Bigfoot Sightings

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September 28, 2009

Bigfoot Fiction: “North American Primates” by Shane Durgee

Shane Durgee’s first book is a work of fiction called North American Primates — a fantastical, frenetic fantasy about Clay Sturgeon, a man whose tent was attacked by a Bigfoot while he was hiking with a friend. Clay becomes obsessed and must return to the site of his encounter in New York’s Adirondack Mountains many times in his search for communion with “The Man.”

Obsession seems like a reasonable trait for this particular character who is a pathetic loner whose friends are teenagers, who has never had a reasonable romance. The character is what I might call a degenerate. Not high minded, not ethical or respectable… yet for reasons only a Bigfoot could know, he’s chosen to reveal some Sasquatchy truths to Clay, who keeps showing up in the woods as if asking for lessons.

Clay Sturgeon goes through many changes during the course of this 211-page novel. The first-person narrative is highly entertaining though a bit crude, in some passages. That in itself should tell you a bit about who Clay is and why he needs change in his life.

Clay Sturgeon started the novel as a good for nothing, do almost nothing, near waste of human life.. but found himself through squatching. In the end he’s a somebody… thanks to “The Man.” Clay has enough redeeming traits to make the reader care about his squatching adventures. He takes form, morphing from a ball of human ooze into a person of stature because of his contacts with a couple fairly decent Sasquatches. Other characters in the book as are similarly well drawn. The author created a cast of realistic characters whose faults are substantial and must be believed. I’d have to say that the most likable of the bunch is Pickerel, the cat, though in a strange twist of fate he too is greatly changed before the novel’s final pages.

The weak point of the book is, in my opinion, description. This is also a weak spot in my fiction writing so I’m not saying I’m a description expert. Descriptions are there, but they are sketchy. Some would consider this a good thing. This book is action oriented, a psychological thriller of sorts. You get to hear what Clay does and thinks. Apparently Clay wasn’t big into nature study and appreciation, other than for his desire to see and interact with “The Man.”

There are some utterly weird and unexpected plot twists. I thought at first I was holding a fairly predictable novel, ie: “Man meets Sasquatch, gets into squatching, and has another sighting.” Though that would thrill most Bigfoot researchers, that’s not the plot of this novel. It gets fairly strange in places. You would be surprised. I certainly was!

The perceived theme of the book may vary depending on personal perspective. To me, it was that a young man discovered his self worth by pursuing an issue most people would avoid. Through his unique persistence, he discovered that he too could be more than a worthless degenerate. You see what squatching can do for people? If this novel makes it to movie status they’ll need a few good fur costumes and someone who looks like a total socially incompetent nerd to play the lead character. Add a few wooden ducks, and there you’d have Clay Sturgeon!

I’m a novelist too, so naturally I think Bigfoot fiction is awesome, even if it isn’t written the way I’d have done it. I’m into writing mostly for children and teens, whereas Durgee’s novel is definitely for adults and not for kids. I applaud Shane Durgee on the development, plot, and especially the fine characterization work in his first novel, and for getting it edited and into print. Well done!

If you want some fictitious Bigfoot entertainment, North American Primates is well worth the read. Keep an eye on the Red Weaver website – the book should be published during October 2009. If you’d like to be further impressed, check out the colorful illustrations at ShaneDurgee.Com.

Filed under: Bigfoot Fiction, New York — Linda Martin @ 4:01 am

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September 27, 2009

Squatchers: Be Careful in the Forest During Hunting Season!

A few notes for those planning to do any squatching in the Klamath National Forest any time soon:

First, be aware that this is the marijuana harvest season. This means that those who are holed up in our forest growing marijuana illegally will be paranoid and on edge. Do be very cautious and watch for forest marijuana farms — which should be cleared out by the end of October. These are not usually locally based growers. They often are growers from south of the border working for cartels. They are well armed, and dangerous. I wrote about this before recently: Marijuana – Danger in the Forest!

Second, the hunting season has just opened. Our area is inundated with deer and bear hunters this time of year. Deer season started Saturday, September 26. Hunters are encouraged to wear bright orange vests for safety. Visitors (including squatchers) should consider doing the same.

Third, fire safety regulations require a fire permit, available at the Forest Service office. Use of the small portable gas/propane/petrol stoves also requires a fire permit. Smoking must be confined to vehicles, buildings, and developed recreational sites and campfire areas.

Internal combustion engines are to be used only on roads and designated trails. Engines must have spark arresting devices, including ATVs. This reminds me of the ATVs GABRO brought into our forest back in 2005. Such noisy devices! I’m sure any self-respecting Sasquatch heard them coming and found an appropriate place to conceal himself.

For more information, refer to the Klamath National Forest website.

Something else to be aware of: vehicle vandalism and theft.

On September 13 a visitor from Chico parked his vehicle on Klamathon Road near Collier’s Rest Area. This is at Highway 5’s Klamath River exit, about 70 miles east of Happy Camp. While the owner was rafting on the Klamath someone broke into his vehicle and took wallets, cash, cell phones, backpacks, and a video camera. Sad to know there’s a thief running around loose there near Yreka somewhere.

