In this video we look at an article from 1908 that looks at the then popular legends of what were called wild men of the woods. Many times the descriptions of these wild men seem rather more like what we call a Bigfoot today, and I have to wonder, home many of these wild men tales are actually encounters with the Sasquatch of North America?
Follow along as we look at and discuss the history of these sightings and the world of the search for the wild man of the woods from the turn of the century viewpoint...
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Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The First Bigfoot Hoax Prosecution
It is interesting to see the changes that have occurred over the centuries as I research this phenomenon we call Bigfoot today. Of course, we have only known this creature as "Bigfoot" since the latter 1950's, but he has been skulking around the shadows of our imagination since time immemorial. Prior to that he was commonly known as Sasquatch by some. Other peoples have had different names, but the bottom line here is that for centuries it was simply referred to as "the wild man of the woods."
Up until the latter part of the 1800's this creature was accepted as being a primitive human sort of being. Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" began the name change when people started referring to him as a "Mowgli." Kipling's stories first ran in several newspapers as a serial column (1893-94), and Mowgli himself became a widely known character with the dissemination of these stories.
Mowgli, of course, as we all know was a fictional character that had supposedly been abandoned by his parent(s) in India, and was adopted and raised by a pack of wolves. The fascination we had with the wilderness areas of the world fueled the imagination of his readers, and the term became a somewhat popular term for any person that was considered wild, or lived outside of the norm.
Edgar Rice Burroughs further enticed the imagination with his stories of Tarzan, and his description of "ape men" was transferred onto these creatures. At the turn of the century, many fanciful tales of these creatures described them as being ape men, and so began the transformation of these sasquatch people into creatures that were now considered to be man-like apes. This unfortunate chain of events exacerbated any logical attempts to normalize these creatures into what they really were, and still are; wild men of the woods.
While they may have some characteristics in common with the gorillas of Africa, they certainly are not of a simian species. If they were, we would have little difficulty learning about them. Through the years, many have attempted to hoax the public by portraying men as wild men by exhibiting them in sideshows.
One of the most famous, Herbert Asbury, better known as "The Wild Man of Borneo" was a short-lived success. He was coated with tar and horse hair, placed in a cage and fed raw meat. His tenure only lasted a week as he became ill from being coated in such a fashion, and had to be admitted to a hospital. However, history treats us to a long list of sideshow attractions that featured these faux wild men.
Generally, people realized these were fake characters, but that did not stifle the success nor the numbers of these attractions. For the most part they were enjoyed by the willing shills who put down their nickels and dimes for admittance to the show. But occasionally, there was a rube or two that sincerely thought they were going to be entertained by a true wild man, ape man, or whatever they wished to call them
One case in particular comes to light in what may well be the worlds first hoax trial. This was reported on in some of the May, 1891 issues of the Deseret Evening News, out of Salt Lake City.
Follow along in the video as we share what well be the worlds first wild man, or Bigfoot hoax trial and learn the outcome. Believe it or not, this trial actually sets a precedence in law regarding these sorts of lawsuits, and why we don't see many of them occur even today.
The bottom line is that while these wild men, or Bigfoot today, may be displayed as an attraction, since there is no valid proof they exist, how can any reasonably intelligent person claim they were defrauded. In other words, one cannot hoax what does not exists. At any rate, enjoy the video, and don't forget to subscribe for more Bigfoot Tales.
Up until the latter part of the 1800's this creature was accepted as being a primitive human sort of being. Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" began the name change when people started referring to him as a "Mowgli." Kipling's stories first ran in several newspapers as a serial column (1893-94), and Mowgli himself became a widely known character with the dissemination of these stories.
Mowgli, of course, as we all know was a fictional character that had supposedly been abandoned by his parent(s) in India, and was adopted and raised by a pack of wolves. The fascination we had with the wilderness areas of the world fueled the imagination of his readers, and the term became a somewhat popular term for any person that was considered wild, or lived outside of the norm.
Edgar Rice Burroughs further enticed the imagination with his stories of Tarzan, and his description of "ape men" was transferred onto these creatures. At the turn of the century, many fanciful tales of these creatures described them as being ape men, and so began the transformation of these sasquatch people into creatures that were now considered to be man-like apes. This unfortunate chain of events exacerbated any logical attempts to normalize these creatures into what they really were, and still are; wild men of the woods.
While they may have some characteristics in common with the gorillas of Africa, they certainly are not of a simian species. If they were, we would have little difficulty learning about them. Through the years, many have attempted to hoax the public by portraying men as wild men by exhibiting them in sideshows.
One of the most famous, Herbert Asbury, better known as "The Wild Man of Borneo" was a short-lived success. He was coated with tar and horse hair, placed in a cage and fed raw meat. His tenure only lasted a week as he became ill from being coated in such a fashion, and had to be admitted to a hospital. However, history treats us to a long list of sideshow attractions that featured these faux wild men.
