by Scott Harper
As is the case with most states, Illinois boasts a number of sightings
of Sasquatch which took place before the famous Patterson/Gimlin film, and
tracks in 1967.
In 1922 a reward of $500 was offered for the capture—dead or alive—of a
Wildman in Brown County, Illinois. The creature, it was claimed, had taken up
residence in an old mine, and was raiding nearby farms at night. Claims were
made that is was carrying away sheep and calves during these nocturnal raids.
Attempts were made to kill the creature, but it is unknown if any succeeded.
In 1929 a group of farmers sought a "Simian" creature that had
been seen in Jo Davies County. No word was given as to whether or not they
caught the creature.
1942 saw a hunt for a "mysterious animal" with "a
wildcat's scream" in Jefferson County, Illinois. A report claims that
1,500 hunters turned out to try to find the creature. They failed to do so.
Could it have simply left the area due to the huge number of people searching
the woods for it?
Two women, in 1945, were sleeping in the living room of a house. They
were awaked by the sound of the front screen door opening. Looking out the
front windows, they saw a Sasquatch on the front porch. They watched the
creature move by the windows, stopping at the front door. It bent down to look
in at them before leaving through the screen door. It made no attempt to enter
the house beyond the screened-in front porch. This took place in White County.
Present day sees a lot more sightings in the state of Illinois. Could
this be due to an increasing Sasquatch population in the state? Or maybe, in
the United States as a whole? Or is it due to deforestation, and other human
encroachment upon territory formerly held by the Sasquatch in the area?
About the Author
Scott Harper is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 30 published short stories, and several novels. Harper grew up in Ohio, and graduated from Marysville High School in 1993, and began screenwriting in 2007, after the publication of several short stories and novels. He has worked on projects for James Tucker Productions, and 11th Dimension Films. He is currently involved with several projects, covering literature, film, and comic books. He was also a contributing writer for "Nuclear Winter Entertainment" for several months before that site shut down. Scott is very happily married to bestselling paranormal author Desirée Lee. Together, they have a wonderful little girl, and are working jointly on several projects. Those projects include multiple books, as well as the hit webcomic "MoonWraith."
More information about his work can be found on his website: www.scottharper.net
Blog Post by Dan Lindholm