I wish I could say that behavior is confined to the more “civilized” area of our county, but I saw something recently that made me think that vehicles parked along the Klamath River Highway may not be entirely safe either. An old truck was parked on the side of the Bigfoot Scenic Byway a few miles downriver from Happy Camp. We passed it in the morning; later when we came back the windows had all been broken! Since then, we don’t leave our vehicles parked on the highway. I’ve also heard that vehicles left at trail heads are subject to being broken into or vandalized. If you have a beater, sometimes that’s the better choice for a Klamath River adventure if you’re planning to leave the vehicle untended while you hike into the wilderness. A sad state of affairs. I would love it if all people were trained in the ways of compassion since birth. Unfortunately, that’s not the civilization we’ve got right now.

Van vandalized downriver a few years ago.

Filed under: Bigfoot Research, California — Linda Martin @ 1:24 am

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September 26, 2009

Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence

Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence is a scientific look at Bigfoot evidence by Dr. Grover S. Krantz.

Dr. Krantz was a professor of anthropology specializing in human evolution at Washington State University. He started his study of Sasquatch in 1963 after examining footprint castings and believed that Sasquatch is an actual flesh and blood creature.

The book, Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence, is sub-titled “An Anthropologist Speaks Out,” and is a look at the physical evidence that proves the existence of Bigfoot. This book is challenging; most Bigfoot books compile anecdotal evidence. Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence is different because it is a scientific examination of facts.

This book will be reviewed, chapter-by-chapter, on this blog as soon as all reviews of Tribal Bigfoot are posted.

A home page for Dr. Krantz’ book has been created at Squidoo: Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence.

Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence — Linda Martin @ 2:10 am

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September 25, 2009

Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”

Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot

Re: Chapter Nine of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Del Norte County”:

The Del Norte County chapter of Tribal Bigfoot is a montage of fascinating Bigfoot sighting accounts. In this chapter you can read about a tall, thin, golden-haired Sasquatch, a group of six Sasquatches that surrounded a pair of hikers, and many others. There are fourteen interviews featured in this chapter. All worth reading. You’ll also find some of Harvey Pratt’s fascinating forensic sketches illustrating sightings found in this chapter. The golden Sasquatch was especially believable because it is so unusual that someone would report seeing a Bigfoot with that shape and coloring. There are many very credible witnesses profiled in this chapter.

One of the sightings involved two young hikers in the Siskiyou Wilderness. They were on a hillside overlooking a lake in the remote backcountry when they became aware of two Sasquatches playing in the lake below. The creatures splashed water on each other, and had a grand time until they suddenly became aware of the two young men. Then they ran to get out of the water and to disappear in the forest near the shoreline.

Another man accompanied friends to the Siskiyou Wilderness. His friends hiked into the wilderness to climb Preston Peak while he stayed near Raspberry Lake. He decided to take a hike and walked for nearly an hour. Just as he turned back he started hearing vocalizations. First there was the sound of a goat. These men had two goats tied up back at the lake – goats intended to be pack animals. The goat sounds were followed by a loud, long scream, some guttural sounds, and some gibberish which may have been a Bigfoot language. Next he heard “Hey, hey,” as if one of his friends was trying to get his attention. Startled and fearful, he raced back to camp to find the goats still securely tied up there.

This particular experience excited me because my goal is to be able to communicate with Bigfoot, and so the linguistic abilities of Sasquatches intrigue me. This one apparently had eavesdropped on the group, hearing them call to each other using the word, “hey.” The creature also mimicked the goats! It is extremely hopeful to know that they’re able to vocalize in imitation of others. This could eventually lead to an exchange of languages, once contact is made. Then we can find out what it is really like to live as a Sasquatch, to experience nature as a highly intelligent species living in the woods. I would love to know what they think about us!

In this chapter David Paulides stated several times that the Siskiyou Wilderness area is a prime area for Bigfoot research because it is between Highway 199 (which runs between Crescent City, CA and Cave Junction, OR) and the Bluff Creek area. He wrote: “The Siskiyou Wilderness Area sits in probably the best location in the world if you want to study Bigfoot. It is located between Bluff Creek and the end of the Go Road (the location of the Patterson-Gimlin movie) and the region in Del Norte County of Gasquet and Crescent City. This region is remote. There are no vehicles allowed and I have personally never seen anyone take horses into the region.” (Pg. 247)

I had an experience back in the summer of 2000. At that time I was exploring local swimming holes. My neighbor suggested a swimming hole eight miles into the wilderness on Clear Creek. To get there I had to drive six miles south from Happy Camp to the Wingate River Access. From there I turned right on 15N32, also called Clear Creek Road. Staying to the left at the fork in the road I drove eight miles west. At the end of the road there were a couple campsites and a sign installed by the Forest Service. There, we parked and hiked along a trail which was at least a mile long, to a place where there were some very beautiful swimming holes.

