Sasquatch Classics Series: The 'Bear King' of Marble Falls

Texas is renowned for its tall tales, myths, and legends. It is one of the things I love the most about the state. While there are the classic folkloric tales, common to all regions of the country, such as those told about the mythical Pecos Bill, there are an awful lot of stories telling of the exploits of real people who lived and died in the Lone Star State. Exaggeration and hyperbole have infiltrated many a story of actual events to be sure; the key, however, is that many, if not most, of the better known tall tales of Texas contain seeds of truth. The events may have been romanticized over the years but, in most cases, they did occur. The trick is figuring out where the truth ends and the “yarn stretching” begins. The story of Miss Ramie Arland of Marble Falls is one such tale.

Around 1900, the story goes, Ramie Arland was unquestionably the most eligible female in Marble Falls, Texas. She was said to be quite beautiful and was considered the “belle” of the town. According to newspaper accounts of the day, Ramie went out late one afternoon to pen up her flock of goats (some accounts say it was a flock of sheep). This was one of Ramie’s daily chores and nothing out of the ordinary. It was only upon hearing Ramie scream in terror that family members realized something was wrong. Ramie’s mother grabbed a gun and rushed toward the spot from which Ramie continued to scream wildly. To her horror, other screams joined and intermingled with those of her daughter. Mrs. Arland thought they likely were the womanish-sounding screams of a mountain lion and picked up her pace in an effort to save her daughter. According to an account in the Washington Bee, “The mother could find no trace of her daughter. She returned to the house and, after collecting a hunting party, searched the woods all night.”

The search party reconvened at the Arland place at daybreak, tired, discouraged and distraught. Not only had they not found the girl, they had failed to turn up even a trace of her. If Ramie had been attacked by a cougar there should have been some sign of the event. Blood, a scrap of her dress, disturbed ground…something. Yet nothing had been found. Everyone, no doubt, feared the worst.

The mood would change shortly, however, as news came in that Ramie had been found. A man hunting several miles from the Arland home had come across Ramie as she was, according to him, “aimlessly walking about in the woods.” The hunter delivered Ramie, who seemed none the worse for wear, home to her family shortly thereafter. It was only then that she related the odd tale of what had happened to her. What follows are the words of Ramie Arland as related in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“I was walking along a narrow trail when a large black bear suddenly appeared in front of me. He quickly turned to run away when a curious looking animal, running on four feet, sprang out of the chaparral into the trail. I saw at a glance that the monster in some way resembled a human being and it flashed across my mind that I was being confronted by the ‘bear king’ of the Kickapoos. The beast threw one of its long arms about my neck, glared into my eyes, and uttered a horrible sound. I expected to be torn to fragments. The creature seized me and ran toward the mountains.”

Ramie’s account continued as she told of how the creature toted her to a cave and threw her down on the ground. She claimed that she tried to escape several times but was struck about the head and shoulders by the creature upon each attempt. Finally, resigned that her life would soon be over, she sat down on the floor of the cave and awaited the inevitable. The odd hair-covered creature with the human-like face became more relaxed once Ramie settled down and, according to her telling, actually lay down and went to sleep. Ramie waited about an hour to make sure the beast was in a deep slumber and then slipped out of the cave and escaped.

Once the story of her abduction had been related to the search party, it was decided that this beast had to be done away with as it posed a threat to them all. According to the article in the Washington Bee, “They (townsfolk) at once set out in the direction of the Moon Mountains for the purpose of destroying the monster.”

The men, following Ramie’s directions, quickly made their way to the lair of the beast where a frightening confrontation ensued. According to the article, “It ground its teeth together, and, while pounding its breast, it would roar and scream like a panther. It was now so apparent to the hunters that the thing was at least human in shape that they hesitated to fire upon it.”

The hunters were perplexed at exactly what should be done at this point. The creature was obviously a menace and a danger but they didn’t want to shoot what might turn out to be a human being if it wasn’t necessary. Yet, they were not sure what they were looking at actually was a human being at all. The decision on what to do was made for them, however, when the beast, “suddenly bounded with rage straight toward the astounded hunters. They were compelled to kill it in self-defense.”

Unfortunately, the story ends there. Nothing more is mentioned as to what became of the body of the ‘bear king’ or Ramie Arland. Such is often the case with fantastic stories such as this one. We are simply left to wonder.

