The West Virginia Yayho

Paris Hammons c. 1920
b. 1856 d. 1926
Source: WV History on View

Sasquatch. Bigfoot. Wild Man. Hairy Man. Hearing any of these names generally evokes the same image of a tall, large, hairy bipedal humanoid type creature roaming the woods. Although here in the eastern United States, we tend to settle on the name of Bigfoot, the mountain people of West Virginia have historically had their own moniker for this classic cryptid.

If you've ever heard the term yahoo or yayho in reference to a Bigfoot-like creature in the Mountain State, you may have wondered where that name came from. The name most likely is inspired from the distinct howl that the creature makes, echoing over the valleys and sending shivers up the spines of those who hear it. And, one of the earliest witnesses of the yayho in West Virginia is a family known as the first family of traditional WV music!

The Hammons Family came to West Virginia just prior to the Civil War, with many of its members settling in Pocahontas and surrounding counties. And, since that time, the family has been synonymous  with West Virginia/Appalachian music. In the early 1970's, a local musician and WVU graduate student, Dwight Diller, befriended several of the elderly members of the Hammons clan and interviewed them. These interviews became the basis of a documentary two-disc LP and booklet project published by the Library of Congress with the help of Alan Jabbour and Carl Fleischhauer. 

Although the focus of the interviews skewed towards the family's musical genealogy,  plenty of other tales were also shared, including some of a supernatural bent. And, one of those stories involved encounters with a strange and mysterious beast in Pocahontas County!

Two of the Hammons brothers interviewed were Burl and Sherman, who shared a tale about their father Paris and a particular bear hunting expedition. Paris, Paris' father, and a man named Wilburn Baldwin were among those who set out one fall day for a multi-day bear hunt near the head of the Cherry River. They had planned to stay about 2-3 days, but decided to extend their trip another couple of days. The problem was that they had only brought enough food to last them enough for their original plan. So, one of the men volunteered to head into Hillsboro to pick up supplies. He was expected back the next evening, and made plans for the rest of the group to meet him at the designated time and place.

Cherry River
Source: Tim Kiser
Wikipedia

The time agreed upon came and went. It was already after dark and getting darker. Suddenly, the men heard hollering. The hollering came closer and closer, and at first the men thought their friend may be calling out. But, it was Uncle Pete who realized that the hollering was NOT coming from any man, but some sort of beast. Not long after, they did hear their buddy's voice and found that he had dropped all the supplies, including his gun, and had shimmied up a tree, claiming that something big was after him. This thing even tried jumping up at him from below the tree.  The next day tracks were found in the area that appeared like a man's footprints...but definitely not any normal man. 

This wasn't the only time the family would encounter evidence of this strange beast, which they described as huge and hairy and able to jump 25-30 feet. And, while history would remember the Hammons for their wonderful contributions to traditional Appalachian music, especially fiddling, I'll personally remember them for being early witnesses to the Bigfoot phenomena here in West Virginia. Interestingly, the area of Pocahontas County where the bear hunting incident occurred is still to this day one of the places with the most Bigfoot reports in West Virginia....

You can read about the encounter in the booklet, The Hammons Family: A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions, available for free download HERE.