The Solid Muldoon - Weird Story Locations on Waymarking.com

The Solid Muldoon was "discovered" by William Conant on September 16, 1877 entangled in the roots of a cedar tree. This complete man-like skeleton stood 7.5 feet tall and had a 2 inch curled tail and feet like an ape. During the excavation, Conant accidentally broke off the head, revealing a crystalline neck vertebrae.

Conant put the skeleton on display in Pueblo at the southwest corner of Second street and Santa Fe Avenue, next to the now torn-down Pueblo theater. Many came to see the attraction in the days that followed, to include one P.T. Barnum. While this in itself should have raised more suspicion on the validity of this beast, newspapers were still touting its amazing origins, some even claiming it to be the "missing link" in our evolutionary chain. When Soapy Smith, an infamous huckster at the time, brought it to Denver, the Denver Daily Times reportedly claimed, "There can be no question about the genuineness of this piece of statuary." However, no one could find a large cedar or even a large hole on the purported excavation location--about two-thirds up Muldoon Hill east of Beulah.

Nevertheless, the Solid Muldoon toured the countryside with its finders charging 10 cents to view the creature. It eventually made its way to P.T. Barnum’s Museum of Anatomy where it attracted thousands of paying customers per day. All good things must come to an end though, and this one did when an unpaid conspirator in the hoax, E.J. Cox, revealed it for what it really was. A few years back, P.T. Barnum had been contacted by George Hull of upstate New York who, years earlier, had been key in the Cardiff Giant Hoax of 1869. Hull created the 600 pound Solid Muldoon and, financed by Barnum, had it shipped to Colorado to be planted.

In 1976, an art student re-created the Solid Muldoon out of an iron beam, molded wire, plaster, and stucco to celebrate the Colorado Centennial. On July 22nd, 1984, this statue was buried and the tombstone erected here by the Beulah Historical Society to support the History Channel’s In Search of History program.

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Type: Bizarre Beasts Referenced in (list books, websites and other media): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_Muldoon http://www.westword.com/2003-05-08/news/go-figure/ Pohlen, Jerome. "OddBall Colorado--A Guide to Some Really Strange Places", Chicago Review Press, Inc, 2002. pg. 40-41. Website Reference: [Web Link] Additional Coordinates: Not Listed

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