Fresh Reports of Black Panthers in Texas

I have been on something of a hiatus over the last couple of months. There are a lot of reasons for this but have found myself in a slightly better position as far as actually having time to write of late and am itching to get back to it. Please understand, my lack of activity of late does not signal a lack of interest on my part. Now, having said all of that, let’s get to it.

Reports of anomalous black cats, large in size with long tails, continue to pour in to me via email, comments to posts, Twitter and Facebook. I need to catch all of you up on these reports and thought I would work backwards to do so. What I mean by that is that I will be presenting the latest reports to you first and, over the next several weeks, get you caught up on the backlog.

Before we begin, let me repeat a few things that I have said before. I know that there is no such animal as a “black panther.” The known big cats that have been given this moniker are either African leopards or New World jaguars exhibiting melanism. So, when I use the term “black panther,” realize it is a colloquialism, a catchall phrase, if you will, that is commonly used in Texas and the Deep South to describe any large, black or very dark, long-tailed cat.

Now, on to the reports.

12/22/15

“I live near Danbury,Tx near a bayou, while on my tractor recently I thought I saw a black Labrador retriever, but when it moved I thought it was a river otter which I've seen on occasion. The animal crossed in front of me and was definitely a large cat with a long tail, now I know it was a Jaguarondi.I have talked with several old timers here and many have seen as kids and called them simply the big black cats with long tails. Several lived near Liverpool,Tx and spotted the cats near rice fields. Hopefully they are making a come back."

- Anonymous

TCH Comment: I really like this kind of report. This witness saw something unusual and did his own research to find out what it was he had seen. From his description of the appearance of the animal and the otter-like movement described, I have little doubt that he is correct in his conclusion and did, in fact, see a jaguarundi.

Danbury sits in Brazoria County along the Texas Gulf Coast and on the edge of Flores Bayou (I assume this is the bayou the witness mentioned in his report). This area is farther north than the generally accepted range of the jaguarundi but not so far as to be out of the question. Certainly, the habitat is adequate to support a small population of these cats. Personally, I feel the jaguarundi roams much farther north and away from the coast than officials believe. This report seems credible and I will add it to my black panther distribution map.

12/17/15

“So, I live in Shepherd Tx and come home from work every night between 3:30 & 4:30 am. I live literally right next to Sam Houston National Forest. On my way home tonight, I had just turned off of hwy 2025 onto fm 2666 and saw a large black cat in the grass between the road and the forest. It was clearly a black cat but I could not see its face. It did have a long tail. Could this have been what I would call a panther? Do they live in the national forest here?”

- Anonymous

TCH Comment: I am a bit dubious about this report, not because I do not believe the witness, but because, in my opinion, the possibility of mistaken identity is strong in this case. The witness states it was clearly a large black cat but admits to not having seen the face of the animal. This makes a positive identification of the animal all but impossible. I assume the witness is basing his belief that what he saw was a cat based on other factors such as the way it moved and the long tail described. Certainly, many people can detect the difference between the way a feline moves and the way a canid moves but the fact that the head and face of the animal was not clearly seen clouds the identification.

Having said all of that, the Sam Houston National Forest, and east and southeast Texas in general, have a long history of black panther sightings. To the locals, these cryptid cats are not mysterious at all and are just a part of the region’s fauna. This witness may very well have spotted one of these phantom cats but, due to the factors mentioned above, there remains a large enough possibility for misidentification that I will leave this sighting off of my black panther distribution map.

12/9/15

“I was walking with my daughter on a walking trail (inside the city limits) of Jacksboro Tx,January 2015, we had wandered off of the trail for about 45 min when we returned to the trail something caught my eye about 75 yards up the trail, I watched it as it was moving away from us up the trail, it was not running but it was walking fast, I yelled at it and it turned sideways looked at us, took about 6 steps toward us and ducked into the bushes, we both got a good look at it it was black as coal and has no fear of humans, I assume that we had disturbed it in the woods and we're lucky enough to see it when we were leaving, as with most people who have had a similar sighting I was blown away by what I saw and didn't get a chance to take a picture, it was not a miss identification, it was in broad daylight, with plenty of time to watch it as it moved, anyone who says that these animals are not real are wrong, and most people in my situation probably wouldn't take the time to try to take pictures, these are powerful animals that can easily kill you.”

