A Wild Girl in the Swamp 1855

Below is an interesting news story taken off the syndicated telegraph wire and published by the Los Angeles Star on October 13, 1855:

A Wild Girl in the Swamp

The people of Eaton County, Michigan, have been excited for some time past by the story that a wild girl has been seen wandering in a swamp near the town of Chester. The Eaton Republican gives a long account of the circumstances which seem to prove that some lost child has been changed into a savage, and wanders in a wild condition in the forest. The people had turned out en masse to search for this strange creature, and for more than a week, the pursuit has been kept up.

The Detroit Tribune says, "The girl is described as a white child, apparently of seven or eight years old, with long hair, dressed in what seems to have been once a light colored gown, now very much torn and soiled, and something like an old sun bonnet on her head. School children report having seen the wild girl at various times, on the outside of the swamp, into which, however, she invariably disappeared.

Inquiry has failed to discover that any child has ever been lost in that vicinity, and some of the people are disposed to pronounce the whole affair a delusion or a hoax, but as these reports have been made, in some cases, by children of an age, judgment and character to be respected, the largest portion of the people think there must be something in the matter, of sufficient importance to demand attention.

Handbills have been issued offering a $50 reward for the capture of the child, and the swamp in which the singular creature must be concealed has been thoroughly and repeatedly scoured by the citizens, but without success. Foot prints, however, were discovered, plainly enough to convince those in search that a child had been wandering barefoot through the swamp, and a place was found which was believed to be the sleeping place of the child —a dry, comfortable place, underneath the roots ot a tree.

The swamp contains about forty acres, is quite wet and miry, and rendered nearly impassable by a dense growth of underbrush, but there are roads all around it. and quite a number of cleared fields in its vicinity. At last accounts, an Indian, somewhat noted for his sagacity and intelligence, together with a half-breed friend, had commenced a cautious and deliberate search for the wanderer. 

By next week, we hope to be able to inform our readers whether this story of the lost child is a premeditated hoax, a childish delusion, or a sad reality."

--- end of news story. 

The "Swamp Girl" hoax is today a common urban legend told around campfires. Yes, more or less just a folklore story. While folklore refers to the traditional beliefs, legends, and customs of a people, urban legends are a specific type of folklore that involves stories passed down about unusual or scary events. Those stories are often presented as true, but lack any sort of real, verifiable evidence. Of course, as with most folklore, there are different versions to these stories depending on the region where the story is being told and who is telling the story.

It's a very popular and well-circulated urban legend in the Southern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The core of the urban legend is said to be a woman, or spirit, often called "The Swamp Girl" or a similar name, who roams around in a swamp. Supposedly, she haunts a swamp in search of a child. 

The most common thread is that it's a woman. Some versions say she's lost, abandoned, in search of her lost child, grieving the loss of a child, or involved with seeking revenge for being left to die in the swamp. Some versions suggest her child drowned in the swamp, while others say her child was kidnapped by Indian Warriors.  And yes, there are even versions that warn listeners to stay out of swamps. But if you are dumb enough to enter and say, "I have your baby" three times, then she will attack you. Imagine that. A ritual saying, "I have your baby" three times, to trigger the Swamp Girl's attack. 

The specific details of "The Swamp Girl," her age, what she's wearing, if she's searching for her child, her child's fate, and having to recite the triggering ritual in a specific manner, all change and vary from region to region. And yes, the story's "facts" also change from one storyteller to another. It is said that such stories have been around for a long time because this type of folklore has something to do with our anxieties regarding swamps, the unknown of what may be found there, or what has disappeared there. 

So, how long has "The Swamp Girl" tale been around? 

Well, while the 1855 newspaper report above came out of the Northeast and not the South, where "The Swamp Girl" urban legend is supposedly fairly common, the 1855 news story just shows us how such hoaxes were well circulated around the country even back in the day. Also, the age of "The Swamp Girl" is much younger than other versions. In the 1855 story she's a young girl instead of an older woman, and in the case of the "Wild Girl in the Swamp" story, readers have no clue how she ended up in the swamp or why she hides there. That just adds to that mystery of the story. 

Tom Correa