“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ~ H. P. Lovecraft

When I was a young child many decades ago, I heard a story that intrigued me. It was a story about the unknown and it created fear within my young thoughts. This early memory has stayed with me for decades and inspired me to write this story today. Fear of the unknown is the type of fear that returns to me after midnight on a cold winter eve when slumber eludes me.

My father was a seasoned combat veteran and in time became a very seasoned New Hampshire State Trooper. He spent his entire career proudly serving people in need, in my young mind Trooper Spain did not know fear. One evening my father returned home after working his routine shift on patrol south of Concord. He worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift and was tired as I prepared to go to elementary school in the morning. A gifted storyteller himself, he would often share his adventures as a trooper with me. I in turn tend to remember his stories quite well and share them with you, my faithful readers of Vintage Views.

The story my father shared with me early that morning in the mid-1960s involved an encounter he had on a lonely stretch of turnpike south of Concord. As he entered the turnpike without another vehicle in sight, he noticed movement behind his cruiser in his rearview mirror. I believe the New Hampshire State Police cruisers were large Plymouth Fury IIIs at this time, a large vehicle with the ability to achieve a high rate of speed rapidly. As my father increased his speed along the turnpike he noticed the movement once again, something was behind him as he entered the turnpike. Quite curious he slowed his cruiser rapidly to see what might be behind him, his initial thought being that it might be a stray dog of some type.

When he applied the cruiser's brakes, he noticed a large dark-colored animal in the late-night glow of his red taillights. This strange animal was described by him to be larger than a dog with a tail and capable of pursuing him at a decent speed. The next day before signing on for patrol my father stopped at the New Hampshire Fish and Game headquarters in Concord to share his story with a few of the officers on duty. With a certain amount of humor, the officers said it sounded like a large cat with agility and speed. Perhaps an animal that is not common in this area but the theory that the animal had feline features seemed reasonable.

As Trooper Spain signed on for another late-night tour of duty he kept close watch behind his cruiser just in case. He spoke to local residents and heard a few stories about unknown animals roaming and encounters dating back decades before. His story has stayed with me and I have looked a little further back in time to see what I might discover.

My research brought me to Hillsboro, New Hampshire in the year 1948. The people living on the outskirts of Hillsboro reported a strange-looking animal on the rampage with multiple sightings down towards Washington, New Hampshire. Tracks were seen, screaming and howling in the late night were heard. Charles Cleveland, a summer resident of Hillsboro living out on East Washington Road was sitting on his front porch late at night enjoying moments of tranquility. His large Maltese cat was snoozing nearby and suddenly leaped and stared into the surrounding forest. The cat hissed calling the attention of Mr. Cleveland.

Charles Cleveland stood on his porch late that night in 1948 and said he saw a large animal with a long tail staring at him from about 60 feet away. With fear and concern Cleveland ran into the house to retrieve his rifle, returning he found the large dark animal with a long tail crouching and staring at him. Cleveland fired his rifle as the strange animal slowly sulked away into the deep forest.

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The story was told locally and people speculated that Charles Cleveland must have seen a large black panther. Residents at a nearby lake also reported hearing a large animal in the darkness of night near their resort. George Bailey was summering with his father Morton Bailey. They were from Greensville, North Carolina and unfamiliar with local wildlife. They both heard noises outside of their cabin and saw a big animal wandering about the cabin porch late at night.

Local game wardens speculated that it might be a black panther or some type of large feline related to a black panther. Charles Cleveland said he couldn’t wait to return to New Hampshire to capture the animal just to prove to his friends and family that he really saw it. Hillsboro neighbor Walter Shanley said he set traps around the area to see if he might be able to capture it too.

Another episode with a large dark animal in the New Hampshire forests occurred in 1952. A hunter named Robert Goulet was hunting in northern New Hampshire near Dixville Notch when he heard a screech that was haunting. Goulet was said to have followed the screech and witnessed a hairy unknown creature standing eight feet tall. There were more sightings too in the north woods of New Hampshire as recently as 1977 in Pittsburg, 1983 in Colebrook and 1997 in Errol.

This elusive animal sighted south of Concord, near Hillsboro and in the north woods has created much conversation and lore. A perfect story to intrigue a young boy and instill fear of the unknown in many. Some people have called this animal the Woods Devil with others thinking it is some type of anomaly, an animal thought extinct perhaps.

As I hike the wooded forest on Rattlesnake Hill in Concord, I often find myself looking over my shoulder anticipating a distant glimpse of something unknown. Fear of the unknown.