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Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?


Susano

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Instant Pulp-Era plot seed for those Explorer/Great White Hunter types!

 

thunderbird_01.jpg

 

thunderbird_02.jpg

 

These two photos apparently show Union soliders standing over the corpses of an unknown species of giant bird. The upper photo is reputed to be of the so-called "Thunderbird" of American Indian myth, while the lower photo has been tentivly identified to show some form of pterodactyl. Unfortunately, little is known about when or where these pictures where taken or what happened to the corpses.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Most likely they are photo manipulations or staged with props. But they are great fodder.

 

Oh, without a doubt. There's a well known "lost" photo of a huge bird (called the "thunderbird picture") up against a barn with a 20-25' wingspan. It is thought to be a hoax, but no one is sure, and people can't locate the photo anymore. But still, in a supers/pulp-era action world, these are 100% genuine!

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Oh' date=' without a doubt. There's a well known "lost" photo of a huge bird (called the "thunderbird picture") up against a barn with a 20-25' wingspan. It is thought to be a hoax, but no one is sure, and people can't locate the photo anymore. But still, in a supers/pulp-era action world, these are 100% genuine![/quote']

 

Are you talking about the Tombstone Epitaph picture? That's been mentioned in a lot of weird books, and there's some good coverage in David Hatcher Childress's Lost Cities of North and Central America.

 

Sending a group of heroes to the American southwest to check out reports of the Texas Behemoth sounds like a great pulp adventure idea to me!

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Are you talking about the Tombstone Epitaph picture? That's been mentioned in a lot of weird books' date=' and there's some good coverage in David Hatcher Childress's [i']Lost Cities of North and Central America[/i].

 

Sending a group of heroes to the American southwest to check out reports of the Texas Behemoth sounds like a great pulp adventure idea to me!

 

Never seen the Epitaph picture.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Wikipedia to the rescue!

 

There is a story that in April 1890, two cowboys in Arizona killed a giant birdlike creature with an enormous wingspan. It was said it had smooth skin, and featherless wings like a bat. Its face resembled an alligator. This description has obvious similarity to that of a prehistoric pterodactyl, a creature which was known at the time. They dragged the carcass back to town, and it was pinned, wings outstretched across the entire length of a barn. There is supposed to be a picture of this event, that may or may not have been published in the local newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph.

According to Mark Hall, the Epitaph did indeed print a story about the capture of a large, unusual winged creature, on April 26, 1890 [1]. Beyond this single story, however, no one has made historic corroboration that this event ever occurred; it is usually considered an urban legend. Utterly fictional tall tales were not an uncommon feature in newspapers during this era.

 

No one has ever produced a copy of the "thunderbird" photograph, though numerous people, Ivan T. Sanderson being one of the better known, have made claims to its existence. Sanderson claimed to have once owned a copy of the photo, which vanished after he loaned it to an acquaintance in the 1960s. The television program Freaky Links staged a similar photo, giving new life to the "Thunderbird Photograph" legend. [2]

 

Jerome Clark speculates that the description of the basic image in question (men standing alongside a winged creature nailed to a barn), is evocative enough to implant a sort of false memory, leading some people to vaguely "remember" seeing the photo at some distant, imprecise time.

 

So yes, this is the picture in question.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Heh. I've heard a very tongue-in-cheek theory that it [the picture] actually slipped through from an alternate universe. And I know someone who swears up and down that they've seen that picture.

 

So have others....

 

:D

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

And there's more in Loren Coleman's MYSTERIOUS AMERICA and in Jerome Clark's UNEXPLAINED, both under the heading of 'Thunderbirds'.

 

Heck, several somebodys supposedly saw a giant bird with a 200-300' wingspan in western PA back in 1973. Now that's big.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

And there's more in Loren Coleman's MYSTERIOUS AMERICA and in Jerome Clark's UNEXPLAINED' date=' both under the heading of 'Thunderbirds'. [/quote']

 

I own both of those. There's been some reports out of Alaska of a bird the size of a small plane.

 

Heck, several somebodys supposedly saw a giant bird with a 200-300' wingspan in western PA back in 1973. Now that's big.

 

That's a new one to me.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

I own both of those. There's been some reports out of Alaska of a bird the size of a small plane.

