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Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch...are these ancient semi-human creatures only a part of humankinds mythic iconology or are they based on fact? An excerpt from "Creatures in the Mist", coming Spring 2007 from Algora Publishing.

Legends concerning a group of shaggy and primitive Wild Men have survived over the centuries and may be regarded as legends of either a common mythic creature or an as yet unidentified creature that possibly may still exist. The Wild Man most likely is based in reality. During the Middle Ages, a sub-culture existed on the fringes of society made up of outlaws and social outcasts. At times, individuals made their way into the towns and cities and the Wild Man-Wild Folk, stories began. At the same time, the term was applied to the mythical race of dwarves who were called Moss-Folk. One folklorist wrote, they are considered to be dwarfs, and they live in communities. They are grey and old-looking, and are hideously overgrown with moss, giving them a hairy appearance. (1) These Moss Folk weave the moss of the forests and protect it with a vengeance. They do help some people with their knowledge of the healing plants and herbs and they help crops to grow.

Other Wild Men were described as often of gigantic proportions, dwell in woods or mountains, and originally were no doubt closely connected with the spirits of treesFrom head to foot they are clothed in moss, or covered with rough shaggy hair, their long locks floating behind them in the wind.(2) In folklore these Wild Men are sometimes helpful to humans in that they will locate lost cattle and have the ability to treat the illnesses of cattle, but, according to Philpot, they are more often mischievous, having the propensity for stealing the milk and carrying off the children of the peasants.(3)

There is another aspect of the Wild Man as a creature removed from accepted society. The Wild Man subculture came to represent those things rejected by the civilized elementsthose being natural elements found in animal and vegetable life as well as those more primitive aspects of humanity. These very basic characteristics of nature came to be those most feared by the Christian society of the day. For much of the Middle Ages, hairy, cannibalistic, sexually omnivorous wild men and women had represented the antithesis of the civilized Christian, wrote British historian Simon Schama. (4) The many illustrations of the Wild Man of the Middle Ages show a naked individual completely covered in long, shaggy hair with only the face, hands, elbows (and the breasts of the female) exposed. Other illustrations show this very same individual covered in leaves instead of hair or fur.

Because of the association with leaves, some writers have linked the Wild Man to the Green Man archetype. I disagree with this and believe that the depiction of the Wild Man covered in leaves refers more to his habitat of the forest rather than as an agricultural or fertility symbol that the Green Man represents. An interesting folk festival-ritual held at Whitsuntide called chasing the Wild Man out of the bush was held in Saxony and Thringen that lends evidence that this creature actually did exist, at least at one time in the past. Frazer wrote, A young fellow is enveloped in leaves or moss and called the Wild Man. He hides in the wood and the other lads of the village go out to seek him. They find him, lead him captive out of the wood, and fire at him with blank muskets. He falls dead to the ground(5) In another village Frazer identifies as Erzgebirge there was an annual (at Shrovetide) custom that originated around 1600 CE. According to Frazer Two men disguised as Wild Men, the one in brushwood and moss, the other in straw, were led about the streets, and at last taken to the market-place, where they were chased up and down, shot and stabbed. Before falling they reeled about with strange gestures and spirted blood on the people with bladders which they carried. When they were down, the huntsmen placed them on boards and carried them to the alehouse(6) Frazer noted that similar customs were still carried out in Bohemia during his day. Are these simply folk customs or are they a ritualized memory of actual Wild Man hunts?

Contrary to Frazer, Schama believes prior to 1600 society itself transformed the wild folk into symbolic guardians of nature. beginning in the later part of the fifteenth centurywild men were made over into exemplars of the virtuous and natural life.(7) Over the next hundred years, the wild man was turned into conspicuously gentler creatures.(8)

The wild man became the symbol of popular discontent with the burgeoning cities and court society; he was, in a sense, a response of nature towards this unnatural existence and the destruction of the Wild Wood. According to Michael Cremo, the Wild Men were said to be members of the animal kingdom, unable to speak or comprehend the existence of God.(9)

Hundreds of centuries earlier, however, the Wild Man was depicted on a silver Etruscan bowl, on which, writes Cremo, may be seen, among human hunters on horses, the figure of a large, ape-like creature.(10) Cremo notes that the wild man figure was not one of the common mythological figures but in the midst of a hunting party of well-armed humans mounted on horses. The creature has no satyrs tail [as some have said that the figure is that of a satyr] and appears to be carrying a crude club in one hand and a large stone, raised threateningly above his head, in the other. (11)

