My town is small and everything is silent and dark by 9:00pm. Also known as the "Wisconsin Werewolf," the Beast of Bray Road was originally only sighted in Elkhorn but it seems its habitat has expanded across the very state. 16.7, home to a bar, a church, a cemetery and a legend - a legend of a squirrel . This werewolf cryptid has had several sightings in the 1990s with local newspapers reporting on the topic and even eventually gaining some national news attention as the most popular werewolf sighting in the U.S. Could These Monster-Sized Snakes Be Beaten? Minnesota: Wendigo This is one of the oldest legendary monsters, dating back to the folklore of Native Americans, who hunted these 15-foot-tall shape-shifting creatures even into the early 20 th century. Now I know what your wondering, could I have been dehydrated or having hallucinations. However, Wendigo creature sightings are still reported, especially in northern Ontario, near the Cave of the Wendigo, and around Kenora, where traders have allegedly spotted it, trackers and trappers for decades. Ive lived in a without-a-doubt haunted house, frequently go on after-hours explorations of known haunted places, and have seen and experienced many paranormal events. It was behind a tree, and at first appeared to be a bear standing on its back legs scratching its back against the tree trunk. Really black., Then it did something funny, almost like it got down on all fours, and I thought I saw what would be its head. He especially loves human flesh. If Bigfoot has been here all along, we would expect to meet him in old legends as well as in the latest sightings. It was all very unsettling, indeed, but it was about to graduate into the horrifying. Then this brown, slimy, serpent or eel like body sloshed around and went into the water. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. While Ryan was on the phone with a dispatcher and telling them our location and what was going on I stepped around the fire towards my tent. When lumberjacks gathered around the fire, they loved to tell tales of the creatures of the North Woods, and the most ferocious, they agreed, was the hodag. Many still believe that the Wendigo roams the woods and the prairies of northern Minnesota and Canada. Other names include Windigo, Witiko, Weedigo . - YouTube 0:00 / 20:27 WENDIGO Sighting Near Pikes Peak, Colorado? It takes its place in the study of cryptozoology. It is among the most feared of all monsters in Amerindian lore. What was going on here? It was very tall and skinnyalmost as tall as the roof of their ranch house because even standing in the middle of the front yard it looked almost as tall as the house. The evil being is associated with winter and starvation, and appears to feast on humans. Ryan told them that we called the police and roughly thirty minutes later a park ranger showed up. From Side Hustle to Storefront:Meet the 25-Year-Old Badger Alum Set to Open Her First Brick-and-Mortar Bakery, Our Wisconsin Now this is the part I will never forget. Each one containing its own mystery of what might be lurking out there in the unknown. The story of the wendigo (sometimes spelled windigo or windago) comes from Algonquian Native American folklore, and the exact details vary depending on who you ask. Interestingly enough, there are even a couple of lakes today named after the beast, including a Lake Windigo in Minnesota and a Windigo Lake in Wisconsin. and sightings were sometimes recorded. The first thought that comes to mind is the classic image of the Wendigo. The most recent was in April 2013, when a retired police officer witnessed a bigfoot crossing a highway near Pembine. . Has anyone ever witnessed a sky Cryptid before???? The legend can be traced back into the earlier 1900s when it's said that a circus train wrecked and a 12-foot-tall gorilla escaped. Anthropologists have found hodag tales as early as 1870, originating in lumber camps. Help us maintain the accuracy of our information. But other reports compare the wendigo to a werewolf instead. If you are interested yourself then maybe you'll have to take a trip over to Bray Road at night and see for yourself. It has allegedly been seen eating dead animals alongside the road, most recently in 2020. This is the tragic story of one of the last hunters of the evil creatures of Native lore known as the Wendigo. The lake winnebago water monster. The Wendigo's sallow yellow and ash gray skin emits a sour odor of decay. David kept it to himself, however, and they continued walking the trail until they reached a point where the path branched off to the right, and a snowmobile trail went to the left. I have heard what sounds like a little girl calling for help out in those woods before. So I was out there one day and all the sudden I felt cold and uncomfortable. Use the form below to suggest edits. Education It is the most I have ever been scared and the most that adrenaline has ever flowed through me. Wisconsin Wendigo Sightings Featured on In Search of Monsters The Wendigo as seen on Travel Channel series In Search of Monsters According to Native American legend, the wendigo is a horrifying, cannibalistic creature that dwells in the forests and waters of the Great Lakes region, hunting for its next human meal. Mississippi: