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Friday, January 18, 2013

Canberra Yowies. An historical perspective

Woodcut - Sydney Cove 1790

Simply because the whole emerging Yowie phenomena interests me. I started collecting local reports of 'Gorilla' and 'Hairy Man' and 'Yahoo' sightings in the bowels of Trove. I have published all these local clippings over the past three years in one form or another but they have recently spiked my interest after a recent screening of the American Finding Bigfoot show Australian Yowie episode...


Recently there has been a large spike in visits to prior posts I have made involving a Yowie like report. I thought I would gather them all here for the Google search engine and for anyone locally interested. They are all S/E area specific...

Anyway it seems a surge in interest in the American bigfoot has spawned popular interest in the centuries old reports and current sightings of what people describe as an unknown hominid primate living on several continents and going by the name of Yeti, Bigfoot, Sasquatch and our own local version the Yowie.

So here is the collection of Canberra, Monaro, Snowy and South Coast mentions of a Yowie like creature I have found over time. Going on the increasing amount of modern day sightings, like its international counterparts, a Yowie is described as being a large man-like creature which is completely covered in hair. It is apparently elusive, shy and intelligent and lives in the wild ranges of the New South Wales Great Divide.

In chronological order

1880
Queanbeyan Age - Wednesday 7 April 1880


(it was a long town meeting type article) This is the snippet of the closing comments.


National Library of Australia

1886

Queanbeyan Age - Tuesday 24 August 1886

National Library of Australia

1887

Queanbeyan Age - Saturday 1 October 1887


National Library of Australia

1891

The Sydney Morning Herald - Friday 20 February 1891


Again for brevity a snippet of the full article


National Library of Australia

1903 

* George Webb was an early and very respected pioneer an grazier from the Canberra area

Queanbeyan Age - Friday 7 August 1903


National Library of Australia

*The endnote on the last clipping, enlarged here, reports the apparent killing of a Yowie on the Murrumbidgee near Yass...



.1912

The Sydney Morning Herald - Wednesday 16 October 1912


National Library of Australia


Zeehan and Dundas Herald (Hobart), Friday 22 November 1912


National Library of Australia

1935

The Sydney Morning Herald - Saturday 8 June 1935


National Library of Australia


So 55 years of reports from the area from a variety of sources suggesting that we share the landscape with a hairy hominid hitherto unknown to modern science. Your probably not going to get eaten in Glebe Park but its something to talk over around the camp-fire next time your out in the bush.

 
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4 comments:

  1. joe fitzgeraldOctober 10, 2013 at 8:36 AM

    Thank you for putting these together. Excellent, excellent, excellent stuff!! The woodcut is truly remarkable, possibly one of my all time favourite images.

    Much respect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dave ReidOctober 10, 2013 at 2:57 PM

      Thanks Joe... I found it interesting too :)

      Delete
    2. joe fitzgeraldNovember 24, 2013 at 6:34 AM

      Dave, what are your thoughts of similar written accounts in the States? Are you familiar with D L Soucy on YouTube?

      Delete
    3. DavesactNovember 24, 2013 at 1:45 PM

      Hi Joe, No I am not familiar. I follow a few bigfoot facebook groups but thats about it. Historical accounts are fascinating.

      Delete