on actual “wild man” encounters!” www.cryptozoonews.com...

I just quickly skimmed over it and am not even sure if it is referring to the same story as the OP or not so YMMV.

EDIT 1: The date on the OP's original story appears to be Feb. 15 1840 so I'm guessing the stories I linked might be different.

EDIT 2: It appears that the article may have originally appeared in the Boston Daily Times on April 1st.

EDIT 3: A Google book preview here called "Yetis, Sasquatch & Hairy Giants" has a decent writeup on this story.

Wow, that's a really interesting account. Hoax or not I wish there was and internet database of old stories like that. There's probably hundreds like it in libraries just waiting to be found.

a reply to: Murgatroid

If it was a prank...

In 1840 they wrote the most amazing BigFoot (Wild Man) story ever.

It kind of sounded real with the Natives able to capture him.

This Free database is fun to search. Lots of UFO and Bizarre stuff..

a reply to: whyamIhere

I actually agree...

I was so distracted when I posted earlier that I forgot to mention that I'm actually leaning that way as well.

It just doesn't seem to have that hoax like feel to it.

I reminds me of the UFO phenomena situation...

It's probably real, but it probably is NOT what it actually appears to be.

This reminds us of the value of using printed and facsimile sources in research. You know such material hasn't been corrupted by contemporary views and prejudices. Thus, you have clear windows into various points in the history of various phenomena.

The internet is a great research tool. But if you're interested in many subjects, and paranormal phenomena in particular, it's good to have a large library of older material. And, if you keep some of this digitally, choose scanned rather than transcribed copies.

a reply to: Gryphon66

Why? Did humans only start telling lies and being sensationalist after 1840? Rubbish.