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Hoosier Monsters and Where to Find Them

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Ever wondered where to find a monster? From the 1960’s to the 1980’s students taking folklore courses at Indiana University conducted interviews around the state about topics that included local supernatural creatures. Those essays are now part of the Folklore Collection at the University Archives. To celebrate Halloween and the IU Themester on animals, I’ve selected six Hoosier Monsters for your reading and viewing terror.

Portraits of our friendly neighborhood spooks were created by fellow folklore grad student (and monster enthusiast) Ben Bridges.

“Older scouts would take some of the tenderfoots [first year scouts] out looking for the Gullywompus at the far end of camp. Older scouts would break up in groups leaving a group of tenderfoots out by themselves without a flashlight. Older scouts would then circle the tenderfoots running through the brush making wild animal sounds. This would scare the tenderfoots causing some to cry, this is when the older scouts would stop and reassure them that everything is all right and that it is just a legend.”

At Camp Louis Ernst in DuPont, Indiana, Boy Scouts in the 1960’s and 70’s would take younger scouts out into the edge of camp to look for a creature called the Gullywompus. According to an IU student’s 1977 interview with a former camper who experienced this in 1963, the Gullywompus was “a large hairy creature that will get you if you don’t watch out.” The scouts said that it had lived in the camp since the 1920s, appeared on moonlit winter nights, and had flashing red eyes in the middle of its head. They also said it would tear up trees, throw boulders, make moaning noises, and grab and shake unwary hikers.  The practice of tricking younger scouts is akin to “Snipe Hunting,” an initiation ritual practiced at summer camps across the United States.

Item number: 77/162

“..a man…was driving home one night (on Cable Line) and he saw something and it scared him, and he hit something and flew out of his car hit a tree with his body and it left the impression of his face and body in the tree, so now that whenever you drive by this tree, on the corner of 26 and 11, you can see his body in the tree. The thing that he saw was the Cable Line monster.”

In Elkhart, Indiana, there are many legends about a specific tree on Cable Line Road. The story above was shared with an IU student in 1978 by a 19-year old former resident of Cable Line Road. The “Cable Line Monster,” depending on who you ask, either caused the fatal accident or stole the body of the victim. Elkhart residents say that the monster lives near the tree, and if you drive past the scene of the accident your car will rattle and shake.

Who is said to have died in the crash varies, as does the reason for the accident – some people say it was a young couple coming home from a date and the boy fell asleep at the wheel, others that it was a motorcyclist going too fast in the rain, and still others that it was a father and his young son who were distracted by the monster. Whoever it was that met their end, it is said their spirit sometimes appears around the tree, and that if you shine your headlights on the tree at night you can clearly see the imprint of their face and body. People who live near Cable Line Road report strange happenings at night, including lights flickering on and off and phone calls with no one on the other end. The Cable Line Monster itself is the subject of much disagreement: it is usually said to have caused the accident, but it has been described by different people as a troll, a hairy bear-like animal with glowing eyes, a swamp monster, or an alien.

Item numbers: 77/145, 78/067 (story from this one), 78/102, 78/103

“Well, son, I never actually saw the thing myself. But I heard it scream. Sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before. Kind o’ like a woman screaming; And later when I went out fer water I seen where it had been, out at the pond drinking, left big prints in the mud.”

In Petersburg, Indiana, it was said for many years that the “strip pits,” strip mining sites near town, were inhabited by a strange creature. The figure was half-man, half-ape, twelve feet tall, and left foot prints twice the size of a man’s shoe. It had glowing eyes, and dogs would bark when the creature was nearby. The description above comes from a 93-year old Petersburg resident who shared his story with an IU student in 1973. The reports of the creature’s color varied, leading the IU student who recorded people’s stories to suggest that there might be multiple creatures who have lived in the area over the years. According to people in town, the creature would appear one day every four weeks in the late summer and early fall of every other year. The student researcher also suggested the possibility that during its two-year absences the creature was either hibernating or wandering the country under other names like “Bigfoot” and “Windago.”

Item number: 73/040

“In my mind, Oscar is the ninth wonder of the world; the Lock Ness Monster being the eighth. In a way I’m glad Oscar was never captured, if in fact he does, or did exist. People shouldn’t take his freedom away from him just because he’s unique . . . Who knows . . . Oscar just may decide to show his face some day.” – IU Student in 1973 on researching Beast of Busco

In Churubusco, Indiana, in the spring of 1949, Gale Harris saw a giant turtle that was “the size of large dinner table” in Fulk pond on his farm. The pond was named after its previous owner Oscar Fulk, so the turtle was given the name Oscar. After Harris’s first turtle sighting he began trying to capture Oscar, drawing curious onlookers from across the state. Gale’s efforts, however, were plagued by bad luck: he attempted to drain the lake, but got appendicitis and could not continue. Then he and other turtle tourists rented a diving suit, but their plans were foiled when the helmet leaked.

