THE EVOLUTION OF “MONSTERS” IN NORTH AMERICAN EXPLORATION AND TRAVEL LITERATURE 1607-1930 By ADAM SHOALTS, B.A. (HONOURS), M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Adam Shoalts January 2019 i McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2019) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: The Evolution of “Monsters” in North American Exploration and Travel Literature 1607-1930 AUTHOR: Adam Shoalts, B.A. (HONOURS), (Brock University), M.A., (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. Ken Cruikshank NUMBER OF PAGES: 285. ii Abstract: In the first two centuries of European exploration of North America, accounts of monsters, including ones given by Indigenous guides, were largely accepted by Europeans as reflecting actual creatures. Gradually, under the influence of a range of factors, this dynamic shifted over time. Continued exploration, the spread of Enlightenment ideas, and changing material circumstances led to a decline in the belief in monsters—or at least put the belief in them beyond respectability, thereby enlarging the cultural gulf between various Indigenous cultures and European explorers and settlers, or at least the social elite of that latter group. In Canada, as argued here, the “sasquatch” was a hybrid creation combining Indigenous and European traditions; the windigo was an Indigenous monster tradition; the “grisly bear” was predominately a monster of the European imagination. Perceptions of each in European exploration literature followed a similar trajectory of increasing skepticism. Each evolved from creatures that were depicted as innately hostile or dangerous into somewhat more benign pop culture images as they lost their potency once the frontier receded and North America urbanized. As the gap in perspectives on monsters widened in exploration and frontier literature over the course of the nineteenth century, new narratives emerged that were much more negative in their depictions of Indigenous peoples. Frequently, this negativity, when connected with monster legends, depicted Indigenous peoples as cowardly or superstitious. With the sasquatch, European stereotypes about Indigenous people had by the 1870s partially supplanted what had once been a sense of genuine mystery regarding this frontier legend. The exploitation of windigo stories to portray Indigenous peoples as cowardly and superstitious also arose mainly after the 1870s, as earlier generations of explorers and fur traders had exhibited more receptive attitudes. Meanwhile many voyageurs and lower status trappers retained beliefs on monsters closer to their Indigenous counterparts, and as a result were often lumped into the same category as sharing premodern, superstitious beliefs by their social elites. Finally, in the third example, the “grisly bear” became a bloodthirsty monster in the European settler imagination. It was the last mainstream European monster myth, before it too largely faded away in the face of skeptical inquiry. However, such skepticism, voiced normally from afar, frequently misunderstood and misconstrued the nature of these legends, and the truths they had contained. iii Acknowledgments I must thank my supervisor, Dr. Ken Cruikshank, for his willingness to oversee this thesis and his indulgence of my interdisciplinary interests. His careful attention to detail, patience, advice and encouragement were indispensable toward its completion. That he was able to continue to provide his time and knowledge for my benefit even after becoming Dean of Humanities at McMaster was especially appreciated. I also benefited from the excellence of my other committee members, Dr. John Weaver and Dr. Megan Armstrong. Both provided valuable insights that helped sharpen my analysis and arguments, as well as helping me avoid certain pitfalls. I am further indebted to the external examiner, Dr. Carolyn Podruchny, for her insights, encouragement, and advice for future projects. All of these historians helped improve my thesis—whatever errors or weaknesses that remain are entirely my own. I would like to also acknowledge the encouragement I received toward historical scholarship more generally from my minor field supervisors, Dr. Stephen Streeter and Dr. John Triggs, both of whom helped stimulate my research interests. I further benefited from the early encouragement of Dr. H.V. Nelles, who helped nurture my interest in writing about the past. I must also thank Wendy Benedetti and Debbie Lobban of the McMaster History Department for their assistance. I am grateful as well for the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Wilson Institute for Canadian History. I thank also Dr. Anthony Petric for