In North America, the Wild Man is present in the ancient legends of Big Foot and Sasquatchhuge human-like figures covered in long hair and leaves. Nineteenth century American folklore tells of a family of Big Foot who attacked a group of gold miners in their California cabin one evening, destroying the building and tearing the men apart. Was this a response to the encroachment of civilized man? The characteristics of the two are very similar and they react in the same way. As Matthews writes of the Wild Man he can only dwell in such wild spots and avoids those places tamed by humankind, retreating ever deeper into the wilderness to escape the excesses of civilizationits cruelty, greed, and hypocrisy.(12)

The Pacific Northwest forest is a breeding ground for Big Foot stories. An article in the April 1965 edition of Western Folklore gave the following account of an event that occurred 45 miles from Eureka, California in 1958:
Two sturdy construction workers insist they have seen Big Foot, whose 16-inch tracks have been spotted recently in the Northern California woods. Heor itbounded across the road in front of our car Sunday evening, said Ray Kerr, 43. It ran upright like a man, swinging long, hairy arms. It happened so fast, its kind of hard to give a really close description. But it was all covered with hair. It had no clothes. It looked 8 or 10 feet tall to me. (13)
One Wild Man in particular didnt dwell in the wild forests but rather in the sea. Known as the Wild Man of Orford, it is said that several fishermen caught this creature in their nets during the reign of Henry II. Taken to Orford Castle in Suffolk he was reported to be completely naked and had the appearance of a man. The hair of his head seemed torn and rubbed, but he had a bushy beard and was shaggy about the breast.(14) This Wild Man would eat most anything it was given but preferred fresh fish that he would squeeze between his hands until all of the moisture was drained out. According to Westwood, the Wild Man of Orford could not speak even though the local authorities hung him up and tortured him. He stayed at Orford for several months until one day he was able to slip by his guards and disappeared in the waves. At the time, it could not be decided if this Wild Man was a merman, man, fish, or evil spirit that inhabited the body of a dead sailor although fins and other fish-type characteristics were never mentioned in the chronicle. An 1870 edition of Murrays East Anglian Handbook states, A tradition of this monster, known as the wild man of Orford, still exists in the village.(15)

Sightings of these Wild Men are not confined to an earlier time, however. The Winstead (Connecticut) Wild Man has been sighted off and on from 1895 through the 1970s and perhaps beyond. First reported in a local newspaper on August 21, 1895, a witness described his account thusly:
a large man, stark naked, and covered with hair all over his body, ran out of a clump of bushes, and with fearful yells and cries made for the woods at lightening speed, where he soon disappeared.(16) The witness, a Selectman by the name of Riley Smith, added that the man was at least six feet tall and ran upright. The creature was seen again in 1972 and 1974. Both times witnesses described it as being six feet in height, approximately 300 pounds and covered with dark colored hair. Both times the witnesses were terrified.

As noted, however, it is not only in North America or in Europe that stories of these mysterious wood-folk abound. Among the Yupa Indians, living in Colombia and Venezuela a similar nature spirit is spoken of. Called the Mashramũ, or Bush Spirit, he is described as being covered with hair with its feet turned backwards. This creature is regarded as a devastating demon, to be greatly feared. (17) Another Yupa spirit is the Karau, the Spirit of the Night. It too is covered with hair, has very large teeth and very cold hands. The Karau is said to rape women and to kill and eat his victims. (18)

The Wild Man and Wild Woman were known among the Nehalem Tillamook Indians in Oregon as well. The Wild Woman, wrote ethnographer Elizabeth Jacobs was one of the most important of the supernatural beings. She was a large woman and lived in the forest.(19) Described as having long beautiful hair and wearing lots of dentalia, Wild Woman was believed to be spiritually connected with the spruce tree. She could make people sick and die, cause insanity or simply make a tree fall on you. Should you be on her good side however, she would grant one with supernatural powers to diagnose illnesses and cure them or give skills to make beautiful baskets.
Similarly, the Wild Women of old Germany were not only kindly but beautiful. they are beautiful, writes folklorist Thomas Keightley, have fine flowing hair, live within hills, and only appear singly or in the society of each other.(20)

According to local lore, the Wild Women began to appear near the German village of Grdich around the year 1753. The Wild Women would give bread to the boys and girls of the village who watched over the cattle. One day their kindness was extended to kidnapping a small boy, saying to the father He will be better with us, and have better care taken of him than at home.(21) Reportedly, the boy was seen by woodcutters a year later in the forest, clothed in a green dress, but was never seen again.

In Russian folklore, the Wild Women again are regarded as handsome females, with fine square heads, abundant tresses, and hairy bodies. (22) These Russian Wild Men also lived in communities in mountain forests and could be either dangerous (they were said to like to tickle people to death who happened upon them) or helpful. To any who ventured into those mountain forests and left offerings of food, the Wild Women would harvest their grain for them; tend their children and even tidy up their homes. In addition, like the Faeries, they could become invisible by applying certain herbal remedies and would sometimes leave golden leaves to village girls they favored.

