Some archetypes run deep. There are common myths and legends that span humankind, across continents and oceans. We, as humans, aren't very different, so there's no wonder that legends of cryptids and other unknown, unseen humanoids lurk the wilderness just out of our perception. These tropes come up time and again, from culture to culture. There's Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest, the Yeti in the Himalayas, El Chupacabra in the Caribbean and Central America, the Skunk Ape in the Southeast United States, the Yowie in Australia, and countless other examples around the world. Michigan has its own spin on this legend - common, yet shockingly, individual stories about werewolves or man-sized canines. Shockingly individual until 1987, when a local radio deejay decided to write a song about it, and the public response blew up.
Steve Cook, of WTCM (a pretty poppin' country station out of Traverse City) wrote this song:
The legend holds that every 10 years, on years that end in ___7, various packs of dogs and werewolf-like creatures come out of hiding and cause chaos. The song posits the idea that, while the dogmen aren't necessarily violent, they have the power to kill by fright. The legends tick all of the good "urban myth" boxes: The dogmen haunt lumberjacks, churches, farmers, and teenagers canoodling or doing drugs in their cars...you know, sorta like the Melonheads.
You'll find many sources saying that the writer, Steve Cook, pretty much made everything up, and that the song is a bunch of singular points assembled into a one convenient nugget to digest. But, the interesting part here (again, like the Melonheads) is the collective unconscious: Flip through the comments section on the Youtube video linked above (and any of its related videos) and you'll see dozens of posts saying "The dogmen are real." In a Skeptoid.com podcast, Cook himself says that "I've sort of seen the way folklore becomes built from the creation of this song to what it's turned into...but I do believe people who think they saw something really did see something. I also think the Dogman provides them with an avenue to explain what they couldn't explain for themselves."
There's a lot of mystery in the wilderness. There's an energy, a spirituality there that's palpable. It's one of the reasons I loved mountain biking around the outskirts of Marquette when I was in college. Just a few miles from campus, there was a huge bluff (made of the same mineral that comprises the famed Black Rocks at Presque Isle Park) situated inland, and offering a fantastic view of the Dead River, the wetlands surrounding the river, and the city of Marquette itself. The solace was intoxicating - to this day, 15 years later, I still try to ride my bike out there every chance I get. Whenever I hike the dunes along Lake Michigan, I wonder what it must've been like for the very first missionaries, fur traders, or explorers.
If this song offers the same comfort to others, that being in the woods does for me, I'm not going to hold that against anyone.
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