Thursday, March 18, 1976

Moro ‘ape” added to area’s list of animalistic spooks

By Dennis McMurray
Alton Telegraph

An “ape” near Moro Sunday was the latest of a menagerie of monsters and beasts reported in the Telegraph area over the years, including the famous “Gooseville Bear,” which has never been captured.

Other cryptic-creatures mysteriously congregating in this area but never nabbed include a “great snake” in East Alton which, legend has it, could swallow and entire calf, and a seven-foot-tall man-beast with long white shaggy hair periodically reported between Marine and Edwardsville.

But the “Gooseville Bear” was the beast that most befuddled area residents because so far, anyway, it is the only one of the creatures for which there was a serious search.

The great hunt for the “Gooseville Bear” on August 10, 1949, drew attention from the press, including a photographer for (now deceased) “Life” magazine.

According to front page, Telegraph accounts, which treated the event, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as only slightly less important that the invasion of Normandy, a posse of around 100 men, led by the then Mayor of Bethalto, and armed to the teeth with shotguns and hunting rifles, gathered to track down the “Gooseville Bear”.

Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks and children and livestock are guarded with extra precautions. The telegraph dramatically reported on August 10, 1949.

The posse formed into seven squads to comb dense brush in the area called “Gooseville” about 9 miles east of Alton.

The “bear” or whatever it was, was blamed for killing and mangling a bull calf, and apparently hundreds of residents claimed to have heard frightening screams and growls. One resident even claimed to have seen the “wicked eyes of a beast of prey staring from the darkness near a garage.”

Nor everyone took it seriously, though. A Bethalto grocer posted a sign in his window inviting people to “leave orders for bear steaks.” The Canadian Fur Corp, of New York offered $350 for the “bear’s” pelt.

The day of the great hunt, a state trooper claimed to have a corpse of a creature that had the body of a hound and the head of a bear. He offered to show it to anyone who was interested, but there were no takers, the Telegraph reported.

The posse roamed the brush for several hours the night of August 10, 1949. In the morning one of the squads reported they had seen bear tracks along Indian Creek. But otherwise, the item reported, “everyone had a good time and no one was hurt – not even the alleged bear.”

The posse disbanded but then two nights later, a farmer on the edge of Alton, accompanied by a pet monkey named “Chico” claimed to have confronted a furry beast and fired two shots at it. But since his ancient .22 pistol frequently misfired, the farmer decided then that discretion was the better part of valor and beat a hasty retreat back to his farmhouse to call up reinforcements from the Alton police and Madison County sheriff’s departments. The monkey had previously hightailed it back.

“Gooseville Bear” fever then apparently calmed down for several years later there would be occasional that it had been sighted or heard again. Such reports seemed to pop up whenever there was an extremely slow news day at the Telegraph, a veteran staff reporter observed.

At the time of the famous bear hunt, a lengendary [sic] “great snake” that inhabited a pasture in East Alton was recalled by older area residents.

An East Alton man, with a reputation as a raconteur claimed to have watched the serpent swallow an entire calf. The story spread and was solemnly related by newspapers all over the nation.

The Telegraph speculated, though, that the story of the snake, might somehow be related to the fact that the farmer who owned the pasture was unhappy over pawpaw [sic]pickers who damaged his fences and encouraged the tales of the snake.

The Telegraph area has also had its own version of “Bigfoot”, the giant hairy creature reported in such diverse places as the American northwest and the Asian Himalayas.

The local version, periodically reported over a period of several years by motorists driving between Marine and Edwardsville has been described as around 7 feet tall with long shaggy white hair, apparently one of the more elderly of that breed of beasts.

There is one instance, though, of the identify of a monster or beast being solved. A pin setter at an East Alton bowling alley around 20 years ago reported seeing a strange grayish creature crouched on the side of the road.

The creature was soon dubbed “The Thing” but an investigation finally disclosed that it was actually a deer who had roamed into the city.Media Article – Madison County, Illinois – # 2

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bears and Bigfoot and snakes, oh my! Be

By Charlotte Stetson
Alton Telegraph

A bear in Bethalto? Bigfoot in Edwardsville? Monster snakes in East Alton? A variety of wild animals have made the news in The Telegraph over the years. But one of the best tales is that of the Gooseville bear.

A recent Our Past item mentioned Gooseville, and I thought it was in Macoupin County. Much to my surprise Gooseville is in Madison County, near Bethalto.

When Illinois was the last frontier, so to speak, early writers described the lush forests and prairies in the Illinois territory. Brink’s History of Madison County, published in 1882, listed the elk, bear, buffalo, wild cat, deer and other small fauna that resided in Illinois before the white man came. Now we see plenty of deer, raccoons are taking over our neighborhoods, possums are frequently road kill and the suburbs are overrun by rabbits and squirrels. They are not as interesting, however, as the tale of the Gooseville bear.

