Tuesday, August 10, 1949

Armed Squads To Seek Killer Bear Tonight Near Gooseville

Will Converge on Area Terrorized by Phantom Animal

Alton Telegraph

Bethalto – Seven armed squads of men, armed with loaded shotguns, are to comb the dense brush of the Gooseville area, nine miles east of Alton on Highway 140, starting at 5 p.m. today until nightfall.

They will be seeking an animal – believed to be a bear – known to be dangerous.

An expected 100 men will comprise the posses which will rendezvous at the washed-out Moro bridge, one mile north of Highway 140, 10 miles east of Alton.

The hunters will attempt to flush the animal killer from its lair somewhere in the ominous dark wooded areas flanking Indian Creek.

65 Meet at Bethalto

Sixty-five men met last night to plan today’s hunt at the Bethalto City Hall. They came from communities of the area, rallying to a call for volunteers. The hunt is to be lead by Mayor Henry Gerdes, mayor of Bethalto.

Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks. Children and livestock have been guarded with extra precautions. Outside night activity has dropped to zero.

The animal last week killed and mangled a 7 months old bull calf owned by Fred Pruett. Pruett, at that time, related that he had laughed when he first read a week earlier about the night shrieks and screams of the alleged bear in the Gooseville area. “but I’m not laughing anymore.” He declared.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Ed Heeren, Bethalto, exhibited a 60 pound bear trap which he is to set. Several of the hunters said they have had experience before in hunting dangerous animals – wolves and bears.

Reports 4-Inch Tracks

At latest report this morning, there was added evidence that it is a bear that has caused the terror.  M.A. Dodd described some tracks he had discovered Tuesday noon in the mud under a bridge in the area. He said they were fresh and some measured 4 inches in length.

The tracks, Dodd said, were not there when a group of Bethalto American Legionaires were searching for the animal in the Gooseville area Sunday morning.  A group of Legionnaires was to follow the trail last midnight. Evidently the trail failed to lead to the bear as no report was received today of success in the hunt.

In the last two weeks Gooseville residents and others have told of seeing an animal which they said looked like a bear. The animal was described variously as having a broad back, and brown or black.

Saw Beast’s Eyes

At least one has seen wicked eyes of a beast of prey starring from the darkness near a garage.

Other reports more recently have been received from residents in the eastern fringe of Alton. Some say they have seen or heard the animal.

Two weeks ago in Chautauqua, 32 miles northwest of Alton, residents of that summer resort reported the screams of a wildcat echoed over the still valley in the dead of night.

The general plan of tonight’s bear hunt at Gooseville is for the seven posses to converge from the four directions, meeting at the Moro bridge at dusk.

The posses are to meet and start as separate units at 5 p.m. Each posseman will carry a shotgun, with the chamber empty and the magazine loaded.

Elmer Westerhold,  Liberty Prairie, is captain of the three groups which are combing the 1000 acre Hatch timber, northeast of the intersection of Indian Creek and Highway 140. The squads will roam down Paddock’s Creek, which winds its way through the timber to Indian Creek.

Clifford Crabtree is leading a squad down the channel of Indian Creek from the north. Bob Cooper’s men will rendezvous at the northwest and proceed southeast to the central meeting place.

Other groups will comb the area to the south of Highway 140.

Included in the bear hunting parties are numerous veteran bear and wolf hunters. H. H. Carstena of Wood River reports killing several wolves near Carrolton a number of years ago. “I’d like like to meet that sucker – I’d make a floor mat out of him.” Carstena said.

Deputy Sheriff Frank Imel and Clyde Tisdel Sr. a constable, are stationed at Indian Creek and Highway 140 to keep traffic moving in the event sight-seers appear in large numbers.

Monday, March 15, 1976

Frolicking ‘ape’ startles 2 young campers near Moro

By Dennis McMurray
Alton Telegraph

Two youths camping in an abandoned strip mine pit near Moro claim that they were startled early Sunday morning when a four foot tall “ape or monkey” suddenly bounded with 15 feet of them.

Ron Barton, 19, of Bethalto, and Bo Hester, 19, of Meadowbrook, said they saw the mysterious age through the light of their camp lantern.

They described it as an ape of brownish-reddish color, about 4-4 1/2 foot tall.

Barton said the creature loped down into the pit towards their tent, stared ate them, and then proceeded back up out of the pit, passing within 15 feet or so of their camp.

The youths reported the incident to the Madison County Sheriff’s Department at around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Two deputies, including sheriff’s department spokesman Pete Baetz came out to the strip mine.

Baetz said that “we could not find any evidence of the creature such as footprints or fur, but we have no reason to disbelieve them (the youths) either.”

Baetz said the department also check on whether a pet Asian Rock Monkey owned by a nearby resident might have escaped.

The owner of that monkey assured them it had not gotten out, Baetz said. Baetz added that the department did not plan any further investigation of the reported ape or monkey.

“We don’t normally track down monster stories but if it had been an Asian Rock Monkey it could be a danger to children so we checked it for safety reasons,” Baetz said.

Barton and Hester claimed the ape they saw was much larger than the pet Asian Rock Monkey. They also said that tracks would not have shown up because of the rock and gravel in the strip mine pit.

Barton said that if he could get a permit to use a high powered rifle, he’d like to go back and try to track down the creature, which he said he didn’t think could be taken alive.

Dave Harper, biologist with the Illinois Department of Conservation office in Alton said he has not heard any reports of stray monkeys or apes in the area since a squirrel hunter shot a small rhesus monkey near Pere Marquette State Park several years ago.

He said, though, that sometimes people owning pet monkeys will not report it when they ewcape [sic].

The “Moro monster” meanwhile, remains a mystery today.

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.