- Anonymous


TCH Comment: Jacksboro is the county seat of Jack County and sits roughly 60-70 miles NW of Fort Worth. U.S. Highway 281 bisects the small town that was established between the Lost Creek and the west fork of Keechi Creek. Jack County is sparsely populated with an average of only 10 people per square mile according to the 2000 census. In addition to the two creeks mentioned above, the West Fork of the Trinity River cuts across Jack County diagonally from northwest to southeast and provides the main drainage for the county. Many other creeks cut through the county, which is also home to Lake Bridgeport and Lake Jacksboro. So, despite the county sitting in a relatively arid part of the state, there is ample water in the county to support a wide variety of wildlife. There is also much more forest than one might expect, especially along the various waterways. Dominant trees are mesquite, live oak, blackjack oak, post oak, elm, pecan and walnut. These hardwoods provide a rich environment that supports a healthy white-tail deer and feral hog population which a large predator could prey upon.

This witness failed to give a lot of detail about the animal he saw but seemed impressed enough with its size to make a determination that it was no domestic cat and it was possibly a threat to him and his child. I have had several interesting accounts concerning cryptid cats come out of Jack County in the past and this one is fairly typical of the experiences of the other witnesses. What was it? The witness stresses it was black as coal and that it was broad daylight. Certainly, that would seem to take a mountain lion out of the equation. Jaguarundi? Possibly, but the witness seemed rattled by the size of the animal. While he doesn’t say so explicitly, this would likely indicate something larger than the typical jaguarondi. That being the case, I will add this sighting to my black panther distribution map.

I will continue to update the blog with the backlog of reports at least weekly until I get all of you caught up. In the meantime, please keep me informed of any sightings out there. I really would like to get to the bottom of this black panther mystery in 2016.

Let’s make that happen.

*ADDENDUM* - I will be updating my black panther sightings distribution map shortly. Once it is ready, I will post it here online. In addition, I plan on going back and making a separate map showing sightings by county. This will dial in the areas of sightings a bit more and, hopefully, allow some patterns to emerge.

A Thanksgiving Message

As many of you have noted, it has been quite a while since I posted anything new on the blog. I have tried to remain active on the Facebook and Twitter pages, posting anything I find interesting or unusual, but have not done much writing. There are numerous reasons for this and, initially, this post was going to be an explanation, almost an apology, for my lack of activity.

I have changed my mind.

I started this post while my wife, daughters and son-in-law were putting our Christmas tree together (yes, shamefully, we have an artificial tree, lol). I found myself just watching and listening to them as they laughed, sang and generally enjoyed being together here, all in one place, safe and warm inside on a gloomy and rainy Saturday in Central Texas. A fire was burning in the fireplace, hot chocolate was on the stove and Christmas carols were playing via Pandora. It was all so cliché that it made me pause. My wife was beaming, happy to have all of her little chickens here together, and this made me happy. It was a Norman Rockwell painting come to life and it was wonderful. I immediately closed the laptop in order to join them. Yes, I was derailed from writing a piece for the blog yet again, but it was ok.

I have been amazingly busy this year, and not all of my distractions have been as pleasant as today's, leaving me precious little time to write but I am blessed. I am working my tail off at work, teaching two courses while coaching the basketball team but I get to work with young people every day. I have endured skin cancer and surgery to remove it this year but have, for the moment anyway, beaten it and have a clean bill of health. Finances were tight this year as I had to give up football coaching, and the stipend that came with it (due to the aforementioned skin cancer), and pay for the wedding of my oldest daughter but have gained a son-in-law that I truly enjoy being around and, best of all, who deeply loves my daughter. I could go on but you get the idea.

