Sometimes, you just need to get away and do something fun. Last month, Rhonda and I drove north to the logging boomtown of Rhinelander Wisconsin in search of a mythical creature from the Northwoods — a fearsome 4-legged beast resembling a large razor-backed ox with a row of sharp spines down its back, spearlike claws, and a blunt cranium capped by a pair of curved bull-horns. Its razor-sharp large sabertooth-like fangs accentuate its massive ox head, leaving little doubt that this is a carnivore. We were on the hunt for the Hodag. Our guide that day was Kerry Bloedorn, Northwoods historian, TV personality, radio show host, print columnist, and the most famous Hodag hunter in northern Wisconsin.
Kerry is a long-time Rhinelander area resident whose roots in Northern Wisconsin go back multiple generations. He is the Director and Curator of Rhinelander’s Pioneer Park Historical Complex, host of WJFW 12’s “Connecting the Dots” program and “A Northwoods Moment in History” on WXPR Public Radio, and writes history and feature articles for The New North Magazine. Kerry met us bright and early on Monday, April 22 at the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center. The Viz center’s entrance is guarded by a massive fiberglass sculpture of the Hodag itself. Rhinelander’s Ice Arena is home to two massive Hodags of their own, one just inside the entrance, and the other, a huge Hodag head whose red eyes light up while smoke blows (presumable whenever a goal is scored) located in the corner just off the ice. All three created by artist Tracy Goberville.
Kerry informed us that the Hodag was born from the ashes of cremated oxen, a reincarnation of these logging camp animals that had led an unusually hard life. Reportedly, the Hodag will cast its shadow upon every person who witnesses it. The history of the Hodag is strongly tied to Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where it was claimed to have been discovered. The Hodag has figured prominently in early folklore of the Wisconsin timber camps and fit in the popular ghost stories told around the campfires.
According to Viz center literature, the Hodag was first described by newspapers in 1893 as having “the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end.” In the 1939 book Paul Bunyan Natural History by Charles E. Brown, “The black Hodag (Bovinus spiritualis) lived in the dense swamps of the Rhinelander region,” and that it “fed on mud turtles, water snakes and muskrats, but it did not disdain human flesh.” In his 1939 book Fearsome Critters, Henry H. Tryon wrote that it was a “distressingly ugly animal” prone to “frequent fits of bitter weeping” at its upsetting appearance. But the Hodag has a weakness — lemons. Just two lemons can fend off an entire herd, Tryon claimed. “This fellow can’t endure being laughed at,” Tryon wrote. “When angry, he is fierce and dangerously aggressive.”
Kerry Bloedorn leads his “Hodag Heritage Bus Tour” from the Pioneer Park Historical Complex, a full-sized replica of a rugged logging camp that houses the oldest logging museum of its kind in the country. The museum opens this week (May 25) and includes six other museum buildings, as well as outdoor exhibits including its famous “5 Spot” Logging Train, and the official Hodag exhibit of Rhinelander containing several full-size Hodag specimens. There is no doubt, that it would be easy to spend a day in the Pioneer Park complex. Kerry is not only a Hodag expert, he is well versed in the history of northern Wisconsin and its timber industry. The walls of the museum are lined with ancient metal axes, saws, blades, knives, and utensils used by the lumberjacks.
The display includes a recreation of a lumberjack bunk bed. Kerry explained, “When newsmen came way out here in the woods to take pictures of the lumberjacks, they were surprised to see them clean-shaven. That’s because these cabins were overrun with lice, so they shaved clean to prohibit the spread of lice. The newsmen went back to the office and drew beards on the men in their photos for effect.” When asked about those news reports, Kerry states with a grin, “Yes, those same reporters wrote stories of the Hodag. Trouble was, those reports were instigated by a legendary Wisconsin land surveyor, timber cruiser, and prankster named Eugene Shepard.” Kerry continued, “Gene was a real estate scout charged with selling these properties after the timber was removed. The landowners paid for the ground several times over by harvesting the trees, so they hired Gene to find new owners and get rid of the land.”
“Gene used to make the rounds of the logging camps, which only lasted 3 or 4 months before they moved on and built another, telling the loggers stories and tales of the Hodag.” Kerry stated, “Finally, Gene decided to use the Hodag as a gimmick to draw tourists to Rhinelander. He rounded up a group of his friends and set out to capture the animal. Shepard reported that they brought along dynamite to kill the beast.” A photograph of the charred beast was released to the media, whose stories described it as “the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth. It became extinct after its main food source, all white bulldogs, became scarce in the area.” Shepard claimed to have captured another Hodag in 1896, this one alive. Shepard claimed that he and a bunch of bear wrestlers placed a chloroform soaked rag on the end of a long pole, stuck it into the cave of the creature, and knocked it out.
Kerry drove us to the old Chicago Northwestern Railroad Depot and explained, “Gene and his sons used to greet visitors as soon as they got off the train and invite them over to the Shepard house on Pelham Street to see a ‘real live Hodag’ for 2 bits a peek. Gene would tell folks to wait as he entered the garage (where the Hodag was kept chained up).” After a few minutes of screaming, growling histrionics emanated from inside the building, “Gene would emerge after he changed clothes, allegedly tattered, dirty, and torn by the beast, and tell them the Hodag was in a foul mood but they could look through the slats of the building to see him. Gene was a real character.” Gene’s original house is long gone, now a part of the Episcopal Church’s Guild Hall.
