Iowa Bigfoot Newspaper Project: Iowa's 'Big Foot' - the 'Canton Creep'

- There have been several newspaper accounts of Bigfoot sightings in Iowa throughout the decades and by all accounts, they have been lost to time. As I find them, I will transcribe and post them here, for easy viewing. These articles paint a fascinating picture of historic Iowa Lore and the people who investigates it. -

Iowa's 'Big Foot' - the 'Canton Creep' 

Hawkeye hoorahs!

Those reports of an elusive nocturnal creature seen lumbering around northwest Iowa are no mystery to a West Liberty Index columnist. One Don Ehl claims the beast, dubbed “Big Foot,” is none other than the “Canton Creep.”

Ehl says a decade ago a night creature strikingly similar to this year’s ape-imposter was seen roaming around Canton administering doses of terror in that timber-camouflaged community along the Maquoketa River.

So, reasons Ehl, the Creep — not to be upstaged by a born-again president, a thrice reincarnated heavyweight boxing champion, or the Hulk — has emerged for a second coming under the alias of “Big Foot.”

The writer recalled one memorable incident from the beast’s youthful days. A romantic young couple, out for an evening stroll, decided to explore the Maquoketa Caves. Inside a dark cavern, the boy lovingly grabbed for his girl’s hand.

Finding the palm cold and clammy, the boy slowly reached out with his other hand, groping for reassurance.

What he came up with, though, was a not-so-feminine cluster of hair — which prompted him to set a new record for the 100-meter dash in exiting the cave. In his haste he neglected one minor detail. Behind him was his girlfriend, left to fend for herself.

Oh, his girl later said she neither saw, heard, nor felt any evil lurking in the cave.

In perhaps one of the better ideas since ex-President Gerald Ford’s aborted Whip Inflation Now (WIN) program, Ehl concluded with the suggestion that West Liberty recruit “Big Foot” as a tourist attraction in order to beef up its economy.

Or, if that should fail, footnotes Ehl, the possibility of running “Foot” as a third party candidate for city council exists, bad press notwithstanding. 

Popular pits

That same edition of the Index dredged up a tidbit from 60 years ago, which offered a bargain that might be quite popular in 1978’s inflation wars.

In the midst of World War I, residents were asked to donate a variety of fruit pits and nutshells, all necessary ingredients in manufacturing charcoal to be used in gas masks.

Peaches were a much-in-demand treat in those days. That was because the pits could be substituted for money to gain Saturday afternoon admission to the town’s movies at Grand Theater.

A burning question

News from the Mapleton Press lends more cannon fodder to the tax revolt cavalry. Robert Lyon, in a recent column, called attention to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study that carried a price tag of $45,000. Its top-priority purpose, in the interest of national security: Determine how long it takes to cook breakfast.

If the USDA extended the research to lunch and dinner, it will cost a mere $160,000, Lyon added.

But he dug up the reason researchers required such a long time and long bucks to complete their task. It seems government whiz-kids were stymied by the burning question of how long it takes to cook a three-minute egg, Lyon writes.

— D. Vance Hawthorne

Don’t miss Hawkeye hoorahs! every Saturday and Sunday in your Des Moines Register.

Des Moines Register Nov. 5, 1978