The Alabama Monster of 1877

"A Living Monster or Serpent"

by Dale Cox

The Coosa River in the Alabama mountain country, where the
rash of monster sightings was reported in 1877.

Long before the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland entered the popular consciousness, eyewitnesses claimed that a similar creature roamed the waters of Alabama's Coosa River.

The most significant recorded wave of sightings of the Alabama monster took place in the late spring and summer of 1877. The first eyewitness to come forward - to his own later regret - was Mr. Marens L. Foster of Etowah County. He saw an object in the Coosa River that he first thought was a person:

...As he approached sufficiently near to see it distinctly, to his horror it proved to be a living monster or serpent, with head and neck erect, extending out of the water some three or four feet, its head resembling a horses head, large glaring eyes, and a mouth distended, showing a tongue of fiery red. The monster or serpent exhibited no signs of fear, but glared directly at him as it passed, and unprepared as he was, he thought discretion the better part of valor, and beat a hasty retreat to the opposite bank from which he watched it moving along like a man in a boat, showing now and then portions of its back until it reached a point opposite Thornton’s log yard, where it gave a plunge and disappeared from sight. Mr. Foster is an entirely trustworthy and reliable gentleman, well known in his community, and intelligent, and his statements may be relied upon. That he saw some monster there is no doubt in his own mind, but the improbability of the story has caused him to be very reticent about any statement he made on the subject. [1]

Coosa River at the Ten Islands near Ohatchee, Alabama. One
of the reported monster sightings took place near here.

The Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee Indians, who lived along the Coosa before they were driven west on the Trail of Tears, often told of seeing monstrous serpents and other creatures in the river. The events of 1877 created many new believers in the old stories:

The monster was seen Tuesday of last week by a party of raftsmen about two miles above town [i.e., Gadsden, Alabama]. It approached the raft and was thrown at with sticks, &c., by the persons on the raft, but it didn’t seem to care. The men said it had a white belly and large knots on its back. A young man on the raft became so frightened that it became necessary to hold him to keep him aboard. [2]

Other sightings were reported up and down the river that summer, and eyewitnesses came forward with stories of similar monsters from as far back as the winter of 1817-1818. So many people claimed to see it, that the monster remains one of Alabama's most intriguing mysteries.

Editor's note: Love great monster stories? Here are a couple of others that we think you will enjoy:

The Altamaha-ha: Legend of Georgia's "Loch Ness Monster"

Bigfoot attack in the Okefenokee Swamp?

References

[1] Gadsden Times, June 8, 1877.

[2] Montgomery Advertiser, quoting the Gadsden Times, July 3, 1877.