Kerry drove us through town pointing out Hodags as we passed. There are stained glass Hodags, concrete Hodags, fiberglass Hodags, Hodags on the water tower, and Hodags on the city buildings and vehicles. The trash truck has a Hodag, the water treatment plant has a Hodag, the firetruck has a Hodag, and the doors of the police cars are decorated with a Hodag logo. Heck, we even met a police officer (in Hodag Park no less) who proudly showed us the shoulder patch of his uniform…featuring a Hodag. Kerry is the founder of the Hodag Heritage Festival every May and is active in the Hodag Country Festival, an outdoor country music festival held the second weekend of July. Even the city’s Web site calls itself “The Home of the Hodag.”
While Kerry may be an enthusiastic spokesman for Rhinelander, his passion is the man who started it all: Eugene Simeon Shepard (1854-1923). Kerry explained, “Gene displayed this Hodag at the first Oneida County Fair. Thousands of people came to see the Hodag at the fair in Shepard’s display and in a shanty at his house. Shepard connected wires to it and occasionally moved the creature, typically sending people running. It was very primitive by today’s standards, but back then, it was a sight to see.” Kerry stated that Gene was “walking near the headwaters of Rice Creek…when a shaggy furred, horned animal, 7 feet long and 300 pounds…jumped upon a log and snarled at him.” Ever since, the Hodag became the official mascot of Rhinelander. Our tour guide explained, “The original legend stated that when a logging ox died, a funeral pyre was built and kept burning for 7 continuous years until the spirit of this beast of burden escaped into the forest and manifested as a ferocious pine beast. The Hodag’s coat of skin (or fur) assumed the color of the Ox it had been in life. So it could be brown, or black, or spotted. But Rhinelander High School, which didn’t have an official mascot, started finding itself called the “Hodags” by fans and players from other schools, they adopted the name for themselves in 1918. Since green & white were the school’s colors, the Hodag has been green ever since.”
Kerry stated, “There is another place I want you to see,” as he drove through the streets of Rhinelander, pointing out Hodags everywhere. As we pass a particularly shiny specimen, a bedazzled Hodag, Rhonda yelled, “Stop! I need my picture next to this one!” After the laughter died down, we continued our short journey and pulled up in front of the Hodag Store (538 Lincoln St. in Rhinelander, www.thehodagstore.com/s/shop). I found it satisfying that the Hodag store is located at the corner of Lincoln and Shepard Streets named after Gene and, well you know. Kerry explains, “This is my buddy Ben Brunell’s store. It used to be a gas station, then an antique shop, and now it’s the only Hodag store in the world.” Unlike many shops that take a name without delivering the product, Ben’s store is 100% committed. It contains over 250 different Hodag items — shirts, magnets, pop, books, postcards, keychains, hats, figures, pencils, stickers, glasses, toys, hoodies, stickers, license plates, hunting permits and even Hodag poop! And behind Ben’s store? The House of Hodags, a Hodag-themed Air BNB!
Kerry stated, “Ben and I go to Cryptid conventions all over the country. We get in heated arguments with the Big Foot people all the time because they claim Hodags are real even after we tell them otherwise. But our booths are always popular.” He detailed the “real” history of the Hodag. “Gene wanted to draw attention to the town of Rhinelander. With the help of a woodcarver named Luke Kearney, he made his very own Hodag. They carved the body from wood and covered it with ox hide. They gave it bulging eyes and added twelve cattle horns along its spine. Finally, they added wires so they could move it’s head. Shepard’s sons (Layton and Claude) made growling, hissing sounds while moving the Hodag like a puppet. Shepard’s Hodag was 7 feet long, 30 inches high, black and hairy. It had 12 horns rising along its spine and short legs ending with long claws. Visitors to the exhibit were told that the Hodag ate only white bulldogs, and then only on Sundays.”
Our tour ended at the cemetery. As Kerry drove past the headstones and grave markers of every style, shape, and design, he explained, “This is Forest Home Cemetery. People come here from all over the country to see the grave of John Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy. He was only here for a short time before he died and his wife had him buried here. He has no connection to Rhinelander.” Ironically, not a single Heisman Trophy winner has ever visited his grave. We drove to the back of the boneyard and stopped at a simple marker. “Here’s Gene’s marker. We can get out if you want.” As we stood above the remains of the man who put Rhinelander on the map, Kerry pointed to a fence less than 10 yards away and a building behind the chain link. “That is the last surviving building from the Oneida County Fairgrounds where Gene Shepard displayed his Hodag for all those years. Today it is the Rhinelander Industrial Park on Coon Street, but that barn-shaped building still stands as a reminder. I think it is kind of cool that Gene is buried less than 20 yards from that building. Seems fitting.” Yes, Kerry, just like the Hodag, it is kind of cool.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
