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Historic encounters / Missouri
6 old newspaper reports of strange things in Missouri. Phantom lights (2); Other strange creatures (2); Wild men (2). Each links to the original page.
Middle Auxvasse Creek, Callaway County, Missouri approx. · Dec. 1883
David Newsom wrote to the Fulton Gazette that his son Robert, riding alone one clear night near the Middle Auxvasse Creek, saw the countryside grow brighter until his mule stopped, part of a run of mysterious lights reported in the area.
Half a mile south of Coatesville, Missouri, near the Chariton River approx. · Dec. 1890
Every evening around nine a light like a train's headlight rolled across the railroad near Coatesville, rose fifty feet, stopped in an old orchard and graveyard and sank into the ground. As many as fifty people watched it at once. Spiritualists blamed the dead in the graveyard.
Eastern Henry County, Missouri approx. · Dec. 1890
After weeks of crippled and killed livestock and a man chased by an animal bigger than a big dog, coon hunters' hounds ran down a beast. The men finished it with stones and an axe. It was five feet three inches long, and they called it a "Mexican lion", likely a cougar.
Flat Rock, Mexico, Missouri approx. · March 1891
The Mexico Weekly Ledger reported great commotion in Flat Rock at midnight when an unearthly winged creature with a gorilla-like head, horns and long shaggy arms was said to have landed on top of a high derrick and switched its forked tail.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written as comedy by the local paper.
Southwest City, Missouri · Sept. 1891
Southwest City was thrown into excitement when a man taken for a maniac came rushing through the streets, frightening everyone, and was captured after a hard struggle. Stranger stories about him followed.
Northern Johnson County, Missouri approx. · Feb. 1909
For weeks, a mysterious man carrying an axe and a gun camped in barns and haystacks across northern Johnson County. He burrowed a den in one farmer's hay loft and frightened people near Valley City.
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).