MICHIGAN MONSTER: The Werewolf of Grosse Pointe
The legend of Michigan’s Dogman is pretty widespread, but there’s another, similar creature that stalks our state: The Werewolf of Grosse Pointe.
This legend goes way back, before Michigan was even a state. To this day, at every full moon, residents claim to hear the howls of a wolf-like creature.
THE TALE:
Many years ago, a girl named Genevieve lived with her father in the area which later became known as Grosse Pointe. She was planning on leaving to become a nun in Three Rivers, Canada. This did not set well with her boyfriend Jacques, who resorted to desperate, drastic measures to keep her in his life. He sought out a witch – some say an old Native American – and made a pact: he would trade his soul to the devil in return for Genevieve to stay home.
So what would make her stay? Jacques would be turned into a Loup Garou – werewolf – so he could take her away and keep her against her will.
During one particular night of the full moon, after Jacques transformed into a werewolf, he attacked Genevieve who was in the woods praying at an altar. She ran but collapsed at the feet of a statue of the Virgin Mary and passed out. Before the creature could carry out his attack, the Virgin Mary protected Genevieve by turning the werewolf into stone. From then, he rested in repose as a motionless rock on the shore of Lake St. Clair.
You’d think that would be the end, right? NOPE.
Sometime later, a werewolf-beast attacked and kidnapped a girl named Archange at her wedding ceremony. She was never seen again. The would-be groom, Pierre, was determined not to let the same fate befall his sister, who was preparing for marriage. After searching for the creature, he came upon him and pursued him to Lake St. Clair. Later, Pierre returned home, telling his friends and family that the werewolf would bother no one anymore, as it had been swallowed whole by a giant fish. More than likely, he probably killed the man-wolf and, afraid of possible prosecution, made up the tale about the giant fish.
The rock that was on the St. Clair shore mysteriously appeared at the corner of Chalfonte Road at Kerby Road. If you find the rock and study it, they say you can find the footprint of the Werewolf of Grosse Pointe.
The werewolf has not been seen since the 1800’s but that apparently doesn’t stop it from making an appearance every full moon. Unearthly howls can be heard, especially on cool or quiet nights, somewhere in the distance, the location impossible to pinpoint. Will the Werewolf of Grosse Pointe ever materialize and be seen again? Only time will tell.
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