The Legend of Cypress Cindy

For a brief time in the spring of 1969, the Caddo Lake area, particularly around the town of Mooringsport, was abuzz with alleged sightings of a strange creature in the water. First reported by a "reliable source" in the Shreveport Times, the animal was seen near Swanson's Landing and described as 18 to 20 feet in length, the width of a car top, and dark in color. This news spawned a number of other sightings over the following days, with the "monster" given the name "Cypress Cindy" (or possibly "Cypress Bill" if turned out to be male.)

A whimsical drawing of a dinosaur-like animal in Caddo Lake, by Dan Brown (1899-1958)

Shreveport Times 23-Mar-1958, Page 1-F

Based In Local Lore

Reports of  mysterious lake creatures were not new. In a book written shortly before his death, Dan Brown, historian, folklorist, and head of the Centenary College art department cited a Carnegie Institution work containing interviews of Caddo Indians, the area's earlier human inhabitants. The Caddo spoke of a large aquatic animal; so large in fact that when killed and removed, the lake level declined. They also described a turtle so large, it was thought to be an island and a dance was held on its back.  .

 Shreveport Times 23-Mar-1958 Page 1-F


Look, What Was That?

The first article to appear provided details of the initial sighting. One speculation was that it could be a manatee.

 

Shreveport Times 18-Mar-1969, Page 3-A


Yeah, I Seen It Too!

The following day more persons were reported to have come forward. It is at this time that the reporter coined the name "Cypress Cindy."

Shreveport Times 19-Mar-1969, Page 1


Times reporter offered this tongue-in-cheek artist's conception of how the "monster" might look. A reader writes that Cypress Cindy may in fact be "Cypress Billy," a large alligator seen on the north side near Potter's Point.

Shreveport Times 20-Mar-1969, Page 4-A


A Song For You

You ought to see my Cindy
She lives way down south
She's so sweet the honeybees
Swarm around her mouth

Get along home, Cindy Cindy
Get along home, Cindy Cindy
Get along home, Cindy Cindy
I'll marry you some day

Cindy Cindy (traditional)

Mooringsport resident and North Caddo High student Pat Doyle penned  a ballad in tribute to Cindy. Speculation of it being a sturgeon or again, sea cow (manatee) were  offered. An anonymous lady reports seeing it eight years earlier under the Mooringsport bridge.

Shreveport Times 21-Mar-1969 Page 4-A


Numbers Of Witnesses Are Growing

Four days later, the count of witnesses was up to 13, including Cecil Clem, who operated a grocery store and boat launch between the Mooringsport highway bridge and railroad trestle..

Shreveport Times 22-Mar-1969, Page 6-B


Capitalizing On Her Fame

Shortly afterward, news died down and no further sightings were reported. However popular Shreveport restaurant Abes' ran a special a few weeks later in honor of the new local "celebrity." It's not known if she was compensated for use of her name.

Shreveport Times 13-Apr-1969, Page 18-A


Cindy Redux

From 1970-1985 there was no mention in the press of the alleged sneaky leviathan. In 1986 a scant mention of the 1969 sightings was followed by nothing the following year. In 1988 Cindy made a comeback, not in the flesh, but in replica. As a parade float she appeared at Mooringsport's Fall Festival for several years and was a fan favorite..

Shreveport Times 14-Oct-1988, Page 8-B

Shreveport Times 14-Oct-1989 Page 4-C


It is reported the Mooringsport Mini-Museum has a display honoring the time when monsters (or at least one) plied the waters of Caddo.

Shreveport Times 14-Oct-1992 Page, 1-N

SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THE LEGEND.

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Would I Lie To You?

Was the idea for a lake monster planted by the Shreveport Times beforehand? Two weeks prior to the first reported sighting, it was suggested in the Stroller column that it would be good for the area to have a "monster" attraction to draw tourists, much like the famed Loch Ness Monster in Scotland.. 

Shreveport Times 05-Mar-1969, Page 1 

Now armed with this knowledge, reread the articles. Notice the first reports are from unnamed sources who provide lot of details, except their own identity, Then the reporter takes that information and expands the story, coins a name, and suggests further uses. The Caddo Indian legend also lended plausibility in that it established a prior belief in a lake monster. Hoax is a strong word, as it implies malicious intent. However after reviewing available information this writer concludes everyone's leg got pulled in a fun, thankfully harmless prank.

Regarding the named eyewitnesses and their personal accounts? I believe they saw something and described it as they believed they saw it. Interestingly though, a search of newspaper archives going back to the early 1800s to present did not turn up any additional sightings of a Caddo Lake monster, creature, etc., save for mention of the Indian legend and 1969 events.   

While a skeptic (and possible killjoy) I'm open to the concept there being a monster and wouldn't mind being proved wrong. And after, there is a Whangdoodle Pass on the Texas side; a whangdoodle being an imaginary creature. That name was surely based on something.
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And Now For Some Real Caddo Lake Monsters...

Examples taken over the years.

