Durham’s Gorilla: 35 Years Ago
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 30th, 2008
No wild, captive, or zoological garden gorillas existed in the state of Maine in 1973. The above example of a zoo gorilla is for illustrative purposes only.
During July of 1973, the rural town of Durham, Maine, in Androscoggin County (and into nearby Cumberland County), was the site of several reports of a “gorilla.”
The following summary is my overview of the case from the archives:
The specific location of the sightings were ~
(#1) Shiloh-Lisbon Falls Road area, in Brunswick, Maine; half-mile from the Huntington home, in Durham, Maine;
(#2) near Durham Road, in the Jones Cemetery, Durham, Maine;
(#3) River Road, near the Jones Cemetery, at the Durham-Brunswick, Maine line; and
(#4) “behind the Jones Cemetery.” at the Durham-Brunswick, Maine line.
Tied to the numbers above, this is what was observed:
(#1) Mrs. Huntington reported (after her own sighting - #3 - the following day) that her daughters have seen the animal three or four times. The first sighting consisted of four youngsters on bicycles seeing it. The three Huntington children ~ i.e. Lois Huntington, 13; George Huntington Jr., 10; Scott Huntington, 8 ~ and their friend, Tammy Sairo, 12, were riding along the road about a half-mile from the Huntington home. They matter-of-factly reported an encounter with a chimp.
Mrs. Huntington would later tell reporters: “My 13-year-old daughter fell off her bike about three feet from him and all he did was cock his head and look at her.” It was described as upright and chimpanzee-like. The quiet, intelligent, reserved Lois reportedly told the Maine Sunday Telegram: “I fell right down in front of him and all he did was look at me. I would have known if it were a hippie or something. But it had a regular monkey face. You have seen a monkey before, haven’t you?”
(#2) A gorilla-like animal standing on its hind legs was observed two or three times by a James Washburn. Officers searching the area found moose and deer tracks. (Please note - Finding moose tracks anywhere in Maine is not unusual.)
(#3) Mrs. George (Meota) Huntington, 33, of Lisbon Falls Road, Durham was driving home from a baseball game when she saw the “ape” peeking out from the bushes on the Durham Road. It was twenty feet away, and made a “mad dash” on two legs into the heavily wooded area. The exact description of the “ape” was that it was a little over five feet tall, with a shaggy, black coat, and weighing about 350 pounds.
She says it had a “monkey face.” “Chimp-like” was another way it was described. She coasted her vehicle so as not to scare it, but when it apparently saw her vehicle, then it ran into the woods. She reportedly saw it two separate times during this incident, as she returned with neighbors and sighted it again. She stayed in her car, as others searched the woods. She was sitting in her car, when she saw it again, peering at her from the crotch of a tree.
Soon after police were notified, the following arrived to begin a search - Androscoggin Sheriff’s Department (a number of deputies), Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department, the Maine State Police, and State of Maine Game Wardens. Altogether, over thirty officers in thirty police cars searched for the animal for two hours. (A helicopter was used in a search in the following days.)
Tracks found near a cemetery and not directly associated with the sighting looked human but had claws - they appeared to be of a bear. At first, that night, some officers brushed off the whole incident as a bear sighting. This would change.
Huntington commented: “They make it out to a monster. I never said it was a monster.”
(#4) By Friday, 27 July 1973, several more (unidentifed) witnesses had come forth saying they had seen “it.” At 7:30 PM, Peter and Jean Merrill found a footprint behind the Jones Cemetery, the scene of most of the sightings. They said it looked like a chimpanzee print.
Androscoggin County Deputy Sheriff Blaine Footman (sic) examined the series of prints, and cast what was described as one which was “rather deep.” Footman said it was about five inches wide with “the thumb part broken off. Whatever made it weighs 300 or 350 pounds and I can’t tell you much more. It’s definitely not a bear track. I don’t know what’s going on here and I’d rather not express an opinion.”
Other witnesses included Huntington’s daughters and friend who were riding bikes near their home. Washburn’s activities are not noted. Huntington was in her automobile, returning from a local baseball game. (Information on the opponents and score were not collected, unfortunately.)
Reports of a gorilla suit not returned since March 1973, to a Portland area costume shop were mentioned in the press, but did not seem to be considered too related to these incidents by the central Maine authorities. By Saturday, 28 July 1973, after many more phone calls from others confirming they had seen an unusual animal in the area, police were taking the sightings very seriously.
The reports had a high level of reliability, according to Brent Raynes and David Downs who interviewed witnesses and investigated the case in 1973.
The specific eyewitness(es) for each incident were:
(#1) Lois Huntington, 13; George Huntington Jr., 10; Scott Huntington, 8 and their friend Tammy Sairo, 12;
(#2) James Washburn;
(#3) Mrs. George (Meota) Huntington, 33; and
(#4) Peter and Jean Merrill.
The times for each encounter were:
(#1) 25th, afternoon;
(#2) 25th, nighttime;
(#3) 26th, about 7:15 p.m.; and
(#4) footprint discovered 27th, 7:30 p.m.
