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Wild
Woman of the Navidad
- Page 2
by Murray Montgomery |
Page
1 ... 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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