African Udilacus

Today is Martin Luther King Day in the USA, from the Carolinas to Maine, from Virginia to California. The truth be told, the lessons of the racial history of America are even in evidence in cryptozoology. Below is a severe example of how events of the past were characterized in a period when few seemed aware of how even a news report’s bias could color a creature account.

All reports from the past must be viewed through the context of their times, and in this specific case, a racist one is in evidence when phrases like “dark town” are thrown into the retelling. Most sightings formerly were not detailed in terms of the ethnic or racial background of the observers, unless they were non-white (e.g. Chinese, AfricanAmerican), in the early 20th century. That aside, we have heard about the “Udilacus” before, of course. This story is a classic, even having the possible escapes from a “circus” mentioned here.

Rockhill, S.C., Feb. 6 (UP) – “The Monster of Marmotte Street” which has terrified the negro population of Mobile, Ala., was reported tonight to have a distant relative operating among the dusky folks of Rockhill.

The mysterious beast here was called the “African Udilacus,” said to resemble a gorilla.

Two frightened negro men told police that a fierce, fur-covered animal accosted them on a lonely, dimly-lit street last night. Another negro reported that the beast had attacked him and ripped off his clothing before he managed to escape its “awful” clutch.

Police, who were without a theory as to the identity of the weird animal, also received a report that the African Udilacus had killed a large calf on the edge of this small South Carolina town and eaten away much of the carcass.

A check was made at a circus wintering near here, but they reported all their animals present and accounted for in their cages.

Police at Mobile, Ala., after spending a hectic week investigating fantastic reports in the colored district, decided the “Monster of Marmotte Street” had slunk back to the swamp bordering the colored residential district.

The Mobile monster was described in various ways – all horrible. Police never were able to secure more tangible evidence concerning the beasts other than wild rumors. The same situation existed in Rockhill.

The Udilacus was first reported in a cotton mill section on the outskirts of Rockhill.

“It was standing in the water. It was black and tall as a man. I threw a rock at it but it snarled and started after me.

Bruce Neal, who was with White when the Udilacus appeared, said the animal ran on two legs as it chased them.

“After it chased us a little way, it dropped down on all fours,” Neal explained.

Clark added the following comment, when he passed along the above report in 2007:

There is another article about the “Udilacus” that I (Loren Coleman) located online. Michael Goodspeed shared the following in 2004, making the point that Bigfoot-like reports have been around a long time.

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Image above:
Employment of Negroes in Agriculture
Earle Richardson
Born: New York, New York 1912
Died: New York, New York 1935
oil on canvas
48 x 32 1/8 in. (121.8 x 81.6 cm.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor

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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