The Rhineland Hodag

Allison Sparks

##### Brief summary of the Page:

The Rhinelander Hodag is a cryptid that was spotted in the late 1800s in rural Wisconsin. The general description of it has always stayed generally the same. A catlike body with a large head, horns, and spikes going down its back. It has been seen in legends from the Ojibwe Tribe and even in Paul Bunyon stories. The legend has stayed much the same with little to no discrepancy between accounts. There have been a few adaptations made including the Hodag but the most well known would be in Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated. The following information is recounted from travel sites, Newspapers and historical websites describing the Rhinelander Hodag’s form, encounters and behaviors.

##### Brief history of the cryptid

The Rhinelander Hodag was spotted in 1893 by Eugene Shepherd in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It was described as the reincarnated spirit of an oxen that might have helped pull lumber in the forests. It was said to have aspects of a frog, elephant, dinosaur and a spiky tail. Shepherd and his fellow lumberjacks got evidence of the Hodag’s existence, including photographs. They began to hunt the Hodag. They used guns, poisoned squirt guns, and dynamite and reportedly killed the creature. Eventually Shepherd began to search for a live hodag. He claimed he had finally caught a live one but that turned out to be a hoax. Before people knew it was fake however, Shepherd would charge people a dime to get a look at the Hodag. He gained a lot of attraction this way. The Smithsonian sent a representative to confirm if it was real and he admitted to fabricating the live version.

##### Legends and encounters

1. One legend that the Ojibwe people have is about a beast called the “Mishibijiw” this directly translates to Great Lynx. this animal is described as a great cat with scales and spikes. This description is accurate to Shepherd’s. There was even an incident in 1899 where 4 Ojibwe people were killed by a beast with this description. The photos of the Hodag look incredibly similar to the drawings and paintings of the Ojibwe Mishibijiw.
2. A second legend that could be related is the legend of Paul Bunyon. A giant lumberjack with a massive blue ox. There are some stories that describe the Ox as looking much like the Hodag. The earliest record of Paul Bunyan’s stories are recorded in 1893. This is the same year that Shepherd is reported to have seen his first hodag. There are many similarities in the fact that Bunyan was a lumberjack, same as those who spotted the Hodag for the first time.

##### Adaptations

One adaptation of the Hodag’s story is referenced in Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. In this episode a beast begins stealing jewelry and people’s other valuables. The Mystery Gang recognise the creature as a hodag which they had seen in a wandering curiosities shop. The man who runs this shop is a man by the name of Gene Shepherd, in reference to the first man who spotted the Hodag. He has a secret under his floorboards right where the hodag stands.the whole episode has references to cheese going missing. Likely a reference to the fact that Wisconsin is known for cheese. Eventually Shepherd is arrested, the hodag is revealed to be a trained monkey relying on the sound of a bell to do its actions. Gene was attempting to steal a 500 year old wheel of cheese and he decided using a monster was the best way to do it.

##### Analysis

The adaptation was a great entry into the hodag lore. Using something as well known as the scooby doo franchise to spread some of the folk tales of a little town in rural Wisconsin is everything that folklore is about. This adaptation was poking some fun at the legend but ultimately kept the spirit of the legend there. It was a nice touch adding in the fact that the original founder of the legend was made a character. While it was kind of stereotypical I also thought the cheese plotline was a nice little easter egg into the place the legend originated. Overall this was a good adaptation. The monster looked like the legends described. It behaved in a manner one could anticipate from it. This was also an important episode for the story line of  Mystery incorporated, so it is very cool the hodag is how they decided to portray the ghoul of the episode.

##### Sources:

Jessi\_webdev (2022) Who discovered the Hodag?, Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Available at: https://explorerhinelander.com/who-discovered-the-hodag/ (Accessed: March 14, 2023).

Bright, Emily. “The Legend of the Hodag.” Wisconsin Life, 19 Jan. 2018, https://wisconsinlife.org/story/the-legend-of-the-hodag/.

“Home of the Hodag, Rhinelander, Wisconsin.” RoadsideAmerica.com, https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11962.