“As I’m sitting here below a canopy of trees Listening to the bird’s song playing above me I think, how can anyone not love this? How can they not be here? But they are out there, consuming and consuming without care Look down at your babies and say I don’t care if the planet is here for you one day That if you grow up and it’s gone That you didn’t do anything at all to save it along the way You cut down every tree, paved every patch of land I don’t know why humanity doesn’t understand Every person needs the oxygen of nine trees to live Look at the few trees around you, The stumps only you left in your yard Then maybe you’ll have two shits to give When you have no animals to eat because you mowed down all the grass How long do you think we can last? I try to drive home this message with all that I do Because if all out messages don’t work, we are done as a species, there is no other planet, we are through Maybe one day some form of life will look through our fossil record And put the pieces together, that yes, it was us that wrecked it” Poem and photos by me, written in the forest today…
I want to tell you a story today, it’s not about a Bigfoot, it’s about this dog and his master, I’m not going to use their names to give them some privacy. The first thing I want to say is what a magnificent looking dog he is. Isn’t he? This wonderful dog is a support dog for his very sweet mommy whom I met today. She is an older woman who has been diagnosed with MS. It’s one of the scariest diseases out there. And how you deal with it is a matter of mental life or death I would imagine. Staying positive is probably not always easy but this wonderful woman did. We chatted for quite awhile, more than hour, she surprised me telling me how she was a hunter, hiker and all around outdoors girl. She hunted with arrows, rifles etc. fished, hiked, nature photographer, just amazing. She told me all about the flora and fauna in this park as well as some of its history. You can hear her talking a bit in my video from yesterday. Many, many years ago the doctors told her she had 3 to 5 years tops to live . She did eventually end up wheelchair bound. But with a lot of therapy, strength and determination here she is out here with me. She made it all the way to the river on her own steam, walking with just a cane and her handsome dog. A miracle. But wait there is more… Now to her adorable doggo. This amazing pup, she trained on her own to be her support dog because everyone said this terrier, that she rescued, could never be a support dog. Well he is, and now it was his turn to rescue her. Walking at this beautiful location awhile back one of her legs just gave out and she fell and couldn’t get up, so this amazing animal took off and found a couple walking that he led to his master, who saved her because she couldn’t get back up without help. They are both an amazing pair. They rescued each other. Love and loyalty. Everyone counted this little dog out and now he’s a hero. They counted her out and here she is. I was glad her legs and mine were both walking on that river yesterday so I had this wonderful opportunity to meet her. She said she lives for this, getting outdoors keeps her going. She forgets all about her pain etc. I know the feeling some days. If ever you think a dog is trying to lead you somewhere please follow, someone may need your assistance. And never count out the little ones they can rise high for the occasion when needed. And never count this lady out either she is one tough cookie, a true woman of the woods…
ON a clear spring morning last year in the woods a dozen miles north of Newton in Sussex County, two men were examining a swamp made by a beaver dam when growls shattered the quiet. Across the swamp water, 150 feet away, two dogs were fighting with something that was partly submerged.
“It seemed like the dogs were trying to push the thing under,” Irving Raser, one Of the men, recounted some months later. “I couldn’t tell whether it was an animal, but it wasn’t a deer because it had dark hair. It was big, but it wasn’t a bear, either. I could see that.”
The men shouted and the dogs backed off, giving the creature time to work its way to dry land, where it stood up on two legs. It was then that Mr. Raser, a Layton resident, and his companion, Charles Ames of Flatbrookville, got a good look at the animal, and they were astonished by what they saw.
“It was about six feet tall.” Mr. Raser said. “It weighed 250 to 300 pounds, and it was covered with long, brown heir. It had a flat face with deep‐set eyes, and the palms of its hands were hairless; if I didn’t know better, I’d have said it was a man dressed up in e monkey suit.”
The animal screamed at the dogs, making a fierce sound that Mr. Raser had never heard before, even though he has hunted nearly every game animal in the eastern woods. It whacked its hand loudly against small maple tree to keep. the dogs at bay, and it continued to roar, all the time keeping an eye on the two men.
After a half‐hour or more, the men jumped into their pickup truck and hurried to the nearby Hainesville barracks of the state police. They returned shortly, accompanied by two state troopers armed with shotguns. Neither the dogs nor the animal were in sight. The spot where the animal had stood was inaccessible because of surrounding deep water; close by, the troopers found the carcass of a deer.
In their subsequent report, the police said that the men had apparently seen two dogs fighting the deer. The strange animal they had described must have been a mistake, the report concluded.
