Floyd County Man Finds Much Bigfoot Evidence in His Community

According to reports filed recently at the Bigfoot Field Research Organizations' site (BFRO.net), a Floyd County man has found quite a bit of evidence of Bigfoot activity in the area near Rome and Cedartown.
The man has taken his wife and daughter with him on several hunting trips. On one occasion, he and his wife found tracks. They alarmed his wife so that she wanted to leave the area immediately.
After contacting BFRO investigators, the gentleman was told about tree-knockings and advised to try to communicate with the animals in that manner. On the trip where he tried this, his daughter, who does not believe in the existence of these creatures, or did not at that time, accompanied him.  He did try woodknocking and got quite a response.  Read his reports at the BFRO website:
http://bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=29318
http://bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=29530

This area is growing, but there are still quite a few rural parts in Floyd County. These are interesting reports.

The Haunted Pillar in Augusta

One of the best pieces of folklore in the state comes from the city of Augusta. For those that don't know, Augusta is often called Georgia's "Second City" for various reasons. It was the second city founded in Georgia, and it was the second capital of Georgia.  It is one of the state's largest cities; I believe, in fact, it is the second-largest city in the state by population behind Atlanta. So, its reputation as the "Second City" is well-earned.
The folklore of which I speak focuses on a pillar that currently stands at the corners of Fifth and Broad Street near downtown.  That is not the original location of the pillar.  It once stood in the old Market Square area.  While there are many stories about how the pillar was built and who subsequently laid the famous "curse" upon it, most of the sources I have read seem to indicate that the most credible one deals with an evangelist who visited the city in 1829.  He preached in the Market Square district and demanded that the town build him a church from where he could preach the "gospel."  Unfortunately for the preacher, the town did not have the kind of faith in him and his ministry that he thought they should have, and he was mocked by the local residents.  Further stoking the flames, a local magistrate came and told him he was forbidden from preaching there any longer.  It was said that the "man of the cloth" was so angered by these events that he cursed all those within hearing distance of him and said that soon a great wind would come through and rip apart the town, undoubtedly the judgement of the Almighty.  No one knew what became of the preacher, but almost fifty years later, a twister did indeed strike Augusta and did great damage to the Market Square on February 8, 1878.  The hand of the Lord at the behest of the evangelist's curse-perhaps!!!
Shortly afterwards, a local merchant by the name of Theodore Eye purchased the pillar and had it moved to its current location. While nothing out of the ordinary happened to Mr. Eye, events that came afterwards were a bit unnerving.  It is said that there have been a number of automobile accidents involving the pillar, and that more than a few times has lightening struck the concrete structure.  You know what they say?  Lightening never strikes twice in the same place.  That is obviously not true for Augusta's haunted pillar.
A local story is also told about a cotton truck that struck the pillar in the 1950s. The truck almost demolished the pillar, and when a local resident claimed a piece of the pillar's remains as a keepsake, he fell ill and did not recover until he took the piece back.  Others have photographed the pillar (it was rebuilt after the cotton truck accident) and they claim to see orbs and what can be described as illustrations of energy surrounding the pillar. Others claim that they hear footsteps walking to and from the stone mass.  This is said to be the famed preacher who cursed the pillar returning to it to see who might be standing near the object of his curse.
According to Scott A. Johnson in The Stately Ghosts of Augusta, the pillar has been moved four times, and three other times, it has been almost completely demolished. Those responsible for its moving and its near destruction were unharmed and to his knowledge, still are or lived out their days normally.  Much lore has grown from this famous pillar. Stories told in Augusta include the deaths of those associated with damage or desire to damage the pillar. None of those stories hold any truth. This pillar is indeed legendary. It is a local landmark, and I hope it remains such, if for nothing else than to serve as a reminder of how local legend and folklore can be deeply rooted in a community's history.

The above photo is courtesy of www.waymarking.com.

Were Georgia's Creek Indians Originally From Western Mexico?

I love studying the ancient tribes of Georgia, as well as the historic tribes that existed in Georgia after the European contact.  I have enjoyed reading Max White's The Archaeology and History of the Native Georgia Tribes.  White is a professor of anthropology and archaeology at Piedmont College in the Georgia Mountains.  This book takes the readers back to the PaleoIndian cultures that existed in the state. 
More recently, I have been exploring a website called Lostworlds.  It is located at http://www.lostworlds.org/.  The site is maintained by professors from Georgia State University and was created by a former graduate student there who did his master's thesis documentary on archaeology-related topics in Georgia.  The site focuses on the ancient and native cultures of Georgia and Florida.  One recent posting on the site discusses evidence that Creek Indians of Georgia could have originated in Western Mexico. Among the pieces of evidence they site are pottery connections, mound connections, and effigies.  The article is at this link, and they do such a wonderful job that I would rather you read it straight from the source.

http://lostworlds.org/muskogee-creek-indians-west-mexico/

New Bigfoot Forum Blog Site Features An Interview With Me About My Book, Bigfoot in Georgia

I was very proud to be asked by the creators and moderators of a new blog on Bigfoot to be one of their first interviews.  This arises from my 2010 book, Bigfoot in Georgia.  Here is the link to the blog site:

http://bigfootforums.blogspot.com/2011/11/georgia-history-professor-tackles-topic_07.html


Please check out the site and comment if you will. My sincere thanks goes to the moderators who asked me to be part of this online adventure!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

This is the fourth Halloween that I have had the blog, and I do appreciate all of my readers and followers at Georgia Mysteries!!!  The Atlanta Ripper book is doing great.  Check out Barnes and Nobles, Books A Million, and Amazon to get your copy today.  The other three I have written are still available online!  Let me know if you are in metro Atlanta and I can help you find them at a local bookstore.  Happy Halloween, and KEEP READING!!!!

