Encounter Atlas
Historic encounters / Illinois
7 old newspaper reports of strange things in Illinois. Mystery airships, 1896-97 (3); Wild men (2); Other strange creatures (1); Sea serpents and lake monsters (1). Each links to the original page.
Illinois River bottoms, fourteen miles west of Jerseyville approx. · Nov. 1868
Hunters in the Illinois River bottoms west of Jerseyville said they caught and killed a monster they could not decide was an animal or a reptile. It had a back like a skunk's and a rough brown belly.
A Chicago suburb, Illinois approx. · Dec. 1890
A Chicago suburb was in a fright after rumours of a bear or similar animal grew into the traditional wild man. Two young men described a thrilling encounter, and searches came up empty.
Beck's Creek near Vandalia, Illinois · Nov. 25, 1891
For two weeks, people along Beck's Creek in Loudon Township were worried by a supposed wild man who roamed the Okaw River bottoms living on young pigs and calves. A party of hunters finally captured him.
Evanston and Chicago, Illinois · April 9, 1897
On two nights, crowds in Chicago, Evanston and other lakeside towns watched a moving group of lights, white in front with green and smaller white lights on the sides. Evanston families gathered on Davis Field with telescopes and field glasses. Astronomers said the main light was a bright star.
“Men renowned for sobriety looked aloft through strong telescopes”
South Moline, Illinois · April 11, 1897
A farmer named Karr living on the Rock River said he saw the airship following the Hennepin canal south of South Moline before dawn, heading west. The whole Moline police force swore they had seen it the night before.
Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois · April 11, 1897
Walter McCann of Rogers Park said he photographed the airship at 5:30 one morning and showed two negatives, with three witnesses saying they saw him take them. Papers pointed out that modern photography could fake almost anything.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The photograph was widely judged a fake at the time.
Lake Michigan beach, North Chicago, Illinois · July 8, 1897
Joe Downey of North Chicago said his family was on the beach at dusk when two men in bathing suits ran past yelling about something in Lake Michigan. They then saw the creature themselves. Chicago papers called it Joe Downey's sea serpent.
“Have you seen it?”
Newspaper pages: Library of Congress, Chronicling America (US newspapers published before 1927 are in the public domain). Text search: American Stories (Dell, Bryan, Carlson and others, CC BY 4.0). Summaries are our own. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).