While Wild Women were considered handsome and beautiful (although hairy) the Wild Man, on the other hand, is an ugly giant who lives in the forest, known to cause sickness but also to grant certain powers and skills. (23)

Clive Hicks, however, noted that the Wild Men and Wild Woman are not necessarily malevolent and are depicted as helping humanity in some casesThe wild man represents an asset in each of us, the whole reservoir of qualities with which each of us is endowed (24) Again, we are faced with a paradox and one that is not likely to be resolved soon.

Similar tales of these large hairy ape-men are found in such diverse locations as the Pacific Northwest, Europe, Canada, southern Mexico, Belize, Guiana, Ecuador, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, parts of Africa, and of course the Himalayas and central Asia.

The Wild Men in Chinese lore were said to have long, thick locks, fiery red in colour, and his body is covered with hair. (25) Many of these wild men were said to live in the mountainous regions of China although by 1922 only a few were reported to still be in existence.

These Chinese Wild Men were said to be powerful creatures, able to break large rocks with a single blow of its fist and capable of pulling up trees by their roots. The nearby villagers were rightfully fearful. These wild men kill and eat all human beings they meet, wrote Werner, and other hill tribes live in terror of meeting them. (26)

The first Wild Man appearing in the worlds literature was Enkidu in the ancient Summerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Created by the goddess Aruru (also known as Anu) to appease the prayers of the subjects of Gilgamesh who tired of his iron hand rule, Enkidu was made to match the strength of Gilgamesh and to do battle with him although he actually became Gilgameshs closest ally. Historian Fred Gladstone Skinner wrote that Enkidu was a valiant god of battle, whose entire body was covered with hair, shaggy as a womans head. His clothes were of animal skins and, like an animal, he grazed in the fields and fought with the wild beasts for a place at the water holes. (27)

Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, G.S. Kirk asks an important question about Enkidu, we find that the main unexplained element is the insistence on Enkidu as a wild man from the desert. This at first sight arbitrary theme, inconspicuous in the Sumerian versions, is emphasized, not only in the earlier part of the poem, but also, by reminiscence, up to Enkidus death. What is its point, does it serve any real purpose in the epic as a whole, and how did it become so prominent a motif in the Akkadian elaboration? (28)

In addition, we ask ourselves What are we to make of these hairy Wild Men and Women? Some researchers believe that they are common images to the human psyche because they represent mans psychological desire to throw off the restrictions imposed by his society or culture. An ancient and universal mythic icon, if you will, of our desire to become once again savage. However, the common threads of these legends could possibly project another explanation. The universal descriptions of the creatures physical characteristics, habitats, smell, and behavior would appear to describe an actual living being, one that perhaps survived thousands of years beyond its perceived origin. Like the hobbits of Flores, these beings may account for a large number of the worlds folklore and fairy tales and they may still be with us, surviving on the fringes of the world as they always have, in the unfrequented mountainous areas of the globe.

The psychic importance of the Wild Men is clearly seen in the architectural ornaments that include his image. According to anthropologist Dr. Myra Shackley, His image permeates every form of medieval art, from architecture to heraldry, and in the latter he is often shown as a supporter of an armorial shield. Over 200 European families have wildmen as heraldic emblems There is little variation in the way they are portrayed, leafy decorations and a club being the rule. (29) Similar heraldic symbols were common in Germany as well, growing more so with the rise of German nationalism during the 16th century.

Shackley, while writing that legends of Big Foot, Sasquatch, etc. are based upon actual creatures, notes Until proven otherwise the European Wildman, whether he is called a wodewose, (30) a green man, a satyr or anything else, remains a creature of legend. It is possible that genuine relic hominids were sighted from time to time somewhere in the world during the Middle Ages, she writes, but verbatim descriptions have not survived. The European Wildman is a myth(31)

