''Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts'' is a 1910
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...
by
William Thomas Cox (1878–1961), Minnesota’s first
State Forester and
Commissioner of Conservation, with illustrations by Coert du Bois (1881–1960; US Consul and forester) and Latin classifications by
George Bishop Sudworth (1862–1927; Chief Dendrologist of the Forest Service.) The text is a noteworthy resource on folklore, as a century after its initial publication ''Fearsome Creatures'' remains one of the principal sources on
legendary creatures of the United States and Canada.
Summary
The book presents various sketches of
fearsome critters
In North American folklore, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1982.) ...
from North American folklore, with descriptions by Cox preceded by full-page landscape illustrations by du Bois. Like in a traditional field guide, each animal is assigned a Latin classification (by Sudworth), afterward noting their habitat, physical makeup, and behavior. At the end of each account; however, there is usually a brief anecdote detailing an encounter with the creature. ''Fearsome Creatures'' may be classified as a work of
metafiction.
In the introduction, Cox acknowledges the varmints as, "animals which he
he lumberjackhas originated". Although, given the books mixed field-guide narrative format it is uncertain whether the introduction is within or aside from the primary context. At times the storyteller (identified as Cox himself in the introduction) employs the more ambiguous woodsmen/loggers "tell of" or out comes the "rumor of", but other times declares to the reader that there "ranges" or "is" such a creature.
Publication history
First published in 1910 by the Press of Judd & Detweiler, Inc., ''Fearsome Creatures'' wasn't reprinted until half a century later when the full manuscript was included as a bonus in Walker D. Wyman's ''Mythical Creatures of the North Country.'' (
River Falls, Wis., River Falls State University Press, 1969.) It was published on its own again by Bishop Publishing Co. in 1984. The following year it was again put into hard-copy by Kessinger Publishing. The original edition is in 35 United States WorldCat libraries.
Additionally, excerpts from ''Fearsome Creatures'' have been featured in a number of other publications, including:
* Tryon, Henry Harrington. ''Fearsome Critters.'' (Idlewild Press, 1939.)
* Botkin, B.A. (Ed.) ''A Treasury of American Folklore.'' (New York: Crown Publishers, 1955)
* Borges, Jorge Luis. ''Manual de zoología fantástic (
Book of Imaginary Beings
The ''Book of Imaginary Beings'' was written by Jorge Luis Borges with Margarita Guerrero and published in 1957 under the original Spanish title ''Manual de zoología fantástica''. The subsequent English version contains descriptions of 120 myt ...
).'' (Argentina, 1957.)
* Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1982.)
* Underwood, Muriel. ''Fearsome Critters: Folktales from the Forest and Desert.'' (Chicago, Miscellaneous Graphics, 1990.)
Historical connections
In the tradition of American
tall tale
A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...
s and
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, not all of the narrations are complete fabrications. Instead they are highly embellished stories elaborated on personal experiences.
In the narrative of Hyampom Hog Bear, a hog bear cub is found in
Klamath River, California and taken by Eugene S. Bruce to the
National Zoo in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
This account is also recorded in ''The Land We Live In, The Book of Conservation'' by Overton W. Price. In this version Bruce did in fact catch a cub with his bare hands while trekking through the California mountains; the accompanying image stating underneath, "It
he bear
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
is now in the Washington Zoo, albeit the animal pictured is presumably not a hog bear.
Likewise, in the sketch of the snoligoster there is a reference to Inman F. Eldredge (1883–1963), a
Gifford Pinchot Medal awardee, who while pursuing an escaped fugitive in the everglades, encounters the dreadful swamp-wyrm which afterward devours the criminal. An episode which is doubtlessly a fanciful idealization of Eldredge's background as a
timber cruiser in Southern Florida.
Other persons referenced in ''Fearsome Creatures'' are John P. Wentling (1878-1952), who was Professor of
Forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
at both the
Pennsylvania State Forest Academy
Penn State Mont Alto is a residential commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University. Located in Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, the campus offers nine four-year and seven two-year degree programs, including nursing, forest technology, occup ...
and
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
,
A. B. Patterson (Forest Service), Big Ole Kittleson, Gus Demo, Bill Murphy, and John Gray.
See also
*
Squonk
The squonk is a mythical creature that is reputed to live in the hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania in the United States.
Origins
Although the earliest written account of the squonk was from the 1910 book '' Fearsome Creatures of the Lumb ...
*
Hugag
In American folklore, the hugag is a fearsome critter resembling a hippopotamus with an extensive upper-lip, preventing it from grazing, and joint-less legs preventing it from lying down.
Name usage
The word hugag well predates its usage as a te ...
*
Fearsome critters
In North American folklore, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1982.) ...
*
Legendary creatures
A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical account ...
*
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...
References
External links
''Fearsome Creatures Of The Lumberwoods'' (1910) by William T. Cox from HathiTrust Digital Library(PDF)
*
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by Tim Cassidy (Pixel Issue #8, Pg. 17)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With A Few Desert And Mountain Beasts
1910 books
Fantasy books