Marsh Fork Monster: Big Cat or Hoax?

Beckley Post-Herald 
20 October 1968

Earlier this week, there was an inquiry made in The Wild and Weird West Virginia Facebook group concerning a potential 'monster' from Naoma, WV, which terrorized a man named Wiley in the 1960's. According to the poster, it was later revealed that the whole thing was a hoax, but not before a newspaper article was published on the phenomenon. I've transcribed the article I found on the incident below, and will follow with some of my own thoughts. Enjoy!  

From the Beckley Post-Herald (20 October 1968): 

A mysterious wild animal that rips dogs to nearly unrecognizable shreds, climbs trees to devour roosting chickens, and emits blood-curdling screams, is terrorizing residents of Marsh Fork District in Raleigh County.

Believed to be a large member of the cat family, the animal has left traces of its wide swath of destruction in the Naoma, Dry Creek, and Horse Creek areas. Meanwhile, clusters of citizens who congregate at local post offices and general stores repeat rumors that the 'varmint' has made its presence known as far north as Whitesville in Boone County.

"It sounds to me like a big elephant, the way it hollers," said Cuba Wiley of Naoma, who has lost 12 chickens to the beast since September 1. According to Wiley, the cat or whatever, comes down a mountain near his home on the average of three to four nights a week. As it lumbers down, Wiley says that he can hear limbs breaking under its feet. Only when it reaches the bottom, in Wiley's driveway, does the cat give its vicious yell. "Then it sounds like it goes up a tree like a gray squirrel," notes Wiley.

Although Wiley has never caught a glimpse of the cat in the darkness, he believes it is accompanied by two young cubs. He has found both large and small footprints, the largest he estimates at four inches long and four inches wide, leading to the belief that the animal weighs between three hundred and four hundred pounds.

Wiley's home is one of several where members of the communities stand vigil with high-powered rifles in hopes of destroying the animal. So far, one bullet has grazed one of the small cubs, knocking out tufts of red hair, tipped in gray. 

According to Horse Creek residents, where the cat has attacked several dogs including eight pups, the Department of Natural Resources has identified a track made there as that of a jaguar, an animal of brownish-yellow color with black spots. But most of the townspeople are skeptical of that identification. Some have termed it a "monster," refusing to believe that even an animal could put up such a mournful wail. 

Said Wiley, "People think I've been telling it to keep squirrel hunters away, but this thing is a smart one and is going to be hard to catch. A lot of people are afraid---we won't tangle with him."

Theresa's Thoughts:  It's interesting that the DNR identified the tracks as being from a jaguar. Jaguars aren't native to West Virginia and have never had a population here. Given the time period, it is possible that a jaguar could have escaped from a zoo or traveling circus...or even have been someone's personal pet that got loose. But, the idea that there was a very large creature accompanied by at least two cubs suggests a breeding pair at the least, making the escapee theory just a LITTLE less likely.

The next closest candidate may be a mountain lion, or cougar. According to different sources, the last mountain lion in WV was killed in 1887, but continued sightings in various locations lasted many years after that. However, by the 1950's, the mountain lion was declared legally extinct here in the Mountain State. That hasn't stopped citizens throughout West Virginia from reporting mountain lion sightings up to this day. Pretty much every person I know living in even a remotely rural area has seen or heard evidence of mountain lions. So was it a mountain lion that was stealing Wiley's chickens and killing dogs?

It's possible, but that doesn't explain Wiley's estimation of the massive weight of the creature, nor the color of the tuft of fur found. A female mountain lion (presumably it was a female since it had cubs) rarely gets heavier than 120lbs, and males only go up to about 200lbs. Some mountain lions living in warm, humid climates may be more of a reddish color, but they generally tend to be a tawny brown. 

So, was this whole thing one big misidentification? A hoax? Or, is there a small possibility that the area around Naoma, WV was being stalked by a mysterious creature from the depths of cryptozoology? 

Are There Mountain Lions in West Virginia? by Amanda Barber (29 June 2022)

Mountain Lions in West Virginia- AZ Animals
 

Graham House Hauntings

Graham House 2024
Photo by Theresa

Last year, SRI investigated the haunted and historic Campbell Flanagan Murrell House Museum (blog coming soon!) in Hinton, WV. I arrived in town early to check out some of the local museums and explore downtown a bit. I wandered into the Summers County Visitor's Center and had a lovely chat with the girl working. Obviously, the topic of why I was in town came up, and taking full advantage of the resources at hand, asked her about other local places that were haunted. She suggested the nearby Graham House, an 18th century log cabin that had a history of spooky encounters and had even been investigated several times by local ghost hunters.

