In early summer of 1890, two farmers were returning home. In the desert, between Whetstone and Huachuca (in Arizona), they found a mysterious winged monster. This creature looked like an alligator.
On July 4, 1890, The Fort Morgan Times wrote:
“A winged monster resembling a huge alligator, with an extremely elongated tail and an immense pair of wings, was found on the desert between Whetstone and Huachuca mountains by two ranchers who were returning home, says the Tombstone, (Ari.) Epitaph. The creature was evidently exhausted by a long fight, and when discovered was able to fly but a short distance at a time.
After the first shock of wild amazement had passed, the two men who were on horseback and armed with Winchester rifles, regained courage to pursue the monster, and, after an exciting chase of several miles, succeeded in getting near enough to open fire with their rifles, wounding it. The creature then turned on the men but owing to its exhausted condition they were able to keep out of its way, and after a few well directed shots the monster partly rolled over and remained motionless. The men cautiously approached, their horses snorting with terror, and found that the creature was dead.
They then proceeded to make an examination and found that it measured ninety-two feet in length, and the greatest diameter was about fifty inches. The monster had only two feet these being situated a short distance in front of where the wings joined to the body. The head, as near as they could judge, was about eight feet long; the jaws were thickly sel with strong, sharp teeth. Its eyes were as large as a dinner-plate and protruded about half way from the head. They had some difficulty in measuring the wings, as they were partly folded under the body, but finally got one straightened sufficiently to get a measurement of 78 feet, making the total length from tip to tip about 160 feet. The wings were composed of a thick and nearly tranparent membrane, and were devoid of feathers or hair. The skin of the body was comparatively smooch and easily penetrated by a bullet.
The men cut oil a small portion of the tip of one wing and took it home with them. Late last night one of them arrived in this city for supplied and to make the necessary preparations to skin the creature, when the hide will be sent east for examination by the eminent scientists of the day.”
Image by Эльвина Якубова via Pixabay
- A Jersey mosquito?, The Fort Morgan Times, 04th July 1890
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