The swimming hole where the teens were playing.

A large group of teenagers were at the last swimming hole just before the bridge. The young people were jumping off a rock, laughing, and in general making a lot of noise. We crossed the bridge into the Siskiyou Wilderness. From that point there’s a trail (Clear Creek Trail) that crosses the wilderness. We looked at the creek over there, and hiked a little further in. I remember a Forest Service sign there that was shattered and splintered. My first impression was that a Sasquatch had done it because they didn’t want people in their territory. This was five years before I started my Bigfoot research.

That’s me, hiking on the Clear Creek Trail in 2007.

I started walking uphill on the trail leading further into the wilderness and got a very distinct feeling that something didn’t want me going there. The feeling was overwhelming and I decided to stop and go back downhill.

Now, while reading this book, the memory of this experience came back to me. Was a Sasquatch there guarding the wilderness? Was he watching the teenagers playing in the swimming hole? Did he send me a mental “stay away” message? I’ve been back several times since then and have not received the same mental warning. Maybe a Sasquatch was on the hillside, worried that I’d see him if I continued further along the path.

I’ve always known that the Siskiyou Wilderness is the place to go if you want to be near Bigfoot. It isn’t used as frequently as the Marble Mountain Wilderness. You can read more about the Siskiyou Wilderness in The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution by David Rains Wallace. This book won the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing, the Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for Literature (1984), and was named one of the twentieth century’s best non-fiction books by the San Francisco Chronicle.

David Rains Wallace mentioned Bigfoot in his manuscript. In the epilogue he wrote:

“I admit, on re-reading the book, that the Klamaths’ local giant, Bigfoot, sometimes seems to play the 400-pound gorilla in what might have been more a straightforward evolutionary tale. Still, it’s one thing to read a book, and another to write it. I wrote as a backpacker sleeping in the woods, and my perceptions were not always straightforward. I didn’t see Bigfoot or evidence of his existence, and I did see reasons why a nocturnal, boreal wild hominid would be an evolutionary anomaly. But I also had experiences which made me wonder about consciousness, a subject which remains mysterious, and which includes phenomena like Bigfoot sightings.

The main such experience was my sudden illness on Clear Creek in the Siskiyous. Exhaustion or a backcountry microbe may have caused it, but the mental effects were more striking than any other illness I’ve had. They included not only the terror and historical visions I described in the book, but something I didn’t. Lying in the dark, I couldn’t close my eyes because intensely vivid faces would appear, mouthing incomprehensible words. The faces seemed so real that I had trouble reassuring myself that they came from my mind, and I afterward saw them at other camps, as though I’d been sensitized to something. The rational explanation was that I was sensitized to my experience in the forest, but I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that I was sensitized to something in the forest. It made me wonder where the mind ends and the forest begins.” Epilogue to The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, pgs. 146-7.

Another Clear Creek Swimming Hole

A rattlesnake next to the Clear Creek Trail

Clear Creek, February 2006

…

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Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, California, Tribal Bigfoot — Linda Martin @ 10:55 pm

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Canadian Native Women Missing

A shocking fact: 550 native aboriginal Canadian women have gone missing since 1970, 245 of those since 2000. From the news article: “…if those numbers represented any other community the outcry would be enormous but because they are aboriginal, their cases are being overlooked.” (From MP Neville wants Ottawa to look into disappearance of aboriginal women)

A Canadian Bigfoot researcher plans to look into these disappearances, to see if there might be any indication the wild men of the north might have kidnapped any of these women. Read about it on the Bigfoot Forums, here: Indian Women Disappearances in Canada.

Filed under: Bigfoot Research, Canada — Linda Martin @ 9:32 pm

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September 22, 2009

JavaBob’s Book Signing at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum

Just published as of today… this video of JavaBob (Robert Schmalzbach) who was my friend and neighbor a few short years ago. He still owns the property next door but rarely comes here anymore, and when he does never bothers to contact me. I’m putting this video here to share with other local folks who might like to know he’s doing well and still looking for Bigfoot.

His book is Monsters Myths and Me: And now my eyes are open. The book signing was on September 19 in Felton, CA (Santa Cruz Mountains.)

For what it’s worth, I didn’t agree with everything he wrote about me in the book but once I got around to reading it I wasn’t too freaked out by what he wrote in there either. Memories vary from person to person… that’s a fact.

I was not nearly as impressed by ‘he whose name will not appear on my blog’ as JavaBob was and wondered why he would form a Bigfoot ~~organization~~ business with that person. I do believe his book explains his feelings and motivations, aside from mere financial objectives. Bob is a respectable person and I am glad he’s speaking out more and becoming more of a public figure now rather than staying in the shadows while that other person dominates the spotlight.