Legends/Hauntings at Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon

For quite some time, visitors to the Ocmulgee National Monument, better known as the Indian Mounds in Macon, have talked about the strange feelings they get there. In fact, the daughter of a friend mentioned that on top of the big mound she felt someone or something pull her hair. When she looked around, no one was standing near her.  Her sister and aunt were nowhere near her on the mound.
My young friend was not the first, nor will she be the last to hear strange sounds and feel presences that cannot be seen at the mounds. In fact, as early as the late 1700s, traders who passed through the area and camped near the mounds heard shrieks and cries in the night.  Many have reported hearing voices and seeing images that disappeared in to thin air.  Not long ago, the late Sam Lawson, a former ranger at the mounds and adjunct professor at Georgia Military College, was locking up the visitors center at the park.  While closing the doors, he heard the laugh of a child.  His first thought was that a child had been left inside.  A complete search of the building turned up nothing.  A fellow ranger helped him search, and she too found no one.  Later, Lawson recounted his story to the gift shop manager who said that she had also heard a child's laughter in the visitor's center, but that upon inspection, no child could be found.  The two felt that there might be something to the story.
Ranger Sylvia Flowers told the author of Ghosts of Macon that throughout the years, a legend has floated around about a white and black dog being seen on the property by visitors and staff.  Lawson also mentioned that he had heard the stories, and that some have even approached the white dog only to have it vanish before their very eyes.  At one time, a Samuel Dunlap lived near the mounds and he owned a white dog. Perhaps the spirit of this dog has been left behind?  There is also a Creek legend about a large black dog that is often times spotted at ceremonial sites like Ocmulgee, and that this dog is a spirit guard placed there to protect the sacred site.
On another occasion, visitors to the mounds reported seeing a man dressed in what they thought was a Confederate uniform.  Since the mounds were the site of fighting in Georgia during the war, particular The Battle of Dunlap Hill, some reenactments have been staged there. The group thought that this was just a docent awaiting a reenactment of sorts, and they thought nothing of it, that is, until they were told no one was there that day wearing a Confederate uniform and the staff was unaware that anyone would be.  Perhaps the spirit of a dead Confederate solider is also wandering around the mounds?
The Ocmulgee National Monument is a fascinating place.  I take my Georgia History classes from the college there at times. This past summer, my class from our Madison campus visited. Although we were there in the hot July sun, the students loved it. They commented that this trip was one they were glad they took, and some even commented that they were going to bring their children back as soon as they could.  Perhaps they will see the spirits that keep vigil at one of the oldest settlements in the Peach State!

Who Built the Stone Wall on top of Fort Mountain in Murray County?

I have long been interested in the early native tribes of Georgia. As a matter of fact, I am reading Dr. Max White's The Archaeology and History of the Native Georgia Tribes now in an effort to learn more about the Paleoindians, Archaic Period inhabitants, Woodland Indians, Mississippians, and the recent tribes in Georgia (Creek and Cherokee).  One of the greatest mysteries from the past in Georgia that relates to native tribes, or possibly does, is the story of the stone wall atop Fort Mountain in Murray County.
On the mountain, there is what looks like a stone wall made with rocks and other stones. It was once thought that the wall was built for defense by some tribe that occupied the mountain. However, there is no water source to be found inside the wall, and this would make those being defended by the wall more vulnerable than if the wall were not there.  So this has been ruled out.
What is most interesting about this story is the Cherokee legend that is told in an attempt to answer who and why.  Apparently, the Cherokees talk about a race of people with "moon-shaped eyes" who arrived in their homeland and constructed the wall.  They were said to live underground, be nocturnal, and wear beards.  Who were these people.  Some have answered that question with another legend, this one of Prince Madoc of Wales.  This legend focuses on a Welsh prince who sailed from Europe in the 12th century, some two hundred plus years before Columbus.  He never returned to his homeland, but native legend tells of a race of fair-skinned men who landed near Mobile Bay and traveled inland, all the while making contact with native peoples, and, in some places, building forts, including the one on Fort Mountain.
There are quite a few legends about Fort Mountain. Some say that Hernando De Soto built the wall while in the area as protection from the Creeks. Others say that a tribe of natives used it as an observatory.  There is a Georgia Historical Marker there that discusses the mystery behind the wall.  Check it out at:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11590

There is also a great site about ancient civilizations in Georgia, and it can be found at:
http://lostworlds.org

                                                           (photo courtesy of lostworlds.org)
This is one of the most interesting mysteries of early Georgia.