Skunk Ape in Alabama: The Russell County Wild Man

"He has been seen a number of times."

by Dale Cox

Beautiful old Uchee Chapel United Methodist Church has
stood in the Uchee Community of Russell County, Alabama
since before the wild man sightings. It was built in 1859 and
is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The skunk ape, a smaller version of what many people call Bigfoot or Sasquatch, is usually associated with Florida. Many who believe in them, however, say they also live in areas of Alabama and Georgia.

Skunk apes are said to be bipedal creatures or apes. They stand 5-6 feet tall, are covered with hair, and live in the swamps and wetlands where humans rarely go. One of the most famous of these was the Ocheesee Pond Wild Man, a creature captured in 1884 at Ocheesee Pond in Jackson County, Florida. You can learn more about him by watching the short video at the bottom of this page.

Seven years earlier, a similar (or the same?) creature was spotted in the swamps along Uchee Creek in Russell County, Alabama:

Today's Uchee Road follows the approximate trace of the
Old Federal Road through the area of the wild man sightings
in Russell County, Alabama.

The people in the Hichtie [Hitchiti] country on the Uchee tell us of a wild man up there. He is about five feet high, covered all over with gray hairs, and is stark naked. He keeps concealed generally in the Uchee swamp, though he has been seen a number of times passing about and near the swamp. - Russell Register, July 1877.

The area along Uchee Creek was one of those where the Muscogee (Creek) Indians made their last stands in Alabama during the Creek Wars of 1813-1814 and 1836. These lands were coveted by white speculators and settlers because they were prime for growing cotton. The Old Federal Road wound along the ridge overlooking the Uchee swamp and its trace is followed - more or less - by Sandfort and Uchee Roads today.

Uchee Good Hope Cemetery, along the ridge overlooking
Uchee swamp, was already 40 years old when the wild man
made his appearance in the summer of 1877.

The 1877 report continued:

...About two weeks ago Johnnie, a little son of Mr. F.A. Boykin, saw him standing in a horse lot on the creek used for feeding stock when working that part of the plantation. As soon as he saw Johnnie he ran to the fence, jumped it, (ten rails) and made his escape to the swamp. His track upon being examined looked like that of a ten year old boy. - Russell Register, July 1877.

Several other eyewitnesses reported seeing the creature, but he grew with each telling until at least one said that it was over ten feet tall! Efforts were made to capture it throughout the summer of 1877, but each one failed. Whether the creature actually lived in the area or was just passing through was never determined.

Editor's Note: Learn more about the actual capture of another "wild man" in this fun story from Two Egg TV: