Crawfordsville Bigfoot

The Crawfordsville Review tells a long and wonderful story of one Mr. Hardee, living in that vicinity, who, while out coon-hunting, “was confronted by an appearance” which, he assured the editor, baffles description. By the light of his shell-bark torch, it appeared like a gigantic ape, sitting in the path in front of him.

What it was, he had no idea, and the party being yet some distance in the rear, he hesitated about approaching it. His dog, meanwhile, crouched down at his feet, and refused to stir.

Thinking it better to advance than retreat, Mr. H. waved his torch until it blazed brilliantly, and made a few steps towards the monster, when it uttered a yell so terrific and appalling, that it well night froze the blood in his veins. At the same time it seemed to beat upon its breast with long, uncouth arms. Mr. Hardee, although by no means lacking in courage, beat a hasty retreat. The remainder of the party[,] hearing the yell, had fled precipitately.

The monster, animal, or whatever it was, did not, however, offer to pursue them. A party has been formed, to hunt down the monster some time during the present week.

The Review adds: “Most of our readers are aware of the fact that the country where Mr. H. encountered the untamed monster, is very wild and broken.

It is on the route leading to the far-famed ‘Shadow of Death,’ than which a wilder or more desolate region is rarely to be found.”Fort Wayne [Indiana] Daily Democrat, January 25, 1869

Thanks for this historical item from Jerome Clark.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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