Beginning in the 1730s, German immigrants settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains area. Early accounts describe the community as being terrorized by a monster called a Schneller Geist, which means "quick spirit" in German.
It has been suggested that the legend was resurrected in the 19th century to frighten freed slaves.
Reports of a strange flying beast known as the Snallygaster first appeared in Frederick County in early February 1909. The story was prominently featured in Middletown's Valley Register, a weekly newspaper, for about a month, before it mysteriously died down.
In the early reports, the flying beast seemed to be everywhere at once: New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, and headed this way. It was said to have created quite a stir in New Jersey, where its footprints were first discovered in the snow.
The first person to see it, James Harding, described it as having enormous wings, a long sharp beak, claws like steel, and one eye in the middle of its forehead. He said it made shrill screeching noises and looked like a cross between a tiger and a vampire.
A vampire may have been an accurate description, for it was reported to have killed a man, Bill Gifferson, by piercing his neck with its sharp bill and slowly sucking his blood.
It was also seen in West Virginia, where it almost caught a woman near Scrabble, roosted in Alex Crow's barn, and laid an egg near Sharpsburg, where it was reported that some men had rigged up an incubator to try to hatch it.
T.C. Harbaugh, from Casstown, Ohio, wrote a letter to the Valley Register in early 1909, recounting a strange beast that flew over his area making terrible screeching noises. Harbaugh described it as having two huge wings, a large horny head, and a tail twenty feet long. He said it looked as though it were headed this way.
Sure enough, the Snallygaster was first sighted in Maryland by a man who fired a brick-burning kiln near Cumberland. The strange beast was seen cooling its wings over the outlet of the kiln. When the beast's slumber was disturbed by the man, it emitted a blood-curdling scream and angrily flew away.
It was also shot at near Hagerstown, sighted south of Middletown at Lover's Leap, and seen flying over the mountains between Gapland and Burkittsville, where it was reported to have laid another egg...big enough to hatch an elephant.
Sightings of the Snallygaster were creating such a commotion that at one point it was reported that President Theodore Roosevelt might postpone a trip to Europe so he could lead an expedition to capture it.
Apparently, the Smithsonian Institution was also interested in the beast. From the description provided by a sighting at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, they determined that the strange beast was a Snallygaster.
The last sighting in Frederick County in 1909 occurred near Emmitsburg in early March. Three men fought the terrible creature outside a railroad station for nearly an hour and a half before chasing it into the woods of Carroll County.
Twenty-three years passed before the Snallygaster appeared again in Frederick County.
The first reports came from just below South Mountain in Washington County. Eyewitness accounts claimed that it flew toward them from the Middletown Valley.
The beast was often seen flying back and forth over the area and was described as being as large as a dirigible, with arms resembling the tentacles of an octopus. The creature appeared to be able to change its size, shape, and color at will.
Although it made no attempt to harm any residents of the Valley, most people sought the safety of their homes as it flew overhead.
All descriptions indicated that it was the Snallygaster, last reported here on March 5, 1909. Since the life expectancy of a Snallygaster is only about twenty years, the most logical explanation seemed to be that the latest sighting was the offspring of the 1909 creature, possibly hatched from one of the eggs laid near Burkittsville.
Since the Snallygaster appears so rarely, the Middletown Valley Register requested that local residents who sight the creature provide as accurate and detailed a description as possible for scientific purposes.
Two such residents, Charles F. Martin and Edward M. L. Lighter, were able to provide the necessary information. While driving a truck on the National Pike just east of Braddock Heights, they spotted the Snallygaster flying about twenty-five feet overhead. They thoroughly confirmed the descriptions published the previous week.
The Snallygaster finally met its end in a way some might envy. The creature was flying near Frog Hollow in Washington County when it was attracted by the aroma of a 2500-gallon vat of moonshine. As the beast flew overhead, it was overcome by the fumes and dropped into the boiling mash. A short time later, revenue agents George Dansforth and Charles Cushwa arrived on the scene. They had received information about the still but were rather startled at the sight of the dead monster in the vat.
The two agents exploded five hundred pounds of dynamite under the still, destroying the remains of the Snallygaster and John Barleycorn's workshop.
A great deal has been written about the Snallygaster since 1909. It has appeared in countless articles in the Middletown Valley Register, Frederick News Post, and other area newspapers. It has also been featured in the Baltimore Sun, National Geographic, and Time Magazine.
In 1976, the Washington Post sponsored an unsuccessful search for the Snallygaster, as well as other strange Maryland creatures.
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Snallygaster: German "schnell geiste," a Pennsylvania Dutch term meaning "quick spirit" or "fast spirit," is often associated with those strange draughts that slam doors, topple lightweight objects or scatter papers. The visual or physical appearance of the Snallygaster is confusing, as there are several narrative variations, some having roots in the dragon lore of the early settlers. Thus, the Snallygaster more often resembles dragons—green, scaled, and winged.
Tales exist around the South Mountain region where the Snallygaster is depicted as a monstrous bird preying on young children. Literary accounts of the Snallygaster were printed in local newspapers. These narratives were most likely invented by two rival editors. To end the rivalry, the Snallygaster met its demise, sent plummeting headlong into a boiling vat of whiskey. Such a just end for this unseen spirit. Of interest to scholars is the nature of the various tales likely invented, those patterned after dragon lore, the absence of Native American influence, and its connection to Pennsylvania Dutch lore.
NOTE: Even though the Snallygaster is said to be the 'Maryland Monster,' you rarely hear much about it. There have been a few 'hunts' conducted within Patapsco and Cunningham Falls State Parks in recent years. I even heard that a Snallygaster den was located near Camp David at one time. Believe what you may. Lon
Sources:
Ghosts & Legends of Frederick County
monstropedia.org
Monsters of Maryland: Mysterious Creatures in the Old Line State
pantheon.org
The Dragon Keeper's Handbook: Including the Myth & Mystery, Care & Feeding, Life & Lore of these Fiercely Splendid Creatures
baltimoremd.com
unknown-creatures.com
americanmonsters.com
Weird Maryland: Your Travel Guide to Maryland's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
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PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY
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