The Huachuca "Dragon"

Last winter while on a short camp out in the Huachuca mountains of South eastern Arizona, I had an interesting experience with a winged creature. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a loud flapping sound which, reminded me of the sound of someone shaking out a rug. There was a subsequent crashing sound of branches breaking. Next, I heard what can only be (to me at the time) described as the sound the pterodactyls made on the movie Jurassic park, These vocalizations continued for several minutes then finally ,  whatever it was flew off and I again heard the loud flapping sound, which continued to echo off the canyon walls at it flew up the mountain, but grew faint at the "creature" expanded the distance between us. A few days later I was telling my local friend about it, and he told me about a story in an 1890 addition of the Tombstone epitaph news paper. I was able to easily locate the article online and have posted it here for your enjoyment. I have had many interesting and unexplained encounters during my many years as a wilderness wanderer, but this one sticks out in my mind at the strangest.....

Eyewitness Accounts --Strange Winged Monster Discovered and Killed on the Huachuca Desert.Tombstone Epitaph, April 26, 1890

A winged monster, resembling a huge alligator with an extremely elongated tail and an immense pair of wings, was found on the desert between the Whetstone and Huachuca mountains last Sunday by two ranchers who were returning home from the Huachucas.

The creature was evidently greatly exhausted by a long flight and when discovered was able to fly but a short distance at a time.

After the first shock of wild amazement as it passed the two men, who were on horseback and armed with Winchester rifles , regained sufficient courage to pursue the monster and after an exciting chase of several miles succeeded in getting near enough to open fire with their rifles and wounding it.
The creature then turned on the men but owing to its exhausted condition they were able to keep out of its way and after a few well directed shots the monster partly rolled over and remained motionless.
The men cautiously approached, their horses snorting in terror and found that the monster was dead. They then proceeded to make an examination and found that it measured about ninety two feet in length and the greatest diameter was about fifty inches.

The monster had only two feet, these being situated a short distance from where the wings were joined to the body. The head, as near as they could judge was about eight feet long, the jaws being thickly set with strong, sharp teeth.

 It’s eyes were as large as a dinner plate and protruded halfway from the head. They had some difficulty in measuring the wings as they were partly folded under the body, but finally got one straightened out sufficiently to obtain a measurement of seventy eight –feet, making the total length from tip to tip about 160 feet.

The wings were composed of a thick and nearly transparent membrane and were devoid of feathers or hair, as was the entire body. The skin of the body was comparatively smooth and easily penetrated by a bullet.

The men cut off a small portion of the tip of one wing and took it home with them. Late last night one of them arrived in this city for supplies and to make the necessary preparations to skin the creature, when the hide will be sent east for examination by the eminent scientists of the day.
The finder returned early this morning accompanied by several prominent men who will endeavor to bring the strange creature back to the city before it is mutilated.