Return of the Michigan Dogman

Posted on by farlane
Dogman at the Shop n Save by Brauer Productions

Dogman at the Shop n Save by Brauer Productions

The Dogman of Michigan is a spooky Michigan tale that’s near & dear to my heart…

Several years ago, Michigan Public Radio talked with Rachel Clark of the Michigan History Center about the legend of Michigan Dogman . She shared that the tale dates all the way back to the 1880s when two Wexford County lumberjacks saw a creature they described as having a man’s body and a dog’s head:

“So, the early reports are usually of men working in the woods who encounter this beast during their time there. And then over the years, it’s a lot of times people who are again alone, either on an isolated road or the woods,” Clark said. “Their encounters are very similar though. They do talk about this beast coming out of the woods, it is very agile, it jumps in front of their car or in front of them. It scratches at their houses or their tents.”

Most of the original reports came from logging camps. In the 1870s, Michigan was the leading white pine lumber producer in the nation. These encounters have been said to scare people to death. Someone recently called OnStar reporting that Dogman ran in front of his car—causing it to flip over.

My two connections with the Dogman are through filmmaker & friend Rich Brauer (see below) and the time my son and I were driving through the pine barrens near Fife Lake in Northern Michigan when we saw a weirdly tall black creature like a wolf or huge dog cross the road ahead of us on all fours. The legs appeared to be about 50% longer than a wolf or dog – very freakish. There are a bunch of ORV trails there and we briefly considered driving in to follow it before realizing we very much did not want to do that.

My friend Rich Brauer premiered his first Dogman film back in 2012 and followed up with Dogman 2: Wrath of the Litter in 2014. TOMORROW (Saturday, Oct 26) he premiers Dogman 3: Fight to the Finish at Frankfort’s Garden Theatre. Check out the work of Rich & his team at Brauer Productions and enjoy the trailer below!

Almost forgot this post about the Dogman I did back in 2015 with more spooky stuff!

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The Boonies: Harrieta & Boon

Posted on by farlane

The Boonies by Jason Rydquist

The Boonies by Jason Rydquist

Today’s post is a shoutout to Dale, a new Michigan in Pictures supporter who grew up in the Boon/Henrietta area. Thank you Dale!!

Boon is located in the northern Lower Peninsula between Manistee and Cadillac. Over half of the town is situated in the Manistee National Forest, which is primarily rural and wooded area.

Harrietta is a village in Wexford County had a population of 143 at the 2010 census, making it the least populous village in Northern Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1891 with the name of Gaston. It was named Hariette in 1892 and the present spelling was adopted in 1923. Harrietta is a combination of the names of a railroad official, Harry, and that of his wife, Henrietta.

Jason took took this way back in June of 2011. See more in his Wexford County gallery on Flickr.

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April 4th: The Battle for Wexford County

Posted on by farlane

manton-michigan

Main Street in Manton, circa 1915, photo courtesy Seeking Michigan

Battle for Wexford County by Brenda Irish of Seeking Michigan begins:

The fight for the Wexford County seat is a story of bribery, corruption, intimidation, inebriated county officials and the organization of illegal townships to boost votes.

Cadillac’s decade-long struggle for the county seat came to a head on April 4, 1882, when ballots were cast throughout the county to determine whether the coveted prize should be moved from Manton to Cadillac. Twelve months earlier, residents of Cadillac and Manton had united to remove the county seat from Sherman to Manton. Now Cadillac was determined to secure the prize for itself.

Feeling duped by Cadillac, Manton residents were furious. A couple of townships destroyed their ballots, refusing to make a return. But when the “official” count of the April 4 vote was totaled, the results were overwhelming: 1,363 “yes” voters favored moving the county seat to Cadillac, while 309 voted “no.”

In the early dawn following the election, a train left Cadillac with the sheriff and twenty “specially deputized” men and headed to Manton to collect the county property. Legend has it that the train backed quietly into a sleeping Manton, coming to a halt in front of the courthouse. Within a half hour, most of the county records and much of the furniture was aboard the train. As the Cadillac faction attempted to remove the first of three safes from the courthouse, however, Manton residents awoke…

Read on at Seeking Michigan for the contested conclusion and more photos from Wexford County.

More history on Michigan in Pictures.