"This photograph became the popular Hodag Capture postcard during the 1920s. According to the August 7, 1952 issue of the Rhinelander Daily News, this picture was taken in 1899.""The Hodag is a fictional animal that is part of the folklore of the American state of Wisconsin. Its history and acknowledgement are mainly focused around the city of Rhinelander in northern Wisconsin.
Legends of the Black Hodag were told earlier in the 19th century among the lumberjacks of the area. According to these, the hodag had risen from the ashes of an ox, in some legends it was Paul Bunyan's ox, Babe, which was burned for seven years to cleanse its soul of the profanity hurled at it by lumberjacks and its master. The soul of the ox emerged from the ashes exuding a foul odor. The Hodag bears a slight physical resemblance to the Ojibwa legend of Mishepishu, but the latter is larger, has additional features, and a different origin. The hodag reportedly ate white bulldogs, but only on a single Sunday in a month." - quote taken from Wikipedia.
" Eugene Shepard's first published drawing of the Hodag appeard in the October 28, 1893 issue of Rhinelander's weekly paper, the New North."Quotes and images taken from the Hodag Press website, with more information on the origins of this strange beast. The following pictures of the Hodag were found on flickr.
Statue found in Rhinelander Wisconsin.
- From the Rhinelander WI Logging Museum, flickr source, another pic here.
- flickr source
Another Hodag at the Logging Museum in Rhinelander Wisconsin , flickr source.
1 comment:
I think there is some truth to the legend, during this time period, if you worked in the woods, you lived in the woods. You were in a position to see woodland creatures and they became accustomed to these men who smelled of trees. I have read the legends and stories yet i can find no account of the attack of the young boy in the picture. The "hodag" is just a focal point for human attention, the real attack was mounted by nearly invisible creatures (djinn) that have the ability to shapeshift.
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