Feeling homesick as we travel west through the Deep South, Cheesehead finds a little Northern comfort by interviewing Wisconsin’s own Hodag of Rhinelander! Risen from the ashes of abused oxen, this spirit of vengeance wreaked havoc on the early lumbermen of the American North, including none other than Paul Bunyan himself!
The Hodag is quirky and beloved cryptid to many. While most famous in Rhinelander, WI, the Hodag has had many high-profile cameos in media throughout the centuries. The Hodag was featured first as a shovel-nosed and hooved creature bulldozing trees across the northern states in search for it's primary food source, the porcupine, in the text, Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts, William T. Cox. From there, the name “Hodag” was reassigned to address a woolly green beast with a spiny back and tail, saber teeth, and large oxen horns said to be a spirit of vengeance manifested out of the ashes of abused beasts of burden.
Hodag got his first taste of the fame as an antagonist throughout some of the earliest Paul Bunyan stories. In the late 1800's, Eugene Shepard capitalized on the popularity of the Hodag by claiming to have killed the beast, with photo evidence, and even later exhibiting a what he claimed to be a living, breathing Hodag! Even the Smithsonian Institute was drawn in by such claims. Ever since, the Hodag has continued his success in pop culture by becoming the mascot of Rhinelander, WI, an canonized creature of JK Rowling's Wizarding World of Harry Potter by it's mention within Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and even had his own episode of Scooby Doo!
Bringing the Hodag to life in this episode is our first featured guest, JACOB THE CARPETBAGGER! The Carpetbagger is a youtube channel following Jacob as he travels all 48 contiguous Unites States to showcase every oddity and unique attraction dotting American roadsides. We encourage you to join Jacob on his adventures by clicking the link:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCarpetbagger
This episode was sponsored by CRYPTID CRATE! Get 15% off your first month's subscription by entering promo code: “TALEGATE”
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