Black Panther Encounter

The year was 1934. Phil had moved his wife, Anita, and 3 sons, Keith, Donald & Gerry, from Chahalis-Centrallia to his brother's cabin out around Toledo, Washington. Orvil's small farm sat on a small hill back from the Cowlitts river a ways.

Phil went to work for a neighboring farmer, Kirkindahl, while Anita & the boys raised a vegetable garden at home. Phil was a good "Skinner" (the driver of a team of horses) and drove a 4-horse-hitch to plow the fields for potatoes and hay, as well as doing many other chores around the farm. He was paid in potatoes and other vegetables. If Kirkindahl butchered a pig, sheep, or steer, he always gave some meat to Phil, too. Orvil and another neighbor, Ol' Greese, fished the Cowlitts river. When they got a good catch, they's share it with all the neighbors in the valley. There were several families of old folks, widows and injured WWI vets who were having a hard time of it.

It was a 5 mile walk through the woods, the closest route, between Orvil's farm and Kirkindahl's. The only light that Phil had was a "lightening-bug." That is a tallow candle set two-thirds back in a coffee can, so the wind can't blow it out. Once in a bad wind storm Phil had to wait it out under a fallen tree caught in the "Y" of another tree. He hunkered down to wait out the 4 hour blow and pelting rain. Soon he saw 2 glowing eyes staring at him from the shadows. He started singing, because he figured that was a good way to pass the time in a storm. The glowing eyes kept creeping closer and closer until a Lynx sat with him in the glow of his lightning-bug. The Lynx purred to accompany his singing. Evidently, it didn't bother the Lynx that he was off key. As the storm was letting up, the Lynx stood up and shook his rain soaked fur, stretched in cat fashion, winked at Phil, and with a bound, it disappear into the night.

Another time Phil was walking across a snowy field on a bright moon lit night. Suddenly, this terrible scream and heavy pressure in the air petrified him in his tracks. His cowboy hat was knocked off his head and sailed to the ground in front of him. A Great Snowy Owl swooped down in front of him, then soared off into the night. He stood transfixes watching it out of sight. Then he picked up his had to find talon punctures in it. He thanked God and his Guardian Angels all the way home.

It was early Spring after a hard Winter. Kirkindahl and other neighbors had found half eaten carcass of sheep and cattle. The ground was soft and around the carcass were found the tracks of a Large Cougar! The paw print measured 9 inches across; as big as a dinner plate!

One night as Phil walked his trail through the woods with his lightning-bug, he heard strange little bird calls in the bushes beside him. He had never heard any bird make a sound like that before. Stranger, still, was the fact that the bird was keeping pace with him as he walked along, yet, made no fluttering sounds in the darkness. The hair stood straight up on the back of his neck. He started to whistle and the bird chirps drew closer. He stopped and flashed his lightning-bug in the direction of the sound. Shining back at him, less than 10 feet away were 2 huge glowing eyes!!! Not only that, they were over 4 feet off the ground!!! Which meant that these were the eyes of the Giant Cougar!!! As he moved the small beam of light over the Giant Cat, there was only blackness, as if nothing at all were there!!! He swallowed hard and then started talking to it. The Big Mountain Lion purred back at him. It was loud! Like rolling thunder behind the next hill over. Phil started to walk along the trail, slowly at first, continuing his conversation. The Black Panther kept pace with him purring all the while. Phil talked and the Black Panther purred for several miles. As Phil neared the clearing for Orvil's farm the Huge Black Panther disappear into the night like a ghost. The next night it met Phil on the trail nearly at the same spot, with the same "bird-chirps" and accompanied him home, purring all the way. It was never aggressive in the lease toward him. These nightly meetings went on until finally one of the neighbors shot the Giant Black Panther while it was killing some live stock.

Zoologists say that there is no such thing as a Black Panther. That Cougars or Mountain Lions only come in tan & brown. That the only explanation for Large Black Cats is that maybe a Jaguar from South America might make it's way up to North America.... possibly, but not probably. Yet, the Native Americans have Stories like this, as well as other Pioneers. I don't know about you, but, I don't see what's so far-fetched about a Mountain Lion growing extra big and old, and as it aged it got darker & darker until it was all black............