Hodag

In American folklore, the hodag is a fearsome critter resembling a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines down its back. The hodag was said to be born from the ashes of cremated oxen, as the incarnation of the accumulation of abuse the animals had suffered at the hands of their masters.{{cite book |last=Kearney |first=Luke Sylvester|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBHgAAAAMAAJ |year=1928 |title=The Hodag and Other Tales of the Logging Camps |pages=9–17 |location=Madison, WI}} The history of the hodag is strongly tied to Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where it was claimed to have been discovered. The hodag has figured prominently in early Paul Bunyan stories.

Origins

In 1893, newspapers reported the discovery of a hodag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The articles claimed the hodag had "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end". The reports were instigated by well-known Wisconsin land surveyor, timber cruiser and prankster Eugene Shepard, who rounded up a group of local people to capture the animal.Tryon, Henry Harrington (1939) [https://books.google.com/books/about/Fearsome_Critters.html?id=Z35XAAAAMAAJ Fearsome Critters.] Cornwall, NY: Idlewild Press; p.25 The group reported that they needed to use dynamite to kill the beast.

A photograph of the remains of the charred beast was released to the media. It was "the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth. It became extinct after its main food source, all white bulldogs, became scarce in the area."{{cite magazine|url=https://curbarchive.journalism.wisc.edu/2004/Leisure/Articles/hodagprint.htm |title=In search of the Hodag |author=Hilgenberg, Holly|date=2004 |magazine=Curb Magazine |access-date=April 29, 2018}}

Hoax

Shepard claimed to have captured another hodag in 1896, and this one was captured alive. According to Shepard's reports, he and several bear wrestlers placed chloroform on the end of a long pole, which they worked into the cave of the creature where it was overcome.

He displayed this hodag at the first Oneida County fair.{{cite news |last1=Uhlig |first1=Keith |title=Hodag: The outlandish story of Wisconsin's mythical beast, on its 125th birthday |url=https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/2018/10/03/rhinelander-hodag-outlandish-story-wisconsins-mythical-beast-125-anniversary/806888002/ |work=Wausau Daily Herald |date=October 3, 2018}} Thousands of people came to see the hodag at the fair or at Shepard's display in a shanty at his house. Having connected wires to it, Shepard would occasionally move the creature, which would typically send the already-skittish viewers fleeing the display.

As newspapers locally, statewide, and then nationally began picking up the story of the apparently remarkable living creature, a small group of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. announced they would be traveling to Rhinelander to inspect the apparent discovery.{{cite magazine |last1=Ryan |first1=H. H. |author2= ((Illustrated by Wright, Frank))|title=The Hodag |date=May 1915 |magazine=The Wide World Magazine|edition=U.S.|pages=84–86 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheWideWorldUSV035N205191505/page/n93/mode/2up |volume=35 |issue=205}} Their mere announcement spelled the end, as Shepard was then forced to admit that the hodag was a hoax.Zienert, Karen (1998) [https://books.google.com/books?id=-n3Chh_ACSYC Wisconsin (Celebrate the States)], Benchmark Books p.114 {{ISBN|0-7614-0209-8}}

Legacy

File:Hodag 002.jpg

The hodag became the official symbol of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It is the mascot of Rhinelander High School, and lends its name to numerous Rhinelander area businesses and organizations, including the annual music festival, Hodag Country Festival. The city of Rhinelander's web site calls Rhinelander "The Home of the Hodag".{{cite web|url=http://www.rhinelandercityhall.org/ |title=City of Rhinelander|access-date=2009-05-08}} A larger-than-life fiberglass sculpture of a hodag, created by Tracy Goberville, a local artist,{{cite web|url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=VA0001162710&Search_Code=REGS&PID=8yeGdmP6uGlXNPz2rodKLPyTkAz&SEQ=20170209123319&CNT=25&HIST=1/ |title=U.S. Copyright Office|access-date=2017-02-09}} resides on the grounds of the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce where it draws thousands of visitors each year. Rhinelander Ice Arena houses two hodags, one a full body creature just inside the entrance, and the other one an oversized head that blows smoke and has red eyes that light up, located in the corner just off the ice and which was created by the same artist who designed and built the Chamber Hodag.{{cite web|url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=VA0001254212&Search_Code=REGS&PID=3zPjUN4aaSP1WtD54Xg8x0VJXrU&SEQ=20170209123411&CNT=25&HIST=1 |title=U.S. Copyright Office|access-date=2017-02-09}}

References

External links

[http://video.wpt.org/video/1627468606/ Hodag History] at Wisconsin Public Television
{{cite news |title=John Kennedy Prizes His Hodag Gift |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/4576475/the_rhinelander_daily_news/ |work=The Rhinelander Daily News |date=July 16, 1960}}
[http://explorerhinelander.com/what-is-the-hodag/ What is the Hodag?] at Explore Rhinelande

Category:Fearsome critters

Category:Wisconsin culture

Category:Wisconsin folklore

Category:Oneida County, Wisconsin

Category:Rhinelander, Wisconsin

Category:American legendary creatures

Category:Hoaxes