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The Honey Island Swamp
Monster
Honey Island swamp is unique because
it's one of the least-altered river
swamps in the country. It's pretty
much in its original condition, almost
a pristine wilderness.Take a personalized
narrated nature tour into the 250-square-mile
Honey Island Swamp. Nearly 70,000
acres of it is a permanently-protected
wildlife area--the Nature Conservancy's
First Louisiana Nature Preserve. People
from all over the world now explore
this wildlife sanctuary with him.
Honey Island earned its name because
of the honeybees once seen on a nearby
island. A tract of bottomland timber
lying between the East Pearl and West
Pearl rivers, Honey Island is between
three and seven miles wide and 15
to 20 miles long. It is located 50
minutes from New Orleans in Southeast
Louisiana.
Honey Island has become one of the
most well-known swamps because of
the real or imagined presence of a
creature similar to what others have
called Big Foot.
SWAMP MONSTER DESCRIPTION
Long to short hair on the head. Shorter
hair all over the body. At times head
hair forming bangs some what over
the eyes. Hair color is dingy gray.
5- 8 feet tall and weight 300 or 350
pounds, with long, orange-brown gray
or black hair and big, wide-set orange
amber eyes.
These animals are sometimes described
as having a "mane" of hair,
large broad shouldered. The face is
said to be rather flat. The most prominent
feature described by Ford and others
, is the size and color of the eyes.
They appear to be disproportionately
large , and of an amber color.
Mr. Ford stated that this gave the
animal a "sinister" look.
The tracks , left by the animal ,
appear to be somewhat similar to an
Alligator's rear foot. Upon close
examination , however, it becomes
clear , that this is something different.
In 1974, zoologists from Louisiana
State University (LSU) met with Harlan
Ford to study the plaster casts of
the creature's four-toed footprints.
Crypotozoologist from Washington also
arrived in Louisiana to inspect the
unusual casts. Harlan said, "That
thing stood eye level with me. The
thing that startled me the most, we're
it's large amber eyes." Harlan
was later interviewed in a documentary
called "In Search Of" which
still airs periodically on The Discovery
Channel and other television networks.
Harlan's own personal sighting has
been documented in a book, "Monsters
of North America"
This is a real plaster
cast of the impression of the footprint
of the Honey Island Swamp Monster.
This cast was donated to the Abita
Mystery House by Dana Holyfield, grand-daughter
of Harlan E. Ford, the hunter who
found and cast the tracks. He was
the first man to report a sighting
of the creature and he was also the
first and only man to my knowledge
who poured plaster paris casts of
it's tracks found deep in the swamp.
The Honey Island Swamp is about 25
miles East of the Abita Mystery House.
There are several swamp tours of the
area.
There are four toes visible. There
are three heavily clawed toes , with
prominent knuckles , underneath the
foot. Then... there is the bizarre
thumb like small toe . About an inch
and a half on the cast that I have.
These toes show clearly , that this
animal can grasp with the toes. The
three large toes , are long and slender
, with tendons visible in the prints.
The claws are turned down , and backwards
to grip the loose soil , sand , and
mud. This is reminiscent of a cat
like trait. The skin appears to be
thin on the bottom of the foot , with
tendons showing. In the hostile environment
of the island , thin skin under the
foot would indicate that it didn't
spend a lot of time on the ground.
IN SEARCH OF ST.
TAMMANY, PARISH BIGFOOT
In 1978 the Alan Lamdsburg Company,
producers of the popular TV program,
IN SEARCH OF did a segment on the
Honey island Swamp Monster. This catapulted
the monster into International fame.
Since then there have been many reports
and the program has become a reference
for information on the creature.
http://www.americanmonsters.com/webclips/
Dana Holyfield, grand-daughter of
Harlan Ford, has made a documentary
film about the Honey Island Swamp
Monster. The documentary also includes
footage of a swamp trek that Dana
took into an area where there had
been sightings of the creature. She
found tracks, and shot video of the
tracks. Also included in the documentary
is footage shot by Harlan Ford years
ago in the swamp. There are a few
seconds of footage of a bipedal, hairy
being that is walking behind some
trees.
This book documents sightings of a
mysterious man-like creature that
roams the dense foliage of the Louisiana
Honey Island Swamp, where few men
have ever ventured. Evidence found
(as seen on Discovery Channel's In
Search Of) was studied by reputable
crypto zoologists who claimed that
is was not a hoax.
About the Author
Dana Holyfield grew up in Slidell,
Louisiana. She wrote this book because
it was her grandfather, Harlan Ford,
who first reported the sighting of
the legendary Swamp Monster after
he poured plaster paris tracks. She
has authored many books such as Swamp
Cooking With The River People, More
Swamp Cooking, New Orleans Mardi Gras
Recipes, Cajun Sexy Cooking, Swamp
Tour A Way Of Life On The Bayou, Mermaid
Bayou Legend Of The Fresh Water Lady
Fish, Sexy & Lean Bayou Cuisine.
The footage was recently uncovered
by Dana’s grandmother, Harlan
Ford’s widow. it had apparently
been lying around, gathering dust.
Dana was just given this old footage
earlier this year and has included
it with her documentary.
Is the figure the Honey Island Swamp
Monster?
The
DVD is available on Dana’s website
http://www.angelfire.com/la2/SwampMonster/.
Since hurricane Katrina
people are still seeing the Honey
Island Creature in the wilderness
along the Pearl river on both the
Louisiana and Mississippi sides, as
far as Covington and Hammond to Slidell
and New Orleans East.
The outside world first
learned about Louisiana's Honey Island
Swamp Monster in 1974 when two hunters
emerged from a remote area of backwater
sloughs with plaster casts of "unusual
tracks." The men claimed they
discovered the footprints near a wild
boar that lay with its throat gashed.
