Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Legends of the Okefenokee

I am sure lots of people have read Jim Miles' book, Weird Georgia, by now. In the book, he includes a story about supposed giants that lived in the heart of the Okefenokee Swamp. Legend has it that there are some buried in mounds on islands in the swamp.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating Bigfoot stories in Georgia and Florida stems from this area. While this story "crosses" the line in to Florida a little, it is still part of Bigfoot lore in Georgia. The story goes that in 1829, two men and a younger man journeyed in to the Okefenokee in search of the giants that were said to live there. Once there, they spotted a huge footprint, something that scared them. They decided to leave the swamp. Once they returned to civilization, they told of their finding. This attracted attention.
In response to the story, nine hunters, all from Florida, journeyed in to the swamp in search of the giants themselves. After about two weeks, the party ran in to what they were looking for one evening as they were making camp. They fired a round or two from their guns, and the creature drew close to see what had invaded his area. Upon seeing the hunters, he attacked in the night. They fired on it, but before the struggle was over, it had killed five of the party by twisting off their heads. The other four were able to kill it, and upon inspecting the creature, they found it to be over 13 feet long.
This is perhaps one of the most hair-raising tales of this type in Georgia. I am now looking for the names of these people. If you have heard this story before, or at least know where the names of the individuals in the story may be found, please let me know.