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Monsters of the Old West.en-US.4 · Bedtime Stories

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Over the years, we have travelled to many places said
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to harbour an unusually high number of strange and unexplained events.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Locations where multiple witnesses claim to have encountered bizarre phenomena,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: often under circumstances that continue to defy explanation to this day.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: In this episode, however, our journey takes us not simply
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to another place, but to another time. To an age
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of cattle drives, frontier settlements and dusty trails disappearing into
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the horizon. an era of cowboys, outlaws and prospectors. But
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: according to some accounts, these were not the only things
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: roaming the vast landscapes of the American frontier. Join us
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: as we encounter the Monsters of the Old West. Few
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: American states possess quite the same reputation for the strange
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and unexplained as Arizona. The state has featured prominently in
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: several of our previous episodes. particularly those concerning the malevolent
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: and predatory entity said to roam the land surrounding the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Navajo Nation, the creature known to many as the Skinwalker.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Arizona was also the setting for one of the most
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: famous UFO incidents in American history. During March of 1997,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: thousands of people reported witnessing mysterious lights moving silently across
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the skies above Phoenix. whilst others described observing an enormous
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: V-shaped craft passing directly overhead. Elsewhere lie the Superstition Mountains,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: a harsh and unforgiving wilderness long associated with strange disappearances,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: violent deaths and stories of buried treasure. Then there are
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the stories we have yet to visit. The alleged haunting
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: surrounding the London Bridge at Lake Harvestoo, the strange reports
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: associated with a vast aircraft graveyard outside Tucson, and the
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: persistent rumors of ghost lights, phantom riders, and inexplicable creatures
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: glimpsed moving through remote desert communities after dark. For this episode, however,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: our attention turns much further back in time, to the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: years when Arizona remained a frontier territory and large areas
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: of the American West had yet to be settled by
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: those arriving from the East. the dangers facing those who
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: ventured into these landscapes were many and varied. Exposure, drought, disease,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: hostile terrain, and violence at the hands of other men
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: all represented very real threats to survival. Yet according to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: some accounts, these were not the only dangers waiting beyond
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the edge of civilization. Because scattered throughout the historical record
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: are reports of encounters with creatures so bizarre so improbable
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: and so unsettling that they can only really be described
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: in one way. Monsters. America's frontier history possesses no shortage
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of legends and larger-than-life characters, many of whom have long
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: since passed into folklore. Figures such as Annie Oakley, Buffalo
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Bill and Doc Holliday often seem to possess abilities that
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: border upon the superhuman. their exploits growing ever more extraordinary
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: with each retelling. Far less widely known, however, are the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: stories that feature something altogether stranger. Amongst the most disturbing
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: of these is the tale of the creature that would
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: become known simply as the Red Ghost. Its story begins
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: during the summer of 1883 on a small ranch near
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Eagle Creek in central Arizona. The property was occupied by
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: two sisters and their husbands, who lived together in a
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: modest wooden cabin and supported themselves by tending to a
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: small herd of cattle grazing in the surrounding countryside. One morning,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: just as they would on any other day, the two
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: men set out to inspect the livestock whilst their wives
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: remained behind to attend to the household chores. Roughly an
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: hour later... their routine was interrupted by a commotion erupting
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: from the direction of the cabin. Recognising the frantic barking
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: of the family dogs, the men immediately abandoned their work
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: and hurried back towards the ranch house. What awaited them
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: was a scene of pure horror. Lying just outside the
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: front door was the battered and broken body of one
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: of their wives. The second woman was eventually discovered barricaded
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: inside the cabin, terrified but physically unharmed. Through tears and
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: obvious shock, she explained what had happened. The two sisters
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: had been occupied with their usual duties when they became
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: aware of the dogs barking somewhere outside the property. Assuming
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: that a coyote or some other predator had wandered onto
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the land, one of the women stepped outside to investigate.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Barely had she crossed the threshold when an immense animal
