Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Legend of "The Long Dog"
Shared by: Mark Hamblen/David Jannick.
The common threads of evidence in Kingsport about tales of a
mysterious creature sworn to exist by Cherokee Indians and sworn to have
been seen from time to time by most of the early white settlers living
in the valley, up and down the Holston River along the River Road, now known as “Big Elm Road” near Sensabaugh Tunnel.
The creature was legendary even before the first white settlers moved into ...the area.
Cherokee Indians called the creature “Oolonga-Doglalla”, roughly translated as “spirit with knife teeth” and knew it as a ghostly, spirit-like creature that is both part Human and part Dog that roamed the North Fork of the Holston River valley at night, moaning and bellowing and sometimes killing solitary natives at random. Over time, the name was corrupted by the early white settlers into “The Long Dog”, mainly because they couldn’t pronounce Oolnga-Doglalla.
The name “Long Dog” was fitting, in the minds of the white people, because of the common description of the creature by those who had seen it but escaped attack.
The creature was said to lope when it ran, much like a wolverine moves. That is to say, it’s leaping movement brought its hind legs up under its front legs and its back arched at each stride, not unlike the movement of an inchworm. The creature moved this way at slow movement or on the run. The scariest, most terrifying sight was to see the creature moving along in its hideous lope, off to the side, parallel to your path but gaining on you even as you stepped faster and faster to get home before it caught you.
Also, the creature was quite long; some say as long as five or six feet long, fully outstretched. So that seemed to fit the corrupted Cherokee name. It had perhaps the length of a large, stout panther, but did not look like a panther and with a much shorter tail. This creature was said to have yellowish-red, glowing eyes that were clearly fiery looking, glowing in the night. Its breath, and it’s difficult to know how someone smelled its breath and survived, was said to have the acrid smell of burning sulfur. Its hair was not sleek and shiny like a panther; rather it was matted and oily. Tracks found along the riverbank showed great, long, sharp claws.
Yet, even though signs and evidence ascribed to the creature were like those of a living beast, it was known to appear and disappear; to take the form of the “Long Dog” sometimes and yet sometimes transform into a spirit-like, ghostly shape; like that of a “living dead zombie”, or vice versa, for lack of a better description.
Kingsport's Cherokee Dog-Man Spirit That the Cherokee Indians Believed dwell near the North Fork of the Holston River near Sensabaugh Tunnel..................isn't it interesting that centuries after the Cherokee left this region, that our culture also believes that same Sensabaugh Tunnel area to be haunted.Two different cultures in two different centuries, and yet both believe that same area to be haunted. ....ask yourself, what are the odds of that
The creature was legendary even before the first white settlers moved into ...the area.
Cherokee Indians called the creature “Oolonga-Doglalla”, roughly translated as “spirit with knife teeth” and knew it as a ghostly, spirit-like creature that is both part Human and part Dog that roamed the North Fork of the Holston River valley at night, moaning and bellowing and sometimes killing solitary natives at random. Over time, the name was corrupted by the early white settlers into “The Long Dog”, mainly because they couldn’t pronounce Oolnga-Doglalla.
The name “Long Dog” was fitting, in the minds of the white people, because of the common description of the creature by those who had seen it but escaped attack.
The creature was said to lope when it ran, much like a wolverine moves. That is to say, it’s leaping movement brought its hind legs up under its front legs and its back arched at each stride, not unlike the movement of an inchworm. The creature moved this way at slow movement or on the run. The scariest, most terrifying sight was to see the creature moving along in its hideous lope, off to the side, parallel to your path but gaining on you even as you stepped faster and faster to get home before it caught you.
Also, the creature was quite long; some say as long as five or six feet long, fully outstretched. So that seemed to fit the corrupted Cherokee name. It had perhaps the length of a large, stout panther, but did not look like a panther and with a much shorter tail. This creature was said to have yellowish-red, glowing eyes that were clearly fiery looking, glowing in the night. Its breath, and it’s difficult to know how someone smelled its breath and survived, was said to have the acrid smell of burning sulfur. Its hair was not sleek and shiny like a panther; rather it was matted and oily. Tracks found along the riverbank showed great, long, sharp claws.
Yet, even though signs and evidence ascribed to the creature were like those of a living beast, it was known to appear and disappear; to take the form of the “Long Dog” sometimes and yet sometimes transform into a spirit-like, ghostly shape; like that of a “living dead zombie”, or vice versa, for lack of a better description.
Kingsport's Cherokee Dog-Man Spirit That the Cherokee Indians Believed dwell near the North Fork of the Holston River near Sensabaugh Tunnel..................isn't it interesting that centuries after the Cherokee left this region, that our culture also believes that same Sensabaugh Tunnel area to be haunted.Two different cultures in two different centuries, and yet both believe that same area to be haunted. ....ask yourself, what are the odds of that
