Oregon

1Colossal Claude On the record

Water monster · Columbia River Bar off Astoria, Clatsop County, and the central Oregon coast · first reported March 1934 · also called Columbia Bar sea serpent

Colossal Claude is the name Oregonians gave to a sea serpent reported at the mouth of the Columbia River in the 1930s. In March 1934 the crew of the lightship tender Rose said a creature about forty feet long, with an eight-foot neck and a big head, surfaced near them; the men wanted to give chase but officers said no. More reports followed: a hairy, tan, horse-headed animal seen from the troller Viv in 1937, and in 1939 a camel-headed beast that came within ten feet of the Argo and took a fish off the line. Writer Finn J.D. John calls the plesiosaur idea far-fetched but notes the sightings line up with salmon runs.

• Mar 15, 1934On the record First mate L.A. Larson of the lightship tender Rose described a roughly forty-foot animal with a long neck and round body near the Columbia River Lightship. Captain J.F. Jensen and crew also saw it. Source: offbeatoregon.com
• 1937On the record Captain Charles E. Graham of the troller Viv reported a long, hairy, tan creature about forty feet long with a head like a horse. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org
• 1937On the record A couple at Devil's Churn near Yachats reported a fifty-five-foot animal with a long neck and horse-like head. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org
• Apr 13, 1939On the record Captain Chris Anderson of the halibut boat Argo said a creature with a camel-like head and coarse gray fur passed within ten feet and grabbed a twenty-pound fish from the line. Source: offbeatoregon.com
• 1939On the record More than thirty people at Nelscott reported a thirty-foot serpent with a slender neck and snake-like head. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org

Visiting: Columbia River Maritime Museum, Astoria.

2Old Hairy of Delake On the record

Water monster · Delake (now Lincoln City), Lincoln County · first reported 1950 · also called Old Hairy

In 1950 a strange carcass washed up at Delake, a beach town now part of Lincoln City. Town marshal Andy Allum described a hair-covered body shaped something like a cow, weighing around a thousand pounds. Locals called it Old Hairy. Experts disagreed by mail: Dr. E.W. Gudger of the American Museum of Natural History thought it might be a whale shark, state fish and wildlife officials suggested a chunk of whale blubber, and Dr. Fred J. Kohlruss of the University of Portland guessed a shark or ray relative. It was never firmly identified. A similar twelve-and-a-half-foot animal with a bulbous nose and brown hair was reported near Bandon.

• 1950On the record Marshal Andy Allum reported a roughly thousand-pound hairy carcass on the beach; scientists offered whale shark, blubber or elasmobranch as answers. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org

3Marvin the Monster On the record

Water monster · Off the Oregon coast · first reported 1963

Marvin is a rare case of a sea monster seen by machines. In 1963, during offshore oil exploration, underwater cameras run for Shell Oil filmed something off the Oregon coast that the crew nicknamed Marvin. It was described as about fifteen feet long, with barnacle-covered ridges along its body, and moving in a twisting, corkscrew way. No identification is recorded in the sources, and the footage itself is hard to find today.

• 1963On the record Shell Oil underwater cameras recorded a roughly fifteen-foot animal with ridged, barnacled skin moving with a corkscrew motion. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org

4Bandage Man Told story

Humanoid · US 101 between the Highway 26 junction and Cannon Beach, toward Arch Cape · first reported 1950s

Cannon Beach's most famous monster is the Bandage Man, a figure wrapped head to toe in bloody bandages and trailing the smell of rotting flesh. The usual story says he was a logger mangled in a sawmill accident; other versions make him a burned firefighter or an electrician. He haunts the stretch of US 101 between the Highway 26 junction and the north entrance to town. He is said to jump into convertibles or pickup beds, or to bother teens parked in cars, and then vanish before reaching town. The story began in the 1950s and pranks peaked in the 1960s. The Cannon Beach History Center suggests it may have started as a way to spook tourists.

• 1960sTold story Teens parked along the highway told of a bandaged figure leaping into their vehicles and a terrible stench, then nothing; pranksters dressed as him added to the stories. Source: cbhistory.org

Visiting: Cannon Beach History Center & Museum.

5Lady of Cannon Beach Told story

Humanoid · Presidential streets area, Cannon Beach, Clatsop County · first reported 1980s

A second Cannon Beach legend is a woman in a white dress who glides rather than walks through the town's residential 'Presidential streets.' Witnesses say she has no face, or a dark hole where a face should be. Sightings go back at least to the 1980s, with reports near Spruce Street and Harrison Street. The Cannon Beach History Center notes that her backstory is vague and that she resembles a ghost type seen worldwide, which makes it hard to tell whether she is local folklore or an echo of horror films.

