Georgia Magazine - June 2023 - 20

Curious GEORGIA
By H.M. Cauley
The legend of Altie, Georgia's
very own sea monster
P
erhaps imagining the legend of Nessie, Scotland's world-renowned
Loch Ness monster, boaters along the Altamaha River in southeast
Georgia say a mysterious creature dwells in the river's dark waters.
And they've been saying it since before the colonization of Georgia.
According to Explore Georgia, the Georgia Department of Economic
Development's website, tales of the Altamaha-ha monster-or Altie-trace
back to the Native American Muscogee tribe, and Altie became part of local
lore when a European artist claimed in 1830 to have seen a creature with a
Nessie-like appearance.
Since then, multiple sightings have been reported
by those exploring the river dubbed " Georgia's little
Amazon. " The 137-mile meandering waterway begins
where the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers come together
near Lumber City and empties into the Atlantic Ocean
near Darien.
Katarina Hoyt, president and CEO of the DarienMcIntosh
County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor
Information Center in Darien, says Altie is most at
home in that area, which explains why a model of the
creature is on display in the chamber's lobby.
" Most of the sightings recorded are here in the
Altamaha basin as the river opens up into the marsh
plains and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, " Hoyt says.
" So Altie has his own dedicated corner here. "
Much of the river's watershed is protected by the Department of
Natural Resources and has not been developed, Hoyt says. That natural
setting makes it a welcome residence for " alligators and Atlantic sturgeons
... [which are] an endangered, prehistoric (and rather sizable) fish, "
according to Explore Georgia.
" There are stories of Altie going back generations that people still
share, " Hoyt says. " We have one [river] landing with a boat ramp where
locals say they've seen something. That's very easy to believe if you've been
anywhere near the river; it's deep and fast-moving with a lot of marshy
water. "
Rick Spears, a natural-history exhibit artist at Atlanta's Fernbank
Science Center, drew on those comparisons when he created a 10-foot
Altie sculpture that is part of the Diane Davies Museum of Natural History
in Eatonton, where he worked until 2002.
" The museum had a corner with nothing in it and thought it would be
cool to do something around Altie, " Spears says. " I found out a lot from a
writer who had a website that claimed Altie followed settlers from Scotland
to Georgia. She even compiled eyewitness reports from different people
who saw it at different times. "
Spears says some of those accounts report that the creature undulated
up and down.
" Only one kind of animal does that: a marine mammal, " he says.
" Maybe it's related to whales. Another report said it came to the surface in
cold weather, and there was steam, so it was warm-blooded. I put all the
20 Georgia Magazine June 2023
Above: Rick Spears created this display of
Altamaha-ha, which resides at the Visitor
Information Center in Darien. The sign
notes that the creature provides a photo
opportunity but " no rides. " Left: Spears
based his sculptures of Altie the sea
monster on eyewitness reports.
pieces together to decide what it was and settled on it
being some form of a seal or pinniped [which means
'fin-footed']. "
In 2009, Spears built the 20-foot-long Altie model
for the Darien-McIntosh center.
" When I set that up, a woman told me she'd
seen it, " he says. " There have been lots of reports of a
couple of humps in the water up and down the river. "
The comparisons to the Loch Ness monster are
not surprising, says Hoyt, who has never had an Altie
encounter.
" Zoologists who have come here have said
that Altie, Nessie and Champ in New York's Lake
Champlain could all be related-the same type of
dinosaur [descendants] with unique features, "
she says. " Of course, what exactly it is is open to
interpretation. "
H.M. Cauley is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.
For more information
The Discover Darien website includes a write-up about
the river's legendary creature (and resident sculpture).
To learn more, go to bit.ly/darienaltie. The site links to an
installment in " The Unknown Files " video series, which also
can be viewed on YouTube at bit.ly/altievideo.
COURTESY RICK SPEARS
THE COLLECTIVE AND COMPANY
http://bit.ly/darienaltie http://bit.ly/altievideo
Georgia Magazine - June 2023

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