Author Denver Michaels

The following article appeared in an 1828 edition of the Western Souvenir . It tells the story of a Shawnee chief and a domesticated mastodon. The chief who took in an orphaned mastodon and had a friend for life: “The young calf, deprived of his maternal sustenance and care, wandered up the valley of the Ohio, into the neighbourhood of a village of the ancient Shawanese. He was discovered by the chief of the tribe, wandering about the forest, and uttering, from time to time, the most plaintive cries. He was observed occasionally to seize upon the trunks of small trees and saplings, and after some unsuccessful efforts at mastication with his toothless gums, he would quit his hold and continue his wailings. “The Shawanoe understood his condition, and gave him some green corn and other vegetables, which he devoured with a voracious appetite. He manifested a strong feeling of attachment to the chief who had relieved his hunger—followed him to his village, and was fed and sustained by him

Braley Pond is a picturesque body of water in the George Washington National Forest surrounded by the mountains in western Augusta County. This day use area has hiking trails, a campground, picnic area, and the pond is stocked with trout throughout the October–May stocking season. This tranquil setting seems far away from it all—it is a world away from city traffic and the annoyances of daily life—a place to unplug and unwind. But even all the way out here, in the seclusion of the national forest, the evil of the outside world can find its way in. In May 2003, members of the Crips street gang lured nineteen-year-old Christopher Kennedy to Braley Pond and killed him. Kennedy had expressed interest in leaving the gang, and according to court documents, Kenneth E. Jackson, Candace Knott, Kalani Noa and Seth Tinsley feared he might inform the police of their activities and decided to kill him. Court records state: "The defendant [Kenneth E. Jackson] gave Noa and Tinsley an order to

The wife and I spent a few days in West Des Moines, Iowa during the summer of 2022. We stayed in a nice and quiet state park that lies on the banks of the Raccoon River. While we were in the area, we spent a day touring the covered bridges nearby. One of those bridges, the Roseman Bridge, is allegedly haunted. Bridges of Madison County The Madison County, Iowa Chamber of Commerce promotes the covered bridges in the area which lie along the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway: The Covered Bridges Scenic Byway offers visitors a journey into iconic America. Dotting the classic Iowa landscape are the famed covered bridges of Madison County, immortalized in the novel, movie and musical, The Bridges of Madison County . At the county’s center is an authentic and thriving historic town square. Tour the birthplace of legendary actor John Wayne and the only museum in the world dedicated to The Duke. Or explore the Iowa Quilt Museum and quilt shops in the town where Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting

I n a 2014 speech addressing Muslim leaders in Latin America , Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that Muslim sailors discovered the Americas long before Christopher Columbus set sail. “Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the twelfth century,” said Erdogan, “Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus.” He went on to say, “Muslim sailors arrived in America from 1178.” Perhaps his most shocking statement was that “Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast.”  Naturally, most were quick to dismiss Erdogan’s bold claims of pre-Columbian Islamic contact in the New World; it is a radical departure from what our history books tell us. However, he may have been right.  Erdogan was echoing the words of the Islamic scholar, Dr. Youssef Mroueh, who, in 1996, wrote a paper titled “Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas.” In it, Mroueh said, “numerous evidence suggests that Muslims from Spain and West Africa arrived to th

The History Press  released my latest book Strange Tales from Virginia's Foothills to the Coast   on March 13, 2023 .  In the book, I briefly covered the tales of the Bruton Vault. According to legend, the Bruton Vault contains the lost works of Sir Francis Bacon. The vault lies beneath the Bruton Parish church in Colonial Williamsburg. Sir Francis Bacon Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) is an interesting character. Bacon was a statesman, philosopher, and is the father of the scientific method. Some call Bacon “the true founder of America and guardian of her history,” “founder of Freemasonry,” and “guiding light of the Rosicrucian Order.” Additionally, many believe that it was Bacon who wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. Another theory suggests Bacon was the mastermind behind a group of intellectuals that authored the Shakespearean plays. In her book Foundations Unearthed, Marie Bauer Hall wrote: It is revealed that in the authorship of the Shakespeare plays were conc

Lake Tota is the largest lake in Columbia with a surface area of 21 square miles. It reaches a maximum depth of over 200 feet. There have long been rumors of a monster in the lake, which I wrote about in my book Water Monsters South of the Border. The following is an excerpt from the book: The Monster in Muisca Mythology The first known reference to a monster in Lake Tota came from the Spanish conquistador and intrepid explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1509–1579). Quesada had become well acquainted with the beliefs of the indigenous people of the area who spoke of a black monster, said to be a demon, which haunted the waters of Lake Tota. The frightful beast had rendered the waters of the lake impassible. According to local beliefs, Lake Tota was entirely unnavigable. The black monster, or demon, in Lake Tota is a prominent figure in Muisca mythology. In the native tongue, the monster is called “Muyso Akyqake.” 3  The creature was believed to play a role in the origin of Lake Tota.

