The Wampus Cat, sometimes called the Appalachian Chupacabra, is a large feline that has been described in many ways, and whose origins are not completely clear. Far from being dangerous,
this allusive cryptid is quite a shocking site to those who have laid eyes on it.
In their 1890 Dialect Notes, the American Dialect Society noted that the phrase Wampus Cat was found in Texas as a title for a “bad-tempered woman”, as well as in Maine, where it was used
to describe an undefined, imaginary animal which could be heard whining about camps at night”.
In a Fort Smith Times article from June 30, 1905, the Arkansas reported defined the phrase as “a bad man”, and applied it to a man named John Marrs, who had been arrested and was
subsequently on trial for assaulting a visually impaired man. On September 14 of that same year, the same newspaper applied the title to another man, Tom Craig, who was arrested and placed on trail
for inciting a fight in a saloon.
As late as The Fort Scott Republican August 26, 1916 article, the phrase was still being defined. The article stated that,
The Wampus is an odd but familiar term applied to anything out of proportion to reason … The statement “I am a Wampus cat” is generally attributed to a “chip on the
shoulder” disposition.
It seems that before the term cryptids was introduced, Wampus Cat was used as a title for any mysterious creature.
In a Topeka State Journal article from April 4, 1914, they defined it as a “cross between a mountain lion and a panther”. In The Des Moines Register article from November 17,
1914, the reporter noted that community members regarded it as a “mythical cat-like being with a wicked disposition”.
And it seems that one of these big cats was captured, and displayed chimeric traits. According to the March 2, 1914 Sterling Daily Standard article, the reporter observed the creature in
captivity, and attempted to explain its history by saying that:
The term “Wampus Cat” originated with the [black community], who informed their children of the presence in the woods of a huge cat, more vicious than the most savage
lion. They described it as having four long claws, and a tail nine feet in length, which was used in many instances like the tail of a kangaroo, being a powerful weapon of defense.
The creature was captured by two men who were out hunting in the Ouachita River Bottom Community. They spotted a black, cat-like creature, the size of a calf. Both men
fired on the creature, and returned to the community with the wounded creature. The strange animal was displayed for three days, drawing a lot of attention.
The reporter who wrote the article went on to describe its unusual appearance:
The “Wampus Cat” or whatever head it may be classified under, has the head and body of a cat, but the fur is long and black, with occasional white spots. The hair on
the head is short and the ears small. The tail is long, but not the great length described by the [black community].
It is in the short, stocky legs and feet that the great curiosity in the animal is found. The front feet are those of the bear, with long claws. The foot is shaped
something like that of the badger, indicating that the animal at times burrowed into the earth, but the shape of the head and eyes are different from those of this type of animal.
The hind feet are cloven, like those of a deer. None of the feet would indicate the animal does much climbing, that being an impossibility. The gait of the animal is a
shuffling one, a cross between that of the bear and a hog.
After three days, the creature escaped, fleeing into histories more hidden oddities.
A Drumright Weekly Derrick newspaper article titled “ Wampus Cat Has Sweet Tooth, Is Chased To City”, on August 1, 1925, outlined very peculiar behavior of a large feline that frightened
the residents of Drumright, Oklahoma so badly, that they began considering outlawing jelly beans:
It is believe the Wampus entered Drumright via Tiger Creek in search of a nest. After stealing candy from some children back of the filling station the animal entered
the front door and was tampering with the cash register when Mr. Drumright returned from the bank.
By this time a large crowd had gathered in front of the filling station attracted by the screams of the children from whom the Wampus had stolen the candy.
Pulling bricks from the pavement the fearless crowd began pelting the unfortunate Wampus. Luckily no window panes were broken. After receiving several hard raps about
the face and toenails the Wampus ran from the station and dodged into an open man-hole.”
It is feared by many Drumright people that the Wampus will again invade the city as it is thought that it is still under the town, living in a sewer.
It is rumored that a petition is being signed by the townspeople to the effect that no store shall be allowed to sell “jelly beans”, which is the kind of candy that may
have attracted the beast within the city. At any rate, it is the kind the huge cat stole form the children.
A Sun Herald newspaper article from February 1, 1927, titled “Wild Animal's Raids Cause Excitement”, documented another encounter in Electric Mills, Mississippi, which seemed to echo
earlier sentiments that the creature was immune to injury, documenting:
Citizens are excited over the appearance of a large animal which the [black community] in the section call a “wampus cat”. Just what sort of animal that is no one seems
to know. The unknown creature is about the size of a large dog, it is said, and, according to the [black community] and a few white people who have seen it, has very stiff black hair. It has been
shot at several times but the shots have failed to take effect. One night during the week it ate up 150 chickens belonging to Mrs. S. J. Smith.
