Historic monster reports in Washington

1. 1896
2. The Morning News. Savannah, Ga. · March 14, 1896 · Page 4

   A giant wild man near Cape Flattery

   Quillayute country near Cape Flattery, Washington approx. · March 1896

   Lawrence F. Doyle, a Montana legislator, said that while crossing unexplored timber near Cape Flattery he closely watched a hatless wild man of unusually large size, with a heavy beard and a shock of long hair. He offered to swear affidavits. The item ran in papers from Georgia to Oregon.

   “A sure enough wild man was seen in the Quillayute Mountains”

   Also printed in 3 other papers

   • The Daily Morning Astorian., Astoria, Oregon, March 21, 1896, p. 2
   • Crawford Avalanche, Grayling, Mich., April 30, 1896, p. 7
   • The Black Hills Union., Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota, May 15, 1896, p. 3
3. The Seattle Post-intelligencer. Seattle, Wash. Terr. · April 1, 1896 · Page 8

   A 75-foot carcass on a Seattle dock

   Seattle, Washington · March 31, 1896

   The Seattle Post-Intelligencer described a midnight crowd staring at a huge bluish mass, said to be 75 feet long, that the sea had thrown up and that had sunk half a dock under its weight.

   Probably a hoax or tall tale Printed on April 1; it reads like an April Fool's story.

4. The San Francisco Call. San Francisco · June 28, 1896 · Page 28

   Tacoma fishermen bring in a sea serpent

   Hood Canal, Puget Sound, Washington approx. · June 27, 1896

   Two Tacoma fishermen said they caught a live sea serpent in Puget Sound: smooth-skinned, spotted like a tiger, about 17 feet long by one account. Later reports spoke of two smaller ones from Hood Canal, eight and ten feet long, put on show in Tacoma. A Kansas paper ran the story under the headline that the monster was not a myth.

   “Has a Bulldog's Head, a Tiger's Fangs, a Snake's Body”

   Also printed in 7 other papers

   • The Providence News, Providence, June 30, 1896, p. 2
   • The Roanoke Daily Times, Roanoke, Va., June 30, 1896, p. 6
   • The Saint Paul Globe, St. Paul, Minn., July 4, 1896, p. 3
   • San Antonio Daily Light., San Antonio, Tex., July 19, 1896, p. 6
   • The Abbeville Press and Banner., Abbeville, S.C., July 22, 1896, p. 7
   • The Herald, July 26, 1896, p. 13
   • The Topeka State Journal., Topeka, Kansas, Aug. 1, 1896, p. 6
5. The San Francisco Call Nov. 28, 1896 · Page 1

   Coloured flashes near Mount Tacoma

   Tacoma, Washington · Nov. 27, 1896

   Several people in Tacoma said they saw the airship near Mount Tacoma (Mount Rainier), giving off flashes of different colours. They guessed the inventor had built a second machine, or had taken an evening spin up from California.

6. 1897
7. The San Francisco Call April 16, 1897 · Page 2

   A strange light over Tacoma again

   Tacoma, Washington · April 15, 1897

   Tacoma residents described a strange moving light in the night sky and took it for the airship that had been crossing the Midwest.

Other states

• California 25
• Connecticut 6
• Illinois 7
• Kansas 7
• Massachusetts 12
• Nebraska 7
• New Jersey 13
• New York 9
• West Virginia 5
• Wisconsin 5

All historic encounters

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).