There are numerous problems with the entire story. Marble Falls sits in the Texas Hill Country, but no geological formation in that area could remotely be considered a mountain range. Add the fact that there is not a range called the “Moon Mountains” anywhere in Texas and you have a pretty big issue that casts doubt on the entire episode. Another problem skeptics point to is that the Kickapoo Indians were not native to Texas. That being the case, how would a girl from Marble Falls know anything of the tribe’s legendary ‘bear king?’ Yet another reason many feel the tale is likely just a yarn created by yellow journalists to fill space in their papers, a practice not uncommon back in the mid to late 1800’s, is that Ramie Arland claimed the creature that she encountered “sprang out of the chapparal and onto the trail.” Many a botanist will tell you that there is no chaparral in Texas. It is found only in California and the Baja Peninsula. All of these inconsistencies would seem to ensure that the tale of the ‘bear king’ is nothing but another Texas tall tale.

Still…

It is true that the Kickapoo Indians were not native to Texas. The tribe was living in the Great Lakes region of the continent when they were first encountered by Europeans. Nobody seems to be able to say for sure when the tribe migrated to Texas. What is known is that after the War of 1812, two Kickapoo bands settled in Missouri. By 1833, the tribe had moved again. Most, but not all, of the remaining Kickapoo moved to Kansas. The remainder? They migrated to Texas. This might not have been the first time the Kickapoo had been present in the Lone Star State. According to some documents, the Kickapoo were given a land grant by the King of Spain in 1775. The land they were given was in the northern portion of the Spanish Territory of Mexico. This part of the Spanish Empire, north of the Rio Grande, would later become Texas. Today there are three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes remaining in the United States. One tribe resides on the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas, another has made Oklahoma their home. The third? They are known as the Traditional Kickapoo Tribe of…Texas. It seems pretty obvious that the Kickapoo did get around. According to some scholars, even the tribal name means “stands here and there” in reference to the group’s nomadic ways, though this is disputed by some. In any case, we do know that a number of Kickapoo did come to Texas in 1833. This predates the story of Ramie Arland and makes it possible that she, and others in the Texas Hill Country, had heard various tribal legends and myths that might have included descriptions of a creature similar to that encountered by the people of Marble Falls.

It could also be debated as to whether or not there is chaparral in the Hill Country. Chaparral is, by definition, a plant community that thrives in “Mediterranean style” climates and not necessarily an individual species. It features hardy, drought tolerant plants that thrive in mild winters and hot, dry summers such as buckbrush, Cleveland sage, black sage, coast live oak, canyon live oak, and scrub oak, from which the name is derived. Technically, the chaparral ecosystem is found only on the west coast. It covers 5% of California and parts of the northern Baja Peninsula. Now, having gotten all of that out of the way, we need to address the term scrub oak. Scrub oak is a very general name that is used to describe many different types of small shrubby oaks. It is a name used frequently to this very day to describe the flora in the Texas Hill Country. All one has to do is type “Hill Country Scrub” into a Google search and this fact becomes apparent. The land where such shrubby oaks are found is often called scrub land. The term chaparral has become interchangeable with the term scrub land. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that might have been the case back in the early 1900’s as well. If so, Ramie’s description of the type of cover from which the creature sprang might not be so inaccurate after all.

What interests me most about this story is the description of the creature that allegedly abducted Ramie Arland. There is no known animal that matches the description given by the people of Marble Falls. Arland claimed that, while the creature bounded out of the brush on four feet, it “in some way resembled a human being.” She then claimed it threw a “long arm” around her neck, gathered her up, and ran off with her. It is also pointed out by two different parties just how human-looking the face of the beast was. Ramie stated it in her description of the animal and it is also pointed out in the Washington Bee article that the hunters who went after the creature were so taken aback by its human-like appearance that they hesitated to fire upon it. This all sounds very familiar to me as it is a description hundreds of people have given who claim to have seen a wood ape or sasquatch.

Equally fascinating is the description of the beast’s behavior. The idea that a sasquatch would kidnap a person is not new. This is a scenario described, fearfully, by many Native American tribes in their folklore. Of later vintage are the abduction claims of Albert Ostman and Muchalat Harry. The circumstances of these alleged abductions vary a bit from those surrounding that of Ramie Arland but, at their heart, all of them center around a hair-covered, human-like creature that nabs a human and carries them off to its lair. The description of the animal’s behavior upon being confronted by the hunters is something that should not be overlooked either. The hunters said the beast ground and snapped its teeth at them, pounded its chest, and roared/screamed at them. All of this is classic great ape intimidation behavior. While we will never know, it is interesting to speculate on whether the bounding attack described by the hunters might not have been a bluff charge; another great ape intimidation tactic. Every single one of these documented great ape behaviors, as well as many others not included in this tale, have been described by people claiming to have had an encounter with the ever elusive sasquatch.

