You may have read the Sherlock Holmes story, “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” about a demonic hound that terrorizes the heirs of a wealthy estate. Similarly, people throughout North Dakota in the fall of 1936 were gripped by reports from the Canadian border to Bismarck about an African lion.
Farmers and hunters attributed 17 dead sheep near Lansford and a horse attack near Sherwood to the lion. After those reports, the lion allegedly attacked a farmhand near Eckman, shredding the man’s denim jacket.
Stock depredations in Renville County were also attributed to the lion.
The state’s chief game warden planned to hunt the lion from a low-flying plane with shotguns, though he thought the beast was really an “old shaggy timber wolf” or cougar.
Late October, a farmer spotted the lion 30 miles north of Bismarck. He said the beast was “unquestionably an African lion.” Another farmer near Wilton reported a horse having been clawed to death in his pasture. The game warden went up in a plane for over three hours, but never saw the lion, though he now had “little doubt” the beast was indeed an African lion. He wanted the animal slain before it attacked schoolchildren.
False and unverified reports of the lion being shot reached the Bismarck Tribune, which offered to pay the charges for telephone calls or messages from anyone who had seen the lion. The Bismarck Lions Club offered a $50 reward for the lion dead or alive, to be stuffed for display when the Lions international secretary visited.
Hunts ended empty-handed. One theory was the lion had escaped in summer from a circus in Bottineau County. On this date in 1936, the Tribune recapped the sightings and renewed its offer for information. But reports of the lion were fading. It was speculated that the lion wasn’t used to the colder weather.
Months later, in the spring of 1937, two men hauling hay reported seeing the lion in the Missouri river bottoms near Fort Lincoln. A car filled with armed men went in search of the lion, but they found nothing.
Some sightings indicated that the big cat was actually a mountain lion, which would seem much more likely.
Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura
Sources
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, September 14. Page 1: Killer lion roams range near Minot
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, September 21. Page 2: ‘Lion’ story gets better each day
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, September 25. Page 4: Badly-clawed horse supports lion tale
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, September 26. Page 1: Lion’s depredations reported in Canada
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 1. Page 7: Lion makes alleged attack on farmhand
- The Hope Pioneer. 1936, October 1. Page 2: News of North Dakota
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 2. Page 4: That Minot lion
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 5. Page 3: Lansford ‘lion’ to be object of plane hunt
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 17. Page 1: ‘Lion’ heading south, seen by Still farmer
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 19. Page 1: Reports are unverified that king of beasts has been shot – if lion really is in vicinity
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 21. Page 7: Lion tale ‘not funny,’ says Hugh M’Culloch
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 22. Page 3: Reports of canine ‘lion’ receives confirmation
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 26. Page 3: Evidence points to huge predator
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 27. Page 2: Cougars cowardly says game expert
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 28. Page 1 photo
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 29. Page 5: Lion scare prompts stunt night feature
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 29. Page 1: Shoots at Burleigh County lion
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, October 31. Page 1: Governor Welford verifies lion tale
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, November 2. Page 2: Reward - $50 – Reward
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, November 2. Page 2: Lions Club hears Miss Rita Murphy
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, November 20. Page 12: Northwest Kidder
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1937, March 8. Page 1: Burleigh’s lion comes to ‘life’
