The Gazette (Cleveland, Ohio), November 3rd 1900
Wild Woman Roams Woods.
North Tonawanda, N. Y., Citizens Attempt Her Capture And Fail.
A handsome woman seen roaming about the woods in the vicinity of North Tonawanda, N. Y., is causing interest and excitement. The supposed wild woman was first seen Sunday afternoon by Mrs. William Kane and her little daughter while walking along a road skirted with shrubbery and thick undergrowth near their home. Looking up they saw a woman of stately figure, a disheveled head of black hair and partially clad in torn and ragged garments in the road near them. The strange being looked timidly about and dashed back into the shrubbery and underbrush. Mrs. Kane notified her neighbors and a posse of 75 men and boys endeavored to find the strange creature, but were unsuccessful. The same woman has since been seen about lonely spots further out in the country, and each time that anybody has approached her she has fled. An organized effort to find the strange being is about to be made.
Disclaimer: This 1900 newspaper article was published prior to 1931. Under United States copyright law (specifically the 95-year rule), this work has entered the public domain and is thus free to use or republish. It is presented here as an interesting and folkloric newspaper oddity.
Context: “Wild Men” or “Wild People” were purportedly “feral” people who lived in the wilderness in European folklore, representing nature. They were often depicted as tall and hair-covered. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, stories of encounters with people in or from the wilderness including hermits, houseless people, or people going through a mental health crisis, were often reported in American newspress and labeled “Wild Men” as a popular newspaper curiosity genre.
Source(s): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83035387/1900-11-03/ed-1/?sp=4
Categories: Newspapers, Wild People, New York (NY)