A young woman who went out to tend cattle in the fields in the area near Gevaudan in southcentral France was suddenly confronted with a huge and frightening creature advancing with great speed toward her. This event took place in the month of June, 1764.

This beast was, in fact, comparable to the size of the cows that the woman cared for, and this creature was best described at the time as resembling a wolf of huge proportions.

Dogs that the woman kept for purposes of protection while in the fields were reported to have immediately fled once the large creature approached. Strangely enough, the horned cattle that the woman tended actually made use of their horns and and defended against the wolf attack until the beast disengaged from the attack, then dashed off into the distance. The young woman survived the terrifying ordeal but this would not be the last sighting or attack from a gigantic, beastly, and vicious wolf-like creature in this area of France.

Around the time of this attack, partially eaten corpses of all kinds, including human bodies, were found with great frequency in the Gevaudin area.

What was particularly terrifying in this area and time were that a number of human corpses found were those of children.

The first child victim found was a little girl whose heart had been torn from her chest. The body of this unfortunate was discovered in July 1764.

The bodies of strong, capable, grown men were also found, as were women's bodies, and the word went out very quickly that a Beast of Gevaudin was the destructive, malicious force responsible for all the violent deaths in the land. 

Loup-Garou: French, "Werewolf."

The peasants spread word that a werewolf is on the loose. The loup-garou attacks which seemed to start in June 1764, continued on through to August already and sometime during summer months, this creature had gotten more brazen than what is known from the lady survivor from the June encounter. The creature went gone from attacking individuals and helpless children to a attacking groups of men by the end of summer 1764. RIght on through into September and autumn months, the attacks continued.

Peasants armed themselves and carried weapons everywhere. The idea of a werewolf in their midst is strengthened when attacks are experienced whereby armed men in groups reportedly attack back at the creature...

...and the creature departs seemingly unharmed.

In numerous attacks, it is said that those who armed themselves did manage to stab the monster while defending themselves. Some men even managed to shoot the creature and these actions are witnessed by others involved in the self-defense...

...but this didn't cause the killings or attacks to cease. No stabbings or gunshots effectively harmed the loup-garou or dissuaded it from returning...

Certainly, only a loup-garou - something unnatural or supernatural - could survive such retaliations of self-defense...

October 8 1764: a close-range shooting of the Beast of Gevaudin occurs. Two hunters, definitely armed, manage to shoot the Beast at quite a close range of only 10 paces or so away. Additionally, the Beast takes several hits, as the two men reported "several rifle balls" of shot successfully went out at a range of 10 paces.

Likely, the short distance combined with both number of shots and type of ammunition the beast was hit with should have felled a large animal of its size, however, the hunters/defenders reported that the beast was not felled outright, and did manage to limp away.

Even though shocked that the beast managed to limp away, the hunters believed the creature to be mortally wounded, in the least. They assumed that the huge wolf-like animal would limp away, only to expire alone in the forest somewhere, and thus, they did not follow to finish the beast off.

When word spread about this incident, most of the area population was greatly relieved, and it was thought that the Beast of Gevaudin's attacks were forever halted.

Here is an eyewitness account that The Paris Gazette printed, June 1764:

"It was much higher than a wolf, low before, and his feet are armed with talons. His hair is reddish, his head large, and the muzzle of it is shaped like that of a greyhound; his ears are small and straight; his breast is wide and grey; his back streaked with black; his large mouth is provided with sharp teeth."

According to a comment printed in the St. James Chronicle on June 6th of 1764:

"[...] it appears he is neither a wolf, tiger or hyena, but probably a mongrel, generated between the two last and forming a new species."

By 1765 fear of the Beast caused a string of hunting parties to be launched and those who weren't in the practice of carrying arms, began to do so. This caused the indiscriminate slaughter of wolves...but no werewolf was ever found.

During the winter of 1765, a party of 7 was attacked by a strange-looking beast. Jacques Portefaix, two female companions and 4 other male companions positioned their bodies close together, striking outward in defense when the beast attacked. All managed to survive the frightful attack on January 12. Because the party survived, King Louis XV awarded 600 livres to the collective group. Portefaix recieved 300 of the 600 livres, with 300 to be dispersed to the others. King Louis XV also took Portefaix under his wing to train him at the state's expense, so great was the King's relief to have knowledge of SOMEONE who had survived the Beast's attacks.

King Louis XV soon ordered that professional wolf hunters track and kill the Beast. Jean-Francios and his father, Jean-Charles-Marc-Antione Vaumesle d'Enneval were choosen by the King for hunting and eliminating the Beast. On February 17, 1765, the father-son team brought their 8 bloodhounds into Clermont-Ferrand. Their hounds had been specially trained to hunt wolves, and the father-son team proceeded to wolf-hunt for several months. While Jean-Francois and his father believed, during each kill, that they were eliminating the notorious Beast of Gevaudan, somehow the Beasts attacks continued for 6 more months, despite their efforts. The professional wolf-hunters were finally replaced by a man close to the King, named Francois Antoine.

Francois Antoine arrived in le Malzieu June 22, and was in the position as the King's harquebus bearer (a special musket-like firearm), and also Leiutenant of the Hunt. Almost 3 months to the day when Francios Antione began to hunt the beast, he managed to kill a wolf of exceptional size - on September 21, at Abbaye dez Chazes. Thus, the 31-inch high, 5.6-foot long, 130 pound beast that was felled was called Le Loup de Chazes. The people in the region where the beast was killed said:

• "We declare by the present report signed from our hand, we never saw a big wolf that could be compared to this one. Which is why we estimate this could be the fearsome beast that caused so much damage."

A handful of attack survivors in the Abbaye dez Chazes area identified the large wolf as the same which attacked them, as recognized by scars on the dead wolf's body - scars inflicted by the survivors in their efforts of defense during previous attacks.

Afterward, Francois Antoine was hailed as a hero, received several titles, awards and a large sum of money. The beast was stuffed and sent to Versailles.

The threat of the Beast of Gevaudan had run its course...

...Until...

• ...a Beast emerged near la Besseyre Saint Mary and injured two children quite severely. The attack occurred on December 2, 1765.

Dozens of deaths followed...