North Texas, summer of 1960

[david75090]

While looking through some newspaper microfilm for something unrelated, I ran across this. Sherman Democrat, in Sherman TX. For those unfamiliar, Sherman is in Grayson County. Lake Texoma, and the Red River is along it's northern border. The article refers to "Highway 82" which is present day "Highway 56". I made a copy, but it was hard to read, so I re-typed it. Looked on Mapquest and Blue Creek crosses the highway in a couple of places.

 

Huge Ape Reported Seen At Blue Creek

By WILLIE JACOBS
Democrat Staff Writer
(July 20, 1960)

BLUE CREEK- Is there a gorilla loose near this small community?

J.O. Conrad, his wife and son, who live here three miles east of Sherman on Highway 82, say they saw "a seven-foot gorilla or some kind of monster" Monday night near their home. His story came to light only Friday.
The animal has been reported seen near Bells by one other person. Some people merely shake their heads and smile at the story while others stand behind Conrad's report.
Gorilla or not the citizens of Blue Creek are keeping their doors locked tight and firearms handy.

Conrad said he had just gone to  bed Monday night about 10:30 or 11. "I was smoking a cigarette when the dog started barking," he said. " I looked out the east window and saw him, He looked to be seven feet tall and about three feet wide across the back. He stood upright but hunched over."

At first glimpse Conrad said he thought it might be a man walking through his yard. "Then I saw it was too big to be a man," he explained. "I jumped out of bed and got my flashlight and gun." Mrs. Conrad and their son, James, 13, watched the creature from the bedroom window.

Conrad said he stepped off his front porch toward the animal and fired three times. "I know I hit him at least once. but he didn't even flinch. That's when I went after my shotgun," Conrad said.

Mrs. Conrad called the sheriff's office in Sherman. Deputies warned against shooting the animal, afraid a bullet wound would cause it to attack.

"I fired the shotgun over his head, but he didn't run, just shuffled of to the east down the side of the highway," Conrad continued. "I jumped in my car and followed. I got a real good look at him in my headlights while I was following him.

"He looked black as coal. He was real hairy except for his face," he said. "I was about 20 feet from him when I shot, and I didn't try to get closer. I was scared."

All the way to the Blue Creek bottom, a few hundred yards east of the community, Conrad said the animal swayed and shuffled slowly along on his back legs. "His front legs were just hanging down and swinging around," he said.

After the animal went into the underbrush at the creek, Conrad said he gave up the search, afraid to follow the beast in the brush.

Mrs. Curtis Wilson, who lives about 100 yards east of Conrad across the highway, said she and her husband were awakened shortly before Conrad saw the animal. "We heard something rattling around in the shrubbery beside the house, and our two dogs were going crazy," Mrs. Wilson said. "Then we heard something thump against the house and the dogs hushed, just like they had been turned off."

When her husband went outside, Mrs. Wilson said the dogs were cowering in a corner on the porch and "shaking just like somebody had whipped them."

At the same time, Mrs. Wilson said the Wilson's cows hehind the house had begun an uproar. The Wilson's first thought of a wolf. "Then we heard Mr. Conrad shooting and my husband got his deer rifle. But by the time he got out to the highway, whatever it was had gone into the creek bottom brush," she said.

Mrs. Wilson said most of the people living near the community had kept their dooors locked since. Conrad said his wife was so scared that she did not go to sleep the rest of the night and had to have medical treatment the next day.

W.B. Thompson of 716 S. Burdette, Sherman was working the same night at an all-night station in the Star community between Bells and Denison. He said a man drove into the station for gas and told him he had just seen a large, strange-looking animal along the roadside near Bells. Thompson did not get the man's name.

Conrad said that as he started to follow the beast in his car another car came down the highway approaching the animal from behind. "That fellow must have seen the gorilla because he threw on his brakes and almost stopped at the side of the animal. Then he stepped on it and got out of there. I thought he would stop and help me, but he must of been scared, too."

Grayson Sheriff's Deputy James Spaugh answered Mrs. Conrad's call for help. He said that as far as he is concerned "Conrad definitely saw something and it wasn't a man."

Next morning Conrad took his wife to the doctor. When he returned around noon, he could find no tracks on the hard dry ground. "Some men who work around here had drug a wrecked car over the spot where I saw that thing standing. There weren't any tracks left," he said.

Conrad said he had never seen a gorilla before. "I looked in my dictionary the next morning and found one. I know I saw a gorilla," he said.

At the suggestion of a possible hunt for the beast in the Blue Creek bottom, Conrad said: "With that gorilla down there? Not me, buddy. I'm scared."

[FarArcher]

Gorilla was his only choice.

 

When I was getting growled at - it had to be a bear, wolf, or mountain lion.  No other choices.  Bear, wolf, or lion.

 

Turned out, that wasn't they weren't the only choice.

[Guest Waggles]

Roommate thought his was an escaped orangatang,at least at first. 10 ft away nighttime.

[JDL]

Nice find.  Thanks.

[LeafTalker]

14 hours ago, david75090 said:

All the way to the Blue Creek bottom, a few hundred yards east of the community, Conrad said the animal swayed and shuffled slowly along on his back legs. "His front legs were just hanging down and swinging around," he said.

Never read (or heard) a description like this before. Strange. 

[MIB]

Yeah, but it wouldn't be a bad description of Patty if you didn't have a label to put on what you were looking at.  

 

MIB

[david75090]

One of my fist thoughts was, this wasn't a swift moving critter, and it was hanging around a highway, a bit too long. Seems like it got between the two houses fairly quickly, but not when it was trying run off. 

 

As an aside, that newspaper was a time capsule. Really a different place and time.

[hiflier]

2 minutes ago, david75090 said:

One of my fist thoughts was, this wasn't a swift moving critter, and it was hanging around a highway, a bit too long. Seems like it got between the two houses fairly quickly, but not when it was trying run off. 

 

It could have been that the gunshot took it's toll but didn't see anything regarding a blood trail. A high shot may have allowed the blood to be more absorbed into its hair more than drip on the ground?

[MikeZimmer]

2 hours ago, LeafTalker said:

Never read (or heard) a description like this before. Strange. 

 

Is it possible that the shot damaged its arms?

 

[Rockape]

Interesting, thanks for the post. Well before the PGF too, when most people never heard of Bigfoot. 

4 minutes ago, MikeZimmer said:

 

Is it possible that the shot damaged its arms?

 

 

I imagine the man just thought it was some sort of animal and expected it to travel on all fours, or like a gorilla would. Being it was bipedal he didn't know how to explain it. Also possible it was an old BF that had physical problems, which was why it was prowling around houses looking for an easy meal. 

2 hours ago, JDL said:

Nice find.  Thanks.

 

It is, what the heck is wrong with you people, plus his post. 

[FarArcher]

29 minutes ago, hiflier said:

 

It could have been that the gunshot took it's toll but didn't see anything regarding a blood trail. A high shot may have allowed the blood to be more absorbed into its hair more than drip on the ground?

 

Depends a bit on the caliber of the bullet, the mass it penetrated, and whether or not critical arteries or veins are cut.  I've seen guys shot in the gut and since it wasn't a through and through, there wasn't much bleeding.  Through the shoulder - missing the lung - and again - not much bleeding at all.

 

And you got a good point - that hair would soak up quite a bit if he wasn't seriously bleeding out.

[Rockape]

55 minutes ago, Rockape said:

It is, what the heck is wrong with you people, plus his post. 

 

Don't plus my post you nimrods, plus the OP!

[bipedalist]

The limp arms swinging could have been the odd elbow attachments with palms facing forward that people have described of the Sasquatch arm swinging.  Funny he did not comment on arm length?  It was night and he saw enough I'm sure. 

 

 

[david75090]

I found another small article a couple of weeks after this one about a man of about 50 and a couple of teenagers. They lived about 20 miles west of Sherman in Cooke county. The man was dressed in a gorilla mask and they were trying to frighten people. They were apprehended and said they got the idea from the previous article in the Sherman Democrat. Said they were just trying to have some fun.

[LeafTalker]

 

7 hours ago, MikeZimmer said:

 

Is it possible that the shot damaged its arms?

 

Totally. I just meant that I had never heard anyone refer to the arms of a BF as his or her "front legs". People usually speak just as you did: "Is it possible that the shot damaged its arms?"

 

Even when we talk about gorillas as gorillas, we talk about their arms; we don't say a gorilla has "front legs". Scientists, normal people -- pretty much everyone understands gorillas to have arms.  

 

So I thought that was interesting.