Mercritis This story is an odd myth it's about a disease! Secondary Editor: Andrs Martinez. Apparently local settlers went to the trappers home to corroborate the story and found a veritable charnel house of blood, strewn about body parts, and half-eaten corpses in such a jumbled morass of gore and effluence that it could not even be ascertained how many people had been killed. And underneath that terrifying, flesh-eating demon, there might still be a human man who was once just a hungry hunter. The name derives from the Ojibwa language for "Wiindigoo", originally used by the Algonquian Indians tribe of the northern forests, they believed that Wendigo were cannibalistic giants with supernatural powers, one of which was the ability to possess people and turn them into Wendigo. Travelers along this misty stretch of highway would report seeing lights and a strange lone figure patrolling the road. The vast majority of supposed wendigo sightings happened between the 1800s and 1920s. The legend of the Wendigo stems from Native American folklore, primarily in Algonquian-speaking tribes located in south and southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes Region, and northeastern United States. But ironically enough, these stories might actually represent the Indigenous peoples response to the horrific violence unleashed on them by non-Native people. Just about the only thing scarier might be what one would do if the starvation became too much to handle. I do remember antlers, and matted fur, but nothing gaunt or skeletal. The Beast of Bray Road, a hairy man wolf that walks erect, is rumored to have beenfirst spotted on Bray Road near Elkhorn in the 1930s. But it was very oddly shaped, almost like a football but horizontal with very long ears pointing up into the back, and I thought what I believe to be very long almost grayish hair.. Across from my apartment complex (on the same side as the woods and the encounter) there is a small pond surrounded by trees. Each tribe typically had its own ceremonies, rituals, and talismans to ward off the creatures or stop a person from becoming one, but in most cases the final line of defense in fighting this supernatural threat was the tribes shamans. And after a month, it felt like it had gone, and it was safe to go over there again alone. . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. This is one of the two most well-known creatures on our list. Into the days of settlers there were many cases of even the white man coming across these abominations, and the creatures were often blamed for missing persons. Privacy Policy. The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. Rather, one of his creepiest traits is his ability to mimic human voices. The Wendigo is a cannibalistic being from Native American folklore in the Minnesota area, and it is still supposedly active in the state today. The lore of the Wendigo, which is often ominously translated as the evil spirit that devours mankind, varies slightly from tribe to tribe, but it is always seen as a malevolent creature with an intense, uncontrollable perpetual hunger for human flesh, and often said to possess the minds of others in order to drive them to cannibalism. During an investigation by the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, a First Nations woman by the name of Wahsakapeequay turned up dead, strangled to death with a rope and the scene of the body displaying signs of a ritual. The earliest description of the Wendigo was that of similar appearance to a corpse, with a skeleton-like, thin body with gray skin . Other sightings have been reported northwest of Crivitz in a large expanse of wetlands and hardwood forest. At the turn of the 20th century, the Algonquian tribes blamed many unsolved disappearances of people on wendigo attacks. They slowly walked toward the tree where the creature had been standing, where they saw large impressions in the ground. Over and over again. What is going on behind these reports and others like them, and are they even truly encounters with the legendary Wendigo at all? 5 Wisco Monsters to Look Out for This October. So, Wendigo in my neighborhood, lets not meet. Ogopogo is said to be a long, serpentine, aquatic creature that dwells in Lake Okanagan in the south central interior of British Columbia, Canada. In Native American folklore, the terrifying wendigo is often described as a gaunt and foul-smelling creature that roams the woods in search of human flesh to consume. The curious thing about Rock Lake is that if you dive down in certain parts of the lake you can find small pyramid like structures. Basically don't be a selfish idiot in . However, as Wright was about to enter his room for the . There was no response. In the wilds and cold expanses of the North American continent, the Natives of the region had their own stories of sinister entities that stalked the night, and they too had those who would fight them. My arrow was stuck basically vertical in the ground except for leaning the opposite way I shot, he wrote, which to me and my wife seemed impossible that my arrow could be the way it was in the ground.. I have lived in northeast Wisconsin, my entire life, and in 2015, I just so happen to be looking up into a very overcast, cloudy