I’ll be at the 2011 Happy Camp, CA Bigfoot Jamboree
This year’s Happy Camp Bigfoot Jamboree will take place on Labor Day Weekend, September 2-4, 2011 at the River Park in Happy Camp. Our resident Bigfoot researcher, JavaBob Schmalzbach, will be a speaker – as will I. You can see us at 1pm on Saturday 9/3/11 at the pavilion in River Park. I have NEVER spoken at a Bigfoot event (honestly, I don’t even attend the conferences, as of yet) but since the Bigfoot Jamboree is a gathering of Happy Camp neighbors I will gather together some brave thoughts, psyche myself up, and go tell everyone why I’ve been researching Bigfoot for the last six years.
My main motivation for doing this is to let people in our area know that Bigfoot is a real phenomena, not just an awesome statue in the middle of town. I want to tell them about Bigfoot sightings in our area.
When I got here in 2000, nobody talked about sightings. In April 2001 we had a town celebration for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Bigfoot Scenic Byway which runs from Happy Camp to Willow Creek. At our celebration one speaker mentioned a Bigfoot sighting that had taken place about ten miles from here in the 1800s. Other than that, nobody could tell us anything about local Bigfoot sightings.
My goal, therefore, was to find out if Happy Camp has a real claim to the presence of Bigfoot, and that’s what I’ll be speaking about at the Bigfoot Jamboree. It will be an opportunity to share my findings with the people of our town.
After I’m done, I’ll turn the stage over to JavaBob, a more experienced speaker with a book to sell. I’m not sure what he has planned but I’m sure it will be of interest to anyone who has wondered about the existence of Bigfoot.
I asked Tara Hauki to speak and she declined. I get the impression she’s received some negative feedback from some of her friends and acquaintances in town, and feels a need for more privacy. We have discussed sponsoring an event more centric to the Bigfoot community at which we might get her to take part.
There may be other Bigfoot researchers in town that week that could take the stage for a bit… and if you are such a person who can be in Happy Camp that weekend, please email me – let me know. My email address is linda-at-bigfootsightings.org – you can use the contact link in the right-side column of this website.
September 21, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
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.
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!
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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Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
…
September 19, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
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.
…
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
…
September 10, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot
Re: Chapter Three of Tribal Bigfoot, “Associations.”
In chapter three of Tribal Bigfoot David Paulides shares the associations he’s made from his years of studying Bigfoot sighting reports. These associations are things that are common in Bigfoot sighting reports.
The first association he mentions is elevation. David Paulides says he’s documented an unusual number of sightings at or close to 2400 feet elevation. Why would this be? Is this where Bigfoot feels freer to roam because there are fewer human beings living at that elevation?
Happy Camp, for example, is at 1085 feet elevation, but we have roads that will take us to 2400 feet nearby. Nobody around here actually lives up there. Is this an elevation where humans would go on vacation and cross paths with wandering Sasquatches who thought they had the place to themselves?
My opinion is that David Paulides got it right in the first sentence of that section when he said that “Bigfoot can be found at any elevation at any time anywhere in California.” (Pg. 60) He suggests purchase of his Bigfoot Sightings map for a better perspective on why he makes an association with the 2400′ elevation. You can find the map at his website.
The second association is with Native Americans and their reservations. David Paulides believes “There must be some relationship between Native Americans and bigfoot that we are still struggling to understand.” (Pg. 64)
I don’t believe there’s anything magically different about Native Americans. I live among them here in Happy Camp. We’re all human beings no matter what color our skin is. The big difference – and why they may have more sightings – is that many Native Americans live closer to nature than other Americans do. Their reservations are in extremely rural areas – which are for the most part undeveloped. These are places the US government granted to them because conditions there may have been inconvenient or too rugged for settlers with European blood. Many of these reservations, such as the Round Valley Reservation here in Northern California, are not the actual ancestral homelands of the people forced onto them.
Sasquatch, like Native Americans, have had their territory diminished by the onslaught of our materialistic civilization. There may still be pockets of Sasquatch habitation here and there but for the most part they’ve been pushed deep into the woods where they are safe from men with guns. Yes, they know what guns are no doubt, and what kinds of men or women use them. They also know that when people see them, the people are often fearful. Fear begets violence. The choice of Sasquatches to conceal themselves is self-preservation in action. They may be bolder around Native Americans whose culture has traditionally been a safe haven.