The following Monday, I sent a message and quickly booked an investigation at this fascinating and new-to-me location!

The Graham House was built between 1770 and 1772 by Colonel James Graham and his wife, Florence. The log cabin boasted two full floors plus an attic, and various outbuildings.  Life on the western frontier wasn't an easy one, but the Graham family made a good living on their 286 acre farm, raising at least nine children there. But, tragedy would strike one spring evening in 1777. 

1777 was a tumultuous year for attacks on white settlers by the Native Americans in the area. In fear of an upcoming attack, the family, joined by several other area settlers, spent a couple of weeks across the river at the fort/home of the Van Bibber family. However, the family needed to return to their own property and prepare the crops for the upcoming season. On the evening of May 16th, the family was asleep, not knowing that their home had been stalked for days, awaiting the right time. 

Colonel Graham had been feeling ill and had actually fallen asleep on a bench in front of the door to the cabin. That move may have saved the lives of those in the cabin, as he was able to quickly block the front door with the bench and a heavy water tub. Unfortunately, through the scuffle, shots were fired through the door. A neighbor man named McDonald, who had accompanied the family to help with the crops, was shot and killed. The remaining men fired their own guns towards the attackers, while the women and some of the younger children were holed up upstairs. With them was the Graham's oldest son, 13 year old William, who had been sleeping in the main house because, like his father, he was also feeling ill. And, again, that was probably what saved HIS life. 

Had William not been ill, he probably would have been bunking with his two middle siblings, 10 year old John, and 8 year old Elizabeth. 

While the majority of the family were busy securing the main house, John and Elizabeth had been sleeping in the second-floor loft area of the kitchen building, located behind the cabin. Also in that building was a young slave boy named Sharpe. Sharpe, realizing what was going on, tried to flee via the chimney, but as the building was invaded, the attackers saw his foot dangling from the chimney and grabbed him. They dragged him outside and killed him. 

Whether because the children began crying, or the Native Americans had reason to suspect there were additional people upstairs, they fired their guns into the loft area. John was hit in the knee and also dragged out. As the boy was deemed too wounded to be kidnapped and marched away, he too was killed. Elizabeth, however, was taken hostage. She would remain with the Natives for eight years, until her father, at an estimated cost of $300 was finally able to negotiate her release at a meeting in what is now Chillicothe, OH, and travel to Maysfield, KY where she had been adopted by an Indian family. It is said that even after she was returned, she had a hard time readjusting and tried to run away at least three times before being married off to Joel Stodgill in 1792. 

After Colonel Graham passed away in 1813, the home remained in the family until right around the time of the Civil War. It was then occupied by the family of Colonel Wilson Lively, followed by the Keslers, who married into the Livelys. Other owners included the Thayer family, the Barickmans, and the Muhlys. The Muhly family, with its six kids, were the last private owners, calling the Graham House home from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's. Unfortunately, they lost control over the property. Luckily, the home would be saved by the newly formed Graham House Preservation Society, who operates it to this day. 

With over 250 years of history, there are bound to be some ghost stories attached to the property, many of which seem to stem from the horrific tragedy of 1777 that left a stain upon the land. Two settlers and a slave were killed. A young girl was kidnapped.  It is also believed that at least one Native American was fatally injured and taken to nearby Indian Draft. When a skeleton was found there several years later, Colonel Graham claimed the jawbone and used it in the home as a gun rack. The energy of this location is palpable and those who are even the least bit sensitive are likely to pick up on the tension. On one side, you have a family who is fighting with everything they have to protect their home, and what they believe is their right to be there. On the other, you have a group of people fighting to protect THEIR way of life after seeing from prior events that the white settlers as a whole couldn't be trusted.

Aside from a general feeling, there have been plenty of specific incidents. An old Victrola, presumed to be inoperable, was found playing by itself. To date, it has not worked since.  The caretaker's mother witnessed a very life-like woman in white coming down the stairs from the second floor to the main floor, right about where the stairs turn. Two separate witnesses have seen a 'brown man' in the vicinity of the modern kitchen/banquet area that was built in the 1970s. Footsteps are heard coming from downstairs when the witnesses are upstairs, and vacuum cords are known to unplug themselves from the wall. 

