GOATMAN OF ZEIGLER

For nearly 30 years motorist, visitors, and local citizens observed an unkempt man roaming the roadways of Illinois Routes 148 and 149 managing his herd of goats. Until his death in 1961, the goat man, known as Voytak, led the life of a recluse upon the banks of the Big Muddy River south of Zeigler. As a hermit, living apart from the populous, his life style was very simple. He dwelled in a structure constructed from scrap salvaged from the city waste disposal site. This building was without a floor, heat, water, electricity, or sanitary facilities. Generally, his diet consisted of food found in nature; turtles and fish, roots, berries, and wild animals and plants which supplemented goat meat and milk. The mention of this unique character’s name will commonly generate favored stories of by gone days.

Many of the pictures on this site are located on books
and CD's located on the Zeigler's Memorabilia page

Thanks to those who have contributed pictures and memorabilia that is viewed on this site.