The Gooseville bear caused a great uproar back in August, 1949 when it “appeared” in the Bethalto area around Indian Creek. The discovery of a mangled calf prompted Bethalto Mayor Henry Gerdes, a district supervisor for the Illinois Conservation Department, to decide a bear had done the damage, since the calf’s liver was missing, and “bears always eat a victim’s liver first.”

A meeting was held in Bethalto to decide what to do about the varmint that was terrorizing the area about nine miles east of Bethalto. A posse of 150 men was put together, and divided into teams to track down the beast. Indian Creek intersected Gooseville, and the search would extend about three miles north and south of Route 140. It was all set. Seven posses of men who were “armed to the teeth” with shotguns and rifles, would converge at the Moro bridge and spread out from there.

On Aug. 10, 1949, The Alton Evening Telegraph reported, “Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks and children and livestock are guarded with extra precautions.” Many residents said they heard frightening screams and growls in the night. One resident claimed to have seen the “wicked eyes of a beast of prey staring from the darkness near a garage.” A state trooper claimed to have found the corpse of a creature that had the body of a hound and the head of a bear, and offered to show it to interested people, but nobody took him up on it.

Many people didn’t take the tales too seriously. A Bethalto grocer had a sign in his window saying, “Leave orders for bear steaks here.” The Canadian Fur Corp. of New York offered $250 for the pelt.

The hunts extended over several nights before the posse disbanded without the bear (or $250 pelt). An Alton farmer later claimed to have confronted a furry beast and fired at it then hustled back to his home to call up reinforcements from the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and Alton Police. The uproar calmed down, but the tale was resurrected occasionally through the years.

About the same time, some elderly residents in the River Bend also recalled the story of a “great snake” that lived in a pasture in East Alton. One man claimed to have seen the snake swallow an entire calf. That story spread, as did the Gooseville bear tale, and was carried by newspapers all over the country. The Telegraph speculated that the farmer who owned the pasture came up with the snaky tale to keep pawpaw pickers off his property.

In 1976, two young men camping in an abandoned strip mine pit near Moro claimed they had been startled when a four foot tall “ape or monkey” came within 15 feet of them. Ron Barton, 19, and Bo Hester, 19, said they saw the ape by the light of their lantern. Sheriff’s Department deputies searched the area but found no evidence of footprints or fur. They speculated that a pet Asian rock monkey owned by a nearby resident could have escaped. That Moro monster, along with the East Alton snake and the Gooseville bear, remain a mystery today.

Wildlife biologists also doubt any claims of the frequent cougar sightings in the River Bend, although bobcats have been reported as well, a much more likely possibility.

The Telegraph area also has had its own “Bigfoot,” the giant hairy creatures reported in the Himalayas, the Northwest United States, Texas, and, more recently, in Michigan. The local beast was described as seven feet tall with long shaggy white hair, suggesting a senior citizen Bigfoot. It was seen in the Marine and Edwardsville area.

And you thought the Piasa Bird was our only monster.

Wednesday, September 22, 1965

Youths Report ‘Monster’ Near Edge Of City

Decatur Review

Sheriff’s deputies went on a “monster” hunt early today at the northwest edge of Decatur.

They were called to Montezuma Hills when four young persons claimed a black, man-like monster approached the car in which they were parked.

They said they left the place, drove to Decatur, where the young men let their girl companions out of the car.

The young men returned to the scene, parked the car a second time and waited to see if the “monster” would return.

It did, they said.

The youths left hurriedly a second time.

Sheriff’s deputies were called and they made a fruitless search of the area.

The deputies said they didn’t want to guess what the youths saw, but they appeared to be well frightened.

Friday, April 22, 1887

Wild Man Of The Woods

Decatur Daily Review

An alleged wild man of the woods is making life miserable for rustics of Logan county.

Tuesday, July 06, 1976

It speaks softly, carries a big foot

Rockford Morning Star

17-inch tracks found

Dixon – Is Big Foot, the huge, legendary man-like creature whose existence never has been documented, visiting the Lowell Park area near hear [sp] ?

That’s a quesiton being asked by some Dixon area residents after 17-inch-long footprints were discovered Monday at the edge of the Rock River, a short distance north of the heavily-timbered 200-acre park, two miles north of Dixon.

The two clearly-defined footprints were of flatish feet, with five toes of nearly equal length. One print was of the right foot; the other a left footprint and the stride between the two prints was 40 inches. There also were several heelprints.

The prints measured 8 3/4 inches wide at the ball of the foot.

An unidentified fisherman, who was in the park early in the morning, said he found “park benches were thrown around and big footprints all around them.”

