Sasysquatchgirl

Hunting For Bigfoot… That Ape-like Thing Baffles Everyone

California Aggie volume 95. #11

April 19th, 1977

By JANE WILSON

If you have ever gone mountain camping you have undoubtedly from time to time experienced the sensation of tinglingfear sent up your spine when a bush rustles or you see two luminous eyes peering at you from the dark. You immediately attempt to pass it off as a friendly little bear or mountain lion. Yet few persons have ever fully considered the possibility of that rustling, brief glimpse of the unknown being an eight foot tall, seven hundred pound ape-like creature – “Bigfoot.”

One person who has fully expounded upon this possibility is an ambitious seventeen-year-old Sacramento resident, Ben Waldroop. In fact, Waldroop is so serious about the famous monster’s existence that he has organized the first California Bigfoot Association, and plans to lead a three week expedition into the Bigfoot country of Mt. Shasta this June.

Being far above his years in terms of drive and intellectual curiosity, Waldroop became fascinated with the legend of Bigfoot over a year ago and began to research the subject in his own time by reading books and becoming a regular at the State Library. With all the sightings of Bigfoot that pour in every year from such California areas as Palmdale, Shasta, and Sonora, not to mention similar mountain regions in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, Waldroop and his small band of supporters sincerely believe Bigfoot exists.

Because Bigfoot has never been captured or studied, Waldroop is careful to assign a note of caution to the Bigfoot theories that he supports. Waldroop describes the ape-like creature as “a man-shy, nomadic animal that lives in dense forest terrain, feeding much like a bear does on fish and vegetation.” According to Waldroop, several things seem to support the fact that Bigfoot might be nomadic, such as the scarcity of its reported sightings and the fact that

no one has ever actually found an established winter den.

When asked how.such a huge creature, supposedly living in or around populated areas, could exist without having been seen regularly, Waldroop alludes to the dense forest where “cover and discretion are naturally facilitated,” and where natural forces “expedite the process of Bigfoot’s carcass decay.” Waldroop also feels that all animals, especially Bigfoot, have a strong sixth sense which forewarns them against possible dangers, man included. He says that because of its successful avoidance of man, “the animal must exhibit superior cunning and intellectual abilities over many other animals.”

Although still seeking financial sponsorship, Waldroop and eight traveling companions, including a physical anthropologist from Sacramento State University, plan to start their trek this June 10. With financial backing they hope to purchase specialized equipment, including an infra-red night vision device which enables utilization of natural night light from the moon and stars; a sound amplification device to record far off noises; and a tranquilizer gun in case they encounter Bigfoot.

The group intends only to capture Bigfoot for a short period of time, study and perhaps tag it, then release it alive and unharmed. Waldroop is quick to make clear that the expedition is “Not for profit, but only for research.”

Waldroop expresses some hesitations about other reports and filmclips such as the movie “Sasquatch.” He feels that some people are out to “capitalize and gain publicity” from the legend. He does feel, however, that researchers have in the past produced some important findings. The young explorer considers the late Roger Patterson, who filmed the famous filmclip of a live Bigfoot in 1967, as noteworthy. “Film experts from a large Los Angeles film company studied the film and found it to be

extremely convincing. They conjectured that it would have taken thousands and thousands of dollars, plus much expertise in anatomy to have produced such a

film,” Waldroop said. Such efforts would be out of the range of the average person, he maintains t addine that he believes that

perhaps more than half of the Bigfoot reports are true. For those who are interested in membership, or just wish to discuss the issue further,, the California Bigfoot Association’s mailing address is P.O. Box 13162, Sacramento, California, 95813.

January 7, 1811, David Thompson’s journal…

Continuing our journey in the afternoon we came on the track of a large animal, the snow about six inches deep on the ice; I measured it; four large toes each of four inches in length; to each a short claw; the ball of the foot sunk three inches lower than the toes, the hinder part of the foot did not mark well, the length fourteen inches, by eight inches in breadth, walking from north to south, and having passed about six hours.  We were in no humour to follow him; the Men and Indians would have it to be a young mammoth and I held it to be the track of a large old grizzled bear; yet the shortness of the nails, the ball of the foot, and its great size was not that of a Bear, otherwise that of a very large old Bear, his claws worn away; this the Indians would not allow.”

40 years later, while writing the draft of his Narrative, David Thompson expanded on his experience further:

“January 7th continuing our journey in the afternoon we came on the track of a large animal, the snow about six inches deep on the ice; I measured it; four large toes each of four inches in length, to each a short claw; the ball of the foot sunk three inches lower than the toes. The hinder part of the foot did not mark well, the length fourteen inches, by eight inches in breadth, walking from north to south, and having passed about six hours. We were in no humour to follow him; the Men and Indians would have it to be a young mammouth [sic] and I held it to be the track of a large old grizzly bear; yet the shortness of the nails, the ball of the foot, and its great size was not that of a Bear”

David Thompson was born April 30th 1770. He was a British and Canadian fur trader, surveyor and cartographer. He was known to the native peoples as Koo-Koo-Sint or “the Stargazer”. He has traveled some 90,000 kilometres (56,000 mi) across North America mapping 4.9 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles). For this venture , Thompson has been described as the “greatest practical land geographer that the world has ever produced^.