Generally, people realized these were fake characters, but that did not stifle the success nor the numbers of these attractions. For the most part they were enjoyed by the willing shills who put down their nickels and dimes for admittance to the show. But occasionally, there was a rube or two that sincerely thought they were going to be entertained by a true wild man, ape man, or whatever they wished to call them
One case in particular comes to light in what may well be the worlds first hoax trial. This was reported on in some of the May, 1891 issues of the Deseret Evening News, out of Salt Lake City.
Follow along in the video as we share what well be the worlds first wild man, or Bigfoot hoax trial and learn the outcome. Believe it or not, this trial actually sets a precedence in law regarding these sorts of lawsuits, and why we don't see many of them occur even today.
The bottom line is that while these wild men, or Bigfoot today, may be displayed as an attraction, since there is no valid proof they exist, how can any reasonably intelligent person claim they were defrauded. In other words, one cannot hoax what does not exists. At any rate, enjoy the video, and don't forget to subscribe for more Bigfoot Tales.
Monday, April 14, 2014
A Lumbercamp Bigfoot Kill
This story is a fictionalized story from one of C.A. Stevens' young adult series, The Knockabout Club, written in the latter half of the 19th century. This one in particular is from the book title The Adventures of Six Young Men in the Woods of Maine. Rather a long title, but that seems to be normal for those days. The book describes the journey of six young men as they travel through the backwoods of Maine into Canada and back into the Aroostook region with a guide named Nugent.
At one particular place, and old abandoned lumber camp, they decide to camp for the night, and Nugent tells them the tale of why the camp was considered to be haunted. The story was subtitled, the Woods Demon. In a nutshell, back in the early 1800s a lumber crew of twenty plus men were there one winter, and had some problems with not a four legged critter, but a two legged one. While the story itself was presented as pure fiction by Stevens, I can't help but wonder if this not really a story telling of an actual Bigfoot encounter, resulting in the creatures death.
Stevens describes the woods demon as being bipedal, giant in size, covered with hair, the hair on its head being pulled into a frightful tuft, which could have been a way to describe a coned shape or sagittal crest, brown skinned, strong enough to wrench a log door held together by clinched spikes, and unable to communicate with speech, although it uttered garbled sounds.
Not your normal human being in any way, is it? Here they were, in the dead of winter, and this bipedal, manlike creature was about with no clothes save a loosely wrapped bearskin and skins tied around its feet. At that time of year it can get to 40 below on some nights.
So, enjoy the video, and come to your own conclusions, as always, and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more Bigfoot Tales.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-xSZM4PLA&list=UU2SWNa9SF0eogNXDISPdKNg&feature=share
At one particular place, and old abandoned lumber camp, they decide to camp for the night, and Nugent tells them the tale of why the camp was considered to be haunted. The story was subtitled, the Woods Demon. In a nutshell, back in the early 1800s a lumber crew of twenty plus men were there one winter, and had some problems with not a four legged critter, but a two legged one. While the story itself was presented as pure fiction by Stevens, I can't help but wonder if this not really a story telling of an actual Bigfoot encounter, resulting in the creatures death.
Stevens describes the woods demon as being bipedal, giant in size, covered with hair, the hair on its head being pulled into a frightful tuft, which could have been a way to describe a coned shape or sagittal crest, brown skinned, strong enough to wrench a log door held together by clinched spikes, and unable to communicate with speech, although it uttered garbled sounds.
Not your normal human being in any way, is it? Here they were, in the dead of winter, and this bipedal, manlike creature was about with no clothes save a loosely wrapped bearskin and skins tied around its feet. At that time of year it can get to 40 below on some nights.
So, enjoy the video, and come to your own conclusions, as always, and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more Bigfoot Tales.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-xSZM4PLA&list=UU2SWNa9SF0eogNXDISPdKNg&feature=share
Sunday, April 6, 2014
About Bigfoot Tales & Folklore
Hi folks!
Just wanted to take a moment to introduce the new home of My Bigfoot Tales blogsite. I've been doing Bigfoot Tales for quite some time over at Wordpress, but it doesn't quite cut it, and I wanted to develop a more concise platform for my folklore and woods-lore research and material.
I hope you'll enjoy the new site, and I will begin loading it up with all sorts of Bigfoot knowledge and stories. Until then, happy Squatching!
Just wanted to take a moment to introduce the new home of My Bigfoot Tales blogsite. I've been doing Bigfoot Tales for quite some time over at Wordpress, but it doesn't quite cut it, and I wanted to develop a more concise platform for my folklore and woods-lore research and material.
I hope you'll enjoy the new site, and I will begin loading it up with all sorts of Bigfoot knowledge and stories. Until then, happy Squatching!
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