 

Oh, that's a pterodactyl from the hole at the pole, is all that is. Nothing to get excited about

 

 

That's a new one to me.

 

If you've got the second edition of UNEXPLAINED, it's at the start of the section on thunderbirds. There isn't very much, though.

 

I also highly recommend Coleman's MOTHMAN AND OTHER STRANGE ENCOUNTERS for more on thunderbirds and other winged weirdies. Including flying naked women in Vietnam.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

If you've got the second edition of UNEXPLAINED, it's at the start of the section on thunderbirds. There isn't very much, though.

 

I also highly recommend Coleman's MOTHMAN AND OTHER STRANGE ENCOUNTERS for more on thunderbirds and other winged weirdies. Including flying naked women in Vietnam.

 

Hmm... I'll have to check my copy.

 

Hmmm... (the sequel). I have read about the fly naked woman in 'nam (see by American soldiers, IIRC). I need to expand my Coleman library. Have you ever read "The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel? Fairly absurd if you really think about it, but it makes a great source of ideas for some sort of MIB, BPRD, or X-Files-like game.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

Hmmm... (the sequel). I have read about the fly naked woman in 'nam (see by American soldiers' date=' IIRC). I need to expand my Coleman library. Have you ever read "The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel? Fairly absurd if you really think about it, but it makes a great source of ideas for some sort of MIB, BPRD, or X-Files-like game.[/quote']

 

I own a copy the Paraview Press edition with the Frazetta cover art. Very unlikely and as creepy as all ****.

 

And if you want weird and unlikely, then look for a copy of Hunt for the Skinwalker. Very good book about the Gorman Ranch hauntings in Utah. Hey, it's got Indian curses, giant bulletproof wolves, invisible Predator-style monsters, cattle mutilations, and extradimensional portals. What more could you ask for?

 

Recommended for its humor as well as a surprising level of believability (compared to the above, anyway) is Linda Godfrey's Beast of Bray Road. All about the Wisconsin werewolf and his local legendary predecessors. And there are reprots of 'werebeasts' showing up in the Wisconsin/Michigan area in the pulp era...

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

I own a copy the Paraview Press edition with the Frazetta cover art. Very unlikely and as creepy as all ****.

 

The book reads like exciting supernatural adventure fiction to me now. When I first read it in Middle school, it scared the cr*p out of me.

 

 

And if you want weird and unlikely' date=' then look for a copy of [i']Hunt for the Skinwalker[/i]. Very good book about the Gorman Ranch hauntings in Utah. Hey, it's got Indian curses, giant bulletproof wolves, invisible Predator-style monsters, cattle mutilations, and extradimensional portals. What more could you ask for?

 

Ohh.... Phenomena Department scenarios!

 

Recommended for its humor as well as a surprising level of believability (compared to the above' date=' anyway) is Linda Godfrey's [i']Beast of Bray Road[/i]. All about the Wisconsin werewolf and his local legendary predecessors. And there are reprots of 'werebeasts' showing up in the Wisconsin/Michigan area in the pulp era...

 

I've heard of the Best of Bray Road!

 

Man, I gotta make an Amazon order soon!

 

:thumbup:

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

They didn't load for me.

 

Hmm... not sure what to say. There may be an issue with your browser and the code used to display pictures.

 

How about the website link? That work?

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

The book reads like exciting supernatural adventure fiction to me now. When I first read it in Middle school, it scared the cr*p out of me.

 

 

:thumbup:

 

Same here. Coleman and Clark's Creatures of the Outer Edge also scared me cr*pless (especially the guy who's car breaks down and then he gets nailed by the phantom panther), and it's recently been republished in an omnubis edition with their first book The Uninvited by Paraview Press, going for about $20.

 

Just in case you're interested.

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Re: Dinosaurs killed during the American Civil War?

 

I'm always up for a bit of cryptozoology ! I have "Cryptozoology Ato Z" by Loren Coleman & Jerome Clark,"The Complete Guide To Mysterious Beings" by John A Keel and "My Quest For the Yeti" by Reinhold Messner. plus a few general "Unsolved Mystery" type books in my "Weird S***" section of the library. (Right next to where I am typing this actually !)

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