Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-10-15
4 WILD NAN N ARIZONA
He is Not a Myth But a Cen
uine Terror.
AN ENCOUNTER WITH HIM
Not Fancying Wild NeIghbor, the
Narrator Moved Away and Left
Him to Rule the Country-Possi-
bly, Insane from Some Awful Ex-
perIence.


Many strange stories have been told
Of the wild man" Of the Grand Canon
Of the Colorado, and while some per-
sons have credited these weird tales,
they have for the most part been re-
garded as the ingenious inventions of
imaginative travellers, and have
passed into tradition as such. But &C
cording to l. w. Stevens, Of Cedar,
Col, the wild man" is not a myth,
and he gives a thrilling account of An
encounter he had with the creature.
1.-TWO years ago." says Mr.. Stevens,
81 had business in the northwestern
part of Arizona that took me in the
neighborhood Of the extreme lower
end of the Grand Canon Of the Colo
RADIO River in MOhave County, Ari.
Having the misfortune OF getting my
arm broken, took a trip to the river
to kill time and catch a few beaver.
constructed a skin, with the aid Of
a friend, and when my arm got strong
enough l took a trip up the canon as
far as I could go with a boat. a few
miles above the entrance l hauled my
boat upon the sand and got ready to
examine the rock walls.
1.-THE third day of my stay l saw the
head of a man on bench of rocks on
the north side Of the river Evident
ly he was seated on the edge of cliff
some distance above. my camp.
rowed up stream Q little above the
point where l saw the mans head and
part of his shoulders above the grease
wood brush. Climbing up to the
bench, | had some difficulty in finding
a place that l could get over the ledge
and be on a Level with my strange
neighbor.
81 finally succeeded In approaching
closer to the point | saw sitting on
q large boulder q man with long
white hair and a matted beard that
reached to his knees. The creature
was unaware of my approach, ana |
gazed upon him for some moments
unobserved. He was about fifty yards
away and in full view. He wore no
clothing and upon his talon-like I'm
gers were claws at least two ii les
long. a coat Of gray hair nearly COW
cred his body. with here and the:e
spot of dirty skin showing. had
found the wild man Of the rocks.
"At that moment a rock loosehed
by some animal came rolling down.
The creature turned his face towards
me. Horrors What a FACET was
scared and burned brown by the sun,
with fiery green eyes. With a wild
whoop and leap he-was off up over
rocks and cliffs like a mountain sheep
for about seventy-fye yards. Then he
stopped He WAS armed with a queer
shaped club, large enough to fell an
OK. Brandishing this bludgeon, he
shrieked and chartered for moment,
then started towards me- roaring and
stll fourishing his weapon Faster
and faster he came, and my hair be-
gan to stiffen.
81 am a poor runner, so | stood my
ground. When the creature was with
in about fifteen yards of me l raised
my rife to fire, thinking to cripple
him. AS l glanced along the barrel
l heard a deep growl just above the
wild man. Looking up l saw a she
oo,,oor o,d t,r,o boIf- orOvtru ouhc Tho
mother cougar crouched. with tail
lashing ready to spring on the wild
man. He also had heard The growl
and he braced himself for the shock.
81 drew a hasty bead on the cougar
and pressed the trigger. When the
smoke had cleared away the mother
cougar lay dead where the wild man
had stood. The man himself had dis
The two young cougars
were still on the rock, apparently
greatly frightened by the report and
echoes of my old Sharp's rifle.
Reaching hastily for a cartridge l
found | had neglected to buckle on my
belt when leaving camp, so l hastily
retreated to the boat, where found
everything as | had left it. l showed
the boat off and drifted towards camp,
which was near the cougars. There
lay the old cougar where she had fall
len. The wild man was standing
over the two cubs, which were also
dead, he having beaten the life out Of
them with his club. He stood for a
moment gazing on the carcasses, then
got down on his hands and knees and
drank the warm blood as it flowed
from the death wounds. The sight
sickened me.
81 stood up in the boat and yelled.
The man sprang to his feet took a
long look at me, then fled up from
ledge to ledge until he reached the
fourth ledge, where he stopped. Here
he dourished his club again and
screamed the widest, most unearthly
screech l ever heard, then turned and
sprang onward up the craggy wall of
the canon.
Not fancying my wild neighbor, l
packed my outfit into the boat and
drifted down and out Of the canon be-
fore l made camp for the night. That
was the s'roogest adventure Of my
life.
"TIa .ords that years ago
hostile captured three men,
bound logs far up the canon,
and drift upon the swollen
river be that this wild crea-
ture e. those unfortunate men
who. freed himself and es-
capped I was made insane by
his a. erience. Albuquerque
IN. NJ o.. l-Democrat.
It is quite safe to trust most men
until they ask you to do 50.