Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-04-29
LOTISIANA,S WILD MAN.
An Interesting Character Whose Principal
Food is Buzzard Flesh

Food is BuZzard Flesh
correspondent of The Jeanerette
Miss. Item, of April 10, furnishes the fol-
lowing;
West ,of the Mississippi river in the
state of Louisiana in the parishes of St.
Martin iberia and st. Mary, lies an in
describable system of lakes, basses, and
bayous, ir..,l cepted with a vast area of
swamp lands. This country has been and
continues to be the source of timber sup
ply for the Teche region, which is some
times called the Sugar Bowl" of Louisi-
ana.
Since the year 1880 a solitary individual
has lived on and near the borders of Lake
Chicot. This mysterious hermit would
have no conversation with persons who
would chance TO meet him. His equipage
consisted of a rude boat, an old musket,
spear and some fishing tackle. He was
never known to visit the habitation of
man unless he needed ammunition and
this he procured at Bayo Chene. He has
been here SO long that he is almost naked,
and presents a horrid aspect with his
shaggy beard and disheveled hair, now
grown to an enormous length. Surely he
is a queer citized and has become one of
the chief topics of the swapping camps.
As the swampers while away their time by
their camp fires when the day is done
often regale strange visitors with fantas-
tic descriptions of the wild man. as he
is termed by common custom.
There are various ideas as to the motive
of this individual for thus banisning him
self from the world, and it is a mystery
as TO how he sustains life or endures the
torments of mosquitoes and the changes
of temperature. He is about 40 years of
age rudy complexion, with dark hair. 1t
is limited by some that he is man who
murdered his wife and children near New
Orleans some time ago. He may be the
man; yet if justice sleeps thus SO near
her duty, doubtless fate is Furnishing her
victim with torments that fiends only can
endure.
The wonder about the matter is that
the authorities do not ascertain who this
incognito is; the assessor is letting this
citizen go by default. This wild man"
seems to be an object of distant curiosity
to the majority of the swampers; they
generally give him wide berth. His gun
and his boat are his constant companions
and his silence is his chief perculiarity,
Very few men can even get monosyll-
able from him. He is truly the great
unknown of this section. Since writing
the above the terror of the swamps has
been captured by n small boy by the name
of Semone. Exposure and disease by his
long battle with the elements has quite
vanquished him.
On the fifteenth of last month he pad
died his boat to Mr.. Cassoday's camp on
his timber in starving condition and
Q !. Fnr 81 a 1rial af In -
truly a horrible looking specimen; he has
the leg of a pair of pants tied at one end
and stretched over his head as a substi-
tute for hat his body was an alternative
of rags and nakedness. Mr.. George
Walker, citizen of this place, CHANGED
to interview him He says he speaks
good English, that his name is j ohm Mill
er. and was born and reared in Seneca
county, Ohio, near Tiflin. At the age Of
| Is ne went with gold hunting expedition
to Colorado, and drove an OK team across
the plains. He remembered nothing
about his age, but he must be about 40 or
more.
He says he came to this country in a
boat; does not know date month, or any
I thing; he merely knows the change of
seasons by their visible effects. He has
/ the appearance of man who has had his
/ intellect dwarfed by long strifes with the
elements. His hair has grown TO an enor-
nous length, and his shaggy beard reaches
| his waist. His color when captured re-
/ sembled the earth upon which he lived.
His hands were also of the same color.
He always hesitates and coughs before
answering question
Mr.. Walker asked him if he did not want
to be taken to town, where he could be
taken care of. He said that he thought
he was living in very healthy place and
would be all right soon. He states that
/ buzzards are better to eat than owls. His
manner of capturing them is very ingeni-
GUS He drives three stakes out i'll the
/ lake and sets a steel-trap ON the top of
/ them; then he procures a limby twig and
ties a piece of putrid fish on the end of
| it; then he secures it in such a manner
/ that when Mr. Buzzard lights on the end
/ of it sinks down into the water. Dislik-
4 ing it he flies upon the trap and is de
voured by this human hyena. Our gorge
rises in such manner that we give DER
the task of further treating on this sub
/ iect The individual is now near Mr..
/ Cassidy's camp on Lake Chicot.