Campsite intrusion near river. witnessed in Camden County, Missouri

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In June of 1986. my husband and I went for a two-day float on the Little Niangua between Climax Springs and Roach. We camped in a two man dome tent on a gravel bank where the river made a u shaped bend. On the far side was a dirt cliff from flood waters. The tent was hidden from view by underbrush. At about two A.M., I was awakened by splashing in the river close to us. Afraid, I woke my husband up. I refused to let him go out to see what was there, I thought it was a bear. While we whispered about what to do, it must have heard us. It started to run in our direction. Whatever it was, it ran past our tent on TWO legs. It was large enough to shake the ground we were sitting on as it ran past us. After it was quiet for a while, we did go out to see if we could find anything. There were no prints that we could find in the gravel, but there was a very foul odor in the air.