Civil War Soldiers Encountered Hairy Wild Men

Digging through history for Bigfoot encounters usually means sifting through newspaper clippings, old journals, and firsthand accounts from the last century or so. But what if those reports go back much further—like, all the way back to the Civil War era? That's exactly what one fascinating conversation on GhostBox Radio dives into, and it's a must-listen for anyone serious about the long history of Sasquatch encounters in North America. The guest is Lon Strickler, a well-known paranormal researcher, author, and the mind behind the long-running Phantoms and Monsters blog. Strickler grew up near the Gettysburg National Military Park in south-central Pennsylvania, so his roots in Civil War history run deep. Over the years, he's collected hundreds of Civil War-era letters and has stumbled across some pretty intriguing mentions of what soldiers back then simply called "wild men." One of the most compelling accounts comes from a Union soldier stationed in western Virginia. In a letter home, he described a "wild man" breaking into a storage area where food was kept. The description? Man-sized or larger, heavily muscled, and covered in hair all over its body. Soldiers at the time didn't have the vocabulary we use today—no one was throwing around the word "Bigfoot" or "Sasquatch." They just figured they were looking at some kind of feral human, maybe someone living off the land with an unusual amount of body hair. And that makes sense when you think about it. The term "Bigfoot" didn't even enter the popular lexicon until the late 1960s, thanks in large part to media coverage and shows like In Search of... Native peoples across the continent had their own names for these beings for centuries, but settlers and soldiers largely had no frame of reference. They called them wild men, wood spirits, or just strange creatures that didn't quite fit any category. Strickler also points out that newspaper reports from that era tended to embellish everything, so the most authentic accounts actually come from the private letters soldiers sent home. There's something raw and unfiltered about those letters that makes them especially valuable to researchers today. The conversation also touches on an account Strickler can't quite locate anymore but remembers vividly—Union troops who found themselves essentially trapped by a group of these wild men. The soldiers knew they weren't Confederate fighters, but they had no idea what they were dealing with. It's the kind of story that makes you wonder how many similar encounters never made it into any official record. Strickler himself had a personal Bigfoot encounter back in 1981 near Sykesville, Maryland, which kicked off his deep dive into the phenomenon. He's been investigating ever since, and his work has been featured on shows like Ancient Aliens, Paranormal Witness, and Monsters and Mysteries in America. The Appalachian region, where many of these Civil War sightings reportedly took place, has long been considered Sasquatch hotspot territory. The dense forests, rugged terrain, and remote hollows have provided perfect cover for these elusive beings for centuries. Indigenous tribes throughout the Appalachians have their own rich oral traditions about hairy wild men roaming the mountains, and those stories predate European settlement by generations. There's also mention of similar accounts going even further back—to the French and Indian War period, with a report of a wild man near Fort Pitt in western Pennsylvania. So this isn't just a Civil War phenomenon. It's a pattern that stretches across centuries of American history, with witnesses from all walks of life—soldiers, settlers, and Native peoples alike—all describing essentially the same thing. If you're interested in the deeper history of Sasquatch encounters in North America, this conversation is absolutely worth your time. It's a reminder that these beings have been part of the landscape—and the stories people tell about the landscape—for far longer than most folks realize. Check out the full episode on the AM950 YouTube channel and prepare to have your mind opened to a whole new chapter of Bigfoot history.