I guess I could look at things with a more negative eye, and, if I am being completely honest, I have done so on more occasions than I like to admit, but I choose not to do that today. I am blessed and every single crazy busy day brings more blessings my way. With age comes perspective, I suppose. Could it be after forty-nine years I have grown up? Maybe.

I do hope to spend more time on the blog and in the field this year. That is the goal. I have not lost my passion for it or the subject matter discussed on it. I am quite optimistic that I will have more time for it soon. I have a year’s worth of topics lined up and just waiting to be written about. Somebody has to do it, right? I also hope to finish up my second book, this one a novel, this year. I’m actually quite excited about it and, if it comes along the way I hope it does, will share more about it soon.

In the meantime, I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Do not forget to be thankful for what you have. The poorest among us has far more than most on this little blue planet. Try to remember that when times are tough. I have found the most grateful people to be the happiest people. Choose to be thankful. Choose to be happy.

More soon and my best to you all.

Mike

Sasquatch Classics: Murder and Mayhem in Portlock, Alaska

Scattered across the North American continent are many ghost towns, places that were once vibrant and alive but are now long dead and abandoned. Remnants of what once was can often still be found; old schools, churches or other buildings, usually in a ramshackle state of decay, stand, albeit perilously, serving as the only reminder that a community once thrived on the spot. The reasons a town can die are many and varied. In some cases, the town was bypassed by a railroad or highway. Other communities disappear simply because they have exhausted the natural resources which drew people to the area in the first place, mining towns come to mind. Wars, natural disasters, political wrangling and the like can all be reasons one community might be abandoned in favor of another. Perhaps, T. Lindsey Baker, author of Ghost Towns of Texas, said it best when he defined a ghost town as “a town for which the reason for being no longer exists.” Sometimes, though, you come across the story of a town that was abandoned for reasons other than those already mentioned. In a few cases, towns were deserted for reasons so unique and terrifying that they almost defy belief. One such case is that of Portlock, Alaska.

The remains of what was once Portlock/Port Chatham (technically, two communities but so close together I will simply use the singular Portlock for this article) sit on the far southwest edge of the Kenai Peninsula, not too far to the northeast of the more well known Kodiak Island. The settlement was named after Captain Nathaniel Portlock of the Royal Navy who landed on the peninsula in 1787. Some Alaska publications say travel to Portlock is possible via ATV but most locals would dispute it. The only real way to see Portlock is to travel there by boat or bush plane. If you were able to actually get to the abandoned town you would still be able to see the remains of what was once a healthy village. At one time there was a cannery, a chromite mine and a territorial boarding school for the children of the Kenai Peninsula. The town bustled enough that the government deemed a U.S. Post Office necessary and opened up a branch there in 1921. Everything changed, however, when every resident of Portlock picked up stakes and left en masse in 1949. Unlike most doomed communities, which die agonizingly slow deaths, Portlock ceased to exist almost overnight. What could have caused such a sudden and total mass exodus? A story from the Anchorage Daily News, April 15, 1973 may sum up the tale best.

Portlock began its existence sometime after the turn of the century, as a cannery town. In 1921 a post office was established there, and for a time the residents, mostly natives of Russian-Aleut extraction, lived in peace with their picturesque mountain-and-sea setting.

Then, sometime in the beginning years of World War II, rumors began to seep along the Kenai Peninsula that things were not right in Portlock. Men from the cannery town would go up into the hills to hunt the Dall sheep and bear, and never return. Worse yet, the stories ran, sometimes their mutilated bodies would be swept down in to the lagoon, torn and dismembered in a way that bears could not, or would not, do.

Tales were told of villagers tracking moose over soft ground. They would find giant, man-like tracks over 18 inches in length closing upon those of the moose, the signs of a short struggle where the grass had been matted down, then only the deep tracks of the manlike animal departing toward the high, fog-shrouded mountains with their deep valleys and hidden glaciers.

