My grandmother once told me a story about when she was a young woman, sometime in the late 1920's. This was before Dale Hollow Dam was built in northern middle Tennessee and electric lights were brought to rural Appalachian communities for the first time. This tale involves a rather large reptile.
When my uncle Billy was around 10 or so, my grandmother had several laying hens go missing from their hen house. My grandfather, Sylvester, took Billy and set off trying to track down what they felt sure had been a fox.
After several hours of wandering aimlessly through the woods, my Uncle Billy decided to sit down on what he thought was a log.
As it turned out, it wasn't a “log” at all, but a snake. A rather large snake. Needless to say, they were frightened and wasted no time, I am assuming, blowing the massive creatures head off.
According to my grandmother and Uncle, as they were attempting to bring the snake home, it's belly caught on a tree root, ripping the snake open and disgorging four of the missing hens, dead but other wise intact.
To be sure, the tale is anecdotal, at best, and deals with the memories of a then 80 year old woman and my uncle, who was in his 60's at least when I first heard this tale.
But........
Dale Hollow Lake in northern middle Tennessee was finished in 1943. Hydro electric generators were added in 1948, 1949, and 1953. There's even an entire town submerged in the lake, Willow Grove Tn. It is not an old lake at all. And yet......
Willow Grove, submerged town in Dale Hollow Lake, as seen from above
On a gorgeous summer evening, when I was about 9, my mother and father decided to take us kids to the lake swimming. Specifically, to the dam to swim.
On one side of the dam there were several trees that were leaning out over the water. As we set up for a nice relaxing evening, my father (whom it should be noted ISN'T long on flights of fancy) decided to dive from one of the higher tree branches that stretched out over the water.
Keep in mind that the depth of the water at this point is around 200 feet. Far deeper than anyone could possibly free dive, and thus, the water appeared a deep greenish-blue.
My father dove in. He was down so long that I could tell my mother was a little worried. After what seemed an eternity, my father broke the waters surface. He scrambled out of the water, hurrying as though he'd lost something. We could all tell in an instant that his good mood had been replaced by something else. It was fear. Instructing us to gather our belongings, we immediately set forth home. No explanation was given, and the look on my fathers face was enough to make me not dare ask, disappointing as it was.
It was not until much later that I got the story of why we left so quickly from my father. He said:
I dove in and I could tell I'd gone deep, deeper than I'd intended. In those days you could open your eyes under water in the lake and see, if only for a little piece. Instead of looking at darkness or maybe the cliff wall, I found myself staring into a fish's eye as big as my head. This startled me and I tried to swim backward, away from it. That was when it took off, it's tail coming around as it sped into the darkness. That tail.....the fin on it was a tall as me!
As I've said, my father isn't one for flights of fancy or wild tales of imagination. I have no need to doubt his word.
This dovetails with the many reports over the years of “Volkswagen sized” catfish in Dale Hollow Lake. The assumption locally is that they feed on the fish turned into chum by the massive power generating turbines at the bottom of the dam.
Given my grandmother's tales, I've wondered if there hasn't been something in that area causing large animals long before the dam was ever built.
I know, hard to believe. Belief isn't necessary as long as you can admit that, in this world, there are some things for which a simple explanation just won't do, and that truth really is stranger than fiction.
Another of my #truelifetales regarding my hometown. Enjoy
Peace