June 17, 2015

Exploring American Monsters: Colorado

From Mysterious Universe:

Known for its Wild West history, and great skiing, Colorado also boasts a wealth of dinosaur fossils, is the birthplace of Frank Welker (the voice of Fred from Scooby Doo), and a variety of geography, such as high plains, most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, and desert. The perfect habitats for Bigfoot?

Well, sure. Colorado has a long history of Bigfoot encounters, but “Exploring American Monsters” isn’t about well-known cryptids like Bigfoot, it’s about bizarre hidden monsters like the Slide Rock Bolter.

Slide Rock Bolter

Miners and lumberjacks in the 1800s came out of the mountains with tales of a land whale that lived on the slopes, and fed off any animal that wandered in front of it – especially people. This huge creature would lurk at the tops of mountains, lying in wait for days, unmoving. It latched itself onto the mountainside with hooks on the end of its massive fluked tail. When prey approached, it would release the hooks, and slide down the slope, tearing through trees, and boulders, before swallowing its dinner with its huge, saw-toothed mouth.

One of the earliest accounts of the Slide Rock Bolter in print was in the 1910 book, “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods,” by William T. Cox. As the years went on, and Colorado became a vacation spot, the Slide Rock Bolter has been blamed for missing tourists it apparently loves to dine on.

Read about the other monsters from Colorado like vampires and living dinosaurs here.

See also:

Exploring American Monsters: California
Exploring American Monsters: Arkansas
Exploring American Monsters: Arizona
Exploring American Monsters: Alaska
Exploring American Monsters: Alabama

About Craig Woolheater
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005. I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films: OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.

Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Folklore, Pop Culture, River Monsters, Sasquatch, Sea Monsters