Comments on: Wild People to Cal Gorilla: 1823-1870

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:06:42 +0000

Mystery man- I hate to say this…the obvious answer is catsup!

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:19:16 +0000

Mystery Man, the point about the all cat diet is largely what suggests to me that item is a journalists exaggeration.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:18:59 +0000

These stories are fascinating. One detail that I found particularly odd about the 4th one is the “wildman’s” seemingly exclusive diet of cats. Cats, even housecats, can be amazingly strong, fast, and do a shocking amount of damage when threatened or caught with barehands. In the wild, even a relatively minor injury can cause problems with gathering food or become infected to the point that starvation could ensue. Most animals, and I would guess feral humans too, will do their best to avoid any needless injury and even if this thing was voracious and hungry, there is easier prey out there than a cat. Perhaps it found a novel way of catching them, but it is still a pretty strange food choice unless there was nothing but cats to be had. Considering the cats must have been eating something, I’d say that’s improbable. I know it’s a minor point, but interesting.

I agree with voodoochild about the language of the time. To me, it was very eloquent and definitely had that “flair” to it. I enjoy reading literature from that time for the same reasons as well. Interesting how our use of the language, even in newspaper reports like these, has changed so dramatically.

By: Starbright

Starbright — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:20:08 +0000

The detail in the last story was quite entertaining. It reminds me of one of my favorites stories from 1870’s:

Saturday, October 18, 1879

A Wild Man of the Mountains: Two Young Vermont Hunters Terribly Scared

New York Times

POWNAL, Vt., Oct. 17 - Much excitement prevails among the sportsmen of this vicinity over the story that a wild man was seen on Friday by two young men while hunting in the mountains south of Williamstown. The young men describe the creature as being about five feet high, resembling a man in form and movement, but covered all over with bright red hair, and having a long straggling beard, and with very wild eyes. When first seen, the creature sprang from behind a rocky cliff and started for the woods near by. When mistaking it for a bear or other wild animal, one of the men fired, and, it is thought, wounded it, for with fierce cries of pain and rage, it turned on its assailants, driving them before it at high speed. They lost their guns and ammunition in their flight and dared not return for fear of encountering the strange being.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:25:42 +0000

Bit of meaningless trivia, btw:

VOODOOCHILD mentioned Ishi. Alfred Kroeber, the anthropologist who befriended and studied Ishi, became the father of Ursula K. LeGuin (EARTHSEA, LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, etc.) some years after Ishi’s death.

Jon Voight played him in a good tv movie about ISHI some years back.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:21:00 +0000

Great reads, Loren!!!

The best one is indeed the last one. I’ll agree with CEROILL and BOB K.—

The last one is a squatch and the rest are feral people.

By: fmurphy1970

fmurphy1970 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:15:19 +0000

Very interesting article, especially California one. I love reading these historical accounts. Proves bigfooot aint no modern phenomenon.

By: voodoochild

voodoochild — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:11:39 +0000

Quite interesting indeed. I have often wondered how feral humans become, well…feral. For some reason, to me, the idea of feral humans makes more sense in the context of the time period. It would be more shocking to me, if a feral human were discovered in the current time period.

The first few stories bring the account of Ishi to my mind. Although, I don’t suppose that he would be considered “feral”….(For those that don’t know, Ishi was a Native American man who was discovered in 1912 in California and was still living a “primitive” lifestyle-or, simply living as his ancestors had).
As for the last story, it does indeed coincide with the majority of Sasquatch reports. The ’shorter’ legs in the description of the creature could simply be a perceptual error on the part of the observer. I also feel that this may be the case in the height estimate given. If not, then it could have very well been an adolescent.

It’s a shame that the observer did not give at least a few more details in the description of the female creature.

It is enjoyable for me to read these older accounts not simply for some amount of corroboration with more modern accounts, but I enjoy the vocabulary and flair of the language from that time. It is unique. Reports aren’t written in this way nowadays.

By: Artist

Artist — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 20:51:47 +0000

Interesting post, Loren, ’specially with the Date of each up front, allowing one to set one’s brain in a proper historical mode.

“CA Gorilla” tale originated in a Central California Newspaper, but we submit that Squatch is endemic in ANY wild and mountainous area - archives relate frequent sightings in all US mountain ranges coast to coast, with seasonal “residential” emphasis, and opposite-seasonal “migrational” activities.

They are still here - let’s get out there!

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:56:10 +0000

If we can speculate on the radiation of BF in California during the last several hundred thousand years, I think that we would see that they would enter a habitat where specializaton would result in an advantage in reproduction, which means California has a lot of opportunity for alternative morphs in a supposed BF population to find their particular distinguishing characteristics (short legs, longer hair, skeletal characteristics) advantageous because California has a marked diversity in habitat, all in close proximity to one another…something rarely seen where one single landform and climate typically dominate regionally, as is the case in the east, and much of europe from whence our inner concepts of these qualities originate.

So, multiple radiations of different species of non h.sapien primate? One single radiation with subsequent diversification and specialization? Lots of questions and the answers defy common sense.