Horatio Bardwell “H.B.” Cushman (1822–1904) was the son of missionaries to the Choctaw nation. His parents, Calvin and Laura, left their home in Massachusetts in 1820 and moved to Mississippi to minister to the Choctaw people. Cushman, who was raised among the Choctaw, considered them to be his earliest and most faithful friends. Having grown up with the Choctaw, and having a great affinity for them, Cushman became acquainted with their history, legends, and customs. In 1899, he published History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez Indians; the book sheds much light on the traditions of the native inhabitants of the southeastern United States. In his work, Cushman wrote about the Nahullo giants of Choctaw legend. There is also a legend of mammoths and their extinction: An ancient Choctaw tradition attributes the origin of the prairies along the western banks of the Tombigbee River, to some huge animals (mammoths) that existed there at the advent of their ancestors from the west t

According to the Richmond Dispatch , during the early-1890s, a "Hanover lion" was on the loose in the Virginia counties of Henrico and Hanover. According to the paper, local residents “were in a tumult of excitement and dread” after a “lion or tiger had escaped from a menagerie.” Frightened locals tracked down and killed the Hanover lion. But examination of its body revealed it was not a lion or a tiger at all. Instead it was “a huge mastiff, a dog not as common in these parts then as now.” Sadly, the mastiff belonged to a “foreign gentleman” visiting the area who had been searching for his beloved dog when locals shot it to death. Understandably, he was outraged that those who killed his canine friend “did not know how to distinguish between a lion and a dog.” Local papers in the early 1900s referred to this during a rash of sightings of the Dismal Swamp Monster. I discuss this in my new book Strange Tales from Virginia's Foothills to the Coast. Before I deleted my so

Aztec mythology makes it clear that  giants  inhabited the earth in a bygone era.  During the time of the First Sun, the Jaguar Sun, giants inhabited the land but were destroyed by the god Tezcatlipoca when he sent jaguars down to devour them.    Long before Hernán Cortés landed on the shores of the New World, before Spanish chroniclers recorded the feats of the giant Otomi warrior  Tzilacatzin, those mighty men of old— men of renown —were active in Central America in the ancient past. The giants were evil and were hated by both the gods and mankind. Terrible wars were waged against them but the people were never quite able to completely free themselves from the ruthless monsters . The gods became tired of the conflict and unleashed a mighty flood on both the giants and  the people of the earth.     Of course,  it  should be  easy to see the parallels with the account of the Great Flood in the book of Genesis. Here, too, a flood was sent to wipe out both humanity and the gia

Land Between the Lakes is a beautiful piece of protected land in Kentucky and Tennessee . According to rumor this area may hold a frightening beast. Known as the monster of Land Between the Lakes, this creature might be a Bigfoot, dogman or worse. Wikipedia says the following about Land Between the Lakes: The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area located in Kentucky and Tennessee between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. The area was designated as a national recreation area in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. Originally managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had constructed dams to create the two lakes in this area, the recreation area was transferred to administration of the United States Forest Service. In 1991 it was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere reserve. Some years ago, I learned of the monster of Land Between the Lakes. Eyewitnesses describe the beast in question as wolf-like and it fits today’s “dogman” de

I wanted to write a quick post to make an announcement. My mastodon and mammoth book is now available in audio book format. If you are unfamiliar with the title, this a description: Maybe we have it wrong. What if the fantastic stories are true? Could a remnant of mammoths and mastodons have survived into recent times? Were these enormous creatures still roaming the remote regions of North America when European settlers arrived? Do indigenous legends hint at the recent existence of the mammoth and mastodon? Join author Denver Michaels as he delves into folklore and eyewitness accounts to learn the truth about these extinction escapees. My buddy Uncle Perry narrated the book and did an excellent job. I hope you'll check it out. As always with these audio book releases, I have some promo codes for a free book. Hit me up if you want one.

Anthropologist James Mooney (1861–1921) recorded a wealth of stories about Cherokee little people in his book Myths of the Cherokee . One story tells of the Yunwi Tsunsdi, a handsome people with long hair falling to the ground that barely stood tall enough to reach a person’s knee. “They are great wonder workers and are very fond of music, spending half their time drumming and dancing,” wrote Mooney. He continued by saying they “live in rock caves on the mountain side.” According to Mooney, the Yunwi Tsunsdi were kind-hearted and friendly. When people, especially small children, got lost in the mountains, these little people would look after them, care for them, and help them find their way home. Little Helpers Mooney told the following story of the Yunwi Tsunsdi looking after a man who had fallen ill and wandered from his home: During the smallpox among the East Cherokee just after the war one sick man wandered off, and his friends searched, but could not find him. After several wee

The tales of the Conneaut Giants have fascinated me for years. So, when I spent three weeks in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in October 2021, I visited their old stomping grounds. One place I visited was Indian Mound Metropark in Conneaut, Ohio. The park is heavily-wooded. A trail cuts through the forest as it follows parts of Conneaut Creek. Being a pet-friendly park, and I took my dogs along with me to explore. We had the place to ourselves and it was a great visit on a beautiful 73-degree autumn day. Nothing to See! I have to say, the park was a little disappointing. Given the name of the park, Indian Mound Metropark, one might expect to see a mound or perhaps several mounds on the grounds. This was not the case. Though site is an archaeological treasure trove and an enormous earth work once stood here—you will not find mounds and earthworks here. Although it was disappointing to not be able to see any mounds or earthworks during my visit (except for maybe a remnant of an old embankment