DATE:  08/16/77

TIME:   Sometime after dark

LOCATION:  Crawford County, Missouri

TERRAIN:    Wooded River in Mark Twain National Forest

OBSERVED:
Massively built upright walking creature crossed the river from
left to right.  Full moon was directly upriver from my position.  Creature
had "furry" appearance.  Every step had arms swaying and knees bent.  Walked
slightly bent forward.  When he walked, he lifted his knees above the water
line.  Water was about 2.5 to 3 foot deep and very fast moving. No man could
have stayed upright in this current.  Had a coned shaped head in profile and
in frontal view.  Had a very pronounced eyebrow ridge.  This sighting lasted
about 10 seconds from a distance of about 20 yards.  When I first saw the
creature come out of a thicket with a spring fed stream running into the
river, I propped myself up on my elbows to get a better view.  Four of us
were camping on a sandbar.  As I was watching him cross the river, Greg off
to my left said as he propped himself up on his elbows, "What the hell is
it"?  I answered "I don't know, maybe someone ripping off cabins", implying
a human form, but this was no human.  Upon hearing Greg's words, it turned at the
waist and looked at us, not stopping.  It continued to look at us until it
reached the other bank and took about a 4 to 5 foot step out of the river
and disappeared.  I had an Anthropology class that previous semester and
recognized the Sagittal crest from my studies.  This animal had to be 8 to 9
foot tall based on the water depth that he was walking in.

The craziest part of this sighting is that earlier we had fished
by the thicket the creature eventually came out of and I could not take my
eyes off that thicket.  We would canoe up and fish coming back down because
we were catching smallmouth bass where the creek came into the river, right
were the creature eventually came out.  The best way to describe the feeling
is that if I were a point man for a squad of men there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY
I was going into that thicket.  The feeling was indescribly intense.  I also
noticed a limestone bluff just past the thicket that I remember thinking
would make a perfect snipers lair because you could see the entire upstream
portion of the river and would be 1 or 2 steps from thick cover (woods).

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESSES:  Four of us were camping on a sandbar facing upstream into a full
moon.  We had spent the day fishing and canoeing.

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:  8 to 9 foot tall, massive upper body, massive arms shoulders and a
very barrel chest.  Furry appearance but not long flowing hair.  Cone shaped
head (sagittal crest) with very pronounced eyebrow ridge.  Arms swayed
excessively with every step.  Knees bent and were raised above the water
line as he stepped.  Turned at the waist upon hearing Gregs words about 20
yards away.  When his face was to me it blacked out due to the position of
the full moon (behind him).  But some reflection could be seen at the
cheekbones and chin areas.

OTHER NOTES: We used to canoe the rivers in south central Missouri a lot.  We
often heard wood chopping noises and loud screams or hollers.  We thought at
the time that they were exotic birds the locals kept.
 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA: I don't know of any