The Hermit of Siskiyou, or, Twice-Old Man: A story of the "lost cabin" found, the fountain of perpetual youth revived, etc

This 19th-century Northern California imprint is a long doggerel poem, but with one very interesting feature: it is the first mention in book form of the legend of the Big Foot (Sasquatch): "You have seen and heard the story, too, / Of how, upon Mount Siskiyou / Was seen an ape, or spook, or tramp / In region near the happy camp some years gone by— / That was of stature taller than / The ordinary height of man / Who fed on berries, roots and grouse, / And from whose eye / There gleamed the fierceness of the beast..." (37). The appendix reprints a newspaper account of the Bigfoot sighting, possibly the only place this account survives On pages 79-80, is the following: "I do not remember to have seen any reference to the 'Wild Man' which haunts this part of the country, so I shall allude to him briefly. Not a great while since, Mr. Jack Dover, one of our most trustworthy citizens, while hunting saw an object standing one hundred and fifty yards from him picking berries or tender shoots from the bushes. The thing was of gigantic size - about seven feet high - with a bull dog head, short ears and long hair; it was also furnished with a beard, and was free from hair on such parts of its body as is common among men. Its voice was shrill, or soprano, and very human, like that of a woman in great fear. Mr. Dover could not see its foot-prints as it walked on hard soil. He aimed his gun at the animal, or whatever it was, several times, but because it was so human would not shoot. The range of the curiosity is between Marble Mountain and the vicinity of Happy Camp. A number of people have seen it and all agree in their descriptions except some make it taller than others. It is apparently herbivorous and makes winter quarters in some of the caves of Marble Mountain." This is apparently the oldest written account so far brought to light of the sighting of a Bigfoot-like creature in northern California. Note that it is only two years later than the oldest Canadian newspaper account - that of the capture of "Jacko" on July 4, 1884. The only discrepancy between this account and the usual Bigfoot reports seems to be where it says the creature "was free from hair on such parts of its body as is common among men." Everything else agrees even the reluctance of the hunter to shoot it because it looked too human.