Horror of the Woods: A Braxton County Monster Prequel

 Back in May of this year, I dedicated a whopping SEVEN blog entries covering information concerning what local newspapers dubbed the ‘Braxton County Monster.’ These sightings, most of which happened in the early to mid 1960′s throughout West Virginia, were all inexplicably tied to the 1952 Flatwoods Monster incident.  The beasts being seen clearly were more of a Bigfoot type creature than the spade-headed, skirt-wearing metallic monster that terrorized the small town of Flatwoods, yet they all got lumped together.

One of the sightings in particular I covered was from October of 1960. On a stretch of road near the Williams River in Pocahontas County, W.C. Priestly had quite a unique experience. This furry creature allegedly caused Priestly’s car to stall through some unexplained power. The creature’s hair stood on end, rendering Priestly’s vehicle motionless until another vehicle came by and the creature’s hair dropped, and it ran off. 

That’s pretty weird, right? But what’s weirder is that this wasn’t the first hairy ape-like creature to be seen in this area of Pocahontas County near the Williams River!  The newspaper clipping over on the left is from the Shepherdstown Register, dated 28 October 1920—a whole 40 years before Priestly’s encounter.

The article, which can be accessed for free at the Chronicling America website, states that for several months an ‘ape, baboon, gorilla, wild man, or terror’ has been reported in different areas from Pittsburg, PA to throughout the state of West Virginia. A hunter in the area claimed to spot the creature enjoying a berry patch on Black Mountain. He even claimed to have found the creature’s nest, which was apparently filled with collected railroad spikes. A woman claims that SHE was pursued by the creature, which many believe was just a half-tame gorilla, and ran into her house to escape. She called her two dogs to chase it off, but the creature ended up choking both dogs to death. 

That’s pretty horrific. But, was this creature actually some type of Bigfoot or was it really a ‘half-tame gorilla?’ Let’s play skeptic and say that this was obviously a gorilla.  You may be wondering to yourself, ‘what is a gorilla doing running loose in Pocahontas County in 1920?’ The answer to this puzzle actually came from my own blog, lol. As I was looking over some older entries on Theresa’s Haunted History, I came across another vintage newspaper article I had posted back in April of 2020. I had kinda forgotten about it, but as I re-read that blog, I realized that the article actually mentions this story!

In my blog titled The Flat Mountain Beast, I share a newspaper article from the Greenbrier Independent, dated 26 November 1920. Greenbrier County lies just southwest of Pocahontas County, and it seems that locals there were seeing what they described as a gorilla with a broken chain around its neck. They surmise that this is the same creature that had been seen the month before in Pocahontas County. Fortunately, there are a few more details in this article. The beast is described as being about 350 pounds and standing 6 feet tall with reddish/blackish fur. The article also goes on to state that the animal is believed to have been the gorilla which escaped from a traveling circus near Wheeling, WV three months prior. 

So, the two beasts described in the two newspaper articles from 1920 are probably the same, and it IS probably a gorilla and not a Bigfoot.  But, could that same gorilla STILL be living in the same general vicinity 40 years later? It doesn’t seem likely. Gorillas typically have a lifespan of about 35 to 40 years, although there are examples of gorillas living longer. I guess it’s POSSIBLE that a gorilla could have led a long and healthy life in the abundant mountains of southeastern West Virginia, but I don’t think it could have developed an adaptation that included causing cars to stall with its hair, lol. 

In any event, its a fun story and its interesting to ponder the possibilities. It’s also a quick lesson in synchronicity! Just when I thought I was completely done with the Braxton County Monster Bigfoot series, I come across the Horror of the Woods article, posted by researcher Les O’Dell on his WV CASE Facebook page. As soon as I read it, I instantly thought of the Priestly case. I didn’t have any plans on featuring it on a blog any time soon, but when I came across my entry about the Flat Mountain Beast and realized it was probably the same creature, I decided that I had to include it, sooner than later, in the annals of West Virginia’s weird and wonderful history.