NOTES

1. Porteous, Alexander. The Lore of the Forest: Myths and Legends. London: Senate Publishers 1996, 93 (A reprint of the 1928 publication Forest Folklore published by George Allen & Unwin, London)
2. Philpot, Mrs. J.H. The Sacred Tree in Religion and Myth. Mineola: Dover Publications Inc. 2004, 68 (A reprint of the 1897 edition published by Macmillan and Co., Limited, London)
3. Ibid
4. Schama, Simon. Landscape and Memory. New York: Vintage Books 1995, 97
5. Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough: The Roots of Religion and Folklore. New York: Avenal Books 1981, 243. A reprint of the two volume edition published in 1890 by Macmillan, London.
6. Ibid, 244
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Cremo, Michael A. and Richard L. Thompson. The Hidden History of the Human Race: Forbidden Archaeology. Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing, Inc. 1996, 595
10, Ibid. 594
11. Ibid
12. Matthews, John. The Quest for the Green Man. Wheaton; Quest Books 2001, 110
13. Folklore in the News: California Big Foot, in Western Folklore, Vol. XXIV, April, 1965, Number 2, 119
14. Westwood, Jennifer. Albion: A Guide to Legendary Britain. London: Paladin Grafton Books 1985, 186
15. Ibid
16. Philips, David E. Legendary Connecticut. Willimantic: Curbstone Press 1992, 175
17. Wilbert, Johannes. Yupa Folktales. Los Angeles: Latin American Center, University of California 1974, 139
18. Ibid, 138
19. Jacobs, Elizabeth D. The Nehalem Tillamook: An Ethnography. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press 2003, 190
20. Keightley, Thomas. The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People. New York: Gramercy Books 1978, 234. A reprint of the 1878 edition titled Fairy Mythology published by G. Bell, London
21. Ibid, 235
22. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New York: MJF Books 1949, 79
23. Jacobs, op cit, 182
24. Hicks, Clive. The Green Man: A Field Guide. Helhoughton: COMPASSbooks 2000, 7
25. Werner, E.T.C. Myths and Legends of China. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1994, 392. A reprint of the 1922 edition published in London by George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd.
26. Ibid
27. Skinner, Fred Gladstone. Myths and Legends of the Ancient Near East. New York: Barnes & Noble Books 1970, 27
28. Kirk, G.S. Myth: Its Meaning & Functions in Ancient & Other Cultures. London: Cambridge University Press 1970, 145
29. Schakley, Myra. Still Living? Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma. New York: Thames and Hudson 1983, 25
30. wodewose is derived from an Old English word meaning a woodland being
31. Schakley, op cit 27

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Creatures in the Mist: Wild Men, Legends concerning a group of shaggy and primitive Wild Men have survived over the centuries and may be regarded as legends of either a common mythic creature or an as yet unidentified creature that

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Catherine Guarnieri from the Connecticut Register blogged about a the " Winsted Wildman ", supposedly a Sasquatch type creature that has been seen numerous times in and around Winsted Connecticut.

I've never heard of the Winsted Wildman, but apparently the reports stem all the way back from the late 1800s. If there is one thing that makes a story a bit more believable is the fact that witnesses to strange events often report them to the authorities. I'm not saying that there are no hoaxers or attention seekers out there but it adds a little credibility to the fact that what these people have seen is something that to them is not normal.

Check out the story:

By CATHERINE GUARNIERI

It seems as though nearly every area of the world has their legend of some wild man-beast who likes to terrorize the locals. There is Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest, the abominable snowman of parts north, the Yeti of the Himalayas.

For some reason these creatures seem to prefer the cooler climates... perhaps because they are so hairy? I can't imagine what a sweaty Yeti must smell like. It can't be good.

Imagine if one of those creatures did prefer a little warmer weather though, and decided Connecticut was a good spot. Not too cold, not too hot, and you can go to the beach too, and scare small children. One of these man-beasts just might have decided that he liked the area and settled in Winsted.

The Winsted Wild Man made his first documented appearance in August of 1895, when the Winsted Herald reported that then Selectman Riley Smith, while traveling to Colebrook, stopped along the road to pick blueberries, accompanied by his bulldog. The dog became frightened of something, and ran to Smith, whining and cowering.

A bit later, Smith related, an extra-large buck-nekkid man, covered with thick black hair jumped out of the bushes, yelling like crazy, and ran for the woods. Riley was understandably a tad disturbed by the interruption to his bucolic little trip. Apparently he never lived it down either.

The next documented appearance of the Wild Man didn't occur until the 1970s, when two young men, Wayne Hall and David Chapman heard some very strange noises outside one morning in July 1972. Hall described it as a mix of frog and cat snarls and snorts.

The two men looked out the window in the direction of Crystal Lake, and in the dim light saw a large, furry, eight-foot tall "man" lope out of the woods, cross the road and head toward a barn. They watched the creature wander around the barn for a while, and then it crossed the road again, to disappear back in the woods. When asked if it might have been a bear, Chapman and Hall vehemently denied that possibility. They described it as big, hairy, walking upright and every once in a while it would scratch its head.

The creature was spotted again, two years later at Rugg Brook Reservoir, when some amorous couples had their soiree rudely interrupted by the large furry beast. The Wild Man allegedly rushed out of the forest and headed toward the car. Perhaps the foursome had been a little loud and disturbed his sleep. He appeared to be mighty angry.

This time the police were called in to investigate. When patrolman George Corso and one of the young men went back to the area to investigate no trace was found of the Wild Man.