By 1939 with the publication of his book, Fearsome Critters, Henry H. Tryon had made the feline into a mythical animal of North American folklore. He wrote the it was a legend in the black
community, where it was feared, but also honored for catching deer-killing eagles. He added fantastical elements to the feline, writing:
If a Wampus wades a stream, the fish won't bite for seven said. When the Wampus is on the prowl the only game abroad is the fool hen. The howl of the Wampus on a lonely
night will curdle a crock of sourdough. Females of the species may be killed only with crosscut saw. The males, practically indestructible, carry in their fur the germ of blister rust. Under the
influence of a full moon, the glare from their eyes starts forest fires. Their footprints are visible only in solid rock. They steal prospectors' picks to brush their teeth.
In his 1952 book We Always Lie to Strangers: Tall Tales from the Ozarks, Vance University wrote that the creature originated in the under-educated class living in the Ozark Mountains, and
described it as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink."
In Demon in the Woods: Tall Tales and True from East Tennessee, author Charles Edwin Price explains that a wampus cat is a bright-eyed, unusually large cat that walks on its hind legs. This
creature has allegedly been sighted throughout the Tri-Cities.
H. W. said that his father, a carpenter who lived in Johnson City during the 1950s, was walking down Spring Street [in Johnson City] late one night. Suddenly, he saw a
huge cat – the biggest he had ever seen – sauntering down the other side of the street, moving as if it had all the time in the world.
“Since my father was walking behind the animal, the cat didn’t see him,” H. W. said.
“The cat was about the size of a large spaniel. In fact, my daddy did mistake [it] for a dog at first. Then he noticed that the animal had stripes, just like a big
tabby. No dog was ever marked like that!”
Every once in awhile the cat paused to sniff the side of a building, H. W. said. Then it reached Jones-Vance Pharmacy, raised up on its hind feet, put its paws on the
windowsill, and peered into the window.
"Daddy stopped in his tracks. He said the cat must have been at least four feet tall when it stood on its hind legs. About then he decided that what he was seeing was a
tiger, but there was no circus in town at the time. "Then came the really scary part," H.W. said. "After the cat had seen all that it had wanted to see inside Jones-Vance, it turned and, still
standing on its hind legs, continued walking down the street and disappeared around the corner. Daddy said that his blood ran cold." What was the cat up to that night? H.W.'s father never did find
out. When he peered around the corner of Spring and Main, the cat had disappeared from sight.
In Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County, Virginia, Donna Gayle Akers retold the story from Charles Edwin Price and Sharyn McCrumb’s 1993 book The Mystery
of Ghostly Vera: and Other Haunting Tales of Southwest Virginia of a couple who had an encountered the wampus cat beside of Abingdon’s Barter Theatre.
. . . A couple visiting Abingdon believe they saw a Wampus Cat in the alley next to the Barter Theatre one late night. The two were enjoying a late night stroll, when
suddenly they heard a hissing noise. They peered into the alley and saw a cat-like creature with evil green eyes standing up on two feet. The animal hissed again, and then dropped back down to four
feet and disappeared into the alley. Obviously, the couple didn’t follow the strange animal, but decided to return to their hotel room very quickly.
In a Rome News-Tribune October 31, 2003 newspaper article titled, “Legend of Green Eyes: a local ghost story”, reporter Kevin Cumming spoke with former historian and chief
ranger at Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Edward Tinney, about paranormal events that have taken place where so many lost their lives. During the interview, Tinney spoke the
green-eyed ghost of a Confederate soldier that has been coined Old Green Eyes. It was documented that:
Tinney said the legend of Old Green Eyes, the ghost who is said to haunt the battlefield in various forms ranging from a Confederate soldier to a green-eyed panther,
has been a part of Chickamauga Battlefield lore since the last shot was fired at the bloody battle that claimed 34,000 casualties Sept. 19-20, 1863. The tales of Green Eyes and other phantom
sightings stem from the soldiers, who lived through the War Between the States, Tinney said.
Since then, some cryptozoologists have linked this ghost to the Wampus Cat, and go as far as to say that hearing one at night is an omen of death, and that its presence can insight violence.
Indigenous Cherokee mythology has been applied to try to explain the origins of this creature, or at least the legend.
As explained by a webpage titled “The Wampas Mask” by The Moonlit Road, the first mountain lion was a Cherokee woman named Running Deer. She was a Ghigau, or "beloved woman,” head of the women’s
council. Their village was being plagued by a creature called Ewah. The mysterious “ugly demon” was driving men insane. It lived somewhere in the woods and slept in a cave. One day, her husband came
staggering into the village. He was completely insane. She had to do something. She put on fur and went in search of the malicious spirit. She tracked it down to its cave and went in. Since its
visitor was just some new animal, it didn’t try to make driver her crazy. She screamed and the thing flew from the cave and hid deep in the woods. Now, she had to make a hard choice. She could either
return to her people or wait for Ewah to find another victim or remain in the woods to protect them.
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