Seward daily gateway., 1925-01-31
Ozark Residents
 Recall Legends of 'The Blue Man
GIGANTIC FIGURE, COVE RE D M.TE HAIR, FIRST SEEN IN 1s55-CARRIED OFF SHEEo AND PIGS

AVA, Mo-, Older residents of Doug las county have repeated the true le gend of "The Blue Man of Spring Creek" following reports of partners in the 'wilds of this county during the past few weeks. It is a genuine Ozark legend.
 It was in the winter of 1885 that noted hunter of this part of the Ozarks, by the name of Sol Collins, was on the ridge that forms the watershed sbetween the Big North Fork and Spring Creek. There. was snow on the ground and Collins. whose home was in St. Louis, was utilizing this to trail the game with which the hills abounded@ suddenly among the many tracks with which he was familiar, he came upon one such as he had never seen before There were bears in the Ozarks in those days. and the hunter had trailed and slain may of them in his time. This track l looked somewhat like that of a bear, but if it was made by bear then | certainly here was the largest of the tribe that ever roamed the Ozark hills. In the deep snow the great footprints were longer and broader than those of any bear Collins had ever seen.
 The hunter at once took up the trail determined to kill the biggest bear in Ozark history. For hours he kept on tirelessly, following those great footprints. Far away to the north, almost to Indian Creek, then in a wide semi-circle to the west, until he was close above the Big North Fork. Still up hill and down, the seemingly endless chase continued.
 At last, as he was climbing the north slope of Upper Twin Noun tain, he heard noise on the hill side above him, and, looking up, was barely in time to leap to one side and allow great boulder to sweep past him and crash into the depths of the valley. Another quick ly followed the first and Collins was glad to spring out of the path and shelter himself behind a big post oak As he did so, third boulder struck fairly against the tree and was hurled with such force that it was shattered into fragments.
 The startled hunter ventured to peer cautiously from his shelter to learn from whence this avalanch of boulders came. That which he saw fairly froze the blood in his veins, for there, on the hillside, lowered gigantic figure, shaped like an i'm mense man, naked, except for the skin of some animal around his waist and other Wrappings around his feet. The creature was covered from head to foot with a tightly curling coat of short black hair, which, as the sun struck upon it, took on a dark hue. Collins always claimed that the giant was not less than nine feet tall, and his estimate is among the least of many made by other men | in the years to follow.
 The hunter stared only long enough to make these observations before the creature cast aside a great 1O 1 foot club he carried and tore out another boulder from the frozen ground and hurled it with such dead ly aim that again the tree was struck and the rock shattered, and as he hurled the rock the giant lifted up his voice and made the hills echo with an ear-splitting scream.
 This was enough for Collins. He was no coward and had creditably born his part during the years of the Civil War, but he never denied that alter that uOIIIUI0 SCIcdul, HC toch to his heels and fled for his life.
 The hunter made it his business to gather several of his neighbors, sturdy hill men like himself, and for several days they put in most of their time following the tracks of the giant Time and again they caught glimpses of him at a dis tance, going through the woods at a speed that at once left his pur- suers far behind, but no man was able to get within gunshot of the creature. For two or three weeks the hunt continued, almost every day, without results. The wild man was seen by numbers of people, and the occupants of more than one lone ly cabin were awakened at dead of night by blood-curdling yells in the dark woods, and when day daWned