Like Paul Bunyan and his companion, Babe the Blue Ox, agropelters, side hill gougers, and squonks, the Hodag was a mythical being found in the forests of the North Country. The Hodag was "discovered" by Eugene Shepard of Rhinelander, Wisconsin in 1896 and aided in its creation by Luke "Lakeshore" Kearney, a skilled woodcarver and storyteller. Like many of these tall tales and mythical beasts, the hodag was ferocious and always hungry. And in Rhinelander, much beloved. I encountered my first several hodags in Rhinelander on my recent visit on my 2025 Podcast Tour. If you find yourself in this former lumbertown on the banks of the Wisconsin River, see how many hodags you might encounter. And visit the Pioneer Park Logging Museum, which has been preserving Rhinelander's lumber heritage since 1932, making it the oldest lumber museum in the United States.
Episode Sources:
Cox, William, Henry Tryon, Lake SHore Kearney; compiled and edited by Matt Lake. Hodags and Billdads and Squonks. Parnilus Media: Media, PA. 2021.
Kortenhof, Kurt. Long Live the Hodag: The Life and Legacy of Eugene Simeon Shepard, 1854-1923. Hodag Press: Savage, MN. 2023 (second edition).
Places to Visit:
Pioneer Park Historical Complex, Rhinelander, Wisconsin https://rhinelanderpphc.com/
To Support the Podcast, go to this link: https://northcountryhistorywithrobburg.buzzsprout.com/2422296/supporters/new
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