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: charged into the yard. According to the surviving witness, the
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: creature appeared almost out of nowhere. It struck her sister
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: with tremendous force, knocking her to the ground before repeatedly
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: trampling her beneath its hooves. Unable to intervene and scarcely
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: able to comprehend what she was witnessing, the horrified woman
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: could do little more than watch from the doorway as
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: the attack unfolded before her. The animal itself was unlike
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: anything she had ever seen. It stood considerably taller than
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: any horse owned by the family and was covered from
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: head to tail in a thick coat of long, shaggy
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: red hair. Yet as terrifying as the beast itself had been,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: it was not the thing she remembered most vividly, because
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: seated upon its back, was a rider. The figure was
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: described as impossibly thin and seemingly in an advanced state
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: of decay, its gaunt features stretched tightly across its skull
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: and its eyes appearing as little more than dark, hollow sockets.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: For several moments, it simply sat there, staring back towards
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: the cabin. Then, without warning, rider and mount turned together
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: and galloped from the yard. leaving only silence and devastation
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: behind them. Arming themselves with shotguns, the two men immediately
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: set out in pursuit. Around the property, they discovered a
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: trail of unusually large hoof prints impressed deeply into the ground,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: whilst along the nearby creek they recovered several clumps of
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: coarse red hair that had apparently snagged upon the surrounding vegetation.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Within days, stories of the murderous rider and its monstrous
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: steed had spread throughout the local community, before travelling much
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: further afield. Many dismissed the more extraordinary elements of the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: account as the product of grief, alcohol, or the effects
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: of the brutal Arizona heat. Before long, however, events would
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: unfold that would make such explanations increasingly difficult to sustain.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Several weeks after the attack at Eagle Creek, another incident
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: was reported under remarkably similar circumstances. A party of prospectors
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: travelling through the Arizona wilderness had pitched camp for the
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: night and settled down to sleep when they were suddenly
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: awoken by a tremendous commotion. As the men scrambled from
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: their canvas tents, there came the sound of timber splintering
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: beneath immense force. Two of the heavy wooden wagons that
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: had been standing at the edge of the camp were
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: tossed violently aside, as though they weighed little more than kindling.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: In the weak moonlight, the startled prospectors caught sight of
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: a huge, shaggy beast charging back and forth through the camp,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: scattering equipment in every direction. Perched astride its back was
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: a gaunt, emaciated figure dressed in ragged clothing, its arms
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: flailing wildly as though directing the destruction unfolding below. The
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: assault lasted only moments. As abruptly as it had begun,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the monstrous animal and its rider wheeled about and galloped
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: back into the darkness. When daylight arrived, the prospectors discovered
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: evidence that seemed eerily familiar. Caught amongst the shattered timbers
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: of the overturned wagons were several coarse clumps of dark
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: red hair, almost identical to those reportedly recovered from the
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: ranch near Eagle Creek. For a time, the mysterious rider
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: was not seen again. Then, during the following year, fresh
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: reports began to emerge after a party of hunters claimed
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: they too had been attacked whilst camped in the Arizona backcountry.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Unlike the prospectors before, them, these men chose to stand
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: their ground. As the creature thundered into their camp, one
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: of the hunters rushed forwards with a lasso, whilst the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: others opened fire with their rifles. For a brief moment
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: it appeared the rope had found its mark, tightening around
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the beast's neck before it reacted with astonishing strength, snapping
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the heavy line almost effortlessly. The unfortunate hunter barely had
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: time to retreat before the enraged animal bore down upon him.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: According to the surviving witnesses, its skeletal rider appeared almost
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: to delight in the attack as the towering beast prepared
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: to trample a man beneath its hooves. Only sustained rifle
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: fire finally drove the creature away before it could deliver
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the killing blow. By now, the settlers of the surrounding
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: area had had enough. A sizeable posse was assembled to
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: hunt down the mysterious rider once and for all. Following
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: oversized hoof prints and the now familiar trail of coarse
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: red hair, the group tracked the creature for several weeks