I particularly appreciated Earla Penn’s sighting in Oregon. Earla Penn is a Quileute Indian. “She wasn’t afraid, and waved at it. It stopped to look at her, and then walked away….” (Pg. 63) I’ve thought many times about what I’d do if I were confronted by a Bigfoot while out in the woods. How would I react? What would I say? My greatest hope is that there would be no fear. I’d like to wave and say hello, just like Earla did! But one never knows what his reaction will be until the moment comes.
I think the reasons for associations with berries and water are obvious. We all need water to survive, and berries taste good. In summer months Sasquatch may need to migrate downhill to live near springs and creeks — and in winter may migrate back to known caves in the mountains where water can be had by melting snow. There’s a sighting mentioned in the book that indicates a migration pattern: “…every fall a family of 6 passes near his place…heading west from a hilly forested area east of him.” (Pg. 64)
There are quite a few other fascinating sightings recounted – mostly from Ray Crowe’s research which was published in The Track Record. Several other associations are mentioned as well.
…
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
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September 8, 2009
Whistles and Whoops – Follow-up with the Forest Service Wildlife Biologist
Berries in a nearby dry streambed.
What are these? (Click to enlarge.)
Today I went to the local Forest Service office to speak to the wildlife biologist, a young man who took a few minutes out of his busy day to do some brainstorming with me about what local animal could be whooping and whistling in the forest near Happy Camp.
[Reference: My first post about the whoops and whistles I heard.]
He suggested an owl, egret, or heron. I listened to sound files and YouTube videos of bird sounds. The only one that comes close so far is this fishing heron that does a bit of whistling. The quality of the whistle wasn’t an exact match, but that’s a possibility. This heron’s whistle has a bit of trilling to it, which I didn’t hear. And it isn’t combined with a whoop… so the jury is still out.
Rapids at the bottom of the cliff.
He told me there’s a rookery downriver from Happy Camp. I know there’s one at the end of the human-occupied territory, across from the crushed rock business. I scanned the river at my research location further down and couldn’t see any herons or other birds fishing. I did hear birds twittering in the area today, mostly from a distance, but didn’t see any. I also scanned the trees across from where I sit, looking for nests; nothing found yet.
I enjoyed my talk with the wildlife biologist. He says he doesn’t believe there’s any Bigfoot in our forest. I told him a little about Bigfoot sightings near Happy Camp but got the distinct impression that his woo-woo tolerance level was exceeded by the end of our conversation.
I have now spent eight mornings sitting by the river in this one particular spot and during that time I’ve heard the whoops and whistles only once. Today I was out there again. I had my SanDisk on but it didn’t pick up any sounds except the river. Perhaps I should find another location that isn’t so close to a series of rapids. I also am devising ways to save the money for better recording equipment.
More on this issue if/when there’s anything worth reporting!
My very own blobsquatch!
September 6, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Review by Linda Martin – @2009
Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot
Re: Chapter Two of Tribal Bigfoot, “The Bigfoot Map Project.”
David Paulides spent all of chapter two writing about the statistics behind his Bigfoot sightings map of four Northern California counties. It is a short chapter – only eight pages, which includes charts. He compiled a list of over 350 sightings (from the 1800′s to 2008) that took place in those four counties and arranged with the California State Automobile Association to use their map for the project. The map features sightings in Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou Counties.
I live in Siskiyou County which includes Happy Camp and Mt. Shasta, so I found the statistical information of interest. The chart on page 53 credits Siskiyou with the least number of sightings per square mile but this is a large county and the eastern part has less forest. Happy Camp, where I live, is in the western section and is surrounded by the Klamath National Forest. According to this chart, Del Norte has one sighting per 17 square miles compared to Siskiyou County’s 1 sighting per 134 square miles. I’m suggesting that’s not because we have fewer Bigfoot, but because our county is more than six times the size of Del Norte County and our population less than twice as much as theirs. Most of Siskiyou County is uninhabited (by humans) forested land.
One could analyze the data provided by Paulides to guess that Bigfoot prefers the coastal mountains and forests, but then he also wrote that “A vast majority of the sightings fall into our elevation theory, sightings in California predominantly fall into a range focusing on 2400 feet with the majority 1600- 3200 feet.’ (See Blog # 47) Compare this with his statement that “69% of all the listed sightings/incidents logged on the map are within 40 miles of the coast.” (Page 59 in the book.)
