Native Americans named the swamp “Hockomock” hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago. "Hockomock" is the Algonquin word for “place where spirits dwell.” The Indians had tremendous respect and awe for the swamp and regarded it as a “magical” place. There being no swamps in England, the colonists had a different take on the place: They were terrified by this foreign terrain that they found nearly impossible to navigate. The fear that Hockomock Swamp instilled in the colonists of the 1600s inspired both nicknames “The Devil’s Swamp” and “The Devil’s Bowl.”
Six Bridgewater Triangle towns spanning two counties--Plymouth and Bristol--get to lay claim to Hockomock Swamp: Easton, Raynham, Taunton, Bridgewater, Norton and West Bridgewater. Nearly 5,000 of its 16,900 acres (nearly 27-square miles) are managed by the Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area. At its heart, the swamp is a dense tangle of briar and trees, quicksand and mud, a vast no man’s land, with many parts—no doubt—having never been encroached upon by human feet. “Ice that forms through the winter months in some areas of the swamp is insulated and shaded from the warming, spring sun. Gradually, during early summer, it melts, and the resulting cooler temperatures offer refuge for sub-arctic plants and animals not indigenous to this area.” In sharp contrast, the past 50 years have seen major commercial development to the outer borders of Hockomock Swamp and swathes have been cut through the swamp to create highways such as Routes 24 and 495 and major routes like Route 138 and Route 106.
The Hock seems to a be magnet for animals not indigenous to southern Massachusetts. yet somehow end up there regardless. Moose, African Serval and Mountain Lions have all been sighted or found in or around Hockomock Swamp. One local swore he saw a wild boar of very good size cross the street and head into the swamp a few years back. The animals not indigenous to the area--yet have appeared here—are not told as loudly as the tales of animals not indigenous to this world, for many believe that Hockomock Swamp is home base for a host of Fortean creatures including giant pterodactyl-looking Thunderbirds, Bigfoot, anaconda-sized snakes, and giant turtles and the infamous little pukwudgie.
Many people who have explored The Hock have reported abrupt feelings of terror and dread, coupled with the distinct feeling of being watched. Disorientation and losing track of time is another not so uncommon occurrence. Satanic cults, priests and priestesses of voodoo, and brothers and sisters of witchcraft are rumored to use parts of the swamp for ritualistic sacrifices and as places of worship. People who live on its fringes certainly have seen and heard it all, from strange human-like screams bellowing from the depths of the swamp, to reports poltergeist activity in their very homes. Some report the frequent appearance of “spooklights” lights hovering above the trees and larger, stranger lights coming from the area of the swamp.
This is what one Bridgewater Triangle resident had to say about growing up on the fringes of Hockomock Swamp: "The neighborhood kids often talked about feeling watched in the swamp, and hearing something bulling through the forest, knocking down trees. We'd also heard of people actually hearing loud, bloodcurdling screams. It wasn't until I was maybe ten or eleven that some friends and I experienced these things for ourselves...along with a whole slew of other phenomenon: disembodied voices, trees being "thrown" at us while deep in the woods, what looked like large human footprints in the corn fields, ghostly forms, strange lights, a strange squeaking sound that seemed to be coming from a plastic toy (a Native American head), that seemed to respond to questions and things we were saying), cult activity, you name it."Others have reported experiences have the strange phenomenon of being out in the swamp in the middle of the afternoon, only to have it inexplicably turn into night. Here is one of those reports: "It happened a couple of time. I'd be by myself in the swamp near the Prospect Hill Extension. Sundown during deer season is usually between 5 and 6 o'clock. I went to the deer stand and, in the swamp, it seemed to get dark like an hour before it should have. I'd walk back to the street, and it would still be light out." He added: "I lived in that area for over 17 years. I grew up in the swamp exploring it every day. But I always got this weird feeling that I was being watched when I would be coming back from the deer stands after sundown."
Another man who grew up in the triangle area had this to report: "I am very familiar with the Hockomock Swamp. I used to live in West Bridgewater. I have been deep that swamp many times, hunting. I never saw or experienced anything unusual until one day, when I has camping with a buddy on the Town River. We noticed something weird was going on in the sky. There must have been at least 20 of these crazy-shaped aircraft with all kinds of crazy lights going overhead, just above the trees. They weren't high up at all. We couldn't figure out what they were. They were silent. No sound at all. And they were not normal aircraft. That's for sure."
Hockomock Swamp and King Philp's War
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