Harlan Ford was the first person to pour plaster castings of tracks and report a sighting to the media of an unknown creature known worldwide as the legendary Honey Island Swamp Monster. Harlan Ford was my grandfather. While recently moving everything from the Ford home after it was sold, we came across a letter that Harlan Ford wrote in the 1970's about his encounter with the Honey Island Swamp Monster. After Harlan Ford passed away in 1980, his story of the Honey Island Swamp Monster has been told and retold by many people. As we all know when things are retold so many times, certain details change, get exaggerated, maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. But luckily Ford's encounters were documented in his own words in the letter. I have inserted Harlan Ford's actual letter in this book for you to read. There are also recent eye-witness encounters that are documented in this book.