In the fall of 1887, a man from the Forepaugh Circus arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The stranger was rumored to be an agent for the circus, one of the largest in America at the time, and was quietly organizing an expedition.
His purpose was to capture a wild man from the remote Wyoming Territory and put him into a cage for his freak show. Where cowboys and ranchers had failed, this circus man was determined to succeed.
The Forepaugh Circus was the rival of P.T. Barnum and needed this wild man for its growing menagerie. Barnum’s wild man was an old sailor who had begged to be caged while he sobered up and then began playing the role of a “wild man” for the circus.
The Wyoming wild man the Forepaugh Circus agent wanted would be much more spectacular because, if rumors were to be believed, the mythical creature locals called “Bud” was the real deal.
The wild man had been running at large in the Chugwater Valley for two years about 50 miles north of Cheyenne by that time.
Bud, Wyoming’s Wild Man
Reporters for the Cheyenne Leader described the Chugwater “savage” as extremely tall.
“Cowboys and others who have been favored with a view of the creature assert that he is from 7 to 12 feet tall,” one reporter wrote. “None will compromise on a figure an inch shorter than 7 feet, while some insist that he is at least 6 feet taller.”
They all agreed that Bud wore no clothes and was covered with a heavy coat of long, black hair.
“While apparently devoid of all reasoning faculties with which ordinary men are endowed, the outcast evidently possesses animal cunning of a very high order,” the story said.
It was believed that Bud lived in a cave among the hills surrounding Chugwater Station of the Cheyenne & Northern railroad. Surveyors, prospectors, ranchmen and cowhands had all looked and failed to locate the retreat of the wild man.
“At times, his actions are ghost-like and supernatural,” the reporter wrote. “The tops of the famous ‘castle walls’ are his favorite walks in stormy weather.”
Locals claimed that when the wind moves through Chugwater Valley at a high rate of speed, Bud could be seen calmly strolling over the natural parapets.
The wild man of Chugwater, known as Bud, would walk along these rock formations during storms with ease according to the locals who saw him in 1886 to 1887. 
By 1886, cowcamps were becoming a common sight in the territory of Wyoming around Cheyenne. Charles Walters led a group of cowboys such as the ones featured here on a chase of a wild man near Chugwater. They never did catch Bud nor did the circus men that came a year later. 
Forepaugh Circus representatives came to Wyoming to capture the wild man running around Chugwater Valley in 1887. They planned to put “Bud”, as the hairy creature was nicknamed, in a cage and display him to the public. 
Forepaugh Circus representatives came to Wyoming to capture the wild man running around Chugwater Valley in 1887. They planned to put “Bud”, as the hairy creature was nicknamed, in a cage and display him to the public. 
There have long been myths about large, man-like creatures. Perhaps the most famous is Sasquatch, or Bigfoot. In 1887 in Wyoming, it was the Chugwater Wild Man. 
In 1887, the hills around the Chugwater Railroad Station were the home to many wild creatures, including a ‘wild man’ locals called Bud.
The Cowboy Versus The Wild Man
The first year that Bud was spotted, a young cowboy named Charles Walters was working at a ranch near Chugwater Valley.
After hearing all the reports of this wild man of the mountains, Walters organized an expedition of other young cowboys to capture Bud. The hunters were fully equipped for the chase, and they located Bud quickly.
The wild man was on foot, and they thought they would easily capture him. Instead, the wild man outran the horses.
“Walters was disgusted to see himself foiled and ordered his men to pursue the creature on foot,” eyewitnesses later claimed. “Members of the posse paired off and spent the greater part of two days in hunting Bud.”
Bud would allow his enemies to approach within a few hundred yards, then would suddenly be off like a shot.
The young cowboys attempted to surround the creature, but when it appeared almost impossible for Bud to escape, he would disappear as mysteriously as he came.
They failed in capturing Bud and returned back to the ranch, defeated.
This gnawed at Walters.
He didn’t know if Bud was a spirit or composed of flesh and blood, and it bothered him that this wild man was living only a few miles away from the ranch Walters was working on.
Round 2
One day, he quietly announced that he would take a shot at the mysterious inhabitant of Chugwater Valley and determine once and for all which world Bud belonged to.
Walters chose to go on his mission alone and armed himself with a long-range rifle and a six-shooter. He started for the mountains on foot.
When Walters returned, he wasn’t the same man.
He never wanted to talk about what happened out there solo with Bud, but was reportedly as jumpy as if he had encountered old Satan himself. Finally, he shared the story.
Walters said he shot at the wild man while Bud was standing silhouetted on a rock.
The shot missed and Bud had uttered a wild shriek. He shook his fist at the marksman, advanced fully 500 yards toward him in a menacing manner, and just as Walters was about to fire a second shot, turned and ran.
The incident had such an effect on Walters that he soon left the country, declaring prior to his departure that he just knew Bud would start raiding ranches and murdering settlers in their beds.
Even the Cheyenne reporter didn’t believe this because the wild man had never shown himself to be aggressive.
The following year, the circus man appeared and folks in Cheyenne felt certain he would accomplish what Walters failed to do. They would finally have the answer of just who — or what — Bud really was.
The party to capture Bud for the circus left Cheyenne around the first of November 1887 and was never reported on again.
The Forepaugh Circus apparently never got the Wyoming wild man and its attempt to capture him may be lost in the annuals of time — as is the true identity of the Chugwater wild man named Bud.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
