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| Illustration of a Wildman |
January 26, 1869 -- Gallipolis, Ohio is excited over a wild man who is reported to haunt the woods near that city. He goes naked, is covered with hair. is gigantic in height and "his eyes start from the sockets." He attacked a Carriage containing a man and daughter a few days ago. He is said to have bounded at the father, catching him in a grip like that of a vice and hurling him upon the earth; falling upon him and endeavoring to bite and scratch him like a wild animal.
The struggle was long and fearful, rolling and wallowing in the deep mud, half suffocated, sometime beneath his adversary, whose burning and maniac eyes glared into his own with murderous and savage intensity. Just as he was about to become exhausted from exertions, the daughter, taking courage at the imminent danger of her parent, snatched up a rock and hurling it at the head of her father's would-be-murderer, was fortunate enough to put an end to the struggle by striking him somewhere about the ear. The creature was not stunned, but feeling unequal to further exertions, slowly got up and retired into a neighboring copse that skirted the road.
Published in the Hillsdale Standard, Hillsdale Michigan Tuesday January 26, 1869
Credit for finding this article goes to the late Scott McClean who relentlessly scoured newspaper archives to find articles that predate the term Bigfoot or Sasquatch. This search paved the way to find earlier articles of Bigfoot we would have never been exposed to. I never met him, but the community who did, remember him with great fondness. You can read an endearing eulogy for Scott McClean by the talented Tom Yamarone.
Cliff Barackman also has a great post honoring Scott McClean's memory at his blog.