The newspaper story gives but a glimpse into the terror felt by the citizens of Portlock during this time. Finally, after numerous murders and unexplained disappearances, the town folk could stand no more. Enough was enough and they all agreed it was time to go, and that is exactly what they did, all at the same time. The villagers packed up and walked away from Portlock, never to return. Even decades later, former residents refused to return to the former cannery town for fear of the nantiinaq (Nan-te-nuk), or big hairy man.

Former Portlock resident Malania Helen Kehl was interviewed by Naomi Klouda of the Homer Tribune back in October of 2009 and said things in Portlock started out well enough but degenerated to such a point that the family left their home and fled to Nanwalek. The family had endured the murder of Malania’s godfather, Andrew Kamluck in 1931. Kamluck was a logger who was killed when someone, or something, hit him over the head with a piece of heavy log moving equipment. It was generally agreed that Kamluck was killed instantly and that the murderer would have had to been a true brute to wield the piece of equipment in question as a lethal weapon. The family stuck it out in Portlock for more than a decade after the murder of Kamluck but after being terrorized for “a long period of time,” along with all the other villagers, they finally picked up and left.

“We left our houses and the school and started all new here (Nanwalek),” said Kehl.

Tales of murder and mayhem rolled out of Portlock on a regular basis in the 1930’s and 1940’s, gaining steam during the World War II years. Port Graham elder, Simeon Kvasnikoff told of the unexplained disappearance of a gold miner near the village during this time.

“He went up there one time and never came back,” said Kvasnikoff. “No one found any sign of him.”

Another interesting aspect of the Portlock story was relayed to Klouda by an Anchorage paramedic who preferred to remain anonymous.

“In 1990, while I was working as a paramedic in Anchorage, we got called out on an alarm for a man having a heart attack at the state jail in Eagle River. He was a Native man in his 70s, and after I got him stabilized with IVs, O2 and cardiac drugs, my partner and I began to transport him to the Native Hospital in Anchorage.”
En route to the hospital, the paramedic and the Native man, an “Aleut” from Port Graham, talked about hunting. The paramedic had been to Dog Fish Bay and was once weathered in there.

“This old man sat up on the gurney and grabbed me by the front of my shirt. He got right up to my face and said, ‘Did it bother you?’ Well, with that question, the hair just stood up on the back of my head. I said, ‘Yes.’ “Did you see it?” was his next question. I said, “No, did you see it?” He said “No, but my brother seen it. It chased him.”

Many dismiss the tales that have come out of Portlock due to the aggressive nature of the sasquatch – for that is surely what the nantiinaq is, if it is real at all – allegedly involved. While it is true that most wood ape/sasquatch encounters end peacefully enough, that is not always the case. The Alaskan version of the species, if reports are to be believed, seems to be especially cantankerous, murderous even.

In 1900, a group of hair-covered creatures ran at a prospector who had climbed a tree in an attempt to get his bearings near Thomas Bay. The prospector said they were, “the most hideous creatures. I couldn’t call them anything but devils…” The prospector, upon seeing the creatures advancing on him, was able to drop down out of the tree, get to his canoe and make his escape in the nick of time. He had no doubt in his mind that, had he not seen the creatures in time, they would have made short work of him.

In 1920, one Albert Petka, who lived on his boat near Nulato, Alaska was attacked by a “bushman” (another regional name for a sasquatch-like creature). His dogs were able to eventually drive off the attacker but the damage was done and Petka’s injuries proved fatal. He was able to tell the story of his attack before dying.

In 1943, during the height of the siege of Portlock, a violent attack took place at Dewilde’s camp near Ruby, Alaska. The victim, John Mire (some reports say McQuire), or “The Dutchman” as he was called by the local Native Americans, was killed by an assailant thought to be “the bushman.” He was badly beaten but his dogs eventually were able to run the killer off. Mire was able to get to his boat and travel to the nearest village to seek help but, unfortunately, he died of internal injuries shortly after arriving. He was, however, able to relate his story before passing.

