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From: "cherosis" <>
Subject: [TSALAGI-MB] The Wampus Cat
Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 10:26:04 -0600

My dad had a big black cat he called.."Wampii or Wampie."
He would say.."come over here,Wampus Kitty!."
And this cat would attack him..he always put on a pair of gloves first.
They would play and it was so funny to watch.
Strange isn't it, what little tidbit will trigger a native memory?
Sue/Skylark

This is a great story to be told around a campfire..

"The legend of the Wampus Cat"

The mountains of Tennessee, from the hills of West Virginia, and
Pennsylvania, are dotted with country folks whose occupations range from
farmers to coal miners. Many of these country folks have tales of the
paranormal, ranging from coal miner ghosts to legends of the Indians.

Jinx Johnston is one of those country people who had a true encounter of a
famous legend. The legend of the Wampus Cat. Jinx was a robust man. He stood
about 6 feet high and weighed around 200 pounds. He was the type of man
thatcould not scare very easily. The camp fire would cast eerie shadows on
the faces of his audience as he began to tell his story of the Wampus Cat.

Below is Jinx Johnston's tale of the Wampus Cat.

There was an old woman who lived by herself in the hills of West Virginia.
Townfolk swore she was a witch. People would complain their cattle would be
hexed and other farm animals would come up missing. They all blamed the old
woman because she lived like a hermit. Supposedly, she would turn herself
into a cat and hide until someone would open the door. She would dart into
the house and wait for her victims to fall asleep. She would cast a deeper
sleeping spell on the farmer and then she would slip out of the window to
steal a farm animal. The witch was so good at what she was doing, she was
never caught.

One day, the townfolks decided they had grown tired of their livestock
coming up missing or dead. They devised a plan to catch the witch in her own
act. She snuck into an unsuspecting house and placed the whole family under
her spell. She jumped out the window as she had always done and went
straight for a cow or sheep.

Uncle Jinx always changed the animal this woman was after. The old woman,
still in her cat form, went to the barn. She began chanting spells to change
herself back into human form. Before it was completed, several people jumped
out and surprised her. The poor old woman never had the chance to complete
the transformation. It left her half woman and half cat. A ghastly creature
to the eye sight. The creature howled with fright and broke down the door.
She ran off into the night, never to be seen again.

Jinx Johnston said time is important for a witch if she was changing back
from an animal to a human again. The spell she had cast upon herself could
never be reversed or fixed. The witch was doomed to be the Wampus Cat for
the rest of her life.
On nights when the moon is high, and the wind is blowing hard, you can see
this creature. It walks upright like a human but has the body of a large
cat. It howls and supposedly still stalks the hills of West Virginia. This
creature is said to stalk farm animals but prefers young children the best.

Jinx would always finish his story by telling his audience how he used to go
raccoon hunting. He and his 'coon dogs would be out looking for raccoons to
tree. The moon would always be bright in the sky and the howls of the Wampus
cat would ring in his ears. One night, the dogs were way ahead of him. He
kept hollering for them to return but they never did. The robust
man went on to tell how he tripped over something and his rifle went flying
out of his hands. He smelled an awful smell. He said it smelled like a skunk
and a wet dog. He looked up and saw this hideous creature. Saliva dripping
from itsfangs, and yellow eyes that glowed in the dark, and a howl that
nearly
brought him out of his skin.

Jinx looked for his rifle but it was lost in the dark. He got up and slowly
backed away from the creature. He turned around and ran as fast as he could
towards home. Jinx told how he could feel and smell its breath on his neck.
He bolted inside his house and slammed thedoor. He reached for his bible and
began reading out loud.
The Wampus Cat howled at his words. Finally, just as the sun peeked over the
hill, the Wampus Cat left. He said this was the reason he stopped treeing
raccoons at night. Jinx's fear of the Wampus Cat was greater than chasing a
raccoon up a tree.
Some mountain folk tales never seem to die in the hills of the northern
territory of the United States.

The second version of the Legend of the Wampus Cat begins this way.
According to an old Indian legend, the Wampus Cat was created. It was said a
young Indian woman did not trust her husband. It was custom for the men of
the Indian tribe to hunt while the women did things around the encampments.

The women were forbidden to hunt. One night, she placed the hide of a
mountain cat on her body. She snuck out to spy on her husband to see what he
did on his hunting trips. As the hunters gathered around their camp fires,
the woman watched them. She became fascinated with the stories and the magic
that was presented to the men of the Indian tribe. The poor woman was caught
and for her crime, she was transformed into what is known as the Wampus Cat.
The woman was doomed to be forever half woman and half mountain cat.
The ghost of the Wampus Cat is still said to walk the hills of Tennessee,
Virginia, and West Virginia. On full moons, you can see the Wampus Cat
howling. Is she howling because of her grave mistake and wishes to
betransformed back to her humanly body? Nobody really knows.

But just remember this, when you are camping in the woods, and you hear her
wail, she is near and may come to visit YOU!

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• [TSALAGI-MB] The Wampus Cat by "cherosis" <>