THE MUD MONSTER AND THE SHETLAND PONIES - In the dark, early morning hours of July 7th, 1973 - the town of Murphysboro, Illinois was fast asleep on this warm Summer's Night. Many townsfolk had attended the carnival that was held in Riverside Park that day - at the location, near the Big Muddy River, where a strange encounter with an "albino Bigfoot" had been reported just over a week before. At around 2 a.m., carnival workers Ray Adkerson, Wes Lavender, and Otis Norris noticed a disturbance coming from the carnival's Shetland ponies which were leashed nearby. Upon investigation, the carnies observed a tall, hairy "Bigfoot-like" creature lurking in the shadows and curiously watching the ponies. This "Monster" was soon witnessed by other carnival people before it disappeared into some brush. After another sighting occured on a nearby farm that same early morning, groups of armed hunters quickly gathered at the Park to try to track the creature. While cries were heard and tracks were found, the bizarre cryptid, once again, was able to elude identification or capture. Each year, the town of Murphysboro honors it's famous mysterious "Mud Monster" with the "Big Muddy Monster Brewfest" - a light and fun event - held on the very same grounds where the Beast frightened some tiny horses and a group of surly carnies over four decades ago. Photo by Michael Huntington - October, 2016. #StrangeTravels #MichaelHuntington #HuntingtonFamily #HuntingtonAdventures #MurphysboroMudMonster #BigMuddyMonster #MudMonsterCarnival #BigMuddyMonsterBrewfest #Mongo #Bigfoot #IllinoisBigfoot #AlbinoBigfoot #Cryptid #StrangeIllinois #Cryptotourism #MurphysboroIllinois (at Murphysboro, Illinois)