The Ohio Grassman and Bigfoot

The first prominent sighting of the Grassman occurred in the small  village of Minerva, Ohio, in August of 1978 when the grandchildren of  Minerva residents Evelyn and Howe Clayton, along with their friends, ran  inside screaming about a hairy monster they saw in the gravel pit  outside. When the couple went out to investigate, they saw what the  crying children had described. It was covered in dark matted hair,  sitting in the pit and fiddling with discarded trash. It was estimated  to be around 300 pounds. The Claytons fled, but this would not be their  last encounter with Ohio's ape-man. 

The Claytons would see the Grassman many times after their  initial encounter. One night it was seen peering at them through their  kitchen window. Howe ran for his gun, but the primate was gone before he  returned. The area was later investigated by police, and although there  was no sign of the hairy humanoid, several faint footprints were  observed in the mud and a terrible smell still lingered in the air. The  Ohio Grassman was later seen by the Claytons atop a hill near the strip  mine at night. The next month, in broad daylight, the couple observed two hairy bipeds on the same hill. It was only after these reports by the  Claytons were made that a startling connection was made. Days before the  gravel pit incident, the Claytons' German Shepherd was found dead, its  neck broken, presumably killed by the hairy beast. 

The Minerva case, along with its infamous Sasquatch, would form  the most complex and important Bigfoot investigation in Ohio's history.  Even so, the year 1978 was not the first mention of such creatures  roaming the Buckeye State. In the 1700s, Indians native to the Ohio  grasslands spoke of a race of bipedal ape-men, referred to as "Wild Ones  of the Woods," that lived nearby. The Native Americans would leave out food for the creatures in an effort to keep peace. 

Again in the late 1800s, sightings of a similar hairy biped were  made by the Ohio River. The hominid had apparently tried to throw a man  out of his carriage, but retreated when his daughter, riding as a  passenger, threw several stones at it. 

It is unknown whether these are all Grassman sightings or  possibly sightings of a similar kind of Bigfoot, and if the latter, how  related the two (or more) species are.