Bigfoot · Ottumwa, Iowa · 1865
IA-1865ID case-baf9cc0ab3Fallback locationAdded to map Oct 25, 2026
- Creature
- Bigfoot
- When
- Feb 1865to the month
- Where
- Ottumwa, Iowafallback location
- Reports
- 1 document1 independent
The account
Witness reports that gorilla stories were shared at a gathering, claiming they inhabited bushmen.
See the source ↓ one document so far, so there is no trail to follow yet
We map claims, not creatures: this is what the sources say, not proof. How a case is built
Details
- Creature
- Bigfoot
- Where
- Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa, 52501, United States
mapped to town level · from the newspaper's printing town, not where it was seen
Fallback location (drawn hollow on the map): this is the newspaper's printing town, not where it was seen. - When
- Feb 1865
- Account
- Not first-hand (retold or reported by someone else)
- Backed by
- 1 independent source
- Added to map
- Oct 25, 2026
- Case id
- case-baf9cc0ab3
Place lookups use data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via Nominatim. All credits
Source trail (1)
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 weekly Ottumwa courier (Ottumwa, Iowa), February 16, 1865
Newspaper · 1865-02-16
Earliest found, not necessarily the original.
Further reading
- Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, John Green (1978)
Newspaper-publisher's file of Pacific Northwest reports.
Borrow on Internet Archive - Sasquatch, Don Hunter with Rene Dahinden (1975)
Casebook from a long-time field investigator.
Borrow on Internet Archive - On the Track of Bigfoot, Marian T. Place (1974)
1970s account of reports and searches.
Borrow on Internet Archive - Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America, Loren Coleman (2003)
Coleman's history and case survey.
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.