Michigan dogman

Origins

Legend in Michigan tells of a bizarre wolf-like creature that is said to appear in various Michigan in the seventh year of each decade (although recent sightings appear to refute this timeline). It has been a frightening part of local folklore for over a century. Described as a half-man, half dog (or wolf) by various accounts, it is an animal undocumented by science, yet has been seen and photographed by scores of individuals. It has been categorized by cryptozoologists as a "Hairy Hominid" or "Upright Canid." Creatures in this sub-species include a variety of hybrid creatures such as Bigfoot, Yeti, Skunk Ape, etc. Each exhibits human characteristics such as walking upright at least part of the time, but each also bears unmistakable animal traits, such as a body that is covered by fur.

The dogman legend has been around in various forms for thousands of years, and appears in Native American lore among disparate tribes who lived or traveled through the upper midwest. The Ottawa/Chippewa tribes in particular speak of a race of hybrid humans known as 'shapeshifters,' who could transform themselves into any number of animal forms at will.

The dogman has never been reported to be actively violent or predatory, although its presence can be menacing and disturbing to witnesses.

=="The Legend"==

In popular culture, the story was revived in 1987 with the release of a song entitled "The Legend," written and performed by Steve Cook, a radio station announcer at WTCM radio in Traverse City, Michigan. Originally released on April 1st, 1987, the song details sightings of the creature in Northwest Lower Michigan. Each of the verses describes human encounters with the animal in each decade from 1887 through 2007, always occurring the seventh year of the decade.

The song was very popular locally for several weeks, but was catapulted into national prominence following an "attack" on a remote cabin near Luther, Michigan in July of 1987. Deep claw marks around the doors and windows of the wooden structure suggested an aggressive animal had attempted to enter, but investigating officers from the Lake County Sheriff and the US Forest Service could only find tracks of a large dog. Newspaper reporters Mark Merentette of the Cadillac (Michigan) Evening News and Jim Mancarelli of the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press covered the story, and connected the attack to the seventh-year prophecy made in the song. Mancarelli's story was picked up by the Associated Press, and reprinted in newspapers across the nation, including USA Today. Paul Harvey mentioned the coincidence in his daily "News and Comments" broadcast a few days later.

In the early 1990s, a rash of sightings of a similar creature were reported in southeastern Wisconsin, near the community of . The majority of these sightings were centered near Bray Road, and were chronicled by reporter Linda Godfrey in The Week, a newspaper based in Walworth County. Godfrey went on to become one of America's foremost authorities on werewolf lore, authoring several books on the topic, including The Beast of Bray Road, and Hunting the American Werewolf.

In the decades since the song's release, author Steve Cook has collected scores of sighting reports, many of which included photographs and other evidence. In 2006, Cook acquired a reel of 8mm film which contains several scenes which may show the actual transformation of the creature from human to canine. Called "The Gable Film" because of a paper tag which was attached to it when it was found, the sequences caused a firestorm of controversy when portions of it were shown publicly on the internet for a brief period in 2006. The film has since been digitally remastered and enhanced, then studied by several film and wildlife experts. The results of that study have been released in a documentary entitled "Encounters - The Evidence," which is included in "The Legend - Legacy Edition" CD/DVD set.

=="Year of the Dogman"==
Michigan's Dogman has also appeared in recent fiction. Inspired by the song "The Legend" and based upon collected stories and accounts from this legendary folklore, the novel Year of the Dogman has been very popular in the region since its release in July 2007.

The action of Year of the Dogman by Northern Michigan author Frank Holes, Jr. centers around the encounters with this nocturnal creature that occur in 2007 in the deep woods of Northern Michigan. Part mystery, part science fiction horror, this novel delivers the reader into the wild world of cryptozoology and the horrific encounters with a beast that leaves the forest to prey on the small, fictional village of Twin Lakes in Northern Michigan. When night falls, Dogman scares the living daylights out of anyone it happens upon as it searches for a timeless treasure stolen from a Native American tribe.

A brief description from the back jacket of the novel which gives a typical description of the beast:

"The creature was not a wild dog, nor a wolf or coyote, and truly not a werewolf, at least not in terms that Hollywood always sets on such creatures of myth. Its emergence had nothing to do with the full moon. Like any other nocturnal predator, it hid during the day and was active at night. It did not fear crucifixes, garlic, wolf’s bane, or any other of the infamous remedies made famous in the movies. It could not be killed by silver bullets, or regular bullets for that matter. It was a supernatural combination of an otherworldly specter and a wild, ravenous creature. Though it had the appearance of a gigantic, wild canine, it had many humanlike characteristics too. Its paws were more like hands, and it could stand up on its hind legs. And probably the worst of all, its muzzle had the unnatural ability to make many of the same facial expressions as humans could make."

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