#MEwx Halloween tale #2: The story of the giant Kennebec River snake.

We live near the Kennebec river in Augusta.  Those who live near rivers in New England know that sometimes weather conditions that involve fog or mist can play tricks on your eyes when you look at the river.

The following tale is compiled from repeated reports of strange things from those who live on the banks of the Kennebec river in Central Maine.  The River cuts through the middle of Maine’s capital City, Augusta, and has been a means of exploration, transportation, trade and movement of military forces for as long as white men have lived in what is known as central Maine. Native Americans of the region lived on its banks, fished in it and traveled it for as long as humans have lived there. 

The Kennebec is much like most rivers in New England, sometimes it’s tranquil, sometimes it floods, it gets dangerous ice damns every spring thaw and even has its own “river creature” legend.

Or is it a legend?

For those who live along the river in the Augusta area, it’s no laughing matter.   

Several times each year, sometimes during the summer, sometimes in late fall, people have reported seeing “The river snake” or, as the native Americans have referred to it the “Great Spirit of the river.”

The “River Snake” is said to be between 40 and 65 feet in length.  When seen, its head has been either barely above water or perched atop at least 10 feet of thick, flexible neck.  Its head is said to resemble that of a horse, only larger with deep-set eyes, slotted nostrils and overlapping, sharp teeth.  When it “sounds” it emits a high-pitched piercing whistle ending in an ear-splitting howl. 

“I’ve heard it three times since we’ve lived near the river, and just thinking about it makes my blood run cold.” Says Ms. Neddie Grogan, a native of Maine who moved to the east bank of the river about 3 miles North of Augusta 13 years ago.  “I only actually saw it once though, 3 years ago in the summer at night during a thunder storm.  Its head was well up out of the river as it swam quickly North.  I got a real good look at it during a double lightening flash.” 

That description is pretty much the same as descriptions you’ll find repeated by native Americans and early settlers to the area.  Modern day eye witnesses say that the description is an accurate one.

Back in 1820, two traders, Zackery Bass and Josia Christman, had loaded their river bateaux with fish, cheese and furs they’d just traded for at what is today known as “Old Fort Western” which is located on the banks of the Kennebec river.  Guiding their bateaux down the river they had beached their boat to shelter from a violent thunderstorm when they claim that they were attacked by a 50 foot long river creature. 

“It let go a shrill whistle ending in a howl and glared at us with blood red eyes from what looked like a horse’s head that has  fish scales all over it.  Because of the rain our powder was wet so we couldn’t get a shot off at it, so we retreated back into the woods.  The creature was much more interested in the fish loaded on the boat than it was in pursuing us. Me and Zackery say  it was welcome to those fish.”

“Old Fort Western” still stands in Augusta.  Built in 1754 by the Kennebec proprietors as a military supply depot, Captain James Howard commanded the garrison there until he purchased the fort from the government in 1767 when it was “decommissioned.” The fort has two blockhouses mounting cannon, and one of the blockhouses has a clear line of fire to the river.  Since there was never any indian attacks or British military activity in the Kennebec valley during the revolutionary or 1812 wars, why mount cannon like that?

Not too far from the fort sits an empty granite structure that was built in 1828 that served as a Federal arsenal until its closure in 1901. Also located on the banks of the Kennebec river, and easily reached by a path from the fort, the now empty old Federal arsenal building has its own history with the River Snake.

Just before Americas entry into the Mexican American war, An officer stationed at the arsenal, Lieutenant Josia Mallicette, vanished one warm summer evening.  Two enlisted men reported that the Lieutenant had just gone outside to do his rounds when they say they heard a high-pitched whistle and howl followed by what sounded like two pistol shots.  A man screamed once, then all was silent. The alarm was sounded and the Lieutenant was never found.  The next morning his Navy colt cap and ball pistol was found pressed into the mud near the river’s bank with two empty chambers. The arsenals Sargent who wrote the report on the incident said that the pistol had been stepped on, which is why it was embedded it into the mud of the river bank. The clawed, webbed footprint that covered it was 16 inches wide and 35 inches long. 

Back in the 1930’s when there was a spike in reports of the “River Spirit”, the head of Maine’s department of Fish and Game, Tobius granger had only this to say about the reports.

“Anyone who says there’s a giant snake living in the Kennebec river is trying to pull your leg.  Our river has no creature of any sort in it other than what you would find in any river up here.  The Kennebec is safe, so come up for a boat trip and enjoy the fishing and scenery any time.”

Local business owners along the river dismissed such sightings as “folks from away who don’t know a sturgeon when they see one.  They think there’s a big snake in there.  There’s nothing in that river but fish.”

