{"id":1860,"slug":"jackalope-square-douglas-wyoming","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Jackalope is the accident — the 'late dinner' that's the '34 night, the 'rabbit by antlers' that's the floor's joke. The 'Herricks mounted' is the born — the 'taxidermy shop' that's the birthplace, the 'LaBonte sold' that's the hotel's draw. The 'stolen first' is the lost — the 'original gone' that's the theft's mark, the 'culprit free' that's the crime's end.","The 'trademarked' is the owned — the '1960 filed' that's the Chamber's claim, the 'Home of' that's the '70 add. The 'licenses sold' is the played — the 'June 31st' that's the date's joke, the 'IQ under 72' that's the hunter's bar. Jackalope is the smashed — the 'drunk driver' that's the '84 end, the 'day before Days' that's the timing's irony.","The file keeps Jackalope Square: the accident made, the stolen original, the trademark filed, and the smashed statue.","Jackalope Square is the archive's Wyoming file — the joke a state trademarked."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Jackalope Square is the archive's Wyoming file — where a dinner-time accident became state property.","A square keeps its joke — the file's suggestion being that Jackalope's hold is the played: the 'floor accident' that's the birth's truth, the 'June 31st' that's the license's wink, and the 'statue smashed' that's the love's cost."]}],"name":"Jackalope Square","aliases":[],"type":"FOLKLORE_MONUMENT","type_label":"Folklore Monument","cats":["LOCAL_LEGEND","FOLKLORE_CREATURE"],"groups":["legends"],"desc":"Town-square sculpture celebrating jackalope tall tales.","full_desc":"Jackalope Square is a folklore monument in Douglas, Wyoming. Town-square sculpture celebrating jackalope tall tales. The square was dedicated in 1990; the Herrick brothers created their horned-rabbit taxidermy in 1934. Local lore holds that Wyoming Office of Tourism recounts comic jackalope traditions, including creatures mimicking human songs.","address":null,"city":"Douglas","county":null,"state":"Wyoming","postal":null,"region":"West","lat":42.754773,"lon":-105.397802,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"UNKNOWN","access":"UNKNOWN","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":null,"research_notes":"Folkloric creature and taxidermy hoax, not verified wildlife. June 31 novelty hunting licenses are intentionally fictional; no hunting guidance implied.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":53.1,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.6,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":954,"type":"FOLKLORE_CREATURE","description":"Wyoming Office of Tourism recounts comic jackalope traditions, including creatures mimicking human songs. Jackalope Square in Douglas, Wyoming carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. Sources including 'What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of…' keep the claim in circulation. The creature is part of the place's name now — whatever it was.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"Jackalope","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.6,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The square was dedicated in 1990; the Herrick brothers created their horned-rabbit taxidermy in 1934. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The press recorded it; the detail stands as reported history. Sources including 'What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of…' carry the record. The record keeps it — history, not lore.","evidence":"MEDIA_REPORTED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"Wyoming Office of Tourism recounts comic jackalope traditions, including creatures mimicking human songs. The reports at Jackalope Square are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. 'What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of…' preserves the telling; the record keeps it filed where it belongs, as lore. The report is preserved in sources like 'What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of…'. Legends accrue where records go silent; this one filled the gap and stayed.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}}],"entities":[{"name":"Jackalope","claimed_identity":"Jackalope","verified":null,"summary":"Wyoming Office of Tourism recounts comic jackalope traditions, including creatures mimicking human songs. The site in Douglas, Wyoming gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease.","behavior":"Wyoming Office of Tourism recounts comic jackalope traditions, including creatures mimicking human songs.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}}],"events":[{"name":"Jackalope Square dedication","type":"MEMORIAL_DEDICATION","date_start":"1990","date_end":null,"description":"Douglas dedicated Jackalope Square in 1990 during Wyoming's statehood centennial — cementing the town's claim as 'Home of the Jackalope,' a horned-rabbit tall tale born from a 1932 taxidermy joke by Douglas Herrick that grew into postcards, statues, an annual festival, and a monument-sized civic identity that the town defends with total sincerity.","evidence":"MEMORIAL_DEDICATION","source":{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}}],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Access details are unverified; research before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"What is a Jackalope? Creature Amazes Visitors of Douglas, Wyoming","url":"https://travelwyoming.com/blog/stories/post/jackalope-amaze-visitors-of-douglas-wyoming/","publisher":"Wyoming Office of Tourism","type":"TOURISM","authority":3}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":1,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}