Water Monster · 1879
XX-1879ID case-483ff0e66dAdded to map Oct 9, 2026
- Creature
- Water Monster
- When
- Sep 4, 1879to the day
- Where
- Place unknownno dependable place
- Reports
- 4 documents1 independent
The account
Captain Larsen reports that a huge monster struck the bark Columbia, crushing planks and sinking the ship before the crew escaped in boats.
Trace the source trail → every document, in time order, and how they connect
We map claims, not creatures: this is what the sources say, not proof. How a case is built
Details
- Creature
- Water Monster
- Where
- No dependable place
The account doesn't say where in words we can place, so it isn't drawn on the map; the map lists it under Cases with no resolvable place. Other Water Monster reports with no place (45) - When
- Sep 4, 1879
- Account
- Not first-hand (retold or reported by someone else)
- Backed by
- 1 independent source (4 documents; copies and reprints are not confirmations)
- Added to map
- Oct 9, 2026
- Case id
- case-483ff0e66d
Place lookups use data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via Nominatim. All credits
Source trail (3)
Down the rabbit hole → 4 documents, and how they connect
Every link goes to where we found the account. The earliest we found is marked; it is the earliest found, not necessarily the original.
- Image 1 of The daily gazette (Wilmington, Del.), September 11, 1879
Newspaper · 1879-09-11
Earliest found, not necessarily the original. - Image 1 of The Portland daily press (Portland, Me.), September 12, 1879
Newspaper · 1879-09-12 - Image 1 of Ashtabula telegraph (Ashtabula, Ohio), September 19, 1879
Newspaper · 1879-09-19
Further reading
- The Great New England Sea Serpent, J. P. O'Neill (1999)
Account of the 1817 Gloucester sightings and later reports.
Borrow on Internet Archive - On the Track of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans (1959)
The founding work of cryptozoology.
Borrow on Internet Archive - Cryptozoology A to Z, Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark (1999)
Encyclopedia of reported creatures.
Borrow on Internet Archive - Abominable Science!, Daniel Loxton and Donald Prothero (2013)
Skeptical history of the Yeti, Nessie and others.
Borrow on Internet Archive
Books we have not reproduced: borrow them free at archive.org. Listing a book is not an endorsement of its claims.