The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1891-11-13
a ELoon-cURoLuMo sroRY.
roia In EsrIy Days EbOut the ssszAa-
Ester of the sHiss ssiPpL"

rold in EarIy Days About the sssEAs-
Ester OF the sziss ssiPpL''
Early writers and travellers in the
Mississippi Valley tell blood-curd ling
stories of a terrible creature. part
beast part bird. part serpent and part
. man which we are told formerly in
k~bited the bluffs and swamps OF the
IIr> It Father of Waters between the
mouths of the Missouri and DesMoines
rivers Most writers OF later DAYS are
Of the opinion that such a creature
never existed. says the St Louis Re
public. in fact they put the paternity
Of the story on TO certain Mutations
who are known to have been fond OF
giving ID airy nOthin9s a habitatlon
and = name" For more than q cen
fury after the advent of the white
man in the Mississippi Valley
st,ries OF the ''Man-eater'' were
told and generally believed but
soon these were all ID be denied and re-
futed- Then the very existence of
such q creature was doubted. but there
was Father Marquette's description Of
the creature 10 back those who still
believed that such monstros.ty had
at one time existed in what is now the
Central United States Then another
cla-s Of wonder mOngcrs spra1g up
who claimed to have seen picture OF
the creature painted on the bIuf near
where Alton. Ill. now stands As
years went on even this story was de-
MED. In 1888. when the question
vas up for discussion J. r. Miles. OF
Miles Station, Ill. wrote an article
for the Alton Telegraph OF which the
follow ing are extracts: I first saw
the animal If animal il could be
called, in 1888. and since that date I
have seen it from time to time hun
dreds of times before il was DESTROYED
by the elements or by the hand of man
during the late civil war" The en-
closed is an exact picture of It"
Following the last sentence quoted
Mr. Miles gives picture of the crea-
ture, which shows it with a body like
lion, except that the legs are very
short and the body long aud 1.-the like
that OF the panther Wings OF curious
pattern with eight feathers at the
points Hasten TO the shoulders and
extend TO beyond the root o. the ia |
which is long and slender seeming to
be made in imitation OF that OF tiger
The neck is very heavy. we'll arcled
and full surmounted by what l should
take 20 be a good picture o. the head
OF buck deer OF or 8 years OF age.
but the horns being broad. each with
four points. After giving his picture Mr.
Miles goes on to So: Many many,
times have l examined the picture
closely and | must say that it Is
mistake for anyone to say that it was
painted on the rocks The bird or an
imal. was cut chiselled or picked into
the solid rock but how. when or By
whom L know not It's body was that
OF lion its head and horns those OF a
deer, AID its wings those OF a bird
Draw your own conclusions as 10
what it was intended to represent but
| firmly believe that the above "A fac
simile OF the Picture on the Rocks
was the handicraft aad handiwork OF
man. chisclled or cut into that rock 20
commemorate some person or some
thing Everybody believes
that the sphinx was built to represent
a person &c. Why not believe that
this mythical bird beast was made to
represent the noble deeds OF some
great person II prehistoric times IN
America
With the article sent the Telegraph
Mr.. Miles also inclose1 a picture Of
the creature described by Marque:te.
which is identical with that described
above, with the exception that it mas
a man head. its feet four il number
much resembling birds claws.