These are just a few of the reports of harrowing encounters with large, hair-covered bipeds that have come out of our northernmost state. There are more. The point here is that to dismiss the story of Portlock out of hand due to the murderous behavior of the alleged sasquatch involved would be a mistake. Tales of violent encounters/abductions attributed to wood apes have been told by native Alaskans for hundreds of years. There is precedence for this sort of behavior by these animals in Alaska.

You may not believe that an entire town could be terrorized by a rampaging wood ape to the point that residents would abandon it. You may feel the strange story of Portlock, Alaska is, at best, greatly exaggerated and, at worst, completely fictional. What cannot be denied, however, is that Portlock was once a thriving community and that in 1949 residents left abruptly for no apparent reason. They left their houses, tanks, wharfs, pilings and their livelihoods and fled to nearby villages like English Bay and Port Graham. Also true is that residents of these two communities refuse to visit the ruins of Portlock to this very day. These two facts alone give the story the ring of truth. Something happened on the Kenai Peninsula back in the 1930’s and 1940’s, something bad.

I am greatly intrigued by the story of Portlock and wish to visit the ruins of the old cannery town one day. Would I see only the dilapidated ruins of an old village? Would anything be apparent to me other than the sight of some old homes and buildings collapsing in upon themselves and slowly being reabsorbed by nature? Would I, by chance, get a better idea of what haunted Portlock? Would I find out if it haunts it still? In pondering these things, I am reminded of an old adage…

Be careful what you wish for.

Sources:

Klouda, N. (2009, October 21). Port Chatham Left to Spirits. Retrieved August 6, 2015, from http://homertribune.com/2009/10/port-chatham-left-to-spirits/

Green, J. (1978). Gentle Giants. In Sasquatch: The apes among us. Saanichton, B.C.: Hancock House.

Bord, J., & Bord, C. (2006). Bigfoot casebook updated: Sightings and encounters from 1818 to 2004. Enumclaw, Wash.: Pine Winds Press.

Clark, A. (1998, January 5). Portlock. Retrieved August 6, 2015, from http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ak/portlock.html

A Week in the Field

I have just returned from a week in the field. I was participating in the NAWAC’s long-term field study in the Ouachita Mountains. After a rather hectic last year in which I dealt with job changes, health issues and the preparation for my oldest daughter’s wedding, it was a much needed respite from the every day world. While I did not come away with definitive proof that a large, hirsute, bipedal ape inhabits the area, I, and my team, did experience some interesting things. I will share some of these things below. Please understand that I cannot, and will not, share sensitive details regarding the operation. The synopsis below is just an overview of some of what took place and my opinions regarding the events of last week.

To start, it was brutally hot during the week. Heat advisories were issued for each of the seven days I was present. The heat seemed to put a bit of a damper on wildlife activity during the bulk of the day. Not much was moving until the sun finally began weakening late in the afternoon/evening. That is not to say, however, that there was no activity during the week, not at all.

My team arrived on Saturday the 19th. We spent the remainder of the day setting up camp and getting organized. Once all of that was done, we walked out to inspect several string traps that had been set up in strategic choke points along game trails. String traps are a means to discern the direction wildlife is traveling and what trails/routes they are using to do so. The idea is simple, black thread is tied to a tree, post or other object at the desired height. The thread is then pulled taut and wrapped, not tied, to another tree or object. The height at which the thread is set depends on the animal you are attempting to get a read upon. Our string traps were set at six feet in height. We feel this height allows deer, black bear and other conventional wildlife to pass underneath the thread without disturbing it (While it is possible a deer could choose just that spot to leap or bound or a bear could choose to rear up on its hind legs, the chances of that are slim). When an animal walks into the thread, the wrapped end slides free and the thread is pulled forward with the animal (the tied end remains in place). The thread will cling to the animal until its length is exhausted. It will then lay on the ground or brush and allow you to discern which direction the animal was traveling when it came through. We found several of the string traps that had been placed last week had been walked through. We reset the thread on these traps and returned to camp. We heard a few odd noises and movement from time to time but nothing we could readily attribute to ape activity.