When SRI visited last spring, at two different times, we distinctly heard a female's voice. The first time we heard it, Brian and I were upstairs at Leila was outside taking pictures. No one else had shown up yet. The voice sounded like it was coming from outside, so we just assumed it was Leila. When she joined us inside, we asked who she had been talking to. We thought she had either taken a phone call, or another member had shown up. She hadn't said a word. And, to test it out, we sent her BACK out to talk at various points around the building. When on the front porch, we could BARELY hear her, and it was very muffled, not like the loud, clear, crisp voice we had heard earlier. 

Later, as the entire team was on the first floor, we again heard a woman's voice. We ran outside to make sure no one was trespassing but found nothing. However, we realized that we DID catch the voice on audio. It sounds like the same female voice as before, but it cannot be made out exactly what she is saying. 

There were some phantom touches that night, as well as plenty of references to witches and witchcraft coming over the spirit box. I was asked through our resident sensitive if "my daddy was an injun." I can only assume that Colonel Graham and family have some lingering prejudices in the afterlife...

Graham House Preservation Society Website

Graham House Preservation Society Facebook

National Register Application 

A Three-Prong Approach to Paranormal Research

Researching Spooky Stuff at
The Gray Barker Archives

Summary: The process of researching haunted locations can be summed up in three main areas: 1. STORIES AND EXPERIENCES, 2. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION, and 3. DATA COLLECTION. An investigation usually starts with the reputation of a location for being haunted, and an examination of the stories and witness experiences associated with it. It is then followed up by researching the history of the location and collecting data, such as EMF readings, photographs, EVP recordings, etc. Further, these three 'prongs' are not linear. For example, some will collect data before looking into the history. More often than not, investigators will circle back around as new information is uncovered. In a perfect scenario, all three areas will interconnect, supporting and backing each other up. However, we all know that this trifecta rarely occurs; fortunately, that doesn't mean that a location or an investigation does not have value.

It's no secret that I am fascinated with anything and everything weird and spooky! Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State exists as a way to document and share a gamut of strange and unusual topics. UFOs, cryptids, psychic phenomena, and Fortean events are just some of the subjects that have found a home here on my blog. But, throughout my work in this field, the study of ghosts and hauntings has remained my main focus.

For today's post, I thought I'd do a commentary on what I consider to be the ideal trifecta in regard to the investigation and research of haunted locations. As both a researcher AND a paranormal field investigator, a multitude of allegedly haunted sites come across my radar on a regular basis. I love hearing about potentially haunted places and researching the history behind them. However, what makes a location REALLY pique my interest? What makes me excited to actually do on-site investigation research?

Not all haunted locations are created equal. Aside from investigative logistics, such as accessibility, health/safety concerns, and other external variables, some places just make for a better research subject. I am a believer that any place has the potential for paranormal activity, but as a serious researcher, I need a reason to invest in the study of a particular property. That reason usually starts with the ghost stories and personal experiences reported by various witnesses.

STORIES AND EXPERIENCES:

I'm sure you've had someone tell you about a great haunted location they know of...but when you ask them to describe the activity, they really can't tell you much about what actually goes on there. They might stress the idea that the place is old and creepy, and/or the fact that someone died there. If you get REALLY lucky, they might have mentioned they felt 'something.' I do appreciate getting these types of tips from people. I love when people get excited about the paranormal, and I always love talking about the paranormal with others. It's awesome whenever someone knows what I do and is eager to share their knowledge of haunted locations with me. And to be fair, some of these places have ended up being awesome investigations, especially when they haven't been investigated before by anyone.

However, it's so much easier when a location already has an established history of specific paranormal activity. To maximize the research process, I need to know exactly why the location is believed to be haunted. Are there legends of untimely death, unrequited love, or other acts of violence and tragedy? Do locals tell of apparitions roaming the grounds, unearthly screams piercing the veil, or mysterious disappearances? Are these legends widespread and well-known, dating back a number of years? Have they been previously documented in writing, and where?

I also need to know what people are actually experiencing. Are the owners/visitors/others related to the property seeing anything? Hearing anything? Smelling anything? Do these experiences tend to back up the ghost stories told about the location, or are they unrelated? Can recent witnesses be located and interviewed about their experiences?