In the video he mentions that another Chamber of Commerce member suggested Bigfoot as a theme to market our economically destitute community — well, that was me. I started the Bigfoot research here but got left in the dust by “the guys” during the summer of 2005 … ending with my decision that I just couldn’t work with that other person; I lost faith in the other person’s ability to be objective and kind, especially towards a certain female person who had given him thousands of dollars for his Bigfoot research.

Of all the people in GABRO (Great American Bigfoot Research Organization) that came here to Happy Camp that summer I ended up liking Ruby Rubin and Elbert Yee. I was never on the other side of the debate, mainly because of quality of character issues. Elbert was simply a professional quality, kind hearted person who I could not help but respect. He was totally above board, totally honest. Ruby, though stressed, was doing what needed to be done and was treated rather shabbily… and that was the main reason I had to quit working for GABRO. After a while I couldn’t stand to hear the negative comments and complaints anymore. I got the impression there was no respect for most women in the organization – Peggy Marx being the one exception – and figured there was no place for me in this Bigfoot research team. Plus… one could not help but notice that the people who were supposed to be doing the research simply weren’t there most of the time, leaving a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, and I was not an experienced Bigfoot researcher at the time.

On top of all that, some of the things they wanted added to that video stream were just plain dumb and had nothing to do with Bigfoot research. Maybe the last straw was when I was asked to prepare a video of a bear and pretend it was a Bigfoot. We all knew there was absolutely no evidence of a Bigfoot being there that night – so what was the point of putting a bear on the Bigfoot video stream? I can’t respect someone who would act as if a fuzzy video of a bear’s butt was worth showing to people who wanted to see a Bigfoot. But then along came that disgusting hand – something I could not stand looking at – and they wanted that on the video stream and on the front page of their site. (I owned a web design business at the time and was doing their site updates.) It was about that time I was asking myself, “What am I doing here?” So I disconnected myself from the organization.

Okay, all those things combined – and you have a pretty good picture now why I couldn’t work with ‘he whose name will not appear on my blog’ and why I’ve wondered for the past four years why JavaBob, someone I actually respected, was doing so.

I always liked JavaBob. I was close to his precious daughter Janeen before she died suddenly in January 2006. I think I was the only person in town who couldn’t stop crying during her funeral… she was such a sweet and pure-hearted young woman. Even now I’m crying, just thinking about her. I miss Bob and Vicki, his wife, and wish she wasn’t so set against living here in Happy Camp.

Filed under: Bigfoot Investigators, Bigfoot Videos, California — Linda Martin @ 8:38 pm

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Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”

Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot

Re: Chapter Eight of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Siskiyou County”:

Since I live here in Siskiyou County, I looked forward to reading this chapter of Tribal Bigfoot. It was short and didn’t contain as many sighting reports as the chapters on Trinity County, Del Norte County, and Humbolt County, and I had to wonder why David Paulides kept mentioning other Happy Camp area sightings he was aware of, but profiled only Lars Larson and Tara Hauki, both people I know in this community.

He mentioned that “There aren’t many towns in California more remote than Happy Camp.” (Pg. 212) Maybe it is just too remote for most people, but I call it home and so do about 1200 other people hereabouts.

There are only three Bigfoot reports in this chapter. The first was from a hunter, Darrell Whiteaker, who entered an area near the Marble Mountain Wilderness and found himself in a quiet zone, associated with possible Bigfoot habitation. The experience is that the forest becomes entirely quiet – no birds twittering, no squirrels running about in or out of the trees. Nothing… just silence. A theory is that Bigfoot may frighten all forest creatures so severely that they must be still for self-protection.

The second segment of this chapter concerned Lars Larson, a local prospector that came here to Happy Camp back in 1987. Everyone who has been here a while knows Lars. I was sorry to read this part: “He told me that several years ago there had been visitors in town claiming to be professional bigfoot researchers, and they told him they didn’t believe his cast was real; they stated it was a hoax. This made him very upset….”

I’d like to respond to that. First of all, everyone in Happy Camp accepted that the casting he made was probably a Bigfoot footprint, prior to the summer of 2005. Everyone I know of who has ever spoken of Lars respects him. Nobody here has any negative feelings toward him that I know of, and I have no reason to doubt his credibility. To me he seems like a very sweet but quiet older man who doesn’t hurt anyone and keeps to himself most of the time.

I just read about this episode in JavaBob’s book, Monsters Myths and Me: And now my eyes are open a few nights ago. Here’s what he wrote:

Quoting from pages 32 and 33 of JavaBob’s book:

“Lars picked out the clearest print and made a plaster cast of it. He told me it was difficult to cast because it was on a fairly steep slope heading down towards the creek.

When I asked Lars what he thought might have made the print, he answered that he had absolutely no idea. He only knew he was not able to identify them.

I had asked Lars and the owner of the Moon Dragon, several days earlier, if they minded if I take the print and share it with the GABRO team to investigate. They both agreed and let me take it back to my business to share with the team.

