What is a ‘Wild Man’?
If you’re thinking of a wild man
like I am, you’re most likely thinking of a feral man, not a wild one. (And
when we’re talking about wild men, let’s be frank. We’re talking about wild
women, too, even though there are far more stories or sightings of wild men
than women, at least so far in my research) Feral animals were once part of a
civilized or domesticated world. That’s the definition. For whatever reason, some humans decided to depart from civilization. They escape to the woods, the
forests, or anywhere else to get away and live ‘in the wild’. They may often
live on the edge of civilization and sometimes cross paths with it. Wild men
might do this on purpose to steal food or spy on their civilized brethren. Or
it might be an accidental sighting by a hiker, a farmer or hunter.
Wild men became wild men for many
reasons. There were escaped convicts, runaway slaves, military deserters,
criminals, insane, homeless, vagrants, and just those who were enticed by the
call of the wild, wilderness, outside, solitude or whatever. Of course, there
were other ‘wild men’ that witnesses thought to be too hairy, large, ape-like to
be human. Sometimes the newspaper stories, based on witness accounts, were too
difficult to determine whether the wild man was human or not.
I'll be making some tabulation of the sightings, but in general, it seems that wild men are naked, mostly hairy, are rugged and athletic-looking. Some are giants and really hairy. Some wear bits of clothing and carry a weapon, like a club. They are mischievous, breaking into sheds, barns and livestock pens, stealing anything that can eaten, live or otherwise. Some are confused with animals, like gorillas, or even bears.
The old newspaper articles are the most fun, because of a number of reasons. We just don't read writing like old newspaper accounts. Witness accounts are quite detailed, but likely as unreliable as current ones. Nevertheless, patterns do develop. More to come.
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