The elevation of Happy Camp is only 1085 so I think it is safe to say that the area between here and the coast are not at the 2400′ level except for hilltops. (There’s more discussion of the preference of Bigfoot for coastal areas in the book.) Personally I’m not putting much weight on the elevation theories he’s coming up with (there’s also something about two huts at 350′ elevation mentioned on one of Michael Rugg’s videos – see episode #25) but I’ll keep my mind open in case something substantial is proven about Bigfoot and elevations.
He lists population density in his chart but doesn’t comment much on that aspect. If there are more people, then it makes sense that there will be more sighting opportunities. In Humboldt County there are 128,330 residents according to his chart.That county correspondingly has the highest number of sightings of the four counties analyzed: 124. That is one sighting per 1035 people. In comparison Siskiyou County has less than half the population – 45,091 people – with 1 sighting per 959 people for a total of 47 sightings.
Out here in the western section of Siskiyou County, in the Klamath National Forest, we’ve got about 2,182 residents in the Happy Camp census district. Happy Camp had 1277 in the year 2000 census but the census district includes residents of Seiad Valley and others up and down the Klamath River Highway. With 8 local sightings (according to Paulides – I’m aware of more) that’s 1 per 273 people. This rivals Trinity County’s 1 per 231 people.
There are also tourists to take into consideration – they are a great source of sighting reports. They tend to congregate on the coast — very few decide to make the long trip into the heart of the Klamath National Forest.
So there are a few more statistical considerations for the area of this Bigfoot map project. Perhaps you can come up with other ideas for analyzing the statistics that I haven’t thought about.
…
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
…
Whoops and Whistles – What Did I Hear?
By Linda Martin – @2009 – http://www.bigfootsightings.org
My van was concealed behind these trees
at the time I heard the whoops and whistles.
Yesterday I was writing in my journal while sitting next to the Klamath River a few miles outside of town, about 11 am, when I heard a couple whoops, then a whistle, then a brief silence, and then more whoops and whistles. That was all. The whole thing lasted less than a minute. The whoops and whistles didn’t sound like any animals I know of in the forest near here.
I just spent some time listening to various Bigfoot sound recordings on the internet. I finally found something that sounds like what I heard on a BFRO page of Bigfoot/Sasquatch related sound recordings. The sound titled, “Whoops and Knocks” from California in 1974 has a very similar whooping sound… very short whoops. And further on down the page there’s one titled, “Growls and Whistling” that has similar whistling sounds.
I’m not saying I heard Bigfoot. All I’m saying here is that I heard sounds I thought were unusual for this forest, and that I thought they might have come from a Bigfoot. On the other hand they might have come from something else, and I’m open to suggestions here.
This is the area where I believe
the strange sounds were coming from
The sounds I heard came from the wooded hillside on the south side of the river, across from where I was sitting. It has been suggested to me that the sounds could have been made by river rafters going through the rapids at the bottom of the cliff I sat next to, but I don’t think so for several reasons. First, they didn’t sound human. Second, there were no other sounds associated with rafters such as laughter and talking. Third, I think that if someone was experiencing a moment of excitement going through the rapids, they wouldn’t give two short “Whoop, Whoop” sounds, then whistle. What I heard sounded feral and animal-like.
If you click on this picture to enlarge it
you’ll see the two kayakers I saw today.
I did not see or notice any river rafters
or kayakers yesterday when I heard
the strange whooping and whistles.
Today I was back in the same place for more journaling when I heard a shout coming from the canyon. I looked and saw two kayaks on the river bank. The owner of the voice was hiking around somewhere. This kind of human sound is much different from what I heard yesterday, so I’m not at all convinced of the river rafter theory, and my friend here isn’t at all convinced that I heard whoops and whistles worth writing about, especially in this Bigfoot blog. What do you think? Should I have kept it to myself?
The only recording device I have is my SanDisk (like an IPod) but the sound isn’t downloadable to my computer. However I will keep it on next time I go to this section of the river for my morning journal writing session just in case I’m lucky enough to hear something like this again. I’d like to at least be able to show my friend what it is I heard.
For the record, there have been Bigfoot sighting reports of encounters on the Klamath River Highway on this side of town, in 2003 (a local teenager) and 2005 (a visiting pastor from a large congregation in Southern California.)