Later, after the GABRO team arrived and I had my conversation with Tom, I went into the back room and brought Lars’ print out for Lee to see. [Lee Hickman, tracker.] Lee took about three minutes to identify the print. He explained to me; “…the print was most likely made by a small black bear. It was apparently walking down hill, probably after a rain, on soft wet soil. The bear print was elongated as it slid down the hill and pushed the soft dirt in front of it. This is not a Bigfoot print!” I was totally amazed by his explanation. It fit the story that Lars had shared with me … perfectly.

Later that day, I returned the print and shared this information with Lars. Lars was happy to finally get an answer he could be comfortable with. However, after Lars told the owner of the Moon Dragon about our findings, it got back to me that she was not quite as happy about the findings as Lars was. I never followed up to find out why.

On the other hand, I was impressed to see that not every unusual object was accepted by the GABRO team as a Bigfoot artifact.”

That’s how I remember it. I never talked to Lars about the pronouncement that his print was from a bear, but I clearly remember in 2005, Bob talking about this incident exactly as he reported it here. He too likes and respects Lars as much as the rest of us do, and none of us ever had any intention of calling his footprint casting a “hoax.” According to what we remember, Lars never said it was made by a Bigfoot. He always said he didn’t know what it was. It was everyone else in town (well, lots of us) that thought it was a Bigfoot footprint because of the size.

Now here is Marcie Stumpf’s article about the incident which I reprinted in Happy Camp News in 2003 with New Era publisher Maria McCracken’s permission:

Reprinted from an article in Modern Gold Miner & Treasure Hunter, January/February 1990
By Marcie Stumpf
Edited for space

. . footprints of a size and shape consistent with those of the legendary Bigfoot were discovered on a claim belonging to THE NEW 49’ers, on Indian Creek, near Happy Camp California.

Lars Larson, a NEW 49’er who was mining on the claim, discovered several of the footprints which measured 17 inches long, and 11 inches wide. Three of the prints were in gravel, and were not distinct, but one was on solid ground, and Lars was able to make a plaster cast of the print.

Happy Camp is well known as “Bigfoot Country”. The first sighting of one of these elusive creatures was made on Thompson Creek, a nearby tributary of the Klamath River, in the 1860’s. A group of Chinese workers who were building a ditch to carry water to a hydraulic mine sighted one, and were so frightened they refused to return to the job.

. . . Lars reported that he searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but was unable to find any further evidence, such as broken branches, or tufts of hair, or any further footprints.

Bigfoot, if he is out there somewhere, still desires not to be seen, and he has many miles of forest where he can remain secluded. Some of us prefer it that way also.

I am not a great tracker but I have looked at and compared bear tracks and Bigfoot tracks. I have no opinion on this particular footprint casting because I’m no expert, but I wanted to make it clear that nobody here in Happy Camp doubts Lars Larson’s credibility, and nobody considers him any kind of hoaxer, as was stated in Tribal Bigfoot.

Possible Bigfoot Bedding

Okay, that’s one Happy Camp story… and the other one David Paulides researched for Tribal Bigfoot is about Tara Hauki. In case you’re not familiar with her sighting experiences, you can read them on her website, Sasquatch and Me, and on the BFRO site here. I met Tara when she came to JavaBobs Bigfoot Deli to tell us about her July 2005 experience. We all went to her home and looked over the property she lives on – and this was within a day or two of the sighting.

The one thing on the property that looked like it could possibly be Bigfoot evidence was the “bed” of broken horsetails that was found right next to the spring. This is the picture I took that day of this area. You can’t see the spring but it is at the back of the hollowed area under the leaves. The bedding doesn’t show well in this photo but it is the dried out area. This was the only indication that I had that possibly something could be unusual with the property. I didn’t know what else could have picked the horsetails and piled them there… and figured it had to be a human, or a Bigfoot. In Tribal Bigfoot David Paulides wrote, “The next day Tara went to the front of her house and looked for tracks. She found one footprint, 18 inches by seven and three-quarters inches.” This was after her first sighting according to Paulides. Well, I was there right after that sighting and don’t remember anything about a footprint in front of her house, and I wonder where that story comes from… or was there some kind of misunderstanding? The only footprint I know of related to this sighting was found weeks later on the hill nearby by Bigfoot researcher Rex Howdyshel.

The Happy Camp Footprint Cast of 2005 is the abnormally big one.
This was discovered on the hill by Rex Howdyshel and cast by Rob Shorey.
I was one of the first people Rex showed the print to before it was cast.

Poker Flat

After that I spent considerable time with Tara during 2005, and up until about April 2006. One of my favorite memories was our trip to Poker Flat, just the two of us. We had a good time that day. It gave me a chance to get to know her better and I appreciated her knowledge of the plants that grew there. Poker Flat is a mountain meadow campground quite a few miles into the forest at a high elevation, near the Siskiyou Wilderness. At one time that area was used as a stop over for mule trains. The picture on the left is of Poker Flat.