So what exactly is the Wild Man of Winsted?

Is it some hairy mutant that survives on the fringe of society?

Is it an escaped gorilla?

A New England branch of the Bigfoot family?

Some guy in a gorilla suit?

Nobody knows for sure.

But if you're one of the people that has seen the Winsted Wild Man, tell us your story.We may update this item at a later date with all the details.

And we promise we won't laugh. Much.

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Catherine Guarnieri from the Connecticut Register blogged about a the 'Winsted Wildman', supposedly a Sasquatch type creature that has been seen numerous times in and around Winsted Connecticut. I've never heard of the Winsted Wildman, but apparently the reports stem all the way back from the late 1800s.

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It seems as though nearly every area of the world has their legend of some wild man-beast who likes to terrorize the locals. There is Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest, the abominable snowman of parts north, the Yeti of the Himalayas.

For some reason these creatures seem to prefer the cooler climates... perhaps because they are so hairy? I can't imagine what a sweaty Yeti must smell like. It can't be good.

Imagine if one of those creatures did prefer a little warmer weather though, and decided Connecticut was a good spot. Not too cold, not too hot, and you can go to the beach too, and scare small children. One of these man-beasts just might have decided that he liked the area and settled in Winsted.

The Winsted Wild Man made his first documented appearance in August of 1895, when the Winsted Herald reported that then Selectman Riley Smith, while traveling to Colebrook, stopped along the road to pick blueberries, accompanied by his bulldog. The dog became frightened of something, and ran to Smith, whining and cowering.

A bit later, Smith related, an extra-large buck-nekkid man, covered with thick black hair jumped out of the bushes, yelling like crazy, and ran for the woods. Riley was understandably a tad disturbed by the interruption to his bucolic little trip. Apparently he never lived it down either.

The next documented appearance of the Wild Man didn't occur until the 1970s, when two young men, Wayne Hall and David Chapman heard some very strange noises outside one morning in July 1972. Hall described it as a mix of frog and cat snarls and snorts.

The two men looked out the window in the direction of Crystal Lake, and in the dim light saw a large, furry, eight-foot tall "man" lope out of the woods, cross the road and head toward a barn. They watched the creature wander around the barn for a while, and then it crossed the road again, to disappear back in the woods. When asked if it might have been a bear, Chapman and Hall vehemently denied that possibility. They described it as big, hairy, walking upright and every once in a while it would scratch its head.

The creature was spotted again, two years later at Rugg Brook Reservoir, when some amorous couples had their soiree rudely interrupted by the large furry beast. The Wild Man allegedly rushed out of the forest and headed toward the car. Perhaps the foursome had been a little loud and disturbed his sleep. He appeared to be mighty angry.

This time the police were called in to investigate. When patrolman George Corso and one of the young men went back to the area to investigate no trace was found of the Wild Man.

So what exactly is the Wild Man of Winsted?

Is it some hairy mutant that survives on the fringe of society?

Is it an escaped gorilla?

A New England branch of the Bigfoot family?

Some guy in a gorilla suit?

Nobody knows for sure.

But if you're one of the people that has seen the Winsted Wild Man, tell us your story.We may update this item at a later date with all the details.

And we promise we won't laugh. Much.

Catherine Guarnieri can be reached by e-mail at cguarnieri@registercitizen.com.

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It seems as though nearly every area of the world has their legend of some wild man-beast who likes to terrorize the locals. There is Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest, the abominable snowman of parts north, the Yeti of the Himalayas. For some reason these creatures seem to prefer the cooler climates...

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Before there was Bigfoot, there was the Wild Man. Like Bigfoot, he was large, hairy and often naked, and he lurked in the woods and lonely meadows, emerging only to terrorize and amaze those who witnessed his emergence into the civilized world.

One particularly famous Wild Man has haunted part of Connecticut for nearly a century. His name? The Winsted Wild Man.

Here is a timeline of his appearances:

August 28, 1891 - People riding a coach through Winsted, Connecticut see a large animal run across the highway and leap over a fence. It stands on two legs. The passengers think it may be a gorilla. The New York Times speculates it is a gorilla that escaped from a circus several years ago and was sited in nearby South Norfolk the previous winter. However, the Times also notes that some Winsted residents think it might be a wild man known to live in the area.

September 8, 1891 - A Mrs. Culver of Colebrook, a town near Winsted, frantically reports that the wild man/gorilla spent the night sleeping on her porch. Six police and many civilians search the area but nothing is found.

August 21, 1895 - Winsted Selectman Riley Smith is out picking berries with his dog in Colebrook when he sees the wild man emerge from a clump of bushes. The wild man, who yelled loudly as he ran past Smith, is described as "a large man, stark naked, and covered with hair all over his body." Both Smith and his dog were terrified and fled the area.