• 2005Told story A resident described seeing the faceless white-clad woman to the History Center's writer, who later found similar reports from earlier decades. Source: cbhistory.org

6Wallowa Lake Monster On the record

Water monster · Wallowa Lake, near Joseph, Wallowa County · first reported 1885 · also called Wally

Wallowa Lake in northeast Oregon has its own serpent, known locally as Wally. Local lore says a monster lived in the lake in Native tradition. In 1885 a witness described a creature about a hundred feet long with a head like a hippopotamus. Reports continued into the 1940s and 1950s and again in 1982 and 1985. The later sightings inspired a playful Wallowa Lake Monster Observation and Preservation Society. Today Wally is mostly a source of local fun and children's stories.

• 1885On the record A witness reported a hundred-foot animal with a hippo-like head in the lake, as reported in the Wallowa County Chieftain. Source: folkbestiary.com
• 1982 and 1985Told story New sightings led to the founding of a tongue-in-cheek monster observation society. Source: folkbestiary.com

Visiting: Wallowa Lake State Park, near Joseph.

7Terrible Tilly Told story

Other · Tillamook Rock, off Tillamook Head, Clatsop County · first reported 1880s · also called Tillamook Rock Lighthouse

Tillamook Rock Lighthouse sits on a basalt sea stack more than a mile offshore, and its keepers called it Terrible Tilly. Its history is grim: a master mason surveying the rock was swept into the sea before building began, and in January 1881, weeks before the light was lit, the barque Lupatia wrecked nearby in fog, killing all sixteen crew; only the ship's dog survived. Folklore grew from these deaths, including a keeper's ghost scare and a phantom ship linked to the Lupatia. The light went dark in 1957, and the lighthouse is now a columbarium holding cremated remains, which only adds to its eerie reputation.

• January 1881On the record The Lupatia struck near the rock in fog; all sixteen crew died and only a dog was rescued. Source: traveloregon.com

Visiting: Closed to the public; visible from the Tillamook Head Trail and Indian Beach in Ecola State Park.

8Oregon Vortex On the record

Other · Sardine Creek, Gold Hill, Jackson County · first reported 1930 · also called House of Mystery

The Oregon Vortex near Gold Hill claims to be America's first 'mystery spot.' The site centers on the House of Mystery, an old assay shack that slid off its foundation and was found tilted in 1914. Geologist and mining engineer John Litster opened it to the public in 1930. Visitors see people seem to grow or shrink as they swap ends of a plank, water that appears to run uphill, and trees growing at odd angles. Owners describe naturally occurring visual phenomena. Skeptics credit the Ponzo illusion and the lack of level reference points, noting that copycats like Santa Cruz's Mystery Spot (1939) produce the same effects. Floods in 2025 damaged the site.

• 1930On the record John Litster opens the Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery; he later dropped a lawsuit against imitators after being told natural phenomena cannot be copyrighted. Source: offbeatoregon.com

Visiting: Oregon Vortex, 4303 Sardine Creek Left Fork Rd, Gold Hill; guided tours (check status after 2025 flood repairs).

9Sixes River Wild Man On the record

Ape-like · Sixes River, Curry County · first reported 1904

Oregon's earliest written Bigfoot-type story comes from the Sixes River in the southern Coast Range. In 1904 settlers there reported a hairy 'wild man' in the woods. The Oregon Encyclopedia counts it as the first historical record of such sightings in the state, long before 'Bigfoot' was coined. Native peoples of the region had long told of wild, hairy forest beings that left huge tracks. Details of the 1904 reports are thin in modern summaries. See the main Bigfoot dossier.

Full story: Bigfoot →

• 1904On the record Settlers along the Sixes River reported a hairy wild man in the forest. Source: oregonencyclopedia.org

10Cadborosaurus (Oregon sightings) On the record

Water monster · Oregon coast · first reported 1930s · also called Caddy

Some Oregon sea-serpent reports are filed under the name Cadborosaurus, or Caddy, the long-necked, horse-headed serpent best known from British Columbia's Vancouver Island. See the main Cadborosaurus dossier.

Full story: Cadborosaurus →

11Bigfoot in Oregon Investigated report

Ape-like · Cascades, Coast Range, Blue Mountains, Columbia River Gorge · first reported 1904 · also called Sasquatch, Seski

Oregon reports rose sharply among woods workers after 1958. Peter Byrne ran a Bigfoot Information Center in The Dalles in the 1970s, a Forest Service worker found tracks with apparent skin ridges in the Blue Mountains in the 1980s, and Seski the Sasquatch was the state's 2009 sesquicentennial mascot. See the main Bigfoot dossier.

Full story: Bigfoot →