Severed legs were quite a common find in the early 20th century. This was namely because surgeons who amputated legs by the dozen did not dispose of the legs properly. However, one of the popular methods of covering up a murder was to chop the body into bits before scattering the parts on land and in water.
1. Two Boys in a Field
In the fall of 1904, in Ashland, Oregon, two boys went out to the field to catch the horses and go for a ride. While in the field, they spotted an old rubber boot. They looked inside the boot and discovered the remains of a severed leg inside of it.
However, instead of reacting the way normal children might, the boys went ahead with their horseback riding and neglected to tell their father about the leg until the next morning.
The police were called to the site, but nothing more was known about the case or whose leg it could have been. [1]
2. Leg Found in the Next Town
In 1911, a report was made about a severed leg discovered at the railroad in Alida, Indiana:
“Coroner Osborn of this city is trying to establish the ownership and solve the mystery surrounding the finding of a human leg at Alida. It is supposed some man was the victim of an accident or tragedy during the night, but no trace of the victim can be found, the only evidence being the human leg which was found in a pool of blood.”
Shortly after this report was made, it was discovered that a young man had lost his leg after it had been run over by a train. Unfortunately, the young man died of blood loss and shock, but the authorities at least knew that they did not have to seek out the body belonging to the leg. [2]
3. Amputated Leg Draws a Crowd
In the summer of 1903, in the state of Montana, a doctor amputated a patient’s leg. As was typical of the times, the doctor placed the leg and foot outside behind the building. Someone would then retrieve the leg and bury it, but that someone must have forgot about the leg. By nightfall, the leg was discovered and it drew quite a crown of curiosity seekers.
The police were called to investigate the scene and to find the missing body. After interviewing the inhabitants of the nearby buildings, the origin of the leg was discovered.
Resident, however, were not satisfied. They wanted the leg removed from the alley and properly disposed of and the police were forced to take over the duty of burying the leg. [3]
4. Cut Up and Thrown in a Bag
The problem with finding body parts in the past was that there was often no way to determine who the part belonged to, especially if the body was cut up into little bits and scattered across the land.
Take, for instance, this case in 1913 when satchel containing a leg was discovered in an old barn near Chicago. The leg had been cut into three pieces and, to everyone’s horror, was still warm when it was found.
The whole affair was labeled “a deep mystery” by the local police. [4]
5. Leg Dangled From Horse’s Stirrup
Talk about a weird sight. In 1906, a horse walked into a nowhere town in Nebraska with a human leg and foot dangling from one of its stirrups. The townsfolk captured the horse, but did not know what to make of the leg.
Word was sent out, in case anyone realized that their leg had galloped away with a horse, but no word came back.
People speculated that the leg “was wrenched off after the owner had been dragged to death; others are of the opinion that the man was struck somewhere by a train and that the horse escaped fatal injuries.” [5]
6. Petrified Leg for Sale
While a person was checking out a cave back in 1887, located in Tennessee, he discovered a perfectly preserved leg. It was petrified and had the appearance that it was once shoed with a moccasin.
He sold the leg to the traveling optician who, in turn, was trying to sell the finding to P.T. Barnum. [6]