August 23, 1895 - Passengers on the coach through Winsted once again see the wild man on the isolated road between Winsted and Colebrook. The North Adams Transcript reports that the wild man may be one of several who were seen in the area several years earlier, and that farmers in the area believe the wild man is stealing their small livestock. The Transcript also notes that a large hunting party is being planned for Sunday, August 25.

August 25, 1895 - Two hundreds armed men search the area around Winsted and Colebrook for the wild man. They find a cave on the Beardsley Farm that contains fresh bones and one old shoe. Footprints of bare feet are found outside the cave, which was located about three miles from where Riley Smith encountered the wild man. The wild man himself is not seen. Some people suggest the wild man is really a local man known to be suffering from alcohol withdrawal, but the man doesn't meet the description of the person seen by Smith.

Also on the 25th, picnickers find a small isolated cabin and report it to the authorities, but it is revealed to be the home of Mort Pond, a known hermit.

August 30, 1895 - According to The North Adams Transcript, two women vacationing from New York City report encountering the wild man while passing through Winsted. They claim it was clearly a gorilla, and had "large white teeth, black hair, a muscular form and is about 6 1/2 feet tall." The Transcript also reports that this is probably the same gorilla who menaced Norfolk the previous winter. The Norfolk gorilla was sealed inside a cave by local citizens who covered the entrance with chains, but it broke the chains and escaped. It was also impervious to being shot with bird shot.

September 3, 1895 - Mrs. Culver once again reports seeing the wild man, as does a Mr. E.L. Perkins. Mrs. Culver claims the wild man was clad in rags, had long black hair and a beard, and was about 45 years old. Once again hunters scour the area, and once again they come up empty-handed.

I got most of this material from Chad Arment's absolutely amazing book The Historical Bigfoot, which compiles hundreds of old newspaper articles about wild men, "gorillas", and other hairy humanoids. It's really interesting to read these old accounts from Connecticut. Some witnesses clearly think they're seeing a man, others think they're seeing a gorilla, and others are seeing something in between. What did these people really see, if anything?

Let's face it, the gorilla explanation is pretty ridiculous. I don't think a gorilla would survive a Connecticut winter, and the story about the gorilla breaking chains to escape from a cave sounds like pure fantasy to me. Arment's book contains dozens of newspaper articles from across the country claiming an escaped gorilla is menacing a particular small town. There just weren't that many gorillas in the United States in the 19th century, never mind escaped ones. Even if a gorilla did escape, it probably wouldn't be able to survive.

Some modern writers have speculated that the Winsted Wild Man was just a hoax created by Louis T. Stone, a Winsted newspaperman known for his tall tales. He did work for the local paper in 1895, but the first accounts appeared in 1891. Perhaps he just helped to shape the story, rather than creating the Wild Man from whole cloth?

Also, Louis Stone died in 1935, so how do we explain the Winsted Wild Man once again rearing his shaggy head in the 1970s?

July 24, 1972 - Wayne Hall, aged 19, and David Chapman, aged 18, are hanging out at Chapman's house near Crystal Lake when they hear a strange noise from outside. It is late at night, but in the murky light they see a large hairy humanoid who is about eight feet tall. The creature emerges from the woods and walks into a neighbor's barn. The two teens watch the creature roam around for about 45 minutes until it disappears back into the woods.

September 27, 1974 - Four teenagers parking in the woods near Rugg Brook Reservoir are terrified when they see a six-foot tall, 300-pound hairy creature walking near the reservoir. Winsted police officer George Corso is stopped by two of the teens while patrolling downtown, and he returns to the reservoir with one of the boys in his patrol car, who insists they keep the doors locked and the windows shut. Corso later described the boy as obviously agitated and believed he had seen something that scared him. At the reservoir the boy claims to see the creature again, but Corso is unable to see what the boy does. The next day the police investigate the area and find no sign of anything unusual.

That information is from David Philips's book Legendary Connecticut. Will the Winsted Wild Man appear again? Probably, but maybe not for another fifty or sixty years. Just like the satyrs and centaurs of the ancient world, I'm sure he's out there just beyond the fringes of town, hiding in the woods outside our consciousness, waiting to surprise us again.

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The Winsted Wild Man: A History of Connecticut's Hairy Humanoid

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Before there was Bigfoot, there was the Wild Man. Like Bigfoot, he was large, hairy and often naked, and he lurked in the woods and lonely meadows, emerging only to terrorize and amaze those who witnessed his emergence into the civilized world. One particularly famous Wild Man has haunted part of Connecticut for nearly a century.

