The first reported sighting of what would come to be
known as the “Marsh-man” occurred in the spring of 2017. A couple out for an
evening stroll along the path at Magee Marsh on the shore of Lake Erie, Ohio’s
northern coast witnessed what appeared to be a partly clothed adult male cross
the pathway about a quarter mile ahead of them. The figure emerged from the
lake’s rocky surf and descended again into the marsh immediately opposite.
Though initially startled, the couple approached the spot where the figure
disappeared. The reeds and other foliage did indeed appear disturbed and
(according to them) the birds seemed unnaturally quiet. The couple reported
their sighting to the Toledo Blade (who quite naturally disregarded it out of
hand) and later to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization who dispatched a
“qualified” investigator to survey the scene. Field investigator August
Richards, who met with the couple (who opted to have their names withheld) two
weeks later, reported:
I
met with the couple two weeks after their encounter. The marsh had changed
slightly due to spring growth but remained largely the same. On the lakeside of
the path the shoreline is made up of broken concrete slabs. To Southward marsh
side there are patches of open water interspersed with various cat-tails and
other reeds. The water at its deepest point in the marsh is only 5 feet
seemingly too shallow to support a full grown subject submerged. Still the
couple maintained their story with few alterations even after several weeks of
distance.
It was not until a second report was made nearly a month
later that the Ohio Fish and Wildlife Service viewed the incidents with any
credulity. In the second report, a group of five birders in town for the spring
migration were walking the boardwalk in the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
only a few miles down the coast from Magee Marsh, around dusk. As they were
making their exit of the refuge, they decided to take one last look over the
coastal plain from one of the observation towers. Looking northward, they saw
what at first appeared to be a deer struggling in the weeds. They broke out
their binoculars and found that it was not a deer but rather a full grown man pulling
a partially submerged log from the marsh. Lit by the crimson glow of the sunset
he appeared to be covered in blood due to the water dripping from his body. As
the birders watched, the man struggled with the log for nearly a minute before,
apparently growing anxious from the exposed nature of his position, turned and
made his way in a slight trot down the embankment and behind a row of
cottonwoods. Had they not witnessed the entire scene, they might have thought
the man was simply a jogger out for a twilight run, for he wore a pair of
seemingly clean shorts. The observers waited another twenty minutes until the
light finally fled completely but caught no further sight of the strange man.
When the Blade was informed
of the second report they sent their own reporter to shadow the Fish and
Wildlife Service’s own investigation. The search yielded nothing but the
absence of evidence did not stop Blade reporter Laura Kirsch from penning a
story with the headline: “Mystery Man Stalks Maumee Swamp.” Though buried on
the fourth page of the Lifestyle section, the article, no more than a short
synopsis of the first, more fantastical report, was widely enough read to
generate a dozen similar reports over the next two months. Thus the legend of
the Ohio Marsh Man was born.
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