As leader of a party of armed men Archibald Campbell has been mentioned as pursuing, somewhere near the middle forties of the nineteenth century, an alleged terrible creature, or "monster", which, resembling in some respects, a great lizard, was said to have emerged on a cold and snowy day in winter time, from an opening in the rocky ground atop a high bluff overlooking the Illinois River, northeast of the then small town of Tahlequah. Upon news of the incident being carried to Campbell, he mounted his horse and hurried away to lead the horsemen who desired to pursue and kill the fearful creature. A rather broad and well-defined trail led westward through the deep snow, according to the story, but the creature was never overtaken. But near the present town of Skiatook, Oklahoma, the object of the pursuit was seen ascending a high prairie ridge nearly a mile distant, its head about as large as that of a horse. The cold was intense, the men weary and hungry. Some friendly Osages appeared, warned the Cherokees, with tears to pursue no farther, for all would certainly be slain by the "bad thing". So the Cherokees stayed overnight in comfort in the Osages lodges, feasted and had their horses well-cared for and started homeward next day.