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Greg Shea

It's hard not to smile when you start writing about Bigfoot, the legendary ape-like creature that has supposedly stalked the forests of North America for centuries. The hairy (and conveniently reclusive) hominid is mostly associated with the remote wilds of the Pacific Northwest, but has allegedly been seen in every state in the nation-including Connecticut.

That's right, over the past century or so, Sasquatch has been purportedly spotted more than a dozen times here, mostly in the woodsy northern reaches of Litchfield County, although there have been exceptions: one 1953 encounter with a 7-foot-tall creature covered in dark brown hair with a primate's face and arms down its knees was reported in the White Hills region of Shelton. And in 2013, the inexplicably popular "Finding Bigfoot" TV crew came to Connecticut to investigate a sighting, although it was generally believed that it had only been a camera-shy black bear.

In that vein, our favorite unofficial Bigfoot-like legend is that of the Winsted Wildman, which "terrorized" the locals on two separate occasions, almost 80 years apart. (You know, if you believe the stories.)

The tale starts on Aug. 27, 1895, when the Winsted Evening Citizen ran a story-which also ran again the next day in its sister publication, the Winsted Herald -claiming that "a large man, stark naked, and covered with hair all over his body, ran out of a clump of bushes."

It was witnessed by town selectman Riley Smith, who was out picking blueberries in the area of Colebrook with his faithful bulldog Ned when the encounter occurred. Something had spooked the hound, causing it to whimper and come crawling with its tail between its legs; moments later the "wild man" emerged, cried out and scrambled off at "lightning" speed. Both Smith and Ned were "paralyzed" with fear.

A week later, the Herald ran a follow-up story in which Smith-described as a man "who talks but little" and "of undoubted pluck and nerve" whose "word is first class"-provided more details about the Wildman, describing it as "a wild, hairy man of the woods, six foot in height." He added, "the man's hair was black and hung down long on his shoulders, and that his body was thickly covered with black hair. The man was remarkably agile, and to all appearance was a muscular, brawny man, a man against whom any ordinary man would stand little chance."

Over the next few weeks, the Wildman apparently continued to run amok, generating sensational, paper-selling headlines in both the Herald and Citizen. A local man named George Hoskins reputedly saw the Wildman stealing two chickens from his hen house. Two women from New York claimed they saw a large strange animal standing on its hind legs-possibly, a gorilla escaped from some circus, they thought-during a visit. Local chief of police Steve Wheeler reported that he had sighted it and had given chase before losing the trail in a nearby swamp.

And so the mania grew. One witness, Jim Maddrah, even boasted that he had snapped a picture of the mystery man-beast! Unfortunately, the photograph showed a normal man who, although having a prodigious shock of hair, was otherwise not particularly hirsute. When questioned, Maddrah explained that his camera had been so startled by the Wildman that "it couldn't see straight."

Word of the Wildman spread and soon reporters from across the region were descending upon Winsted in hope of getting a glimpse. Eventually, a reward was offered for the Wildman's capture. A search party, more than 100 men strong and well-armed, was organized and dispatched. Despite a thorough search, the wily Wildman was apparently a step ahead, managing to elude capture.

At one point, the Hartford Sunday Globe speculated that the Wildman may have been an escaped mental patient named Arthur Beckwith. Beckwith had repeatedly freed himself from local asylums to wander the countryside au naturel and live off the land, never harming anyone but causing a bit of a ruckus. Like so much of the Wildman's tale, this was never confirmed.

The sightings lessened over the ensuing weeks, reporters left and the Wildman buzz slowly fizzed. The story was chronicled in The Winsted Wildman and Other Tales, a 1929 tome by Frank L. Wentworth, but as the decades passed, so did the Wildman from the public consciousness . . . for a while, anyway.

In July 1972, the Wildman allegedly reappeared after nearly eight decades. The Hartford Courant reported that two young men observed "a strange, man-like creature" on Winchester Road, near Crystal Lake Reservoir. They claimed to have seen at a distance an upright hominid "about eight feet tall and covered with hair" that eventually disappeared into the woods. When it was suggested that they may have seen a large bear, they replied, "It was no bear."

Two years later, in September 1974, the Wildman was seen again, this time by two couples parked at night by Rugg Brook Reservoir. They told police they were "terrified" by witnessing a "six-foot, 300-pound creature covered with dark-colored hair" in the moonlight, and had fled immediately. A subsequent search failed to turn up any evidence.

Since then, there have been no official sightings of the Winsted Wildman.

Of course, like all good legends, there doesn't seem to be a preponderance of actual facts or evidence to bolster the Wildman's existence. Many of those who have researched the story tend to think that original sighting by Riley Smith might have been greatly embellished-or flat-out manufactured-by the editor of the original Winsted newspapers to spur sales during a slow news cycle, and then was fanned to mythic proportions by public panic and subsequent misidentifications of bears and other more mundane woodland fauna.