So, it would seem, many of the holes in the story of Ramie Arland might not be so gaping after all. Mix in the fact that many of the characteristics and behaviors of the animal in question have been described both before and since by alleged sasquatch witnesses and one begins to wonder. In fact, the strange goings-on in Marble Falls at the turn of the 20th century closely mirror the nearly decade-long experiences of settlers living along the Navidad River in the years between 1837-1845. The description of the legendary wild woman of the Navidad, who was pursued across the Texas prairie by a lasso-wielding cowboy, closely matches that of the ‘bear king’ of Marble Falls. Texas was a much wilder and wide-open place during the time period in question. Is it possible that, like many other animals, the North American wood ape was more common and far-flung in those days?

I have no idea whether there is any truth to the strange tale of Ramie Arland. Most of the “problems” pointed to by those skeptical of the story can be intelligently debated. The one exception is the portion of the story involving the cave in the mountains. The mention of a cave doesn’t bother me, as the entire Hill Country region is riddled with them, but the “Moon Mountains” reference is a tough one for me to get past. There are no mountains near Marble Falls and there is no mountain range by that name anywhere in Texas.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone in the area that is even familiar with the tale of Ramie Arland these days; yet, the story is still whispered around the fires of Central Texas campgrounds by a few old-timers to this day. It is likely that the next generation of Texans will never hear the story at all. That being the case, the truth about what, if anything, actually happened in the Texas Hill Country back around 1900 will remain elusive. With every passing day, the facts retreat farther and farther into the mists of time. There they will remain; forever out of our reach.

Additional Source: TexasEscapes.com

The Wisdom of Alfred Wallace

Alfred Wallace (1823-1913) was a man of many talents. The Englishman was a naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and field biologist of great renown. While he discovered and documented many species previously unknown to science, he is probably best known for his ideas on evolution and natural selection. Wallace is one of the scientists with whom Charles Darwin corresponded and whose observations he cited when he published On the Origin of Species, which outlined his own theories on evolution, and The Descent of Man, in which he applies evolutionary theory to human evolution and sexual selection.

As an early proponent of evolution and natural selection, Wallace faced much resistance and criticism from the more conservative corners of society and religious institutions. Whether you believe in evolution or not is not the point right now. What is relevant is that Alfred Wallace knew what it was like to present something new and different to a scientific establishment and public that were dogmatic in their beliefs and strongly resistant to new ideas and theories.

Wallace said, "Truth is born into this world only with pangs and tribulations and every fresh truth is received unwillingly. To expect the world to receive a new truth, or even an old truth, without challenging it, is to look for one of those miracles which do not occur."

This is a quote that I keep in mind when I argue for the existence of a large, unknown primate on the North American continent. There is enough evidence out there to support the theory that the North American wood ape, or sasquatch, does likely exist.

Maybe one day, mainstream science will be open-minded enough to take the good hard look that the evidence warrants. If that were to occur, I think this whole mystery could be solved in fairly short order.

Hopefully, the idea of mainstream science considering the possibility that the sasquatch exists is not just, “one of those miracles which do not occur.”

Critical Habitat Set Aside in Texas for Endangered Subterranean Insects and Amphipods

First it was spiders, now it is beetles and amphipods. It seems some of the smallest "Texans" are finally getting their due.

Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed setting aside 169 acres in the Texas Hill Country in an effort to protect the habitat of the Comal Springs riffle beetle (Heterelmis comalensis), Comal Springs dryopid beetle (Stygoparnus comalensis), and Peck’s Cave amphipod (Stygobromus pecki). The area, which includes parts of Comal and Hays Counties, has been identified as “critical habitat” for the species in question. As far as anyone knows, these three freshwater species exist only in four springs, which are all found in this part of the Hill Country.

Tierra Curry, of the Center for Biological Diversity stated, “These unique Texas creatures need protection of both their surface water and the underground recharge area and I’m so pleased they are getting the protected critical habitat they need to survive.”

This is a move that has been a long time coming. The Center for Biological Diversity along with several citizen conservation groups filed suit against the Fish and Wildlife Service in an effort to force them to designate critical habitat for these species once they were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. While some critical habitat was designated in 2007, these groups deemed it insufficient as the protection only extended to surface water and did not include any of the underground recharge areas of the Edward’s Aquifer, which are also vital to the survival of these species. Another suit was filed which led to this proposal.

The new critical habitat areas overlap and include 39 acres of surface habitat and 139 acres of subterranean habitat for the Comal Springs dryopid beetle. Also included are 38 surface acres and 138 subterranean acres for the Peck’s Cave amphipod. Finally, 54 surface acres are included for the Comal Springs riffle beetle.

