Iowa
Old Press
Jackson Sentinel
Maquoketa, Jackson co. Iowa
March 11, 1883
ATTACKED BY WOLVES
On Sunday evening last, Lewis Anderson, of Maquoketa, traveling
salesman for H. G. French & Son, music dealers, found himself
at Delmar at 9 o'clock. His children were sick and he wanted to
get to his home in Maquoketa, so he set out on foot up the
railroad track. After going a mile or two he heard the howling of
a pack of wolves, but paid little attention to it as he had often
seen and heard wolves before in the timber where he was brought
up and considered them no danger to him. He continued his journey
along the railroad tracks until he reached the Daniel Stephens
Crossing, when he turned off onto the highway with intention of
following the wagon road the rest of the way to town. Shortly
after turning the corner which is directly south of H. B.
Griffin's house, he heard a breathing and rustling sound and saw
in the bright moonlight three wolves bounding along through an
adjacent field directly toward him. They jumped the fence and in
a flash Lou pulled his overcoat off and shaking it and yelling at
them backed up the hill toward Mr. Griffin's house. The wolves
plunged against the coat and Lou said he was so badly frightened
he hardly knew what he was doing. However, as he got near Mr.
Griffin's house the wolves turned and ran back in the direction
they came. The folks at the house heard the noise and as they
were about to come out and see what it meant, they met Lou at the
door, who was so exhausted with fright that he nearly fainted.
Thinking the incident a very strange one, Mr. Griffin went to the
place of attack to investigate and found the wolf tracks in the
snow as Lou had said. There are wolves, plenty of the along the
creek and river bottoms, but we never knew of their attacking a
man before. No doubt these wolves were maddened with hunger and
Lou's overcoat, the only weapon he had, was all that prevented
them from attacking him.
[transcribed by K.W., February 2013]