Jacko, a mysterious creature from the Fraser River

Jacko, a mysterious creature from the Fraser River

Maybe you don't understand the title of this post. No, I'm not talking about Michael Jackson. But a legendary creature in the world of cryptozoology, namely Jacko, just for knowledge for those of you who don't know the legend of Jacko from the Fraser River.

The story begins on July 4, 1884. On that day, a local newspaper in British Columbia, Canada, called the Daily British Colonist ran an extraordinary story on the front page with the headline, "What is it?"

The newspaper wrote that an employee of the British Columbia Express Company railroad named Mr. Costerson and some of his friends have caught a mysterious creature in the form of a gorilla. The creature looked like it was half human and half animal.

The first time the creature was seen was by engineer Ned Austin from the top of a speeding train. Ned thought someone was lying on the railroad tracks. He immediately stopped the train right in front of the creature. Suddenly the creature stood up and barked, then immediately crawled over the Fraser River bank.

A friend of Ned's named RJ Craig climbed up the cliff and hit the creature with a rock. The creature was hit by a stone and fell unconscious. The railroad crew tied him up and took him to the city. Residents who had received news of the arrests gathered in large numbers at the train station to witness them.

The creature was nicknamed Jacko by his captors. It looks like a gorilla, is about 1.4 meters tall, and weighs about 65 kg. He had long black hair, and his face completely resembled that of a human. The whole body is also covered by hair, except for the hands, palms, and feet. Its arms were much longer than those of humans, and the creature seemed to have extraordinary strength. Once, the creature was seen holding a wooden stick and breaking it easily.

While in confinement, the creature made several strange sounds, like a combination of barking and growling. Oddly enough, during his captivity, the creature became increasingly friendly with its keeper, Mr. George Tillbury, who soon brought it to London to show it off.

After that, Jacko's news was never heard from again.

From the descriptions of eyewitnesses, it is likely that Jacko was a gorilla or chimpanzee, but his strange voice, like barking, caused Jacko's identity to become mysterious. Gorillas and chimpanzees do not make such sounds. But Jacko also does not match the Bigfoot description, which generally describes a larger body, not just 1.4 meters.

In the 1950s, when news about Sasquatch began to spread widely, Jacko's story again attracted attention, but not until 1961, when a well-known cryptozoologist named Ivan T. Sanderson alluded to it in a book he wrote entitled "Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life".

In the following years, challenges to the truth of this story began to appear, one of which was from someone named John Green, who decided to research this story. In 1975, he and Mrs. Sanderson (the wife of Ivan T. Sanderson) wrote in a book that the Jacko story was just a fabrication from the British Colonist Daily Newspaper.

Green pored over archival microfilm of 1884 newspapers throughout British Columbia and found little support for the story. Even one other British Columbia newspaper publication wrote that Jacko's story caused the police to arrest 200 people who were considered to be lying. Green concluded that Jacko's story is just a fabrication.

However, this story does not end there. Several parties confirmed by other researchers, such as John Kirk, claimed to have found several key witnesses to the discovery of Jacko. For example, a person named Chilco Choate said that his grandfather at that time actually saw Jacko. Another resident named Adela Bastin said that her mother still remembers Jacko's story, and her mother also remembers how British Columbia was excited by the discovery. In 1973, a person who claimed to be the grandson of a judge in British Columbia said that Jacko was sent east in a cage to England. And since then, the story has not been heard.

Jacko's story may never be confirmed. However, for decades and even now, residents of British Columbia have often reported sightings of strange creatures like Bigfoot in the Fraser River area, where Jacko was found. The most recent was on July 22, 1966, when a man named John Mckernan saw a creature like Bigfoot crossing the dirty streets.

Hope you enjoy with this article, please leave your comment about what creatures or things we will discuss later, Thanks