Pete Caqlaquer, a logger who lives on the river North of Augusta disagrees.  “Last summer a very big dead sturgeon washed up on a gravel bar below my place and it had a bite, just one, out of it right behind it’s gills.  That bite was 14 inches wide.  You tell me what kind of critter can take a bite out of a 7 foot long sturgeon like that.”

More recently (last summer) Betty Carston of Augusta had taken her small boat upstream into the Sidney area and had been quietly fishing when she had the distinct feeling that she was being “watched.”  Looking over her left shoulder she was shocked to see what looked like the head of a horse with red eyes staring “down” at her from a long serpentine-like neck, towering about 10 feet above the surface of the water. “I was frozen with fear, I couldn’t scream or move.  I just sat there looking up at it, as it looked back at me.  You don’t really know terror until something as prehistoric as that thing makes eye contact with you and sees right into your soul.  Then, slowly, it lowered back into the water, the surface swirled and it seemed to move away from me downstream towards Augusta very fast.” She then threw her fishing pole into the water, started her outboard motor, drove the boat to the west side of the river, jumped out and ran as fast as she could away from the river towards West River Road.  When she reached the pavement, she turned towards her house, walked home and hasn’t gone fishing in the Kennebec since that day.

In another incident that happened just this past summer, a local retired legal secretary named Tanej Philbrook was sitting in her car down at the old mill site on the Kennebec reading a book.  Her husband, who is blind, was standing on the river bank fishing.  This is their habit during good weather. “Russ goes fishing from the river’s bank while I read a book in the car until he’s done. then we go home, hopefully for a fresh fish dinner.”  This particular day, as she sat quietly reading her book “Something made me look up from the book and glance out the window towards Russ.  Much to my astonishment I saw what looked like a horse’s head atop a thick serpent-like neck poking out of the water.  It was about 30 feet out in the river that looked as if it was looking directly at him.  The part that terrified me was that “it” was slowly moving towards him.  I jumped out of the car, dashed over to Russ and dragged him to the car, threw him in and raced away from the river.  I’m not taking my husband fishing down there again.” 

When asked if she reported this incident to the authorities she answered: “Hell no.  Nobody would believe me, and I don’t want to be known around town as the crazy lady that sees river monsters.”

Also this past summer at 3 A.M. early Saturday morning during the 4^th of July weekend the public boat dock/landing in Augusta received some unexplained damage to the dock and several boats moored there.  Tilly Francis, age 72 who lives in a 4th floor apartment in a building with an unobstructed view of the docks told us:  “I was wide awake that Saturday because the doctor had me on some new pills that are very good at preventing sleep.  Those docks are well-lit and I had a clear view of them that morning.  They keep those public docks lit all night like that to prevent people from trying to steal boats I guess.  Suddenly I heard “Boomp! Boomp! Boomp!” You know that sort of hollow, empty sound you hear when an empty boat is being pounded on by someone, so I grabbed my binoculars and looked over at the docks.  Something, some sort of real big animal had gotten in between two of the docks amongst the boats and seemed to be caught, and it was thrashing wildly around trying to get itself free.  It was hard to get a clear look at it because of all the spray it was throwing up as it struggled, but it all quieted down when it thrashed itself free and moved quickly into the water and out to the deep part of the river, where it was away from the light and I couldn’t get a decent look at it.  Whatever it was, it was big and powerful.” 

Newspaper accounts of the incident all read about the same:  “Early Saturday morning vandals went to the public dock/landing on the river, punched holes into boats, smashed windshields on them and busted up several sections of dock.  The police are still investigating.  Anyone with information about those responsible for the damage is asked to call…”

The “River Spirit” has been predominantly reported in the Kennebec river in plain sight of, and north of Augusta in the general direction of the town of Sidney.   

Its description is somewhat similar to the lake creature known as “Ponik” which is known to inhabit Lake Pohenagamook up in Quebec, Canada.

It must be emphasized here that there are no photographs of Augusta’s “River Spirit” that this writer is aware of.  All I’ve been able to find are verbal reports that cannot be verified.  Wildlife officials from the State of Maine flatly deny that there is any such creature and insist that there is absolutely no hard evidence that such a creature exists or ever existed.  Augusta City officials agree and go one step farther saying that such reports could harm the thriving tourist trade enjoyed by Augusta every summer.

This latter view by officialdom may very well be the crux of the matter.  Will such a creature scare tourists away, or will it draw the monster hunters in?

Who knows.  But, if you don’t believe in the Kennebec River’s “River Spirit,” you probably don’t believe that the “Kennebec Creature” exists either.

While we may never know the truth of the matter one way or another, those who have seen the “River Spirit” believe it exists, and stay away from the river.

 

This tale, much like the one about the “Kennebec Creature” is fiction.