Encounter Atlas
From about 1836, settlers along the Navidad River in south-east Texas, near present-day Sublime, reported food and tools going missing at night. Tools were sometimes returned polished, and only half the food was taken. Some described hair-covered wild people, and enslaved people on nearby farms called the visitor 'the thing that comes'.
In 1851 residents captured a man living in the woods who spoke no English. A former Lavaca County historical marker said he was an African-born man, the son of a chief, who had escaped slavery with a companion who died. He was sold back into slavery and died in 1884. The story was collected by folklorist J. Frank Dobie in 1928.
In recent times the tale has been retold as a Bigfoot story, and a 2008 horror film borrowed its name. The historical record points to a real person surviving alone in the wild.
What witnesses report
- Food taken at night, with half left behind
- Tools borrowed and returned polished
- A hairy figure glimpsed in river woods
Famous cases
- 1836Settlers report night thefts along the Navidad bottoms
Sublime, Texas
Seen the Wild Man of the Navidad?
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