his supervision of the dissertation’s oral defence. I am further indebted to the staff of the Royal BC Museum and Archives, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, the Nanaimo Museum, the Nuxalk First Nation, the Gabriola Museum, Parks Canada staff, the Mi'kmaq First Nation, the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation, the Quw’utsun’ Cultural and Conference Centre, the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, the Canadian Museum of History, and BC Parks. Lastly, I thank Aleksia for her willingness to read my research and suggest improvements. And for her insistence that I finish my Ph.D. when I had a mind to quit it forever in favour of spending all my time in the woods. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………...iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………….….iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………….v List of Figures and Tables…………………………………………………………………………………vi Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Tracking Mountain Monsters, the “Sasquatch:” A Widening Rift 1735-1930 ......................... 26 Chapter 2: The Other Side of the “Mountain Monster” Divide: Indigenous Sources and Lower-Status Euro-Settler Accounts ......................................................................................................................63 Chapter 3: A Growing Divide: The Windigo 1607-1930 ........................................................................... 93 Chapter 4: The “Grisly Monster”: Grizzly Bear Accounts in Exploration and Travel Literature 1666- 1919…………………………………………………………………………………………….151 Chapter 5: The Skeptics Challenged: Truth Behind the Legends……………………………………….194 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 220 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………….230 Appendix: A) Table of Early Western Monsters/Mountain Monsters/Proto-“Sasquatch” Accounts 1735- 1929…………………………………………………………………………………. …….265 B) Windigo Monster Accounts 1633-1934…………………………………………………….268 C) Table of Grizzly Bear Accounts 1666-1919…………………………………………………270 D) Google Books Ngram “Grizzly Monster” 1800-2000……………………………………….272 E) Table of Windigo Accounts/Sources 1634-2007…………………………………….………273 v List of Figures and Tables Figure 0.1 Skull of the Dwarf Elephant………………………………………………………..19 Figure 2.1 The Hepburn Stone…………………………………………………………………68 Figure 2.2 Stone pile drivers…………………………………………………………………...68 Figure 2.3 Hami, a “dangerous thing.” ……………..................................................................71 Figure 2.4 Kwagu’l gloves……………………….....................................................................71 Figure 2.5 Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw) Bear Costume………………………………………71 Figure 4.1 The Grizzly Bear’s Range…………………………………………………………152 Table 5.1 Early Western Monsters/Mountain Monsters/Proto-“Sasquatch” Accounts 1735-1929……………………………………………………………………………..265 Table 5.2 Windigo Monster Accounts 1633-1934…………………………………………….268 Table 5.3 Grizzly Bear Accounts 1666-1919………………………………………………….270 Table 5.4 Google Books Ngram Viewer “Grizzly Monster” 1800-2000……………………...272 Table 5.5 Windigo Accounts/Sources 1633-2007…………………………………………….273 vi Ph.D. Thesis - A. Shoalts; McMaster University – Department of History Introduction When in 1792 the English explorer George Vancouver arrived on the mountainous coastline of North America’s Pacific Northwest, he wrote that his men were terrified of encountering “hideous monsters, in the wilderness.”1 The fears of Vancouver’s crew were not new. Strange beasts, fantastic animals, and monsters of various sorts have featured in exploration literature since at least the Greek traveller and historian Herodotus’ accounts in the fifth century BCE.2 Fabulous creatures became a staple of medieval travel narratives, such as Marco Polo’s, or the stories told about the Irish wanderer Saint Brendan. The earliest surviving North American exploration literature, the Vikings’ “Vinland Sagas,” also tell of monsters.3 Stories of fantastic creatures in the “New World” continued with Christopher Columbus’ first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, as Columbus wrote of sighting mermaids.4 Columbus’ journeys initiated centuries of nearly continuous European and subsequent Euro-settler exploration of the Americas, which has left a large record of exploration literature containing many intriguing “monster” stories.5 1 George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World; in which the Coast of North-West America has been carefully examined and accurately surveyed etc. Vol. I (London: Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson, and J. Edwards, 1798),