All three of these species are in imminent danger of disappearing. The Peck’s Cave amphipod is dependent on a clean and steady flow of water. While recent droughts in Texas have been hard on this species it has shown more resiliency than initially expected in the dry conditions the last few years. Even so, as the water level in the Edward’s Aquifer dwindles, so do the number of Peck’s Cave amphipods.

The Comal Springs riffle beetle is an aquatic insect with some pretty amazing abilities. For example, on its underside, it has a large mass of small and unwettable hairs. The species can use the hairs to form an air bubble which it uses to breathe underwater. This beetle, too, needs clean, flowing water that has a high content of dissolved oxygen to survive.

The Comal Springs dryopid beetle is a blind aquatic insect that, surprisingly, cannot swim at all. It lives in air-filled underground caves and cavities near flowing water.

Most Texans likely have never laid eyes on any of these species. Most have probably never heard of them either; however, it is small species like these that often give us much insight into the health of a particular ecosystem. They are a barometer of sorts, if you will. If we can save these small creatures we may end up saving larger, more familiar, species as well.

Besides that, it is simply the right thing to do.

Source: Nationalgeographic.com

Endangered Spider Halts Highway Project in San Antonio

What some are calling the eight-legged discovery of the millennium occurred last month in NW San Antonio. An endangered species of spider, not seen in more than three decades, was found in a natural hole in, of all places, a highway median.

A biologist discovered the presence of a Braken Bat Cave meshweaver (Cicurina venii) after a heavy rain exposed a six-foot deep hole in the median area near the intersection of Texas State Hwy 151 and Loop 1604 where the Texas Department of Transportation is building an underpass. Biologists from a company called Zara Environmental have been working side by side with TxDOT construction workers on the project since April as the area where the project is located is known for its abundant wildlife that includes songbirds and rare cave animals. After the eyeless spider, no larger than a dime, was positively identified the project was halted. Just how long the $15.1 million project will remain on hold is anyone’s guess but it doesn’t look like it will restart anytime soon.

The Braken Bat Cave meshweaver was added to the federal government’s endangered species list in 2000 along with eight other “karst invertebrates” that, as far as anyone knows, are found only in Bexar County, Texas. The specimen was collected in a bottle and dissected; a step necessary to ensure proper identification. The collection and dissection of endangered species is allowed for the purpose of identification if done by someone with a federal permit. Zara Environmental biologists meet that criteria. While some, no doubt, will be angered by this development, it was necessary. It seems that this species is identical in appearance to another spider that lives in the region. The differences are all internal and there was simply no other way to know for sure if this was indeed the endangered Braken Bat Cave meshweaver. Now that taxonomists have confirmed that this specimen was the endangered spider, steps will be taken to protect the habitat and the species in the area. Losing even a single endangered creature, like this arachnid, is unfortunate but the sacrifice of this one specimen could mean survival for its species.

Make no mistake, this discovery is a very big deal. Zara Environmental’s president, Jean Krejca, said it was akin to “stumbling on a new Galapagos Island in terms of the biological significance of the region.” Stirling J. Robertson, the team leader for TxDOT’s environmental affairs division, said, “From a conservation standpoint this is an amazing coup.”

The Braken Bat Cave meshweaver was first identified by George Veni, a hydrogeologist, back in 1980 in NW Bexar County only about five miles from the current construction site. The cave where Veni found the rare arachnid was later filled in and a residential development was built on top of it. The species was not seen again until last month. The species is literally back from the dead.

There are likely to be some legal fireworks to come. The underpass project was meant to ease traffic congestion on this stretch of highway that sees about 80,000 vehicles per day. Bypassing the area may not be an option. The entire area is riddled with small cave-like holes that could be spider habitat. What happens next is anyone’s guess but it is likely a judge, and not a biologist, will make the final call.

It is a decision that could decide the final fate of the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver.

Source: MySanAntonio.com

Sasquatch Sighting Reported in Panola County, TX

Hit the link here to read a brief story out of Panola County, TX detailing a reported wood ape sighting.

Make sure and check the links at the end of the story which lead directly to TBRC investigation reports from the same area.

Endangered Jaguars Granted Critical Habitat in the American Southwest

The news sure can be depressing. For the most part, all you hear about are the ills of the world. War, terrorism, droughts, and famine rule the 6:00 p.m. time slot. Every now and then, however, you actually hear something encouraging. This would be one of those times. After years of legal wrangling, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally granted jaguars protected territory within the borders of the United States. To say this has been a long time coming would be an understatement.