The details of the case appeared in the following newspapers through articles now archived at the International Cryptozoology Museum:
26 July 1973 The Times Record, Brunswick, Maine.
27 July 1973 Evening Journal, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine.
27 July 1973 Press Herald, Portland, Maine.
27 July 1973 Daily Sun, Lewiston, Maine.
27 July 1973 Evening Express, Portland, Maine.
27 July 1973 The Times Record, Brunswick, Maine.
28 July 1973 Daily Sun, Lewiston, Maine.
28 July 1973 Press Herald, Portland, Maine.
28 July 1973 Evening Express, Portland, Maine.
29 July 1973 Boston Sunday Globe, Boston, Massachusetts.
29 July 1973 Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine.
30 July 1973 Daily Sun, Lewiston, Maine.
30 July 1973 Evening Journal, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine.
30 July 1973 The Times Record, Brunswick, Maine.
31 July 1973 The Times Record, Brunswick, Maine.
During the summer of 2008, an anniversary field investigation of the case is planned for willing but screened participants, led by Loren Coleman, and other investigators from cooperating Maine organizations. Details forthcoming.
I dunno about this one. It seemed rather mellow for a wild “ape”. All/most reports I’ve heard for big foot says that it wouldn’t have allowed the children that close to begin with. Then when she fell off (there’s no way a child just falls off without some sort of scene and noise) it wouldn’t just stand there. The sitings by the children’s mother, the description sounds alot like a gorilla suite (sorry guys). Its curiosity also sounds too human playing around. Especially the fact they didn’t find the foot prints. Big foot didn’t get that nickname for nothing. Besides, only 5′ tall? We all know that an average big foot is at least 7′ or more. Sorry to say this, but the ape showing up the year of my birth (on John Lennon’s birthday) I believe has to be some sort of hoax.
I going to have to disagree with you shumway10973, I have read many accounts of Bigfoot standing and watching kids play even after the children see it watching them. I think they seem to know that children pose no threat to them, and the act of playing may spark their interest. I’m no expert in this and I maybe wrong in my thinking, but from what I have read this seems like a logical conclusion.
Can’t help but think there was something seen.
Doesn’t sound like an unknown animal such as bigfoot to me.
I’d guess a gorilla. I have no explanation how a gorilla would be roaming about in Maine.
To me this is just another story of a probably known animal that shows up for a bit in an area where it shouldn’t exist and then disappears again.
This reminds me of the misplaced kangaroo incidents, in which people see kangaroos in places they should never be. This is plain bizarre even if the “gorilla” is not a cryptid. May luck be with you on this investigation Mr. Coleman.
I saw a kangaroo on the side of the road in Ohio once.
But Mike is right, everything I’ve read points toward Bigfoot taking interest in watching children. Not in the kidnapper sort of way, just curiously.
Very interesting post I really like how you set it all up listing the locations of sightings, listing eyewitnesses, etc.
I’ve spent hours searching for articles and many times I’ve ended up with maybe one article to show for my hours of searching. I now see how demanding this field of research can be. Again great post.
Nice work as usual Loren. I live in Durham, and I’ve never seen a gorilla. But I have seen a few monkey-faced people.
I’m surprised nobody showed a textbook showing standard pictures of a gorilla & chimp to the witnesses. ‘Chimp-like’ , yet weighing 300 pounds are contradictory - so if it was an escaped known animal either they are bad witnesses (over estimating size by 150 or more pounds, assuming it was a chimp), or it was a juvenile gorilla. The other options are hoax (Gorilla costume, yet “chimplike” description? most gorilla costumes are *very* gorilla looking, hard to see how a mistake could be made). Or it was a juvenile bigfoot in Maine. Good luck in extracting more info on this one!
Jamesrav - good point, it would have been very helpful for the people that saw this creature to look through some pictures to give better comparisons… I wonder if this ever happened ( maybe they followed up on their own?)? It would be interesting to hear a follow up- can’t wait.
Interesting a gorilla in Maine! I’d have to also disagree with shumway10973. I’ve personally heard from someone who sighted a sasquatch and he was surprised it wasnt as big as what people say, he was a skeptic but no longer is, said it was about 5 and a half feet tall. Also the many reports of sasquatch being curious about children and there’s also a 1999 report about a hunter out in the bush falling down hard and describes a thing standing there looking at him as if it had come to see if he was alright, until the hunter in fear aimed his riffle on it and it went running off. I like how Deputy Sheriff Blaine Footman was quoted “I don’t know what’s going on here and I’d rather not express an opinion.” LOL I think he knew and didnt want to say anything.
My girlfriend and I saw a kangaroo hop across a road in Archway, north london last year. It was late at night, and we had both been drinking, but it sure did look like a roo (or a wallaby)..
who knows what this ‘gorilla’ was (if was anything) - but we shouldn’t discount BF just on account of its size- if BF is a real animal, its unlikely they are born 7′ tall… And juvenile and immature animals of almost all species are known to be more curious than adults.
Interesting info loren, thanks as ever for doing your research and sharing it with us all.
The best quote in the media coverage is this:
“I would have known if it were a hippie or something.”
My best guess is that what those people saw were juvenille or young bigfoot. Younger bigfoot would explain the 5 foot tall report, and I can imagine that younger bigfoots would be more curious and naive and would wonder what kids were doing when playing games.