Eric the Monkey’s New Glarus Escape Still Charms — And Haunts

In 1983, a rhesus monkey slipped loose near New Glarus and briefly became a local legend. Decades later, the story feels both delightfully odd and, in a post-Outbreak world, also a little unsettling.

Todd Klassy
by Todd Klassy
Eric the Monkey’s New Glarus Escape Still Charms — And Haunts

For a stretch of days in the summer of 1983, rural New Glarus had a runaway monkey on the loose.

Not a prank, not a metaphor and not some garbled small-town rumor, but an actual 35-pound rhesus monkey named Eric, who escaped from a University of Wisconsin-affiliated research enclosure near New Glarus. It spent roughly a month roaming the hillsides, wooded areas and roadsides northwest of the village and captured the fascination of the community.

Remaining content is for paid members only.

Please subscribe to any paid plan to unlock this article and more content.

Already have an account? Sign in
Heritage

Comments available to premium members.

Create a premium account and join the discussion.

Already have an account? Sign in

Read more

Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus in 1973
Heritage

Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus in 1973

A 1973 view up First Street captures New Glarus before today’s streetscape took shape, with Highway 39 traffic, giant American cars, tavern signs and the Swiss Church anchoring a downtown already balancing daily life with its Swiss identity.

by Todd Klassy
When New Glarus Built Its Own Haunted Houses
Heritage

When New Glarus Built Its Own Haunted Houses

Before professional haunted attractions, New Glarus organizations built their own scares from empty buildings, cardboard boxes, volunteers and imagination — raising money for the community while creating October memories that lasted for decades.

by Todd Klassy
Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus from Above in 1957
Heritage

Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus from Above in 1957

A 1957 aerial view captures much of downtown New Glarus before several familiar buildings disappeared or changed uses, while the railroad, swimming pool and old commercial blocks offer plenty of clues — and a few mysteries for readers to solve.

by Todd Klassy
Harvest: How Farming Reshaped the Hills Around New Glarus
Heritage

Harvest: How Farming Reshaped the Hills Around New Glarus

Long before combines rolled across fields of corn and soybeans, harvest around New Glarus meant wheat, barley, hand-cut grain, corn shocks, mill ponds and hard lessons about erosion — a story still visible in the shape of the countryside nearly two centuries later.

by Todd Klassy

Sign up for our New Glarus 360 newsletters

Breaking news, things to do and alumni updates—delivered.

Please check your inbox and confirm. Something went wrong. Please try again.