by
Cole Herrold
Boonville, Indiana is located in Warrick County and
has an estimated population of around 6,300. It is approximately 17 miles from
Evansville, one of the state's largest cities, and is known interestingly enough,
named after folk hero Daniel Boon's cousin Ratliff Boon who was predominate in
the area. Boonville also has some presidential history too as the town was
where Abraham Lincoln had gone to study law. While the town has a rich history,
it is also home to a legend that is just as interesting. For it was in August
of 1936 and 1937 when a large unknown shambling beast was both seen and, to the
terror of those around heard, in the forested regions known as the Cyprus Beach
area of Boonville, Indiana.
The first official sighting of this creature occurred on
August 1936 and was covered in the Hammond Times article “Sounds like a
Bear Yarn” It was on a dark night that Ralph Duff, a professional fisherman had first begun to hear loud unearthly screams that came from the woods outside
of his property. These bellowing cries echoed through the night air filling his
house with the unearthly clamor of the strange creature. These noises, however,
would not be the end to the strange creature that would soon plague and
terrorize his residence and family. This creature's cacophony could be heard
ringing out on one fateful night when the ferocious din was not the only
presence of the beast. The shrouded darkness clothed the beast as it lumbered
its way onto Ralph's property. His police dog had begun to act up as the
creature came ever closer to the homestead. The animal, whether annoyed by the
family pet or fearful of an attack, proceeded to commit a heinous action that
would result in the dismemberment of the militarized mutt. The fisherman would
find the severed remains of his family friend dead on the lawn the next morning
with large footprints bigger than a human's around the dead pup. Yet this was
still not the finale of this family's encounter with the beast.