The second day was highlighted by several wood knocks and some possible rock on rock and rock on metal banging. I will be the first to admit to having been skeptical about the wood-knocking phenomenon when I first began seriously looking into the sasquatch mystery years ago. I am skeptical about it no longer. I have never seen an ape actually hit a tree with a branch or piece of wood but these knocks and bangs do take place. The reality of this phenomenon really struck home several years ago when NAWAC members located a piece of cut firewood at the base of a tree about ¼ mile from the area where we camp while in the study area. The tree had obvious damage from being struck and the piece of firewood showed telltale signs of having taken a beating as well. It seemed pretty clear that this piece of firewood had been used to strike this tree on multiple occasions. Members struck the tree with the firewood and it replicated perfectly the sounds several groups had heard from the area over the previous few weeks. Simply put, this firewood had to have been carried to this spot by someone/something. Once there, someone/something with hands had to pick it up and pound it against the tree. Bears cannot do this. Mountain lions cannot do this. No known wildlife native to the region can do this. This leaves only two possibilities, people or apes. I will not try to convince anyone as to how remote this location actually is, believe me or not. I will say only that the idea that some person would swipe a piece of firewood from our camp, carry it ¼ mile away and use it to periodically beat the crap out of a tree in order to get a group of armed men to race to the location is pretty outlandish.

The bulk of day three was spent still-hunting without any luck. I camouflaged up and took up a concealed position in an area we believe these animals travel through on a regular basis. I did not see anything, however, and returned to camp after several hours. I had not seen so much as a squirrel during the hunt. Again, I am sure the heat played into this and the wildlife was hunkered down in shady spots in the area. About 11:00 p.m. that night, shortly after our final team member arrived, a foul odor briefly filled our camp. It was the “sweaty horse smell” we have encountered so many times in the area before that, we believe, indicates an ape is in close proximity. The smell dissipated quickly, however, and no activity ensued.

Day four was fairly quiet. Several hours of hunting revealed nothing. We heard what might have been a faint wood knock around midday and something I can only describe as a “tok” sound coming from the woods near our camp. That evening we broadcast some ape and chimp sounds in the hopes of getting a reaction from the locals. One of our team members believed a large animal of some kind approached camp later that night but fled immediately when he rose to try and get a look at it.

The next day was spent placing some cameras in strategic spots around the area. The NAWAC has attempted to gain photographic evidence via game cameras in the past (See Operation Forest Vigil) without any luck; however, cameras have continued to get smaller and less obtrusive over the years. Since these cameras were not going to be in the field for months/years at a time, no bulky protective bear boxes were necessary. The combination of the small size of the cameras and the lack of bear boxes gave us hope that we might get lucky and they would go unnoticed. Several of the cameras were placed overlooking string traps that had been disturbed the week before. About 8:00 p.m. we heard the most interesting wood knock I have ever heard. I will not try to describe the cadence/rhythm here but will say that it was rhythmic, clear and unique. I have never heard anything like it and have no idea what could explain it (other than our quarry). One of the other members present immediately answered the knock using the same cadence but we heard nothing else. That night we played some more primate vocalizations but did not receive any discernible reply. After turning in, our nighttime visitor returned. Again, the animal fled the second we moved in an attempt to get a look at it.

Day six was fairly quiet with two notable exceptions. We had started by examining the area where the animal had approached the camp the last two nights. It was clear that something had been in the area as we found trampled vegetation and a faint game trail. No distinct prints, hair or other evidence was located. About 8:30 p.m. we heard what I can only describe as a very big noise. It sounded like a Volkswagen had been dropped off a three-story building. I have no idea what it could have been. Pondering what could be powerful enough to create such a noise sent a shiver up and down my spine. Later, we all heard another loud noise. This sounded much like a large tree falling. It was a loud, prolonged, bang and crash. We were unable to locate any fresh tree falls in the vicinity.

