Cryptids ~ The Mogollon Monster

 

The Mogollon Monster is a legendary cryptid creature, often described as a large, hairy, ape-like being, said to inhabit the pine-covered hills of the Mogollon Rim in north-central Arizona, similar to Bigfoot.

The Mogollon Monster is commonly described as a large bipedal creature, over 7 feet (2 m) tall with large red eyes. Its body is said to be covered with long black or reddish brown hair, with the exclusion of the chest, face, hands, and feet. Reports claim it has a strong and pungent odor described as that of dead fish, a skunk with bad body odor, decaying peat moss, or the musk of a snapping turtle.

Anecdotal reports indicate the creature is allegedly nocturnal, omnivorous, territorial, and sometimes violent. It is generally reported to walk with wide inhuman strides; leave behind footprints measuring 560 millimetres (22 in); mimics birds, coyotes and other wildlife; makes unusual whistle sounds; explores campsites after dark; builds nests out of pine needles, twigs, and leaves; and hurls stones from locations that are hidden from view. The creature has also been said to decapitate deer and other wildlife prior to consumption. In numerous reports, the monster has been said to emit a blood-curdling scream, described as sounding like a woman in great distress.  Accounts of the creature describe an eerie silence prior to an encounter, an appreciable stillness in the woods that commonly surrounds predatory animals.

Sightings

Reported sightings range along Arizona's Mogollon Rim, from Prescott north to Williams, southeast to Alpine, south to Clifton, and northwest back to Prescott.

• 1903

The oldest known reported sighting was in the 1903 edition of The Arizona Republican, in which I.W. Stevens described a creature seen near the Grand Canyon as having long white hair and a matted beard that reached to its knees. It wore no clothing and upon his talon-like fingers were claws at least two inches long. Upon further inspection, he noted a coat of gray hair nearly covered its body, with here and there a spot of dirty skin showing. Stevens later stated that after he discovered the creature drinking the blood of two cougars, it threatened him with a club and screamed the wildest, most unearthly screech.

• 1940s

Cryptozoologist Don Davis reported that during the mid-1940s he was on a Boy Scout trip near Payson, Arizona, and gave the following account:  The creature was huge. Its eyes were deep set and hard to see, but they seemed expressionless. Its face seemed pretty much devoid of hair, but there seemed to be hair along the sides of its face. The creature's chest, shoulders, and arms were massive, especially the upper arms, easily upwards of 6 inches in diameter, perhaps much more. I could see it was pretty hairy, but didn't observe really how thick the body hair was. The face/head was very square, square sides and squared up chin, like a box".  

• 1982 -- 2004

Marjorie Grimes, a Whiteriver resident, claimed to have sighted the creature a number of times between 1982 and 2004. She described the creature as black, tall, and walking in big strides.

• Boy Scout incident

In a popular version of a story told by the Boy Scouts, a Native American chief went through a magic ritual to give himself heightened strength and fighting abilities in order to get back at a warrior who took over the tribe and stole his wife. However, he ended up turning into a vicious beast and massacred everyone in his tribe. Years later, a man named William Spade and his wife were said to have been brutally attacked by the monster on their wedding day and had their severed heads left hanging from a tree. Today, Spade Ranch, the area of land supposedly claimed by William Spade years ago, is part of a Boy Scout camp called Camp Geronimo.

Another supposed encounter with the Mogollon Monster is also told by the Boy Scouts of Camp Geronimo. A boy scout troop hiking along the Mogollon Rim, not far from Camp Geronimo, were said to have stumbled upon a cave in the cliff (visible today from the camp) in which they found the beast, sleeping. A few of the members of that troop still hold today that their encounter with the monster was real.

• White Mountain, Apache Nation sightings

According to Tucson.com, in a September 2006 report, members of the White Mountain Apache Nation of Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Navajo County AZ, claimed they sighted the monster within the boundaries of their tribal land and communities for years.

Several members of the communities claimed to have seen strange footprints in the mud, mysterious tufts of hairs on fences, and heard chilling screeches of the creature at night.

Many also claimed to have seen the alleged creature.

A member of the White Mountain Apache Nation in Arizona by the name of Collette Altaha stated in 2006, "We're not prone to easily talk to outsiders, but there have been more sightings than ever before. It cannot be ignored any longer." 

"No one's had a negative encounter with it," said Marjorie Grimes, who lives in Whiteriver, the primary town on the reservation. When asked about her encounter she says, "It was all black and it was tall! The way it walked, it was taking big strides. I put on the brakes and raced back and looked between the two trees where it was, and it was gone!" 

Regarding local reports, Tribal police lieutenant Ray Burnette states that, "A couple of times they've seen this creature looking through their windows. They're scared when they call." He stated, "The calls we're getting from people — they weren't hallucinating, they weren't drunks, they weren't people that we know make hoax calls. They're from real citizens of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation."

• Local folklore

The Mogollon Monster is a part of Arizona's local cultural landscape, appearing in folk songs and even inspiring an endurance race called the Mogollon Monster 100.

Mogollon Rim

photograph by 

Deborah Lee Soltesz

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mogollon Monster:
Fairy Tales & Myths

Cryptid Wiki

Arizona Legends

Suggested reading:

The Mogollon Monster

by Raja Kumar

@ Amazon

Scary Stories from the Mogollon Rim

by Summer Raines

@ Amazon