While someone using a “water weasel” claimed to see what looked like the turtle moving under the ice when the lake was frozen over, no official sighting besides Harris’s was documented. That did not stop Oscar’s popularity, though – hundreds and then thousands of people traveled to the farm, hoping to glimpse the giant reptile. Some reports suggest the Cincinatti Zoo asked to take Oscar if they could locate him, although the Zoo now denies this. Even the Indiana Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals got involved, stating that Oscar “should not be harpooned.” Eventually Harris spent so much money and time trying to find this mysterious turtle that he lost his farm. His search, though, made news across the state and country. Although Oscar was never found, Churubusco instituted an annual celebration called Turtle Day and has re-named itself “Turtle Town, USA.”

Item numbers: 73/004, 74/240

“One day this fisherman came in from fishing and he was soaking wet. People asked him, ‘what happened, how come you are all wet?’ He said, ‘A great big monster came out of the water and tipped my boat over and I went flying out into the water. I had to swim all the way here with the monster chasing me.’ All the people just laughed and said, “Oh sure,” and took it off like he was drunk. Well as days, months and years passed other people fishermen said they had been turned over and people along the shore said that they had seen this big monster out in the lake. Pretty soon they start believing it. So people went out to see if they could look at it, and search parties went out, but they couldn’t find anything. Then in about 1952 this one fisherman, boy he was lucky, he caught this big ten foot two-hundred pound Bass. Well after that no one else ever saw that monster. People went out in search parties but never saw the monster. So they think that the monster is that big Bass.”

Lake Manitou is a man-made reservoir near Rochester, Indiana, created in 1828 as part of a treaty between the U.S. government and the Potawatomi Tribe. The tribe called it Lake Manitou, or “devil’s lake,” supposedly because they believed a monster lived in it. An IU student recorded the story above from a Manitou local in 1978, and suggested in his analysis that the legend was intended to explain the many disappearances in the lake. According to that report the stories continued at least into the 1950s, but other sources suggest that the sightings occurred mostly in the 19th century, particularly around 1838 when the Potawatomi people were forced to leave their land.

Item Number: 78/117

“…’spose you know ‘bout that big catfish in the river down by the railroad tracks…it’s ‘spose to weigh about 150 pounds…I don’t know…an old coal locomotive went off the bridge down there and years and years ago…and he’s liven in the locomotive.”

In Terre Haute, Indiana, an IU student in 1973 interviewed an elderly plant worker about local folklore related to fishing. He shared with her the story above about a giant catfish living in the wreckage of an old train that had gone off a bridge over the Wabash River. The student who conducted the interview didn’t provide much information beyond the text of the story, but there was a train that fell in the Wabash River in the 1900 Big Four Bridge collapse. Despite later attempts to locate the ruins, part of the train is believed to remain underwater to this day. While the story of the giant catfish in the Wabash doesn’t appear to have become very well known, it is similar to many other stories of large fish appearing in rivers and lakes across the state.

Item Number: 73/128


20 Comments

  • Randy Rush says:

    All I got to say is Nyona Nessie. Beware. It has taken many a people as they swam in her waters.
    Louis Chevrolet had a dance hall at that lake. Yes…the man that built the Chevrolet automobile. He has been quoted as seeing something; “Eerie and frightful in the water.”

  • Xander says:

    @Kathy Maddox Are you referring to a blue hole in the river or in the lakes that are across the street?

  • Lucas Wilson says:

    I was headed home from my custodial job . I just had gotten of work at midnight .
    I had to drive through town on Hwy. US 35 north.
    I was leaving the populated areas in my rear view mirror. Then It happened about a mile north of town . I was windind down as I drove home at 45mph . In an instant something black became visible in the middle of my lane . I tried to brake . It all happened really fast .
    A black animal the size of a 130 pound calf was warming itself like a cat laying on the asphalt roadway.
    As I got closer it was trying to get up on its front legs . I was driving a full size 90 “s Pickup . As ithe aninal got up on it’s front legs only , it turned it’s head toward me . I could plainly see it’s glowing red eyes . It’s head was now well above my trucks hood .
    It stared me in the face. while it’s butt was still on the road !
    In an instont my truck pulled the beast down and under its chassis . Probably breaking its neck .
    I turned around and went back for another look .
    I stopped when the dead beast was plainly visable in
    my trucks headlights .
    My dad and I raised black angus cows and their calves from babys . Their eye’s are blue or yellow in white light . Only predator eyes glow red . I am also a hunter
    whose very familiar with every kind of northern Indiana
    Creature .
    This animal was covered with jet black ringlets of hair
    from it’s face to it butt .
    So much hair that I could not see an eyeball , teeth , ears, nose , hoosf or paws . I did not want to nor did I have any intention of touching this devil dog , I looked in the back of my truck for a poking stick . There was none . There was no blood any where 5 minutes later either . It did have long legs like a wolf , but its head and the rest of it’s body resembled a calf.
    There were no cattle farms for miles only grain farms .
    A no bull story I guarantee ! IT HAPPENED TO ME ! Sighned Lifelong Hoosier

  • Tina M Peters says:

    About 8 years ago I was driving in the country around midnight going to pick my bf up from work on the Elkhart /mishawaka Indiana boarder line. I stopped at a 4 way stop and looked to my right I saw some kind of creature in the field close to the road hunched over with glowing eyes staring right at me. I couldn’t tell what the heck it was I sped off and to this day I wish I would have turned back to see exactly what it was. It definitely wasn’t an animal more human like with animal like tendencies maybe.

