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– Amanda Sutts’ 1900 eyewitness account from Loren Coleman and Bruce G. Hallenbeck’s book, Monsters of New Jersey: Mysterious Creatures in the Garden State
Location: Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The Jersey Devil's territory isn't just confined to the coastal region of New Jersey's Pine Barrens. Long before the "Leeds Devil" story became part of the local lore in the mid-18th century, the Native Americans of the Leni Lenape tribe had noted a strange creature in the area and named the nearby creek "Popuessing" meaning, "Place of the dragon." Also according to Loren Coleman and Bruce Hallenbeck in their book, Monsters of New Jersey: Mysterious Creatures in the Garden State, in 1677, Swedish explorers found strange footprints in the rocks near the same creek and renamed it "Drake Kill" – "drake" also meaning dragon.
Background:
Southern New Jersey is steeped in the legend of The Jersey Devil, with the eponymous rascal inspiring everything from the names of businesses to stickers and T-shirts for tourists. But as one "South Jersey" native has informed us, The Pine Barrens themselves may be nothing like what outsiders envision, with most of it being "lush, green and beautiful" and a joy to explore. Also, maybe almost no one from the area believes the myth themselves. However, it seems in the case of the legend of Jersey Devil – there are two distinct yet connected phenomenal elements at play: the ye olde myth, and the otherworldly thing that more than a few people swear they've encountered. So what do you say to them? Are you sure all they saw or heard was an owl, a stray African bat, a mutant goat havin' a laugh, or that good ol' well-worn chestnut the Sandhill Crane? Because now these accounts become much like any other testimony of the paranormal; those who have not experienced it probably won't believe it, but those that have can never forget it.
Reference Links:
- Loren Coleman and the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, ME http://bit.ly/1gDPHwF
- The forgotten political feud that spawned the Jersey Devil: Opinion article by Brian Regal http://bit.ly/2s1fkTQ
- Japhet Leeds' house http://bit.ly/2t16owY
- Japhet Leeds' grave http://bit.ly/2s5LVmy
- The Holy Experiment http://bit.ly/2s5K29N
- William Penn http://bit.ly/2sAMU1L
- George Keith http://bit.ly/2t15KQm
- The Keithian Controversy http://bit.ly/2tYVa9E
- Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon aka "Lord Cornbury" http://bit.ly/2sB3Q8p
- Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland http://bit.ly/1MiDQ1H
- Buy yourself a copy of Titan Leeds' Almanack... for $15,000 USD http://bit.ly/2sAZxtE
- Jim Harold interviews Jersey Devil author Hunter Shea, on Jim's Cryptid Report #7 (may require subscription) http://bit.ly/2t5eJ3r
- The X-Files Season 1, Episode 5 on The Jersey Devil http://bit.ly/1dKpeae
- The Wyvern http://bit.ly/1O9iqo2
- Nova Cæsarea? And the fascinating heritage of West Jersey and South Jersey http://bit.ly/2t4O5bk
- Nova Cæsarea: A Cartographic Record of the Garden State, 1666-1888
- "Apple Jack" – A John Adams breakfast tradition and Colonial American favorite! http://bit.ly/2t0GbyK
- Transmigration of Souls - The Beer http://bit.ly/1AbmFsR
- Radiolab's fab episode on Colors featuring the amazing Mantis Shrimp! http://bit.ly/1b1m9XN
- Jersey Shore's "The Situation" is in a situation http://bit.ly/2s0IUZz
- The dreaded Mongolian Death Worm http://bit.ly/1Rki5zP
- Hypsignathus monstrosus – The hammer-headed bat http://bit.ly/2sLCpqF
- The Sandhill Crane - the "swamp gas" of cryptid explanations http://bit.ly/2sB37Ek
- The fox's "Vixen Scream" will get your attention http://bit.ly/2rOYkvY
- Goats can scream & yell like humans http://bit.ly/2tKiIPt
- Goats are the world's best "Free Climbers" http://bit.ly/2l6SK3N
- Goats also act pretty silly sometimes http://bit.ly/2aQaKAH
- Australia's hominid cryptid, The Yowie http://bit.ly/2gnAvbA
- Brian Dunning's article on the Jersey Devil on Skeptoid http://bit.ly/2ti6JsS
- Jersey-Devil Expedition by Joe Nickell for The Center For Inquiry http://bit.ly/2sglii8
- Jersey Devil supposedly photographed an hour outside Philadelphia, on Cryptozoology News http://bit.ly/2m2s0WW
- Video by Ufomania about the Philadelphia photo http://bit.ly/2nCczTF
- The Jersey Devil on Wikipedia http://bit.ly/1OJEkCM
- The Truth Behind The Legend of the Jersey Devil – Pt. 1 by Josh Sanofsky, for Week in Weird http://bit.ly/2rp8Ai
- The Truth Behind The Legend of the Jersey Devil – Part 2: The Sightings http://bit.ly/2sr5Vo
- The Truth Behind The Legend of the Jersey Devil – Part 3: The Explanations http://bit.ly/2rpMIm
- The Truth Behind The Legend of the Jersey Devil – Part 4: The Legacy http://bit.ly/2rg6YT
- The Jersey Devil: The Real Story by Brian Regal from the Skeptical Inquirer http://bit.ly/23Gxtmx
- The Chimera in Greek Mythology http://bit.ly/2cOiNf
- New Jersey Devils NHL Hockey Team http://bit.ly/2syXgQ
- The Pine Barrens of New Jersey http://bit.ly/2rpBOO
- Primogeniture http://bit.ly/2svBvk
- Jabberwocky http://bit.ly/2sOJbhI
- Jabberwocky, the film, by the great Terry Gilliam http://bit.ly/2rPikm5
- The Lambton Worm http://bit.ly/2rPqAmg
- "Ape-like" creature caught on cellphone video in La Crescenta, CA trees http://bit.ly/2sqKy6
- The Great Horned Owl http://bit.ly/1UoFbI
- Napoleon's older brother Joseph had his own Jersey Devil encounter from an article by Matt Soniak http://cnn.it/2rfWmV
- Joseph Bonaparte and the Crown Jewels http://bit.ly/2svYoU
- Joseph Bonaparte's house in Philadelphia, PA at 260 South 9th Street http://bit.ly/2rpGdA
- The Devil's hoofprints in the snow in Devon, England from Ancient Origins/Epoch Times http://bit.ly/2szyD6
- Bruce Springsteen's A Night with The Jersey Devil http://bit.ly/1iwuTc
- New study of eDNA samples from Sasquatch nests http://bit.ly/2sOhkvR
- DNA of North American Bigfoot http://bit.ly/2rxk1o
- Recent cryptid sightings – Chicago's own "Mothman flap" on Mysterious Universe http://bit.ly/2rl0AK
- The Archerfish http://bit.ly/2rjvB2
- The Venus Flytrap http://bit.ly/2ttmU63
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Credits:
Episode 75: The Jersey Devil – Prince of the Pine Barrens (Part 2). Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees; Ryan McCullough Sound Design; Research Assistance by Tess Pfeifle and the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2017 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.