The 12 foot gator, said to be four feet wide at the shoulder, was bagged in 1939.

Dallas Morning News 29-Jun-1939, Section II, Page 3


An 83 lb catfish caught by Horace Trice and J. D. McKellar, both of Mooringsport, was thought at the time to be the largest ever caught in the lake.

Shreveport Times 14-Aug-1942, Page 14


Even larger than that catfish was this seven foot, 150 lb. gar caught in 1952.

Dallas Morning News 06-Jun-1952 Section I, Page 18


A 114 lb. loggerhead (snapping turtle) caught on a trotline in 1957. Not quite large enough for the Caddo to hold a dance on, but still impressive..

Dallas Morning News 06-Jun-1957, Sec I Page 26

Mail Delivery On Caddo Lake

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Unofficial creed of the U. S. Postal Service

Add to the conditions above: choppy waters, oil derricks, cantankerous motors, and duck hunters. From 1926 until at least 1940, mail service to Ferry Lake, Kool Point, and adjacent areas around Caddo Lake came, not from nearby Oil City, but out of Mooringsport by motor boat. This service also extended into Texas as well as to the south shore on the Louisiana side. Water-borne mail delivery was established 19-Jul-1926, the result of efforts by Thomas Early Willis (1880-1977), and United States Senator John Morris Sheppard (1875-1941) of Texas.  Mr. Willis was a businessman and president of the Shreveport chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a national organization that promotes conservation and outdoor recreation. Senator Sheppard is also notable for having authored 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, and known as the "Father of National Prohibition."

Shreveport Times 07-Oct-1926, Page 20

More details of the mail route.

Jefferson Jimplecute 1975, Page 9


Willis, Sheppard, and other prominent local men toured the mail route, as shown in this Aug-1927 photo.

Shreveport Times 07-Aug- 1927, Page B-12

According to Profile of Mooringsport, a town history prepared in conjunction with the U. S. Bicentennial, the first carrier was Dick Snelling, Sr. followed by Frank Galbraith, and finally Fritz Heinisch. 

Source: Profile of Mooringsport, Mooringsport Home Demonstration Club (edited and compiled by Anna Marie Schlums Moore), 1976 (reprinted 1988), Page 21

As noted previously, Tom Willis was responsible for getting the service started. Carriers contracted with the U. S. government. Snelling was a game warden, so he may have been pulling double duty - delivering mail while monitoring lake activities. At the time poaching, particularly netting of fish, was rampant on the lake. Research has not confirmed Snelling's tenure on the mail route.

While Frank Galbraith was the next carrier, notably left out of the Mooringsport history is that for several years, the route was actually handled by his ex-wife, Mona Galbraith (1904-1989), who took duties after the couple divorced..

Shreveport Times 07-Jan-1934, Page 11

The accompanying article, also interestingly picked up by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, identified her as "only woman mail carrier in the United States who covers her route entirely by water." She was described  as 28 years old (other records indicate she was closer to 30) at the time and living in Mooringsport with two children (Frank, Jr. and daughter Dixie). For four years she had taken the 40 mile trip around the lake - six days a week, missing only one day in December 1932 when the lake froze over. She described dodging oil derricks, stumps, and flying lead during duck season. She once lost her propeller, and the following day wore her swimsuit and dived in to recover it, as it was too valuable to abandon. Occasionally she would be assisted by oil workers, also plying the lake waters to platforms, when engine trouble occurred. Toward the end, she expressed concern about losing the carrier contract that was periodically placed for bid. 

Mona's fears were shortly thereafter realized as it was announced that Frederick Fritz Heinisch (1869-1953), Mooringsport resident and native of Baruth,  Germany, was awarded the route.

Monroe News-Star 26-Feb-1934, Page 6

Mona wasn't too disappointed though, as shortly afterward it was announced she would be marrying Col. Louis Duval, retired from the U.S. Army and a World War I veteran. They later moved to Longview, Texas.

Shreveport Times 02-Mar-1934, Page 1


Here Fritz is shown with his mail boat in 1936.

 

 Dallas Morning News 14-Jun-1936, Page 2-D


He was featured in an article in the Hammond (LA) newspaper in Mar-1938.

Hammond (LA) Progress 04-Mar-1938, Page 18 

In the Shreveport Times "Stroller" column (primarily for observing birthdays, anniversaries, and general local "chitchat") there ran a story about a man finding a dog stranded on boards far from the shore.

Shreveport Times 23-Apr-1939, Page 1

 A few days later this explanation appeared.

Shreveport Times 27-Apr-1939, Page 2


It's not clear when water-borne mail delivery ended. Fritz's occupation was identified as mail carrier per the 1940 U. S. Census, however by 1950 he was listed as "unable to work." He passed away in 1953.


In a 1976 Shreveport Times feature, Mona reminisced about her life on Caddo Lake and job as a mail courier 50 years earlier.

Shreveport Times 19-Dec-1976 Page 6-F

Should additional information become available, it will be added  to this document.