The Beast of Busco

During the late 1950s the town of Churubusco, Indiana (pop. 1800, 18 miles south of Fort Wayne) was terrorized by a giant turtle.

A local newspaper pictures Oscar destroying Fort Wayne

The monster was first seen in 1898 in a lake owned by Oscar Fulk, a local farmer. Fulk carved his name, Oscar, on the shell, and this also became the name of the turtle. Another sighting occurred in 1914.

Oscar was spotted again in 1948 by two fisherman. Later the lake's new owner, Gale Harris, and the local minister also saw the beast. According to reports, its head was as big as a child's, and its shell was around 6 feet long and five feet wide. Locals complained that chickens and other small livestock, even young cows, had been disappearing.

Harris organized attempts to trap or kill the creature which always escaped. A film (since lost) showed Oscar breaking free of a trap. So Harris invested in huge pumps to drain the lake; to pay for his search he charged admission to tourists. His quest became a media sensation and visitor numbers swelled. In October 1949, a number of these actually glimpsed the enormous turtle.

Unfortunately, Harris became ill, the lake refilled and Oscar was never seen again. Since 1950, Churubusco has organized an annual Turtle Festival in his honour.

A much smaller turtle

URL of this topic: www.copsmodels.com/webhelp/rungtap/hc_beast.htm

Link to full GEMPACK Manual

Link to GEMPACK homepage