They also stated that over a decade
earlier, in 1963, they had seen similar
tracks after encountering an awesome
creature.
They described it as
standing seven feet tall, being covered
with grayish hair, and having large
amber-colored eyes. However, the monster
had promptly run away and also an
afternoon rainstorm had obliterated
its tracks, the men said.
The hunters were Harlan E. Ford and
his friend Billy Mills, both of whom
worked as air-traffic controllers.
Ford told his story on an episode
of the 1970s television series In
Search of . . . . According to his
granddaughter, Dana Holyfield (1999a,
11):
When the documentary was first televised,
it was monster mania around here.
People called from everywhere. . .
. The legend of the Honey Island Swamp
Monster escalated across Southern
Louisiana and quickly made its way
out of state after the documentary
aired nationwide.
Harlan Ford continued to search for
the monster until his death in 1980.
Dana recalls how he once took a goat
into the swamp to use as bait, hoping
to lure the creature to a tree blind
where Ford waited-uneventfully, as
it happened-with gun and camera.
He did supposedly find several, different-sized
tracks on one hunting trip. He also
claimed to have seen the monster on
one other occasion, during a fishing
trip with Mills and some of their
friends from work. One of the men
reportedly then went searching for
the creature with a rifle and fired
two shots at it before returning to
tell his story to the others around
the campfire (Holyfield 1999a, 10-15).
Footprints and other specific details
aside, the Honey Island Swamp Monster
seems part of a genre of mythic swamp-dwelling
"beastmen" or "manimals."
They include the smelly Skunk Ape
and the hybrid Gatorman of the Florida
Everglades and other southern swamps;
the Scape Ore Swamp Lizardman of South
Carolina; Momo, the Missouri Monster;
and, among others, the Fouke Monster,
which peeked in the window of a home
in Fouke, Arkansas, one night in 1971
and set off a rash of monster sightings
(Blackman 1998, 23-25, 30-33, 166-168;
Bord and Bord 1982, 104-105; Coleman
and Clark 1999, 224-226; Coleman and
Huyghe 1999, 39, 56).
FROM ANY DIRECTION: (New Orleans,
Covington, Mississippi and the Gulf
Coast), you must exit Interstate 10
in Slidell at exit 266 (US 190) also
known locally as Gause Boulevard.
Take US 190 East (2 miles) to the
traffic light located at the intersection
of US 190 and Highway 1090 (Military
Road). Turn LEFT. Drive NORTH 1 mile
on 1090 where you will pass over Interstate
10. Immediately, you will come to
the Interstate Service Road. Turn
RIGHT onto the Service Road and follow
it 1.5 miles to its end at the Pearl
River. Parking is on the LEFT. Gift
shop, restrooms and refreshments available
on location.
Honey
Island Swamp Tour Information
Honey
Island Swamp Tours has provided unique,
interpretative boat tours since 1982.
Our business has grown as demand for
the tours has steadily increased.
Use of small boats (both covered and
uncovered) allow us deep access into
the heart of our beautiful honey island
cypress swamp. All boats are Coast
Guard-inspected; and all guides are
licensed, native, professional guides.
http://www.honeyislandswamp.com/histour.html
References
Baker, Robert A. 1995. Afterword to
Nickell 1995, 275-285.
Blackman, W. Haden. 1998. The Field
Guide to North American Monsters.
New York: Three Rivers Press.
Blanchard, Kevin. 2000. Bigfoot sighting
in La.? Baton Rouge, La., The Advocate,
August 29.
Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. 1982.
The Bigfoot Casebook. Harrisburg,
Pa.: Stackpole Books.
Burdeau, Cain. 2000. Many in central
La. fear Bigfoot. Baton Rouge, La.,
The Advocate, September 15.
Byrne, Peter. 1975. Quoted in Guenette
and Guenette 1975, 81.
Cassidy, Frederick G., ed. 1985. Dictionary
of American Regional English. Cambridge,
Mass.: Belknap Press, 1: 333-334.
Charbonnet, Robbie. 2000. Interview
by Joe Nickell, December 4.
Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark.
1999. Cryptozoology A to Z. New York:
Fireside (Simon & Schuster).
Coleman, Loren, and Patrick Huyghe.
1999. The Field Guide to Bigfoot,
Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide.
New York: Avon, 14-19.
Dennett, Michael. 1982. Bigfoot jokester
reveals punchline-finally. Skeptical
Inquirer 7.1 (Fall): 8-9.
Dennis, John V. 1988. The Great Cypress
Swamps. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State
University Press, 27, 108-109.
"Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp
Tours, Inc." N.d. Advertising
flier, Slidell, La.
Ford, Perry. N.d. "The Honey
Island Swamp Monster." Song text
in Holyfield 1999b, 13.
Guenette, Robert, and Frances Guenette.
1975. The Mysterious Monsters. Los
Angeles, Calif.: Sun Classic Pictures.
Holyfield, Dana. 1999a. Encounters
with the Honey Island Swamp Monster.
Pearl River, La.: Honey Island Swamp
Books.
--. 1999b. More Swamp Cookin' with
the River People. Pearl River, La.:
Honey Island Swamp Books.
Krantz, Grover. 1992. Big Footprints:
A Scientific Inquiry into the Reality
of Sasquatch. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson
Books.
Nickell, Joe. 1995. Entities: Angels,
Spirits, Demons, and Other Alien Beings.
Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.
Pickens, Ray. 1975. Quoted in Guenette
and Guenette 1975, 80.
Wagner, Sue. 2000. Interview by Joe
Nickell, December 4. l
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