  • bob friede says:

    ryan please reach out to me bobfriefetrade@gmail.com

  • bob friede says:

    kim please contact me bobfriedetrade@gmail.com

  • bob friede says:

    rachel please contact me bobfriedetrade@gmail.com

  • Mike says:

    Maybe 15yrs ago I was walking to my girlfriends house which was a good 10 miles out of town. We hung out for awhile and I left at maybe 1:30am. My plan was to walk this abandoned train track to my grandparents house and catch a ride. They lived maybe 2 miles away. A straight shot pretty much. A mile into it I heard a deep growl and something that sounded like it dropped out of a tree. I did have a friend with me and we both heard it and stopped dead in our tracks. We heard it again and bolted for my girlfriends house. I still wonder what it was.

  • Willard says:

    You serious man, 3ft demons running around indiana, under the assumption that this is true and if so has your buddy seen any of these evil elves with his own eyes?

  • Bobbi Siegmann says:

    I am looking for info on creature called Ring-mo-ree. Think it is shapeshifter. Saw mention of it in foreword of a copy of Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcomb Riley.

  • Aonono says:

    The other night I was driving a patch of county road in indiana when I passed something tall dark and stick thin… It was easily ten feet tall. Thing scared me half to death. As I drove on my buddy saw something weaving through the corn…that figure was also tall and dark. Drove down the same road during the day and there are no trees that could help explain away what we saw. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any cryptic of indiana that could possibly be what I saw.

  • Michael says:

    Seen it in 1969. Don’t forget gravity hill!

  • Ryan S says:

    I think Troy’s looking for people to kidnap ! Anyways thanks for the stories. I get into these kind of things if they seem like a somewhat believable story. I think there’s many undiscovered creatures out there, sea & land. But if ever a chance the human race will shoot it and show it off to anyone giving them 5 min of fame. That’s fine bc I’ll be right there checking it out, wishing it was still alive. LOL Thanks guys..

  • Kim says:

    Omg!! Dnr shut everyone down 1 night. I am looking now for 3 ft creature. Had horns! Screams in woods. Also saw shadow of something different. I remember holding knife afraid it was going to come in tent for the rest if cheeseburger i didnt eat

  • Troy says:

    If anyone knows this place called Hiney,s Bend in the tiny little town of Mt Etna and your looking to hear and SEE some strange and unexplainable THINGS then just go down there after dark, you may have to go a couple three nights but you won’t be disappointed if you looking for a good scare I seen a team to goodness UFO just across the river where i was fishing the river is really narrow so it was pretty close to me and my friend i would have to say that it was a good 3 football fields long it was HUGE!!! I won’t say what else I’ve seen there but go check it out i guarantee you won’t be disappointed…. the fun usually starts right around mid-night have fun if you not too scared to go

  • Jason says:

    Rachel Hudkins could you please contact me about these 3ft tall creatures at theriverlandspodcast@gmail.com

  • Rachel Hudkins says:

    So I had a friend telling me recently that when he bought his property in Fredricksburg Indiana that the realtor had told him if creatures that lurk, that they stand upright on two legs and are not to be approached…he said he didnt believe her, though months later D and R plus sherriff had came to speak with him of the same creature, stating that they are a menace,, that they have nearly ‘controlled’ the population of these 3 foot tall creatures. ..Furthermore, D and R had advised him to ensure his doors are locked at night, and that if he spotted one, they instructed for him to shoot it dead. ..I havent been able to stop thinking of it since and stumbled across this site in search for any information to substantiate..

  • Kathy Maddox says:

    It’s funny, we have a tale about a blue hole in Cortland, IN just outside of Seymour that’s supposedly so deep that a train went off the bridge into it and was never seen again as well as many cars. (Some used to say it’s bottomless) Also, supposedly there’s a catfish living in it that’s larger than a car and the weight varied but it’s said to be massive. Lol! Now I know where the tale originated from. Now it’s been rumored that a troll ( or just some wingnut) that jumps out from under the bridge at night on front of cars. Police even had to investigate it. Also, there’s a covered bridge there that’s said to be haunted but I don’t know if they are the same bridge? It’s one of those where you park and do something and you’ll see something or it’ll come after you, not sure. I’m 38 now, so it’s been 20 plus years since I heard this stuff. Funny what kids will believe!!!

  • Dee says:

    The cable line ghost was based on a motorcycle accident, not a car accident in elkhart/dunlap Indiana.

  • John McDowell says:

    Good job locating these tales of odd creatures, and love the sketches!

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