sky (with the desperation of the sun behind it, trying to break through the clouds) and it was in that moment that I saw a shadow. But speed wouldnt be a necessary skill for a monster of this nature. It is still terrifying to talk or think about. Required fields are marked *. More sightings in the Bay followed in the 1930s, '60s, '70s and '80s. With Wisconsins creepy history, there is sure to never be a shortage of scary monsters to tell of. Pages 9-11, 16-17 We have more lakes than any other country on the planet, so it stands to reason we would have at least one serious lake monster. It is said to appear after people resort to cannibalism, and sometimes captures people and turns them into Wendigos who then hunt down their former loved ones to feast on their flesh. They had just moved to Two Rivers a few months ago and werent familiar with the area. It has no lips, bares jagged teeth, and hisses with every breath. It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment. They are said to be giant, up to 15 feet tall, and monstrous in appearance. Ryan and I tried explaining everything to him but he just chalked it up to either a curious animal or some campers trying to mess with us. The countryside surrounding Holy Hill has more than it's fair share of anomalous activity. These spooky tales passed down through generations of Whitewater residents and UW-Whitewater students continue to be a part of the towns unique culture. We sat there in silence for a few minutes when the woods erupted with noise. I felt stuck and almost hypnotized by the whole thing, but came to my senses enough to call attention to my dog and turn around to head for home. Some people who have claimed to encounter the beast say its a relative of Bigfoot. The Algonquian people say that during the turn of the 20th century, a large number of their people went missing. Other sightings by the Nakota reported huge, Loch Ness-like fish monster in the lake as well. All they said was they heard a lot of movement and then heard my scream and thats when they headed in our direction. I'm compiling the location of all sightings onto a map. i have also lived in wisconson half my life and i only know the hodag, Your email address will not be published. Buy the Book: Skylight Books, Amazon, Powell's . That night they got a fire going, had dinner, and sat chatting away until a sound caught their attention. The house was along a creek, and the witness claims that one evening one of the cats, named Topaz, who usually followed him around on his walks around the property was with him, but this evening would prove to be stranger than most. One night I was walking my dogaround 10:30pm I thinkwhen I saw something on the front lawn of one of these houses. This had sent horrendous chills down my spine, So I ran the fastest Ive ever had back towards the campsite, while I heard the twigs and leaves crunching behind me. Subscribe NOW so you don't miss what's next https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGgdhMFHiKym-z4G7IB4BYw?sub_confirmation=1 Support me on Patreon https://. In fact, Fiddle and his brother, Pesequan, were widely thought by the Cree to be the most powerful Wendigo hunters there were, with Fiddler once claiming to have personally killed 14 of the foul beasts over his lifetime, including one of his own brothers who had apparently gone Wendigo after having resorted to cannibalism out on a trading expedition in order to survive. He called out a few more times, but there was only silence. The Mysterious Men in Black and Their Equally Weird Cars, Perfectly Preserved Remains of an Ice Age Puppy Reveal Its Surprising Last Meal, Bizarre Accounts of Firefights and Shoot-Outs With Bigfoot and Bigfoot-like Creatures, The Time a Sea Monster Attacked a U.S. Navy Destroyer. Festivals quickly became an annual tradition to appease these giant monsters and continue to be held to this day. Whether you are a believer of these mythical accounts or not, it always makes for a spine-tingling good time when you round up your friends for a story around the fire. According to Animal Planet, Swift Runner claimed to be possessed by a windigo spirit at the time of the murders. Thats when the whistling started. Still, what really scares me the most from back then was when we had been leaving the site, I looked back from the car window and saw a figure standing at the tree line staring at me, it was lanky and looked starved to the point of having its skin wrapping tightly against its bones. How could someone whistle this loudly without cracking while also running? It is certainly a sad tale of the end of tribal beliefs, and whether these Wendigo ever really existed or not the people of the region certainly believed that they did and that they were a threat. David estimated the creature to be eight to ten feet tall, with long, thin, gangly arms. Others saw a headless horseman, riding backwards on his horse. It felt close enough to touch but we never saw a thing. A recent episode of In Search of Monsters on the Travel Channel interviewed people who spotted a Wendigo at a lakeside camp near Spooner. However, in the case of the Native American communities, most of the stress was due to a dwindling amount of resources, not to mention the extermination of food in the