The next day was spent scouting out areas where the team following us will be attempting something new. To my knowledge, the experiment is something no bigfoot group has ever attempted before. I am very excited about this experiment and the possibilities it represents. It is not for me to discuss in any more detail than that here, however, as the details of the effort will be revealed by the NAWAC when the time is right.

The rest of my time in the study area was fairly peaceful but occasionally interrupted by wood knocks and rock on rock sounds. We also located what might be a nut crushing station similar to one located a couple of years ago in the area. Basically, hickory nut and/or black walnut shells are found smashed on top of a large boulder. Also on the boulder is what we have termed a hammer rock. The remnants of shells and pulp are stuck to the underside of the hammer rock, seemingly, indicating it was used to smash open the nuts. This is a behavior that has been observed in known primate species. What could be indulging in this behavior in North America, particularly our main area of study, is anyone’s guess.

That is about it. It was a great week spent in true wilderness, the type of place most people think does not exist anymore, at least in our region. I remain confident that wood apes inhabit this and other areas in the Tex-Ok-Ark-La area. I also remain confident that, eventually, we will get the evidence we seek proving, once and for all, these animals are not myths and are, indeed, flesh and blood creatures in need of our protection.

Ancient Chinese Wisdom

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."

- Chinese Proverb

Sometimes, Life Intervenes

I have been pretty quiet lately and thought you all deserved an explanation. While I have been a bit inactive as far as cryptozoological matters over the last few months, I have been anything but inactive. There are several reasons for this, which I will touch on below.

I was diagnosed with skin cancer toward the end of 2014. I had a large knot/tumor in my eyebrow above my left eye. I underwent surgery to have it removed in the spring of this year. The surgery turned out to be more extensive than was originally anticipated and ended up including a skin grafting procedure. The graft failed to fully take and I may yet have some procedures ahead of me to minimize the scarring. The good news is the cancer is gone.

The health issue also led to some career changes. I am a teacher and a coach (football/basketball). The doctors strongly recommended I not be in the sun for hours on end starting in July and August like I have for 15 previous seasons. After wrestling with it for several months, I have retired from football coaching. I will continue to coach basketball but getting all these changes lined out took some time and has kept me busy.

By far the biggest reason I have been preoccupied has nothing to do with health or job issues; rather, it had everything to do with my oldest daughter’s wedding. She was married just last week. It was truly a joyful occasion for me, and the entire family, but I can tell you the last few months have been very hectic (not to mention expensive, lol). Never would I have imagined the amount of work putting on a wedding actually is, never. It has been quite exhausting. I can only imagine how my poor wife feels.

So, all of those things put together, plus the historic amount of rain Texas received earlier this spring, which forced me to limit my activities, have kept me away from all things cryptid. I will be getting back in the swing of things, though. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for a week in the Ouachita Mountains where I will be attempting to find evidence supporting the existence of everyone’s favorite bipedal ape. I’ll be providing an update on how the week went upon my return.

My best to you all.

What Haunts Belle Plain?

The Texas landscape is littered with the remains of towns and communities that almost made it. Some bustled and boomed for a while and grew quite large based on some regional quirk. For example, towns like Marlin and Mineral Wells grew to be quite well known in the early 1900’s because of mineral water. Saratoga boomed briefly based on the timber and oil industries. Never heard of these places? Well, they are not exactly what they used to be. The advent of penicillin spelled the end of the mineral water craze and times got hard in the oil patch of southeast Texas which put an abrupt end to the growth of these Texas towns. While Marlin, Mineral Wells and Saratoga have fallen on some lean times, at least they still exist. Other communities disappeared altogether. The ghost town of Belle Plain is one such community.