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: before finally catching sight of it crossing open country in
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: the distance. Unfortunately, one over-eager member of the party fired
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: too soon. Although the shot startled the beast and allowed
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: it to escape, it appeared to strike the rider. When
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: the men reached the spot where it had been seen
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: only moments earlier, they didn't find a body. Instead, lying
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: alone upon the ground was a weathered human skull, its
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: empty eye sockets staring silently back at them. Years passed
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: without any further reports of the monstrous animal or its
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: now headless rider, and many assumed that whatever had haunted
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the deserts of Arizona had finally disappeared. However, not everyone
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: shared that confidence. In 1893, fresh rumours began circulating after
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: witnesses claimed that the red ghost had returned. this time
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: crushing a bear beneath its hooves before disappearing back into
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: the wilderness. Amongst those who heard the story was a
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: local farmer named Mizu Hastings, who had grown up listening
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to the tales of the creature and resolved that, should
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the opportunity present itself, he would be the one to
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: bring its reign of terror to an end. Armed with
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: little more than a rifle and enough provisions for several days,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Hastings set out into the deserts. his opportunity came sooner
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: than he expected. After several days of searching, he encountered
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the beast drinking from a small pool of water. Perched
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: upon its back was the same tattered, headless figure that
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: generations of witnesses had described before him. Taking careful aim,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Hastings ignored the grizzly rider and instead fixed his sights
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: upon the animal itself. Several shots then rang out across
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: the desolate landscape the great beast staggered forwards before its
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: legs gave way beneath it, collapsing heavily onto the ground.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Approaching with understandable caution, Hastings circled the carcass several times
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: before satisfying himself that neither the animal nor its rider
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: posed any further threat. After cutting away a quantity of
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: the creature's distinctive red hair as proof of the encounter,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: he returned with assistance to examine the extraordinary discovery more closely.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: The explanation that eventually emerged proved almost as remarkable as
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: the legend itself. The red ghost was not some supernatural beast,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: but an enormous feral camel. Lashed securely to its back
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: were the weathered remains of a human being, the body
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: having long since decomposed until little more than a skeleton remained.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Exactly how the unfortunate rider came to meet such a
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: fate has never been established. although two principal theories have endured.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: According to the first, the dead man had been a
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: prospector or traveller, who, for reasons unknown, had secured himself
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: to the camel before dying while strapped to the saddle.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Unable to free itself of its grisly burden, the increasingly
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: aggressive animal had wandered the Arizona wilderness for years, reacting
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: violently whenever people attempted to approach it. Others, however, have
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: pointed towards a far more intriguing possibility. During the late 1850s,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: the United States Army imported dozens of camels into the
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: American Southwest as part of an ambitious experiment to determine
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: whether the animals could serve as military pack transport in
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the desert. Although the project showed considerable promise, the outbreak
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: of the Civil War brought it to an abrupt end,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: and many of the camels were sold, abandoned, or simply
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: disappeared into the surrounding wilderness. Whether the Red Ghost was
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: one of those animals can never be known with certainty,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: but if so, it raises one final and deeply unsettling question. Who, exactly,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: was the unfortunate soul whose bones remained strapped to its
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: back for all those years? few creatures have become quite
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: so synonymous with the North American wilderness as Sasquatch. For generations,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: stories have circulated of enormous, man-like beings inhabiting remote forests
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: and mountain ranges, glimpsed only briefly before disappearing back into
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: the wilderness. While such reports are most commonly associated with
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the Pacific Northwest, they are by no means confined to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: that region. The rugged highlands of central Arizona possess a
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: long tradition of their own. Today, the alleged creature said
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: to inhabit the forests of the Magollan Rim is widely
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: known as the Magollan Monster, although reports bearing a striking
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: resemblance to the modern legend stretch back to the closing
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: decades of the 19th century. Throughout the 1880s, newspapers across