area. That trail later became what today is referred to as the Old Military Road. The fear I felt was incredible. In some forms, the Wendigo is the size of a human, while in others, it can be fifteen-feet-tall. The Wendigo is a wicked spirit that haunts the wild areas of North America's Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes regions. He described it as the sound it would make if someone were dragging a heavy animal or body through rough brush/woods, and he had a feeling of dread and heaviness, like he couldnt look away and was being honed in on by something. They are variously described as having the ability to turn invisible, to read minds, or to mimic human voices in order to draw victims away to isolated areas, as well as shapeshifting powers and the ability to generate waves of profound fear. After feasting on another humans flesh, he transformed into a crazed man-beast, roaming the forest in search of more people to eat. The wendigo, as described by the Chippewa and Ojibwe tribes, is a man who consumed the flesh of another human being. In lore, the creature is supposedly a gaunt, extremely tall apparition that had glowing eyes, long yellowed fangs, wicked claws, and a long tongue, often also depicted with antlers, and which was eternally en thrall to insatiable hunger, growing ever larger with each kill it made and yet never fully satiated, always skeletal and slight no matter how much it ate. Nipissing Swamp State Natural Area, Wisconsin. Thought it was just caught on some rocks or a turtle got the hook. If you experience problems with the form or want to attach images please email them to info@wisconsinfrights.com, Are you affiliated with this location? Blackwood's Wendigo is a mystical creature, representing the lure of the wilderness. Its voice resembles the sounds of the wild - falling water, wind, the call of birds and beasts. Weird Wisconsin stories and creepy travel tips! The tribes attributed many of the mysterious disappearances to the wendigo, thus calling him the spirit of lonely places.. By far the most well-known and discussed type of hairy wild man of Native lore is none other than the mysterious and legendary entity known as the Wendigo, animalistic, hulking beasts with strange powers. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Scare Yourself Senseless at These Haunted Wisconsin Attractions, $209 a pound?! Some claim he is unusually fast and can endure walking for long periods of time, even in harsh winter conditions. And on the far side of the stream from my house there are large trees. A freelance writer and operator of the Blue Valley Gardens produce farm outside Mount Horeb, Susan previously wrote an award-winning newspaper column and has authored two books. According to the Native legend, any human who eats another human, for whatever reason, even starvation, is transformed into a wendigo. He's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America. Unfortunately, this was the age of white settlers pouring into the region, and the idea of killing people due to suspicion that they were supernatural monsters did not sit well in this new world. I have never ever heard about the thunderbird prior to today and now my brain is racing a million miles per hour. The Wendigo roams the upper regions of Minnesota with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. And so ended the days of perhaps the last two Wendigo hunters out there and sealing the fate of the tribe to fall under the colonial laws of the settlers. David thought maybe it had been another hunter dressed in a ghillie suit, though he knew it was way too tall to be human. The Story Behind the Special Wisconsin Cheese Back on Sale, Old World Wisconsin Provides a Historical Home for the Holidays, A Landmark Farm Enjoys New Life as a Community Education Center with a Focus on Healthy Food, The 5 Hottest Majors at the University of Wisconsin Right Now, Wisconsin's 7 Weirdest Towns & Why They're Called That, 8 Cheese Factories You Can Visit in Wisconsin. It wasnt until about a month ago that I was watching a special on supernatural encounters that I heard about Wendigos. Thats when the movement stopped but the whistling was still constant. FlickrAn animatronic depiction of a wendigo in a cage on display in Wendigo Woods in Busch Gardens Williamsburg. There are many local traditions of the Wendigo with slightly different details in its appearance and abilities depending on the region, but it is always said to be frightening, and there are also variations in their powers. In Native folklore, it was called N'ha-a . They searched for a good, secluded area to set up camp for a planned two-night stay, got everything set up, and after a day of hiking and exploring the Jacks River the trip seemed to be off to a great start. The elusive aberration is said to roam the area of Bray Road located just outside of the town of Elkhorn. At the turn of the 20th century, the Algonquian tribes blamed many unsolved disappearances of people on wendigo attacks. So David raised his bow and nocked an arrow. As long as there have been demons and monsters in our world and those who believe in them, there have been those willing to fight them. Like I was being watched. 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