In his segment on Tara Hauki in this Siskiyou County chapter of Tribal Bigfoot, toward the end David Paulides mentioned caves on the hill Tara lives next to. I live on the other side of that hill. The cave system is actually a gold mine that operated on the hilltop many years back (see photo below). The entire top of the hillside was washed away by hydraulic mining and the “caves” are probably a drainage system. There used to be an opening in my backyard.

The old gold mine could have indeed provided a place for a Bigfoot to live. Entrances to the gold mine system have been blocked by the forest service now which I think is a great idea because otherwise children could be injured while trying to explore them. The last time I went there, mountain lion tracks were evident in the area of the mine entrance at the airport. We’ve still got mountain lions roaming around at night so I guess they’ve found another place to live.

…

Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, California, Tribal Bigfoot — Linda Martin @ 12:32 am

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September 21, 2009

The Track Record – Ray Crowe’s Research Now Available Again!

Last night I was looking at David Paulides’ website when I noticed he’s put together a CD with The Track Record on it. This is research and writing done by Ray Crowe, who recently retired. David’s organization, North American Bigfoot Search, purchased The Track Record, as well as all of Ray Crowe’s research, documents, writings, copyrights and trademarks, much of which used to be on the web.

Now it is available again, with the title The Track Record- A Bigfoot Encyclopedia, for only $19.95, on CD. North American Bigfoot Search has added an index to make sightings easier to find.

Great work, and thank-you David Paulides!

Filed under: Bigfoot Research — Linda Martin @ 7:33 pm

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Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”

Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot

Re: Chapter Seven of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Trinity County”:

One of the things that makes David Paulides’ books so enjoyable to read is that he makes each segment a story in and of itself. Though the Trinity County chapter profiles more than ten Bigfoot sightings, each is related as its own story complete with lots of background information. For example, when he related Jeannie Lewis’ story (starting on page 162) he began with a description and history of Highway 299. From there he went on to explain how this highway figured into Jeannie’s life and her Bigfoot sighting story.

In the section about Shirley Forks, we get to learn a bit about her family’s history in Willow Creek before she takes off on the trip to Medford that resulted in a Bigfoot sighting next to the Trinity River. The time Paulides spends introducing the people involved makes them real to us by bringing forth the details of their lives.

Though in The Hoopa Project he focused on Bigfoot sightings only for most of the book, here he’s also included episodes that had only footprints or other phenomena, somewhat short of actual sightings. Nevertheless they are compelling accounts of highly unusual finds and experiences.

Doug Mortenson’s sighting account was remarkable because he was a logger. We hear few sighting reports from loggers though we know they’re likely to be in the right area at the right time. This particular sighting took place near Friday Ridge Road, a location name that jumped off the page for me as I recalled that just a few weeks ago I was there in Willow Creek where I went to the Friday Ridge Road vicinity, and later heard from Bigfoot Books blogger Steven Streufert that there have been recent sightings in that area. Later that evening after I left Willow Creek, Steven went squatching on that road with Craig Woolheater of Texas, Sharonlee of Ohio, and the Believe It Tour team members: Mike Esoridi, Diana Smith, and Brad Pennock.

Trinity Alps Wilderness
Photo by Prindleman courtesy Wikipedia Commons

There are a lot of Bigfoot reports in this chapter and I can’t write about them all, but will mention a few. In the segment about Mel Hester of Hyampom, a retired US Forest Service employee, he correlated UFO sightings with Bigfoot sightings in his area. Once he went to Big Bar Road to look for an unusual orb light phenomena and instead found Bigfoot tracks in the snow.

John Lewis of San Francisco shared a Bigfoot sighting event that took place in Trinity County in about 1915. His father was a line worker helping to build a railroad south of Eureka when another line worker disappeared. He was missing for about a month then was discovered naked and delirious in a pit. Before he died the man stated that a female ape had kidnapped him and held him captive. At the end of this segment Mr. Paulides shared a couple reports from Ray Crowe’s Track Record newsletter that mentioned rock-lined pits in relation to Bigfoot. One more thing to watch out for in the woods! This was a highly detailed section – you will have to read the book to learn more. If it were not for David Paulides’ research efforts this shocking and historic Bigfoot sighting and kidnapping report would probably never have been recorded!

Trinity National Forest
Photo courtesy US Forest Service

On page 140 Paulides wrote about his arrival in Hayfork: “I didn’t have any specific names to contact when I arrived, so I knew I would have to canvass the area for locals willing to talk.” His efforts at finding connections in Hayfork and other towns have been very effective and fruitful!

One sad section of the chapter details Bigfoot killings. David Paulides got on this topic because of a report that a sixteen-year-old hunter claimed to have shot a Bigfoot on Knob Peak near Wildwood in Trinity County. Paulides brought forth other reports of Bigfoot killings near the end of this chapter. A very distressing topic! Not only is it distressing because possibly these creatures were killed, but also because now the other Bigfoot family members will be more cautious around humans, and may even harbor animosity toward us. That would make Bigfoot seeking in those areas more dangerous than it otherwise would have been.