He had to have seen a lot of wildlife on his travels. He most likely had seen a lot of bears out that. So would he mistake a bear as a Sasquatch? He might. But I doubt he’d fake the story, he likely wouldn’t have gained anything in the telling. But it still fascinating, end I love the older tales….

What he sees when he’s peeping out

When he’s watching us humans lurking about

We’re banging and howling all over the place

No wonder he’s hiding from our race

Those noises aren’t welcoming and friendly they mean prepare to defend

Defend their race and the territory t

The gift could be a trap

With cameras set up ready to snap

No apple is worth the price

Of their race being exposed to our life

Exposed to tests, coldness maybe death

Same treatment we’ve done to the rest

The young ones are curious of us

But is there really anyone they can trust

When you look out your window what do you see?

All kinds of horrible things we do to each other, that’s our humanity

So hide my friends don’t ever come out

What they may do to you would leave you crying out

For your family, for your home

for the decency you thought we’d show

Stay hidden, stay safe, stay elusive

Some day, humans will be extinct

And you may still live

The forests will grow back through the pavement and stick out of the buildings

Just things here and there of our leavings

You, the true stewards of this big blue ball

Will keep life going, after we fall…”

This poem was inspired by the art of Michael Payton

You can find him and his work at:

https://www.facebook.com/michael.payton.940

“The full moon is blinding

Time to head into the forest

Let the crickets sing the verse

You and I can sing the chorus

Be my fierce champion tonight

Be the myth, be the lore

Be mysterious…but also be more

I know your smile and your laugh when you let the light in

So even though it’s dark tonight I can see everything behind that toothy grin

It means everything to me

That it’s only me who gets to see

See you change in this way

So have wondrous dreams while you slumber

Soon just two legs will be all you’ll need

To find your way to me

Every time you wake up,

you wonder what I see

Not everyone can be perfect

We all have our flaws

But we are in this love together

These flaws are not just yours, they’re ours

So dream of everything wonderful you did while you were running free,

When you wake up, I’ll be here

I want it to be me that you see,

A protector to me when the moon is full

And I you, while you slumber and shed your fur

I’ll watch your eyes open and turn human and lock onto mine once more

They’ll look like a sea of blue

Then, we can just sit there silent and enjoy the pine

Lay back a minute

Let’s look at the sun rise

This you, here, relaxed

Is worth it all

But I too love your Wolf call

I’d be chasing you everywhere

if you could be caught

Wherever your path takes you after I’ve passed

I hope you are as happy as this right now,

Just laying in the grass

Follow only what makes you feel whole

Because otherwise you won’t remember all we meant to each other, how I loved you so

If you don’t have your heart or your soul”

Happy Werewolf Wednesday

In franklin,there is a street known as Oak Street Extension, which, logically, continues from the main thoroughfare where the High School is located, called Oak Street, down toward the swampy lowlands of mine brook that approximate the border between Franklin and Bellingham.

The street ends today, abruptly, at a “rain garden and a sharp turn takes traffic onto Schofield Drive.

But you can keep going — by foot. That’s because this is the route of a former trolley line that linked Bellingham, Franklin, and other towns. And the remains of a causeway for the trolley extends out to the middle of the swamp.

At the “end” there is the swift flowing water of Mine Brook. And, across a 20 foot gap (guessing) is the rest of the causeway that leads up to Maple Street in Bellingham, which used to boast several mills and a cluster of worker homes.

After the trolleys went out of business around 1920, the tracks were puled up and the bridge and causeway was used occasionally by trucks from the mill carrying loads to the RR station in Franklin but it began to get overgrown.

When World War II began, there was a desperate need nationally for metals to build, tanks, ships. and a thousand other things. A local Franklin man saw the nearly abandoned bridge as a perfect money making opportunity and started to take it apart and haul off the girders to earn the scrap metal value for himself.

But when this became common knowledge he was critized by the townsfolks and so shamed that he supposedly killed himself, leaving the job unfinished. Today, you can still see 1 or 2 girders resting on the bottom of mine brook.”

—Alan

They say he may be haunting this path and bridge area now…

This trail/path is not on the town of Franklin Massachusetts trail list, but it is conservation land. Big thank you to my brother in law who drive me around Sunday showing me all the local trails and secret entrances and hidden factoids. This is definitely one of the most beautiful spots around and I’m claiming it…

All pictures are my own…