Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”

I love historic accounts of Bigfoot encounters found in newspapers of the 1800’s in the USA. I wonder how many of these old news articles are still undiscovered. David Paulides came up with some fascinating articles for the first chapter of Tribal Bigfoot — possibly from the Ray Crowe archive he purchased.

After reading the entire chapter, the historic articles that remain in my memory are those with detailed descriptions of a possible Bigfoot-like creature. Back then they were called “wild men.” They are described as having skin resembling a horses’s — not what I’d expect at all — but it fits: hair-covered hide, hands similar to bear paws.

What’s very cool about these news articles is that there are several accounts of a captured Bigfoot. One article is from 1833 in Kentucky (pages 48 and 49), and another from 1839 in Ohio (pages 44 through 46). Both these provide detailed descriptions of the appearance and behavior of the “wild man” that we would probably call Sasquatch or Bigfoot today. Another account of a captured wild man was published in 1908 in Wisconsin about a Volva, North Dakota incident (page 46).

If they were actually captured back then, it makes me wonder why we have such a difficult time doing the same now. Could it be that we (as a species) have learned incompetence during the last 170 years? Could television and radio waves and cell phone EMFs have affected us … and made us lazy? Yes, times have changed.. so are we capable of duplicating the captures of the past? Or, were these accounts of hairy wild man captures simply facetious? (I think not.) Another wild theory of mine is that these captured wild men were able to put the word out to others of their species through psychic means, to warn them that if they had contact with humans they could end up captured. Are Bigfoot creatures more cautious now because of what has happened in the past?

Captivity seemed to drain the fight out of these wild men. The Ohio article stated, “He is now quite tame and quiet and is only confined by a stout chain attached to his legs.” I find it hard to believe that a stout chain could stop a Bigfoot from escape. A few years back I saw a thick and hefty chain which had held two goats, that had been broken so that something (a possible Bigfoot) could take the goats for food. (The remains were found nearby on a hill in a wooded area.) Perhaps the Ohio wild man lost his strength because of a changed diet, or just a lack of will to escape.

The Kentucky account involved a possible Bigfoot on a train. He was being taken to New York to hopefully be sold to PT Barnum’s circus. This article states, “When Conductor Harry Smith took out his glistening nickel plated punch to cancel the tickets the wild man watched the punch intently until he heard it snap. Then he got down in the corner of the seat fairly shivering with fear, and set up a low howl…”

Could it be that the Ohio and Kentucky captured wild men were one and the same? Not if you believe the stories from the newspapers. The Ohio wild man was captured near the Mississippi River and the wild man on the train in Kentucky was said to have lived in North Carolina. He was also said to have been a sharp shooter and murderer. The part about being a sharp shooter doesn’t sound realistic so that brings into question the credibility of the men who possessed the wild man. Even so, the Kentucky article pre-dates the Ohio article by six years so it is unlikely to have been the same creature.

Another old news article that changed how I think about Bigfoot is the “What Is It” article published June 25, 1891 in Woodland, California, found in Tribal Bigfoot on pages 33 and 34. It tells of Mr. Herman Gilbert who was exploring Capay Valley, near Rumsey. David Paulides identified Rumsey as being a small town near Clear Lake in Northern California. The article tells that Mr. Gilbert found and followed footprints to a ravine where he witnessed an agitated Bigfoot-like creature “covered in gore” near a pile of rotting animal remains that stank severely. It made me wonder if members of the Bigfoot species are in the habit of covering themselves with gore to produce a terrible stench. It could be a way of self-protection from forest animals, or a way to keep human beings at bay.

Any comments on this chapter are welcome.

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”

9 Replies to “Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot””

  1. Two books I would like to recommend are:

    The Psychic Sasquatch and Soloman Islands Mysteries.