Trinity County is a beautiful place to visit. I don’t know how David Paulides got through this entire chapter without mentioning Weaverville, the county seat and a favorite vacation destination of mine. I suppose there aren’t a lot of Bigfoot sightings right in town there but you can visit the Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park and learn about Taoism as practiced by Chinese miners who at one time populated the area. When I first visited the Joss House in the mid-1970s the temple was still being used. The Chinese settlers called this “The Temple of the Forest Beneath The Clouds.”

This spotted owl in the Shasta Trinity Forest probably knows more about Bigfoot than we do!
Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service

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Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, California, Tribal Bigfoot — Linda Martin @ 12:13 am

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September 19, 2009

Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”

Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot

Re: Chapter Six of Tribal Bigfoot, “Amador County”:

Amador County is one of my favorite counties in California, and if I was to relocate from Happy Camp that is one county I’d be interested in moving to, so I was surprised to read in Tribal Bigfoot that this county has no Bigfoot sightings recorded in online databases. There certainly is enough forest. If you travel through the mountains there, you might get that spooky feeling that Bigfoot could very well be around. I’ve been there and remember that feeling well!

After David Paulides created the North American Bigfoot Search website, 24-year-old Daniel Walker emailed him about his Bigfoot sighting in Amador County. Daniel got a good look at a Bigfoot at the intersection of Hale Road and Fiddletown Road in August 2007. Perhaps now Amador County can invest in one of those yellow “Bigfoot Crossing” signs for the first time. County residents need to keep their eyes open. Something might be lurking behind the trees!

From this map we can see there’s plenty of forested area in Amador County:

View Larger Map

I love the gold rush town of Jackson there in the Sierra Nevada foothills… but further uphill there’s forest, a small but gorgeous town called Volcano, and Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park — one of my favorite of the California State Historic Parks, and I’ve been to quite a few. There’s no doubt that there are LOTS of Bigfooted Ones living in the forest in that region, and either the 38,471 residents of this 593 square mile county haven’t seen one, or they have kept their sightings hush-hush.

In 1996 I toured the Mother Lode with my children, then ages 6 and 7. We drove on scenic Highway 49 from Tuolumne City to Downieville. Jackson in Amador County was on our route. It is a slightly modernized gold rush town, and a great place to spend time. A few years later we went back to Jackson, this time to visit Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park where we took a hike on a trail nearby that taught us a lot about the local herbs and wild natural foods. There’s more there than an untrained eye would imagine! The park includes an impressive ceremonial roundhouse and museum, and Mi’wuk Indian village.

This is a great place for a vacation – and with a few walks in the woods you might be first to put your Amador Bigfoot sighting into one of the online sighting databases. While you’re there, you could check out one of the outdoor amphitheater performances of the Volcano Theater Company.

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Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, California, Tribal Bigfoot — Linda Martin @ 10:50 pm

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Big FOOT Excuses…

I’ve been slacking on getting the Bigfoot Site of the Day postings written, and haven’t even kept current with reviews of Tribal Bigfoot chapters. My big excuse is that my foot has been injured and I’m going through a slow recovery with it.

I find it hard to keep up with the Bigfoot Site of the Day reviews, but I will get back to all the websites I skipped out on reviewing by making them sites of the day later in the year.

I’m enjoying my reading of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides… I find the book very inspiring and will continue to post reviews of the individual chapters during the rest of this month.

I’ve also been racing to get another book read and reviewed before the end of this month. More on that in a few days when I finish reading it! At least being forced to keep my foot elevated has slowed me down enough to give me time for all this reading, which is a delight, believe me. I’ve been sitting outside in the back of the van I bought for my Bigfoot research, enjoying sunny days under a shady madrone tree here in the Klamath River Valley, reading, and writing in notebooks.

Filed under: Site Notes — Linda Martin @ 9:38 pm

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A Hulking Book, Finished!, by Linda Newton-Perry

It is my routine each evening to read myself to sleep. This last week, I fell asleep with David Paulides’ 480 page book, Tribal Bigfoot, toppling heavily onto the bedcovers. Don’t get the wrong idea, it did in no way put me to sleep; I, in fact, enjoyed it so much that I simply couldn’t put it down. This morning I finished the book with only a page and a half left from the night before. If you have an interest at all, in Bigfoot, do buy and read the book yourself. I ordered my copy from Amazon.com. Paulides has a website you will enjoy. The address is www.nabigfootsearch.com.

I’ll mention a few more interesting things about Paulides’ book. The excellent illustrations, drawings of Bigfoot, are by forensic sketch artist Harvey Pratt. Also included in the book are photos of many people who have had sightings and have signed affidavits to that fact. Many photos are included in the book, which help the reader visualize and comprehend the text. You can be sure that I’ll be reading the book again soon.

