Two years ago, I was on a boat in the Bohemia Spillway, southeast of New Orleans, taking pictures for an article I was writing. Coming around the corner of a canal, I saw them for the first time: a herd of solid-black cows swimming and grazing along the rim of the water.
I had spent my childhood on boats fishing in these same waters, and never had I seen cows. My guides on the boat filled me in on the local lore. The cows were once owned by farmers, according to them. Their owners would let the cows roam the marsh, and every few years they’d cull some and sell them for beef. But, they said, it had been a long time since any humans had checked on the cows. I never got any pictures of the cows that day, but I have been thinking of them ever since.
Louisiana, like any other place in the world, has its folktales. Stories of creatures that people claim to have seen, but that others can’t prove. Think: tales of the Rougarou or the Mothman. But there’s a smaller, more localized, legend among people living along Louisiana’s coast. There, some tell tales of cow sightings. Wild, aggressive and partially inbred animals. They call them the “swamp cows.”
This year, I decided to make a full-length documentary all about those cows. I was determined to find them again and get to the bottom of their origin story.
What I thought would be a weekend trip down the river turned into a months-long endeavor that took me across the state. My team and I traveled from Pointe à la Hache to Grand Isle to Hackberry, searching for a population of wild cows for our film.
Now, The Hunt for ‘Swamp Cows’ is premiering at the Manship Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 7:30 p.m. The film recounts my arduous quest for Louisiana’s most unusual cows, featuring interviews with cattle farmers and the work of local musicians and artists. My team and I will stick around after for a Q&A with the audience.
Admission is $12.50. Find tickets and info here. The Manship Theatre is at 100 Lafayette St.