In other words: No one let the truth get in the way of a good-and "wild"-story.

(This article was originally published on a different platform. Some formatting changes may have occurred.)

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The CT Files: The Legend of the Winsted Wildman

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Greg Shea It's hard not to smile when you start writing about Bigfoot, the legendary ape-like creature that has supposedly stalked the forests of North America for centuries. The hairy (and conveniently reclusive) hominid is mostly associated with the remote wilds of the Pacific Northwest, but has allegedly been seen in every state in the nation-including Connecticut.

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http://www.damnedct.com/the-winsted-wildman

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Although we've written about the various alleged sightings of "Bigfoot" in Connecticut, there's one particular variation on the theme that we thought might be a little more fun to explore: The Legend of the Winsted Wildman!

That's right-Connecticut's own unofficial Bigfoot legend, the story of a large, hairy creature that "terrorized" the locals on two separate occasions, almost 80 years apart. You know, if you believe the stories.

The tale supposedly starts in August 1895, when the Winsted Herald reported "a large man, stark naked, and covered with hair all over his body, ran out of a clump of bushes." (Original image here by Greg Shea)

It was witnessed by town selectman Riley Smith, who was out in the woods with his bulldog, merrily picking berries and minding his own business when the creature came along, causing Riley to be "badly scared and his dog was fairly paralyzed with fear." He described it as "a wild, hairy man of the woods, six feet in height," and adding that "the man's hair was black and hung down long on his shoulders, and that his body was thickly covered with black hair. The man was remarkably agile, and to all appearance was a muscular, brawny man, a man against whom any ordinary man would stand little chance."

Over the next few weeks, the Wildman was purportedly seen by at least two other witnesses, whose descriptions matched Smith's. The Winsted Herald speculated that the Wild Man may have been Arthur Beckwith, an escaped mental patient from the nearby Litchfield Sanitarium. The sightings soon stopped as suddenly as they had started, and the Winsted Wildman disappeared back into the woods and was forgotten about . . . for a while, anyway.

Almost eight decades later, the Wildman reappeared. In late July 1972, the Hartford Courant reported that a "strange, man-like creature" was observed by two young men on Winchester Road, near to Crystal Lake Reservoir. At a long distance near a barn they saw a figure "about eight feet tall and covered with hair" that walked upright and finally disappeared into the woods. When it was suggested that what they may have seen was a black bear, they replied that "It was no bear."

Two years later, in September 1974, the Wildman was seen again, this time by two couples who had been parked at night by Rugg Brook Reservoir. They described to police being "terrified" by seeing a "six-foot, 300-pound creature covered with dark-colored hair" in the moonlight, and had fled the area immediately. The police went back to search and were unable to find any tracks or evidence.

Since then, there have been no other reports or accounts of the Winsted Wildman.

So what did witnesses see, if anything? A bear? A Bigfoot? An escaped mental patient? Or was it all just a hoax?

A nicely researched investigative piece by Brandon T. Bisceglia of the Hartford Skepticism Examiner shed a bit more light on the story. It's suggested that the original report may have been fabricated (or greatly embellished) by Louis Timothy Stone, the editor of the Winsted Herald in an order to create a sensation to help sell papers-a common practice at the time. Stone was known for creating fantastic stories, or dramatically exaggerating actual ones, especially tales involving unusual creatures. The Winsted Wildman certainly fits the bill.

The Examiner article also looks at the events from the 1970s-a decade where Bigfoot stories were at their apex (so to speak) and a time when the idea of a large, hairy primate-like creatures hiding in the woods of North America was certainly in the national consciousness. It's easy to see how someone may have seen a black bear (which were just returning to the region) at night and in their panic, might have mistaken it for the legendary Sasquatch. The power of suggestion, right? It's reminiscent of the Glawackus, which in all likelihood was a fisher cat, but was greatly exaggerated when the locals weren't used to seeing the then-odd creature in the area.

Here's another semi-recent story about the Winsted Wildman from the Bigfoot Encounters website.

Of course, we'll never have a definitive answer without proof-and until someone captures the Winsted Wildman or he comes in from the woods to tell his story, it'll remain another one of Connecticut's fun mysteries.

As always, if you know of any other stories or sightings involving the Winsted Wildman, please pass them along!

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Although we've written about the various alleged sightings of "Bigfoot" in Connecticut, there's one particular variation on the theme that we thought might be a little more fun to explore: The Legend of the Winsted Wildman! That's right-Connecticut's own unofficial Bigfoot legend, the story of a large, hairy creature that "terrorized" the locals on two separate occasions, almost 80 years apart.