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: the American West carried accounts of gigantic wild men living
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: in isolated woodland. many of them describing encounters in or
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: around the foothills of the Magollan Mountains. Witnesses spoke of
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: an aggressive creature that appeared fiercely protective of its territory,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: attacking hunters and prospectors who ventured too deeply into the forest,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: and according to some accounts, even clashing with Apache war parties.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Such encounters were not confined to the wilderness alone. Miners
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: working in the region occasionally claimed that the creature had
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: forced its way into remote cabins under cover of darkness,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: overturning furniture, ransacking stores, and stealing whatever food it could
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: carry before vanishing once again amongst the trees. Although individual
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: accounts varied in their finer details, the descriptions themselves remained
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: remarkably consistent. Witnesses spoke of an enormous human-like figure covered
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: from head to toe in pale or white hair, possessing
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: broad shoulders immense physical strength and unusually long talon-like fingernails
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: some dismiss the reports as little more than sightings of
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: a deranged hermit living in isolation others however remain convinced
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: that the forests of arizona concealed something far more extraordinary
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: The most famous encounter involving Arizona's alleged Sasquatch is said
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: to have taken place during May of 1903, and was
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: later reported by a local newspaper, The Williams News. The
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: account came from a Colorado hunter named I.W. Stevens, who
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: claimed to have witnessed an extraordinary event whilst trapping beavers
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: near the Grand Canyon. During the course of his hunt,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Stevens discovered a series of footprints unlike any he had
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: encountered before, Although unmistakably human in shape, they were of
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: such extraordinary size that he made a conscious effort to
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: avoid following them, preferring not to discover what kind of
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: creature could have left such tracks. Some time later he
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: stopped beside a river to refill his canteen. As he
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: crouched at the water's edge, an angry commotion further upstream
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: drew his attention. Looking up, he found himself confronted by
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a remarkable scene. a mountain lion stood its ground on
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the opposite bank, its body low and tense as it
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: growled towards an unseen adversary. Behind it, two young cubs
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: huddled close together, seemingly unaware of the danger unfolding around them.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Then Stephen saw what had provoked the animal's fury. Standing
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: only a short distance away was an immense human-like figure
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: that he estimated to be close to eight feet tall.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Its entire body was concealed beneath a thick coat of
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: pale grey or almost white hair, giving it an appearance
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: unlike anything he had ever encountered in the wilderness. The
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: creature's attention soon shifted. Breaking off its confrontation with the
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: mountain lion, it turned towards Stevens, stooped to lift a
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: heavy fallen tree branch, and began advancing, with a makeshift
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: club gripped firmly in its hands. Panicking, Stevens fired his
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: rifle into the air in the hope that the noise
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: alone would drive the creature away instead it seemed only
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: to enrage it acting on instinct he then swung his
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: rifle towards the mountain lion and fired again killing the
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: animal instantly To his immense relief, the towering figure abandoned
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: its advance and turned its attention back towards the fallen predator.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: What happened next would remain with him for the rest
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: of his life. The creature calmly killed the two cubs
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: before settling amongst the three carcasses. Using long, talon-like fingernails,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: it tore open the bodies before lowering its head to feed.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: blood running freely through the pale hair that covered its
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: chest and arms. Stevens eventually made his way back to civilization,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: but afterwards declared that he would never again hunt in
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the Grand Canyon region, warning others that they might not
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: prove as fortunate should they encounter whatever monstrous inhabitant stalked
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: those remote Arizona forests. Whilst the creature encountered by I.W.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Stevens in 1903 bears a striking resemblance to the Sasquatch
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: reported elsewhere across North America, the same cannot be said
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: of another legend said to haunt the Arizona wilderness. A
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: decade after Stevens' remarkable encounter, the Arizona Republican published an
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: account that was stranger still. The story centered upon a
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: region known as Bloody Basin. a bleak stretch of country
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: named after a battle fought there in 1873 between the
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: United States Cavalry and Apache Warriors. Published during May of 1913,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: the article recounted the experiences of three cattle hands who