I’ve been busy for a couple weeks now, baking Bigfoot cookies, a cookie of the foot and a cookie of the body of the animal. Why, you may ask? Well, I thought I’d give them away when I give book readings or at other festive gatherings having to do with our children’s Bigfoot books. I’ve got the recipe perfected and the how of forming the foot and body, so I’ve moved on to turning my charcoal eraser into the form of Bigfoot and making a slideshow story. My charcoal eraser is always on my desk. While working, I often pick it up and warm it by pulling and kneading it. I have a little talent for sculpting, so I decided to turn the eraser into Bigfoot. It was fun. The slideshow-story is on Youtube. You can see it for yourself by going to Youtube and typing in Guess where I found Bigfoot.

If you would like to report a sighting, or just give your opinion on Bigfoot, please email it to lindap@douglasco.net. And if you read Tribal Bigfoot, Linda would like to know what you thought of it.

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Linda Newton-Perry, along with her husband Christopher Perry, is the author of four books: Forced Blood The Norseman, a Viking Age novel, and three children’s Bigfoot books, Lock Your Doors Country Folk, Eye of the Beast, and The Little Red Car and Bigfoot. Order your copy at www.christopherperryandlindanewtonperry.com. Email your Bigfoot sightings to lindap at douglasco.net.

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Filed under: Bigfoot Research, Linda Newton-Perry — Linda Martin @ 9:02 pm

yowie bigfoot sasquatch cryptozoology Australia

September 16, 2009

Australian Yowie Research

Did you know there have been almost 10,000 sightings reported of Yowies in Australia? Yowies are the Australian version of Bigfoot. They say there are two varieties – tall and short. The tall Yowies are about 6 to 10 feet tall, and the shorter (and full grown) Yowies are 4 to 5 feet tall. Read more about Yowies and the history of Austalian Bigfoot sightings at What is a Yowie? and at Historical Yowie Articles.

The site has an extensive Multimedia Center with audio, art, and photographs. There is a section listing all their equipment and a series of Yowie expedition reports. There are also listings of sighting reports all through Australia, including this very recent one from September 15, 2009.

The site also lists sightings of a variety of cryptozoological creatures including big cats, Thylacine, Bunyip, Bigfoot, flying creatures, and more. A section on VietNam lists this very interesting article: Wildman in VietNam by Dao Van Tien.

When all is said and done, if you want to know more you might like to register at the Yowie Hunters Forum where you can connect with real Yowie hunters and find out what sightings they’re talking about now.

Filed under: Australia — Linda Martin @ 3:11 pm

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Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”

Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot

Re: Chapter Five of Tribal Bigfoot, “Santa Cruz County”:

I read chapter five of Tribal Bigfoot about a week ago. The part that stayed with me, that I couldn’t stop thinking about, is a report on a Bigfoot who was ridgewalking in a wooded area on the county line between Monterey County and Santa Cruz County when he came upon a group of campers. That’s when Kenny Rogers, who was still awake, heard heavy footfalls approaching. Then the Bigfoot stopped and let out a loud howl. This didn’t awaken Kenny’s friends, who had been drinking earlier in the evening.

According to David Paulides’ report on this Bigfoot sighting, “The creature then stepped over to a small grouping of large trees and started to shake them very violently.” (Pg. 122) After that the creature walked around the perimeter of the group for about an hour before leaving.

Does anyone ever stop and think about things from the Sasquatch point of view? I can imagine what was going through this poor Bigfoot’s mind. He was walking along a wooded ridge he was probably accustomed to using as a corridor to reach Monterey Bay, or some other area he needed to get to, and suddenly discovered a large group of sleeping human beings in his path.

Perhaps that wouldn’t have been such an emotionally charged event for him were it not for the fact that there’s limited forested land in that area, and humans have encroached on Bigfoot territory for generations, taking more and more away from them. Maybe this ridge was his home, or his favorite place in the world. So he walked up and saw all these humans taking even more land from him — perhaps even a corridor of wooded land that he felt vital to his well-being, and it traumatized him to the point where he had to howl his fright and displeasure, then take out his extreme emotions on some trees! Finally he calmed himself down and inspected the site, perhaps wondering if this would become another permanent settlement violating land he thought was his.

The woods east and north of Santa Cruz are filled with redwood trees, homes, streets, people, and traffic, yet there are many areas where Bigfoot could be living, and in fact, many have seen evidence or had direct sightings. This chapter of the book examines several of them including Colette Alexander’s sighting which was posted to this blog in October 2008: Santa Cruz, California Bigfoot Sighting, 1999. That one tends to amaze me still because it took place right outside the city of Santa Cruz.

There are other compelling Santa Cruz County Bigfoot sighting reports in the book. Several young men there had clear sightings of a hair-covered Bigfoot close up.

I’ve spent some time in that forest, having vacationed there as a youth and returned many times during my adult years. My mother grew up in Santa Cruz, I lived there years ago in the early seventies, and my brother lives in the woods there now. The forest as seen from Highway 9 can be dark and spooky, and there are many square miles of undeveloped wooded land.

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Filed under: Bigfoot Reading Group, California, Site Notes, Tribal Bigfoot — Linda Martin @ 12:12 am

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