Jaguars (Panthera onca) once roamed freely about much of the American South and Southwest. The largest cats in the Western Hemisphere, and third biggest in the world behind only tigers and lions, jaguars inhabited parts of Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas. The cats sometimes wandered even farther north and east as there were documented sightings of jaguars in Colorado and North Carolina in the late 1800’s.

As the population boomed and Manifest Destiny took a firm hold on the collective American mind, more and more humans began invading jaguar territory. Farmers began cultivating the land for agriculture, which rendered it useless as jaguar habitat. Ranchers, hostile to the jaguar due to potential predation of their livestock, would shoot the big cats on site. The growth of urban centers and the development that followed swallowed even more habitat. It wasn’t long before jaguars became scarce and rarely seen. In fact, they all but disappeared north of the Rio Grande. They became little more than ghostly memories in the United States as the surviving cats were limited to Central and South America and Mexico.

Somehow, some way, that began to change in the 1980’s. Jaguars began to be reported north of the border in Arizona. Many of these reports were not taken seriously by wildlife officials at the time; however, and nothing was done about them. Then, in 1996, a southern Arizona hunter photographed a jaguar near the border. This prompted jaguar advocates to jump into action and soon groups began petitioning the government for official protection for the species and its habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service resisted, however. The FWS came to the conclusion that jaguars didn’t need special protection in the U.S. to survive. One of the strongest jaguar advocate groups, the Center of Biological Diversity, filed suit to fight this ruling in 2007. The predictable legal wrangling ensued with neither side budging or gaining ground until 2009 when something remarkable took place.

On February 18, 2009 a male jaguar was captured inadvertently in a trap set by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The trap was intended for black bear and/or mountain lions and was being used to survey the population of these two species south of Tucson. The jaguar was identified as Macho B, a cat that had been photographed via trail cam before. The jaguar was evaluated and, though very old at an estimated 15-16 years, given a clean bill of health. The big cat was fitted with a lightweight satellite tracking collar in the hopes that the data gained would reveal more about jaguar habits in Arizona. This was not to be, however, as the data soon revealed Macho B was anything but healthy. Tracking information revealed a continuously diminishing range. The decision was made to recapture Macho B and try to determine what was wrong. To make a long story a bit shorter, the jaguar was recaptured, found to have terminal kidney failure, and euthanized.

The death of this jaguar was quite controversial. Euthenasia always is, I suppose. Many thought Macho B should have been released to live out his few remaining days in the wild while others felt putting him down was doing the cat a favor by ending his suffering. Regardless, the death of this jaguar was a disappointment to all. It did serve, however, as a rallying point for conservationists who picked up the pace in their efforts to gain protection for the jaguar, and its habitat, in Arizona.

The fight was far from over though. Jaguar advocates argued that jaguars belonged in the American Southwest as they were part of the region’s historical fauna and would have inherent value to the ecosystem. Others added that the government actually owed the jaguar critical habitat as the original extirpation of the big cats in the region came mainly at the hands of the feds via a predator extermination program that ran from 1918-1964. In addition, it was argued, the government initially failed to list jaguars under the Endangered Species Act, an oversight that took the federal government more than 25 years to correct. Other prominent conservationists disagreed and claimed it would be a monumental waste of time, money, and resources to focus on jaguar recovery in the American Southwest as it was marginal habitat at best and was more than 200 kilometers away from the nearest breeding population in Mexico’s state of Sonora.

The arguments, for the moment, have come to an end with the government’s move to designate 1,309 square miles across southern Arizona and a small piece of southern New Mexico as prime habitat that is essential for the survival of the endangered jaguar. The designated land includes mountain ranges in rural Pima, Cochise, and Santa Cruz counties in Arizona and portions of Hidalgo County in New Mexico. These are areas that are known to have been occupied by jaguars, at least periodically, since 1962 and meet the government’s criteria of having rugged terrain, expansive open spaces, availability of surface water, an adequate prey base, minimal human presence, relatively easy access to northern Mexico, and be 3-40% covered by Madrean woodlands including oak, juniper, and pine or by semi-desert grasslands.

Whether the American Southwest can support a breeding population of jaguars remains to be seen. The one thing both sides of the jaguar argument agree on is that, for there to be any hope at all for the species to bounce back in the region, substantial conservation efforts will have to be extended into northern Mexico. Regardless, the jaguar now has a fighting chance.

I think that is cause to be hopeful.

Ancient Wisdom

"Nature is wont to hide herself."

- Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC)