Deep in the Green Mountains of Vermont, history runs as rich as the pristine waters that ebb and flow between the rocky peaks. Many stories have originated from within this lush countryside. Some accounts are true. Others came to life in the imaginations of restless souls. Long before Bigfoot and Yeti became well-known in Western popular culture, another legendary creature was said to roam the hilly woods of the Green Mountain state. Have you ever heard of the wampahoofus?
Credits:
An adaptation of this story originally appeared on Mental Floss. The increased interest in unidentified creatures, like Bigfoot and river monsters, led me to research the early footprints of cryptozoology which has roots in lumberjack folklore. From there, the legendary wampahoofus came back to life.
I want to give a special thanks to Maeve Kim, a Vermont native whose father often told the story of the legendary wampahoofus, and cryptozoologists Lyle Blackburn, Denver Michaels, and Linda Godfrey for their incredible insight on this mysterious and misunderstood field.
Sources:
The Museum of Hoaxes, Rackabore, 2006.
Whangdoodle, Wikipedia, last edited November 16, 2017.
Gyascutus: Studies in Antebellum Southern Humorous and Sporting Writing, James L.W. West, 1978.
The Wampahoofus: A Sad Evolutionary Tale, Maeve Kim, Nature Compass, October 2004.
Of the Badger (Chapter V), Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Sir Thomas Browne, 1646.
Before Big Foot, The Mysterious Gyascutus of Vermont, New England Historical Society, retrieved December 2017.
History of Logging in Vermont, Bennington Country Conservation District, 2008.
Fearsome Critters, Henry H. Tryon, Cornwall, New York, Idlewild Press, 1939.
The Ottawa Free Trader, Volume 5, Number 44, April 18, 1845.
The Strange Wampahoofus, Chad Abramovich, Obscure Vermont, March 4, 2015.
Books:
Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature, Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark, Simon & Schuster, August 1999.
Beyond Boggy Creek: In Search of the Southern Sasquatch, Lyle Blackburn, Anomalist Books, February 2017.
The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster, Lyle Blackburn, Anomalist Books, March 2012.
Monsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena, Linda Godfrey, TarcherPerigee, October 2016.
American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America, Linda Godfrey, TarcherPerigee, August 2014.
People Are Seeing Something: A Survey of Lake Monsters in the United States and Canada, Denver Michaels, CreateSpace, January 2016.