The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, W. Va.), December 11th 1883
Man or Monster.
Thrilling Experience of a Couple of Hunters
CALCUTTA, O., December 10. – The citizens of this place and for miles throughout the surrounding country are now laboring under the most intense excitement over the appearance of a desperate looking creature, supposed to be a wild man of the forests. The object, whether man or beast, was seen about five miles north of this place, in a dense forest, by Mr. A. Rouch and Robert Bradley, who were out hunting. They both aver in the most positive manner that while walking along in the vicinity of a high bluff of rock they heard a peculiar, screaming noise, and on their turning suddenly around, they were dumbfounded at the sight that met their gaze, for there suddenly rushed out from a cleft in a bluff, a monstrous looking object resembling both a man and a gorilla. It was as tall as an ordinary sized man, stood erect, and was covered with long shaggy hair. It had a savage look in its face, and its eyes fairly glared as it eyed both hunters a second, and then with a wild scream darted off in the woods at a frightful speed. One of the hunters shot and hit the animal in the arm, whereupon the savage creature turned on the hunters and began pursuing them. Both hunters were completely horrified at the appearance of the shaggy creature, and throwing their guns away, both fled from the monster at breakneck speed. The creature pursued them with wild screams, and both men were completely exhausted when they emerged from the woods a short distance ahead of their pursuer. Both men say they could not be hired to go into that lonely woods again for a mint of money.
Several years ago a young man who had become a lunatic, and was confined in the County Poor House, escaped and fled to the woods, where he lived principally on berries and small insects and game, and some time after he was seen by a party of children in the woods a short distance north of here, and it is now thought that he may be the same lunatic who has for years eluded our citizens by staying in the dense forest alluded to, which was at one time the resort of horse thieves and counterfeiters, and which woods was seldom visited by any man or woman. A force well armed will be organized here to make a thorough search for the monster.
Disclaimer: This 1883 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/sn84026844/1883-12-11/ed-1/?sp=1
Categories: Newspapers, Wild People, Ohio (OH)