    “If they were actually captured back then, it makes me wonder why we have such a difficult time doing the same now. Could it be that we (as a species) have learned incompetence during the last 170 years? Could television and radio waves and cell phone EMFs have affected us … and made us lazy? Yes, times have changed.. so are we capable of duplicating the captures of the past? Or, were these accounts of hairy wild man captures simply facetious? (I think not.) Another wild theory of mine is that these captured wild men were able to put the word out to others of their species through psychic means, to warn them that if they had contact with humans they could end up captured. Are Bigfoot creatures more cautious now because of what has happened in the past?”

    It is said that these creatures show themselves to whomever they want because they can read your thoughts and that they are psychic and telepathic. They were brought here by the star people (aliens). They also can disaapear/dematerialize into a different dimension on a wymm when they feel threatened and don’t want to interact with humans. This can explain why people can’t catch one or see one more than a certain period of time. Its said the CIA had caught one on different occasions but you have to read the books to find out.

    Thanks,

    Matt

  2. Gary – yes, I read Peter Byrne’s new article about Bob Titmus. It seems he didn’t respect him as much as John Green did (you’d have to read Bobbie Short’s eulogy page for Bob Titmus for that.) The early days of Bigfoot research are fascinating, are they not?

    I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Tribal Bigfoot. David Paulides keeps my attention – I like his writing style, and what he writes about makes me think about a lot of different aspects of Bigfoot research.

  3. I have read the book twice now and it has some interesting theories in it and you will be suprised about a few items in the later chapters, Linda.

    David had emailed about another project he was doing regarding one of the results in two lab reports you will read about later as i had ran across an odd bit of info regarding the Y chromosone in Native Americans and Amelogenin testing . it sounds very interesting!!

    btw Linda, did you happen to read the peter byrne article about bob titmus over at bobbi short’s site?

    I would recommend it. you’ll find it in the “what’s new section”

  4. Back when these bigfoot were captured there were not that many people around.Now with the population as large as it is, we have moved or taken alot of bigfoots territory.I believe bigfoot population is not as large as it once was.

    1. Lova, you’re so right… there are probably a lot fewer Sasquatch now. At times I look at this from the Sasquatch point of view… at how they’ve had to move away from places where they once lived in harmony with Native American cultures. Is it any wonder that they shy away from contact with us?

  5. I’m glad you’ve started the review. I still need to get my book in order to follow along. I not long ago read through twice the book LEGEND COME TO LIFE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN by Ivan T. Sanderson. Like you, I enjoyed the newspaper articles he reported on that took place in the past. (Sorry if this comes across as “stilted.” I’m without a spellcheck.) I wonder if Paulides mentiones the creature Jacko found and captured in British Columbia in1884? Again, thanks Linda for reviewing this book. I look forward to more.

    1. Hello again, Linda! Jacko wasn’t mentioned in this chapter, but he was in John Green’s book, Sasquatch, The Apes Among Us, as I recall. I appreciate that David Paulides chose a completely different set of historic articles to include in his first chapter. I’ve got John Green’s book scheduled for Feb/Mar of 2010 and am looking forward to the re-read.

  6. The number of sightings is definitely on the rise. Are they a leftover life form from the past or only one of the many forms of aliens a.k.a. not quite human beings that continue to crop of with increasing regularity around the world?

    Incidentally, animals usually cover themselves in gore to hide their true scent so they can easily get close enough to their prey to attack it under the element of surprise. Just watch any hunting dog after being given a bath. They head for the closest pile of offal to rid themselves of the tell tale odor by rolling in it.

    1. 2012 Chick, I’ve given Bigfoot origin a lot of thought. People will think I’m too “out there” if I really get into my psychic impressions, so I am usually hush-hush about them. Why mention things that can’t be proven with the scientific method? On the other hand, I do love to talk things over with paranormal researchers. I started another site, Friends of Sasquatch, which is actually a small local organization – with the potential of becoming much more. It is about communication with Sasquatch via subtle energies. My impression is that Sasquatch is an ancient cousin of humankind, and that there’s definitely a relationship. I’ll leave it at that for now.

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