By afternoon, however, the only big tracks that could be found were upstream from the park in a deserted area. The prints ended at the riverbank.

Lou Gerdes, who has a cottage nearby, at first said “maybe I did it. I have the biggest feet around here.”

But when Gerdes feet were measured, they turned out to be only 11 inches long, six inches short of the Big Foot tracks.

Dixon Police Officer Howard Kendell, who has been on duty in Lowell Park since April 16, said he had not seen any sign of any creature resembling Big Foot.

Thursday, June 30, 1988

Area man recalls encounter with infamous Bigfoot monster.

By Joe Jones

Lawrenceville Daily Record

Bigfoot, Yeti, abominable snowman, Big Muddy Monster, the missing link.

Whatever the name, wherever the sighting, the description is basically the same – large, hairy, upright-walking creatures that continue to mystify and terrify.

While persons who swear they have seen the elusive beasts are sometimes brushed aside as kooks or over imbibers of distilled spirits, most are dead-sure of what they saw.

Darwin Hart, 50, Route 1, Claremont, recalls his experience as vividly as the night it happened – about 35 years ago – near Lawrenceville.

“There were five of us, two girls and three boys, going swimming in the gravel pits north of Lawrenceville,” Hart said from his residence in rural Richland County.

“We were in a 1952 Ford and were driving along a gravel road that led to the pits when this…thing…crossed the road in front of the car. We stopped, it stopped in front of our car’s headlights, and just stared.

“It made no sound and I don’t remember any particular odor. The thing was about seven or seven-and-a-half-feet tall and thin, not wide like a gorilla, and covered with brownish-gray hair. Its face was completely hair covered and the head was pointed. What I remember most was the length of its arms. They were very long and hung below the knee.”

Hart, who was about 15 at the time of the sighting, said the five went on to the pits and went swimming, but it was nearly 20 minutes before anyone brought up what they had seen.

“Someone, probably me, the ’mouth of the group,’ asked ’Did you see what I saw?,’” Hart said. “Everyone answered that they had. We weren’t really scared, but it was like we were all mesmerized and not quite sure of what had happened.”

After telling the story to his parents, Hart said many of his friends at school laughed off the sighting as a tall tale and he decided to keep the story quiet.

It was only after reading of recent sightings of the so-called Big Muddy Monster near Murphysboro that he consented to retell his story.

“I’m not crazy and I would stand on a stack of Bibles and swear to what I saw,” he added. “Others in the group could corroborate the story. I haven’t mentioned their names, only because I haven’t had contact with them for some time. Two live in Oklahoma and I’m not sure where two are now. But we all saw the same thing, whatever it was.”

Hart said the creature was no more than 20-30 feet from the vehicle and in plain view of the car lights.

“It crashed off into the woods and we went on and swam. That was a long time ago, but with all the sightings around, it makes you wonder if they live in pairs and if some offspring are still around. And it brings to mind that they must eat to survive. Are they vegetarians or meat-eaters?”

And do they still frequent the local gravel pits on nocturnal visits?

Monday, January 26, 1974

Aurora comes clean . . . it’s ‘Abominable’

Elgin Daily Courier – News

Geneva – The Abominable Snowman – or his counter-part – has been sighted in Aurora, according to persons here who wish to remain anonymous.

Other Aurorans refer to the “monster” as Big Mo. It is said to be huge, hairy, of dirty white color and with a “peculiar” howl.

Some residents report that dead dogs have been found with their throats torn out.

Others say they have seen footprints similar to a barefoot man but much larger and with longer toes.

The “thing” is supposed to be in the North Lake Street region where there is a tunnel leading to the river.

It is said to have been in the area for about three weeks.

Kane County Sheriff’s police say they’ve had no reports on wild animals or strange happenings.

They didn’t seem surprised at the question, however.

Friday, July 26, 1929

Gorilla Scare Ends

Oshkosk, Wisconsin, Daily Wisconsin

Freeport, Ill. – (AP) – The terrible gorilla which yesterday, had Elizabeth, Ill., agog, astir and aghast had shrunk today to a monkey, if that.

The farm women who locked themselves indoors, and their men folk who went forth with guns and grim determined faces were breathing more easily. The ‘gorilla’ they wanted was the one who started the story.

Friday, July 26, 1929

Illinois Village Now Engaged In Big Gorilla Hunt

Middlesboro (KY) Daily News

Elizabeth, Ill., (U.P.) – This community was engaged in a great gorilla hunt today.

Posse of farmers searched the countryside for a huge Simian. The “big boy” first observed in a big patch of woods just outside of this town late yesterday, is believed to have escaped a carnival at Savanna, twenty miles from here.

He was wandering around about aimlessly, reports here stated. Housewives barricaded their doors as men folks sought the unwelcome guest.