The
Navidad isn’t really much of a river, as
Texas rivers go –
it’s not very famous and can’t be compared to the
stunning Guadalupe or majestic Colorado, when it comes to
beauty. But the little old Navidad just might have a claim
to fame that the others can’t equal. You see, the Navidad
has a past of mysterious and wild creatures, of the
two-legged variety, living along its winding path. In the early days of Texas, settlers living near the banks of the Navidad, southeast of Hallettsville, were subjected to visits by beings of
unknown origin – several hairy and
stealth-like individuals roamed through the brushy bottoms
of the river – witnesses indicating that there was a male
and female. Many
folks back then were convinced that the male half of the duo
had died and only the female remained. She became know as
the “Wild Woman of the Navidad.” In
his book Tales of Old-Time Texas, well-known author
J.Frank Dobie hints that there might have even been three of
the creatures running together. But many of the old timers
agreed that there had been only two from the beginning.
There were many who speculated on the origin of the
“never-seen” beings. Some thought they were run-away
slaves. But as Dobie writes, “To settlers living against
the deep woods and dense brush along the Navidad River no
explanation was conclusive.” From
about 1836 through 1845, folks were still unsure if the
surviving creature was male or female. One settler, Samuel
Rogers, saw three sets of tracks in the spring of 1845.
Indicating that instead of one person, as previously
thought, there might have been three individuals of
suspicious origin. So
now there was a group of “wild people.” Rogers had a
hired man by the name of Hall who also had misadventures
with the creatures. Hall claimed that they had taken one of
his trace chains. Shortly after this incident, only one set
of tracks were seen in the area and again folks began to
speculate that two of the wild people had died. From the
size of the remaining tracks, they decided that the living
subject was a male. The
wild man would take what he needed from the farms in the
area. He would slip into the fields and steal potatoes. In
his journal Rogers wrote, “When the corn was in roasting
ear he would come nearly every night to get a supply.”
Rogers along with some of his neighbors came close to
catching the wild creature once and during the chase he
dropped a basket containing various items. Rogers added this
entry in his journal, “This [basket] contained a shirt of
mine, a novel, a Bible, and many other articles taken from
the house. The shirt had been torn and then the rent sewed
up as skillfully as any woman could have sewed it.” After
the near capture of the wild man, the settlers decided to
get serious about hunting him down. Eight of them searched
along the junction of the Navidad and Sandies Creek. They
didn’t find him but they did find places where he had been
hiding out. “One of them was a live oak that forked about
30 feet above the ground. This fork formed kind of a flat
place on which he could lie down and sleep,” said Rogers. Depending
on what source you are reading, you will find back-and-forth
opinions on whether or not the wild creature was male or
female. I think many like to believe that it was a woman for
some romantic notion and the like. In J. Frank Dobie’s
book, he indicates that in the late 1830s there were reports
that the being was indeed a woman. According to Dobie,
settlers on the lower Navidad began to see tracks of two
human beings. Indications were that one was male and the
other a female with small delicate feet. Various
sources indicate that these individuals avoided any real
mischief and stayed secluded. They only took small portions
of food and the settlers tolerated this practice. Dobie
includes in his book a narrative by one of the residents
living along the river who came in contact with the wild
people. Martin M. Kenney kept a record of what he witnessed.
Kenny surmised that the two mysterious ones were lost
children who had become separated from the family during the
evacuation of the area by folks running from the invading
Mexican army in 1836. In
his account, Kenney indicates that the larger tracks
disappeared and only those of the “wild woman” remained.
Folks believed her to be harmless but they still wished to
capture her and take her back to the civilized world. The
opinion being that she was a lost white child. Kenney wrote
that she was seen once, during a failed attempt to ambush
her, and he described it this way: “The night was dark and
they could only see a shadowy form. It was slim and
apparently unclothed, but the color could not be
distinguished. “They
sprang out to seize her, but, though they were active young
men, she was more agile still, and bounded away as silently
and quickly as the flitting of a shadow, and was instantly
lost in the darkness.” The
wild woman struck fear into the hearts of the slaves back
then. The referred to her as “it” or “that thing that
comes.” It has been written that she could walk right past
guard dogs, during the night, and they wouldn’t bark or
disturb her in any way. She would go into a house and take
bread and other food, always leaving half. If the creature
took tools or any other item, she always returned them clean
and in better shape than when she obtained them. But
just as had happened in the past, the question about the
gender of the mysterious one came up again. It seems that in
the severe winter of 1850, fresh tracks were found once more
and this time the scent was fresh. The settlers put hounds
on the trail and the wild being was forced to climb a tree.
Looking down on his pursuers was a run-away African male –
he was so frightened that he wouldn’t come down and the
men had to climb the tree and take him by force. J. Frank Dobie indicated in his book that the man’s tracks matched those found before – the same footprints that were thought to belong to the woman. The story goes that the “wild man” had been sold to slave traders by his parents and was shipped to this country. A passing sailor who knew the language of the man’s tribe was able to communicate with him and learned that he and another man had escaped from the ship somewhere near a large river. His companion perished at some point and he was left alone.
Folks
estimated that he must have been brought across the sea
between 1820 and 1830 – part of his youth was spent
roaming the region around the Navidad and Sandies Creek.
Slavery still existed after his capture and the wild man was
sold at public auction. With the abolishment of slavery, he
was set free and was said to have remained in his newfound
home. The wild woman was never again heard of and the legend
of her existence passed into history.
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