The combination of reported stories and personal experiences not only show that a location has a sustained history of activity (as opposed to just a one-off experience), but will show investigators patterns of that activity, such as what time of day activity seems to occur, or whether or not activity seems to happen only to certain people. This data can be used to plan an optimal investigation experience, focused on recreating the specific conditions that seem conducive to activity. It also allows investigators to isolate specific incidents of activity to try to recreate for the purpose of debunking, or finding natural explanations. Further, these tales and experiences can offer clues into who or what is haunting the location, and why. Who is that woman in white who silently ascends the stairs night after night?

This investigation process nearly always starts with stories and experiences (for the exception, please see my article on Ghost Hunting Vs. Paranormal Investigation). It is a jumping off point for the rest of your research, which, based on personal beliefs, may look slightly different from mine, and vary from case to case. But, in general, I tend to head into the realm of historical documentation from here. It's important to note, however, that these three areas are very interdependent. This will be discussed in greater detail later on, but let's first take a look at historical documentation. 

Waverly Hills 
Estes Method

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION:

Historical research is MY favorite part of paranormal investigation. I love taking a deep dive into the people and events tied to the property. I want to know who lived there, who died there, who worked there, who visited, and why any of them might be sticking around. I want to go further into just their names and dates of deaths; I want to know what they did for a living, what church they went to, what they did in the spare time. Did they have any pets or belong to any organizations? What tragedies touched their lives? 

There are several advantages of conducting historical research before the on-site investigation. Historical research can provide names and details of your suspected ghost. This information can then be used to tailor specific questions for EVP and/or spirit box sessions, or be used in choosing what type of trigger objects a suspected ghost may most likely interact with. Perhaps most importantly, historical research can shed some light on the stories and experiences. Many, MANY times throughout my research, I've found that what is told and accepted as 'fact' for the background of a location is not quite accurate. Not every old house was used as a Civil War hospital, and that 'woman in white' who allegedly took her own life when her betrothed died in the war? Well, her death certificate and obituary both say she died of cancer in her 80s.

It's definitely satisfying being able to shed some truth to the folklore (a major goal of Theresa's Haunted History which I will probably delve deeper into in another post), but nothing feels greater than actually finding primary documentation that supports the claims of activity. I remember high-fiving a colleague and then feeling REALLY guilty about my sheer joy upon finding a newspaper article discussing the tragic death of a toddler that up until that point, hadn't been proven. While I wasn't celebrating the tragedy itself, I was relieved to have that vindication of a widely-told story actually being true.

When the historical documentation backs up the stories, it is certainly a good sign that the site deserves on-site investigation, which brings us to our third and final area: Data collection. 

DATA COLLECTION: 

We have a location with a dark and verifiable history, with stories and experiences to match. That's awesome and will definitely qualify to be featured here on Theresa's Haunted History! And, given that permission can be obtained, most likely we'll want to come investigate that location. As cool as the case already sounds, what would make it PERFECT would be to collect data and potential evidence that can give a glimpse of scientific validity to the claims. Any and all potential evidence collected on site would be awesome---but to have an EVP giving a verified name, or a photo clearly showing the suspected entity is the Holy Grail, and the perfect completion to the perfect trifecta: historical documentation AND physical evidence to back up the legends and lore. 

Unfortunately, data collection, while it should be very scientifically sound and regulated, isn't infallible, especially in regard to paranormal research. An interesting piece of potential evidence or data doesn't necessarily conclude that a location is haunted or that ghosts exist. And data might not necessarily correlate to personal experiences and documented history. Often, we get 'hits' on EVP or the Spirit Box giving 'random' names. These might just be completely random. They might be the product of misinterpretation by investigators (for example, Jane and Shane sound A LOT alike on audio). In some schools of thought, they may be examples of telepathy on the part of those present, as opposed to proof of afterlife communication. Or, it could simply be information that has yet to be discovered.

That's when we have to circle back. More historical research needs to be done, using the new information as clues. As people continue to have experiences and tell stories about the location, that data also needs to be documented and taken into consideration. Very rarely is a case marked 'complete,' because as long as the location still exists, there is the potential for additional stories and experiences. And as long as I'm still researching, I will continue to seek out as much documentation and data as I can. 

With that, I'll wrap up this overly long blog post! Good luck with your own investigations and research, and as always, stay spooky my friends!