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: claimed to have encountered a creature unlike anything they had
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: ever seen before. The men had been driving a herd
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: of cattle across the basin when the animals suddenly became restless.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Although the surrounding terrain was largely flat and open, offering
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: few places for a predator to conceal itself, the herd
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: became increasingly reluctant to continue. Concerned that wolves or mountain
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: lions might be nearby, two of the cowboys rode out
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: to investigate, whilst the third remained behind with the cattle.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: The agitation only intensified. As the two riders circled the
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: edge of the herd with their rifles drawn, a shrill,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: piercing cry suddenly echoed across the basin. Moments later, something
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: emerged from behind a small patch of brush. When later
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: questioned by the newspaper, neither man could adequately describe what
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: they had seen. The creature possessed a long, slender body,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: supported by a set of oversized limbs that bent sharply
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: at unnatural angles. giving it an appearance that one witness
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: likened to a gigantic insect. As it shuffled across the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: open ground towards them, it emitted another deafening shriek and
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: seemed to gather speed with every step. The cattle reacted instantly.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Several steers broke from the herd and stampeded across the
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: basin towards the remaining cowboy, whilst the two riders held
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: their ground and opened fire. Several rounds struck the advancing creature.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Instead of falling, however, it reared upwards onto its hind
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: limbs until it towered over the mounted men, despite the
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: height afforded by their horses. Then it let out another
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: ear-splitting scream before its body began to change. The transformation
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: was unlike anything either witness believed possible. The creature's body
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: rippled and twisted as though its bones no longer possessed
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: any fixed arrangement. Its head appeared to collapse in upon itself,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: disappearing into its torso, whilst the elongated limbs folded backwards
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: before withdrawing into the body altogether. For several bewildering seconds,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: the entire creature seemed to turn itself inside out. Then,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: just as suddenly... New limbs emerged in different positions. Without
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: another sound, the bizarre entity turned and began making its
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: way back towards the brush from which it had first appeared.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: The stunned cowboys eventually recovered their senses and fired several
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: more shots after the retreating creature, but it vanished before
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: they could tell whether any had found their mark. No
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: blood could be seen where it had stood. nor had
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: its movement shown any sign of pain or impairment. Their
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: conclusion was simply that the noise of the gunfire had
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: frightened it, whilst its hide had proved too thick for
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the bullets to penetrate. No further sightings of the Bloody
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Basin monster were ever documented. Even so, the encounter was
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: enough to establish a lasting reputation for the area, and
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: for a considerable time afterwards... a number of local ranchers
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: chose to move elsewhere rather than risk crossing Bloody Basin
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: by themselves. These were by no means the only strange
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: creatures said to inhabit the Arizona frontier. Amongst the most
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: remarkable is the account of a gigantic winged animal reportedly
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: shot near the outskirts of Tombstone during the closing years
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: of the 19th century. Contemporary newspapers describe the carcass of
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: the creature, whose appearance drew immediate comparisons to a prehistoric pterodactyl.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: As with the tale of the Red Ghost, however, the
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: physical remains were never preserved and have long since disappeared,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: leaving only the testimony of those who claim to have
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: witnessed them. Whether any of these extraordinary accounts contain a
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: kernel of truth remains impossible to determine, yet one detail
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: they all have in common is their settings. from the
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: forests of the Magollan Rim to the deserts and canyons
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: of central Arizona, each unfolded in places where human settlement
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: was sparse and the natural world still held the upper hand.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Even today, vast expanses of the state remain remarkably isolated,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: and reports of strange creatures continue to emerge from regions
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: where few people ever venture. For now, the creatures of
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: the Old West continue to occupy that uncertain ground between
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: history and legend. And somewhere amongst the deserts, forests and
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: lonely mountain ranges of the American Southwest, there are those
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: who remain convinced that not every monster sighting belongs to
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: the past.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Thank you for watching. Thank you for watching. Thank you.