bruzu grizu
The Red Ghost
In 1883, a woman was found trampled to death in the Arizona territory. Locals were perplexed by the large cloven hoof prints and reddish fur left at the scene. Not far away, two miners reported being attacked in the night by a massive red beast. One cowboy attempted to lasso it, but the screaming behemoth charged, knocking both him and his horse to the ground. Over the next decade there would be many more sightings of the monster.
Some named it "Fantasia Colorado," but most simply called it "The Red Ghost." One witness claimed it was nearly thirty feet tall, another that he saw the beast kill and eat a grizzly bear. A notorious raconteur testified that he'd chased it to the edge of the Black River where it jumped across the canyon in single bound. Others insisted it had the power to vanish into thin air.
Most accounts agreed that the creature carried a horrifying rider, either a devil or a corpse. A crew of prospectors chased it away with rifles and later found a desiccated human head at the scene. Reports thereafter confirmed the rider was now headless. Many speculated on who the rider had been: a young soldier who'd been tied to it as a prank, a lost traveler who'd climbed on hoping it would take him to water, or a petty criminal punished by vigilante justice.
Finally, a rancher spied the fearsome animal in a ravine and recognized it as a red camel. In the mid 19th century the U.S. Army had used camels in the deserts of the southwest, but they were abandoned shortly after. A few ended up in circuses or working on farms, most were killed off, but at least one was set loose in the desert to become a feral terror. In 1893, the legend of the Red Ghost was brought to an end when a farmer shot it as it grazed in his garden. By this time it had shaken off its ghoulish rider, but still bore the leather straps which had once bound them together.
The Red Ghost
In 1883, a woman was found trampled to death in the Arizona territory. Locals were perplexed by the large cloven hoof prints and reddish fur left at the scene. Not far away, two miners reported being attacked in the night by a massive red beast. One cowboy attempted to lasso it, but the screaming behemoth charged, knocking both him and his horse to the ground. Over the next decade there would be many more sightings of the monster.
Some named it "Fantasia Colorado," but most simply called it "The Red Ghost." One witness claimed it was nearly thirty feet tall, another that he saw the beast kill and eat a grizzly bear. A notorious raconteur testified that he'd chased it to the edge of the Black River where it jumped across the canyon in single bound. Others insisted it had the power to vanish into thin air.
Most accounts agreed that the creature carried a horrifying rider, either a devil or a corpse. A crew of prospectors chased it away with rifles and later found a desiccated human head at the scene. Reports thereafter confirmed the rider was now headless. Many speculated on who the rider had been: a young soldier who'd been tied to it as a prank, a lost traveler who'd climbed on hoping it would take him to water, or a petty criminal punished by vigilante justice.
Finally, a rancher spied the fearsome animal in a ravine and recognized it as a red camel. In the mid 19th century the U.S. Army had used camels in the deserts of the southwest, but they were abandoned shortly after. A few ended up in circuses or working on farms, most were killed off, but at least one was set loose in the desert to become a feral terror. In 1893, the legend of the Red Ghost was brought to an end when a farmer shot it as it grazed in his garden. By this time it had shaken off its ghoulish rider, but still bore the leather straps which had once bound them together.