By Andrew Kniska, SCA Interpretive Ranger
It is now October, and to get into the mood for spooky season, I would love to tell you about a mythical creature from a part of the state that has left an impression on me.
Deep in Coös County, New Hampshire, there is said to be a creature called the Woods Devil. Described as tall and with matted fur, he is similar to his cousin, bigfoot. Unlike his cousin, the Woods Devil has gray hair and is said to be lankier than Sasquatch. He also has a longer face, not too far off from a horse or moose. It is said to scream loudly if you go looking for him, with the echoes ringing across the valley. It is shy and avoids all human encounters if it can. If it does encounter a person, the Woods Devil will stand perfectly still and may try to hide behind something like a tree.
Sightings first started popping up in the 1930s, with rumors swirling around the camps of lumberjacks. The Woods Devil was a part of a pantheon of other made-up animals to scare new employees of the lumber companies. These became known as the fearsome critters, a fascinating mythology in their own right, and I encourage you to look further into them. However, a documented case in 1948 related to The Woods Devil appeared. A man named George Lavoie was on a hunting trip deep in the forest of Coös County. At the end of his day, wandering back to his campsite, Lavoie saw movement in the trees. To his surprise, he saw a tall, hairy creature with the face of a horse staring at him in the evening darkness.
Again in 1952, another reported sighting was that of The Woods Devil by Robert Goulet. Similar to Lavoie, Goulet was on a hunting trip, specifically in Dixville Notch. However, this time, he heard The Woods Devil coming through with his loud, otherworldly screech. Goulet followed the sound of this screech and came across a raggedy, hairy creature, about eight feet tall. Goulet took a shot at The Woods Devil but missed, and the beast ran off into the night.
Similar sightings to this kept occurring throughout the latter half of the 20th century. In 1977, there was a sighting on Route 3 near Pittsburgh. In 1983, a woman who lived in Colebrook claimed to have seen him in her backyard. In 1997, A man passing through Errol claimed to have seen him at night, the description fitting The Woods Devil’s exact profile.
This cryptid really piqued my interest when I first learned about him living in Coös County, and I can see why sightings of a creature like this would pop up. After several late-night drives, I know well enough that the dark plays tricks on your mind. Driving up Route 16, deep in the 13 Mile Forest, I saw plenty of moose that turned out to be trees and reflective strips on the side of the road. It is not far out of the question that someone who was walking around in the backcountry saw something resembling a creature from a story told around a campfire, and put the name to something that was never there.
I did really enjoy, in my time researching The Woods Devil, learning where people claimed to have seen him. I have heard of Sasquatch and the Yeti, but I’ve never been to Washington or the Himalayas to see their stomping grounds. It is much different when you can only imagine the specific place mentioned. While working in Dixville State Park I did my grocery shopping in Colebrook. I drove up Route 3 many times while living in Errol (technically Cambridge N.H., but that’s splitting hairs). To know the geography around the lore of The Wood’s Devil is different than just hearing about a place you have never been to. You can see specific buildings or even trees the Woods Devil hides behind, and you can imagine the type of people who saw him. I can hear the sharp rolling winds come over Dixville Notch that almost sound like a scream. It adds far more detail to the story you build up in your head.
I imagine The Woods Devil being symbolic of the woods of Coös County. Large and mysterious, wild and isolated, both are unlike anything I’ve come across growing up in a suburb. The Woods Devil is shy, and doesn’t like many people around. This is not unlike some of the people who move up here that I had the pleasure of meeting during my time as an Interpretive Ranger.
82% of New Hampshire is forested. That’s about 4.7 Million acres of forest, making New Hampshire the second more forested state in the union. In The Terminal List, a best-selling book by author Jack Carr, the main character is on the run from the law and he opts to hide not just in New Hampshire, but Coös County specifically for the vast isolated wilderness. I say all this to emphasize how much forest stands tall in this part of the country. I understand how people can imagine a creature like this hiding out and being seen only once in five years.
In recent years, sightings have been drying up. With everyone having a camera in their phone and keeping it on them at all times, there will be skeptics asking for evidence when a sighting comes in. It’s very difficult to capture a mythical creature on camera. But perhaps, this is symbolic of the modern world pushing us past an era of forests and tradition. Long gone are the days where you can claim a spooky story happened in your backyard, or just down the street. One Google search changes all that. The advancements in technology make things, for the most part, more convenient for us. However, I can’t help but feel a certain magic is lost in modern times. Never again can someone get away with making up a creature to scare the new employee that probably isn’t real, but could be. A quick Google search can fix that. No rumors of supernatural somethings can scare or satisfy a community and bring them a little closer together. Having the ability to know for certain that something, like The Woods Devil, isn’t real takes a little out of the mystery in life, and I for one lament that.
Sources:
https://www.nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov/forest-statistics
https://hangar1publishing.com/blogs/cryptids/woods-devil