Wild Man of Williamstown, VT

Williamstown, Vermont looks so peaceful - just watch out for the wild man!

Here's a brief article from the October 18, 1879 New York Times about another New England wild man. This time he's not from Haverhill, but from further north in Williamstown, Vermont.

A WILDMAN OF THE MOUNTAINS

Two Young Vermont Hunters Terribly Scared

Pownal, VT., Oct. 17 - Much excitement prevailed among the sportsmen of this vicinity over the story that a wild man was seen on Friday last by two young men while hunting in the mountains south of Williamstown. The young men describe the creature as being about 5 feet high, resembling a man in form and movement, but covered all over with bright red hair, and having a long straggling beard, and with very wild eyes.

That's it. The writer doesn't give any possible explanations. Did the hunters see Bigfoot? Disturb a red-headed homeless man sleeping in the woods? It's up to the reader to decide.

Joseph Citro, who quotes this article in his book Passing Strange, notes that a woman named Arlene Tarantino encountered a similar hairy wild man in the woods of Winhall, not far from Williamstown. He was thin, muscular, and ran like a chimpanzee on all fours.

Immobilized, Arlene watched him for about forty minutes, and later said she felt she had been mesmerized or entranced by his presence. He eventually disappeared, and Alrene ran out of the woods. She never saw him again, but still suspects he may out there in the forest somewhere. Arlene also said she felt he was human, but it seems more than coincidental that witnesses 100 years apart would see someone (something?) so similar.