Established in 1875 by Nelson M. Smith, Belle Plain got off to a great start. Nelson platted the town site and started Belle Plain College. Within in a year, the town had several businesses and 65 residents. Belle Plain College was already making a name for itself as well due to its exemplary music program. When Callahan County was organized in 1877, residents voted Belle Plain the county seat. Two years later, the town got its own newspaper and good times seemed all but assured. Prosperity, however, lasted about as long as a mirage on the west Texas horizon. The Texas and Pacific Railroad chose to build in Baird, bypassing Belle Plain, essentially dooming the town. In an amazingly short period of time Belle Plain was gone. The newspaper relocated to Baird, the stone jailhouse was dismantled and rebuilt there as well. In 1883, Baird became the new county seat of Callahan County. The college hung on until 1892, the last store until 1897 and the post office until 1909 and, just like that, Belle Plain was gone. Today, only the ruins of Belle Plain College and an old cemetery remain to show that the town was ever really there. This is where our story begins.

The Belle Plain cemetery has been the source of many odd reports for well over a century. The most enduring legend tells of a young boy and girl who fell madly in love with each other during Belle Plain’s heyday. The young lady’s father did not approve of the relationship and told his daughter to end it. Many things have changed since the mid to late 1870’s but the behavior of teenagers is not really one of them. The pair continued to see each other on the sly until one night they were caught. Enraged, the man sent his daughter home to her mother and told her to wait for him. Begrudgingly, the girl obeyed, leaving her young lover to face her father. Exactly, what happened next is something that will never be known. All that is known is that the boy was found dead the next day. The young girl was understandably devastated and believed her father had murdered the boy in a fit of rage. Filled with grief, and determined to defy her father and be with her lover forever, she hanged herself in a tree adjacent to the boy’s grave. To this day, people who visit the cemetery claim to have odd, and sometimes terrifying experiences. Some have reported spotting a young boy in out of date clothing watching them only to disappear when addressed. Others claim to have heard the terrible weeping and wailing of a female in awful distress, presumably the young girl still mourning her young lover. Odd lights are also occasionally seen floating and bobbing among the headstones of the old cemetery. To be sure, the area projects a creepy aura. Between the ancient cemetery and the ruins of Belle Plain College, one’s imagination can truly venture to some spooky places.

As interested as I am in Texas folklore and good tall tales, this blog is not about ghosts or the paranormal, it is about animals and creatures that may or may not exist or that are seen far from their normal ranges. There is another aspect to the legends surrounding the Belle Plain Cemetery that may better fit the cryptozoological mission of this site. In addition to the strange goings on previously mentioned, there are some other weird reports that sound suspiciously like wood ape, or sasquatch, sightings and behavior. There have been several reported sightings of huge, hulking creatures that are covered in hair and approaching eight feet in height roaming the rear portion of the cemetery. Witnesses have described the creatures to be twice the size of a large, athletic male in colors ranging from dark brown to white with glowing green eyes. Long powerful howls, much deeper in tone than those of coyotes, growls and mumbling have been reported along with the sound of an unseen bipedal walker that shadows visitors while remaining out of sight. Some believe these creatures are the guardians of the souls interred here. I do not know about that but can tell you that there have been more than a few wood ape sightings originating from cemeteries in the Lone Star State. Why this might be I cannot say, but it has been reported often enough to be noticeable to those who pay attention to such things.

I realize some will criticize this post as being more of a ghost story than a cryptid story. I suppose they might even be right to feel that way; yet, there does seem to be a biological entity responsible for some of the more bigfoot-like sightings in the Belle Plain Cemetery. Regardless, I have once again found myself fascinated by a small piece of Texas history of which few are aware and wanted to share it.

After all, who doesn’t love a good story?

*If there are readers up in Callahan County who have had any odd experiences in the Belle Plain area, I would enjoy hearing about them. You can leave a comment below or email me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

**Special thanks to my fellow NAWAC member Jerry Hestand for making me aware of the history of Belle Plain.

Sources:

"Belle Plains Cemetery." RealHaunts. 21 Oct. 2005. Web. 30 June 2015. .

"Belle Plain, Texas AKA Phantom U." Texasescapes.com. 1 June 2005. Web. 30 July 2015. .