DATE:        Spring 78

TIME:        Mid afternoon

LOCATION:   Along the Elk river a branch of the Tennessee River approx. 12 miles
                   north/north-east of Athens AL. in Limestone Co.  Hwy. 72 west.

I seem to recall a small airport on the south side of the highway as well as a high school shortly before the turnoff on the north side of the highway going to what we once called the "camp". Oh yeah! There is a historic marker a few yards from the turnoff on the north side of the highway. The marker has something to do with the Cherokee Indians forced removal to Oklahoma I think.

TERRAIN:  Swampy

OBSERVED:  It has been many years ago back in the spring of 1978 or that fall of the same year.
 I'm in my 30's now but, at the time of the sighting I was 13 or 14.  I was on an annual family visit to my Grandparents place in Athens. We had gone to "the river" at "the camp" for a few days. I can't recall what day was but it was early to mid afternoon. I was a typical kid so naturally I was doing kid stuff just messing around. I had a frog gig down on the pier of my grandparents boat house. I was tossing it into the shallow water just trying to hit anything there. I did gig a Crappie but, I had not hurt it bad so I let it go.

At the end of the slew was a swamp about 175 to 250 yards down from where I was. Along the bank toward the swamp were 3 other cabins (at that time) with piers also. The swamp was a shallow water swamp full of hardwood trees such as Hickory or Oak for example. I do not know haw far back the swamp went. Perhaps, a few miles. I think that of my family on my Grandfather had ventured into and around in that swamp before.

Across the slew from the other cabins were a somewhat sloping pasture. Next to the pasture were a couple of cabins and some boat houses. It seems I always noticed Cows in that pasture at anytime of the day when I was out at the boathouse.

I had just let that Crappie I had gigged go. I looked toward the swamp for some reason. When I did I saw this thing coming out of the swamp just below the cow pasture. It was walking like we do on two legs. It waded into the water about knee deep (for it). It was a dark color probably black for the sun was shining upon this animal. I did not really pay much attention to it at first. my thoughts were it was a bear. I looked back at it again a few seconds later and it dawned upon me "this is not a bear". It was tall! About 8 or 9 feet. It was big and bulky and as noted before hairy. I was not able to see its face due to the distance involved but it did not appear to have a neck.

The "critter" looked both ways looked down then bent down from its waist and swung its left arm twice into the water. I did see the splashing water.  It then stood up straight and looked straight in my direction. It just stood there a few seconds then turned around and walked back into the swamp. I just sort of stood there on the pier of the boathouse shrugged my shoulders and went back to goofing around.

About 3 or 4 minutes later I looked over toward the swamp again and the "critter" was emerging from out of the trees again from where it had gone into previously. Once again this thing wades into the water knee deep and repeats what it had done before. It again stood up afterward and look in my direction.  A few seconds later it turned around and walked back in the trees of the swamp. It did not return again. I stayed at the boat house about another hour and did not see it come back out of the swamp.

Even to this very day i feel it was trying to catch fish. I did not feel I was in danger and I felt no fear at
the time.  But, being as old as I was then the dark of night has its own effects. I did not want to go outside alone at night. The cabin bathroom was in the basement. One had to go outside to get to it. It took me a couple of years to adjust to the night there again.
 

Activities of Witness:  Just doing kid stuff.

Description of Creature: About 8 or 9 feet. It was big and bulky and hairy.  Walked upright, and appeared to have no neck.

Other Notes: None that I know of since that time. A couple of boys had found large human like footprints in that general area a couple of weeks prior to my sighting. (I think that "sighting" was printed in a local paper).

Other Other Notes:   Just the fact that the cattle I used to see in the field each day
across the slew were not in sight at the time.

The amusing thing to my sighting is I had taken a pair of Binoculars down to the pier with me. I had them sitting on the upper rail of the pier during all this.  Not once did i think to use them!

My Grandmother sold the place about ten years ago. I was up in Athens about 3 years ago shortly after she died. It was in late summer. I went out to "the camp". No one was there so I took the grace of southern hospitality and got out of my car and checked the place out. Except for new paint and some minor repairs upon the cabin and boat house nothing had changed over the years. The water was low so I went down to the bank and looked for fossils (they are quite numerous there). As I was picking some up I looked often toward the swamp remembering, wondering, trying to figure it all out and kind of well..........hoping.