Creature record / 1836

The Wild Woman of the Navidad

c. 1836 · Navidad River bottoms, near Sublime, Lavaca County, Texas, United States

22Thinly documented Cryptid Creature 32 sources 8 videos

The lower Navidad River, Texas. In the 1830s, settlers along the river bottoms began finding barefoot tracks only a span long. Food vanished from kitchens at night. Half was always left behind. Borrowed tools came back brightly polished. The enslaved people on the farms had a name for it. "The thing that comes." For about 15 years it stayed out of reach, a slim, shadowy figure that bounded into the dark faster than the young men who tried to seize it. Then, in 1851, a posse with dogs drove the figure up a tree. The Wild Woman of the Navidad was a man. An African, escaped from slavery, who had lived for years in the wilderness.

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Key facts

When	c. 1836 to 1851
Time of day	night
Where	Navidad River bottoms, near Sublime, Lavaca County, Texas,United States
Duration	about 15 years
Witnesses	not recorded
Witness roles	civilians
Found	,physical traces
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	none recorded
Status	undisputed

The creature

A slim, apparently unclothed figure seen only as a shadowy form in the dark, its colour impossible to make out. Its barefoot tracks were only a span long, suggesting small, delicate feet. Some described long, flowing hair. It bounded away silently, faster than the young men chasing it, and hid in trees by day.

Sound	no sound
Motion	high speed

The Beast of the Vosges (La Bête des Vosges), 1977 (related)

Context

The Navidad River runs through the bottomlands of Lavaca and Jackson Counties, between the Colorado and Lavaca rivers. In the 1830s, settlers farmed these bottoms with enslaved labour.

Sources (32, most influential first)

Legends of Texas (1924), including Martin M. Kenney, 'The Wild Woman of the Navidad' · Project Gutenberg / Texas Folk-Lore Society· 1924 · Press, book, documentary · book
Wild Man of the Navidad · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki
Texas Historical Marker 5811: Wild Man of the Navidad · Texas Historical Commission· 1970 · Official document · gov doc
Texas State Gazette, 24 June 1854, p. 6 · Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas· 1854-06-24 · Academic / paper of record · news
Wild Woman of the Navidad · Texas Escapes (Murray Montgomery)· 2005-09-13 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog

Reputability

22/100Thinly documented

Keywords

no sound humanoid at night metallic filmed physical trace disappeared police witnesses witness sketches farm witnesses newspaper coverage fast moving object followed animals reacted footprints

People

Old JimboThe man behind the legend, an escaped enslaved African captured in 1850 or 1851 and jailed in 1854
Samuel RogersReverend and settler whose journal recorded three sets of tracks in spring 1845 and the corn raids
Martin M. KenneyAuthor of the main account, 'The Wild Woman of the Navidad', published in Legends of Texas (1924)
J. Frank DobieFolklorist and editor of Legends of Texas; leaned toward the wild woman reading
John McHenrySheriff of Lavaca County who placed the 1854 jail notice
Ira Thomas TaylorLocal historian, author of The Cavalcade of Jackson County, who backed the captured man
Myra Hargrave McIlvainAuthor of Shadows on the Land (1984), source of the sailor and companion details
Margaret Kenney KressUniversity of Texas instructor who supplied the Kenney family manuscripts

Names

Bigfoot Cryptomundo