Page 10 Saturday, November 26, 1977 FARWEST The BISMARCK TRIBUNE…. By MARK KINDERS Farwest Editor
‘ LITTLE EAGLE, S.D.-Many in this remote hamlet on Standing Rock Indian Reservation are convinced they are invaded by several Bigfoot. And they are afraid. Since early September Sasquatch or Bigfoot have haunted the thick scrub cottonwoods that surround and fill Little Eagle’s scattered townsite of 60 residents. Twenty-eight sightings have been made in the last two and one-half months, according to Gary Alexander, whose general store serves as headquarters for the ensuing Bigfoot hunt. Observations have come at all times of the day and night, from the southern edge of town along the meandering Grand River to the steep bluffs to the north, with the creatures viewed from as far away as 150 yards and up to 10-feet away during a “confrontation.”
Little Eagle is not alone. The reservation towns of Timber Lake, Trail City and Eagle Butte to the south, along with Cannonball and Solen to the north also advise of Bigfoot sightings. GETTING TOO close a view of Bigfoot for comfort was LeMar Chasing Hawk, who lives on the outskirts of Little Eagle. The frequency of sightings in such a short time span at Little Eagle has attracted nationwide attention from professional and amateur phenomena researchers alike. Likewise, an anthropologist from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, although twice delayed by winter snowstorms, has promised to visit the site. When he arrives the Nebraskan will have a number of photographs and castings of footprints as well as Bigfoot droppings from near Solen to study, along with a slew of eyewitnesses to interview, “enough to fill a busload.. .two busloads”. Among them is LeMar Chasing Hawk, who was “confronted” by a Bigfoot lurking 10 feet away from him. Chasing Hawk, who has carried a rifle as protection ever since, relates it was about 10:15 p.m. on a September night when the incident occurred. He was on a pathway bordered by scrub bushes just outside his back yard at the fringe of town as he returned home from a nearby card game. “I heard a noise by my side and turned to look when I saw something between some bushes stand up.” It was Bigfoot, Chasing Hawk asserts. While he was close enough to touch it, Chasing Hawk can only describe the animal as about nine feet tall and weighing over 600 ; pounds. “I didn’t stay around long enough to find out what it looked like,” he explains. “I turned around and ran for home and didn’t look back.”
Chasing Hawk’s consternation over the event is shared by many of Little Eagle’s residents who are moving out of town until the J- J Hawk passed within 10 feet of the creature along a shrub shrouded pathway. He has carried a rifle for protection ever since. situation dies down, including Rev. Angus Long Elk. Long Elk, a Little Eagle resident for the last five years, left his home and the trim, white clapboard church along the Grand River for the safety of McLaughlin, fourteen miles to the north. “I couldn’t stand its running around shrieking all night,” he says of Bigfoot’s heralded coyote-like screaming noise. “It was doing it all the time. And about two weeks ago my wife saw it at night while she was down by the river. She’s been afraid ever since and wanted to leave.”
Bigfoot descriptions have been similar, according to Alexander. Generally, the creatures have been determined to be between six to nine feet tall and weighing from 600 to 900 pounds. Alexander, who has not seen a Bigfoot, says one of the larger animals is reported to be dark in color and the other light. A third Bigfoot reportedly is smaller, he says, at about six feet tall and 400 pounds. Although not all three have been seen at the same time, during one incident two of the animals were seen by hunters simultaneous to other searchers seeing a third creature at a different location. Alexander said searchers have been working each night in four to six-man squads on stake-outs throughout the town and close in on Bigfoot once they hear a tell-tale shriek.
Alexander is convinced the incidents are legitimate. “When we’ve found tracks in a row, the stride has been six to seven feet apart. It would take three men on stilts to make them and get lhat deep an impression.” Likewise, he can see no reason why someone would attempt to deliberately frighten the townspeople. He notes there are no known mineral deposits or other riches in the area. And if there were a clandestine discovery he says the land is held in trust by the Sioux tribe rather than individuals who might be scared into leaving. “If it was a person doing that we’d have caught him by now.”
Although authorities have asked the hunters not to carry weapons for fear of injuring each other, many still continue to do so. One argues: “We’re not out to hurt it. We’re all carrying .22 caliber rifles or .22 caliber magnums. We poor Indians can’t afford anything bigger than that.” Bigfoot pursuing teams also are armed with tranquilizer guns in an attempt to immobilize the animal. Since the proper dose is not known, though, Alexander said if the creature isn’t drugged “we’ll shoot him in the leg, a place that will stop him but that will mend easily.” No conclusive reason has been offered for the sudden materialization of the animal. Theories have followed those common to Bigfoot phenomenon in other states: they are throwbacks to cavemen; the animals are curious about man’s activities; they “want” women and children; are demonic creatures or the devil incarnate, or are “from outer space.”
Attempts to document Bigfoot’s existence have taken a serious turn. Ed Meller, an unemployed gravel hauler and oil products distributor, has set up a mobile camper equipped with a tape recording system and manned by up to eight people on Chasing Hawk’s property. Meller has discovered a number of curiosities about Bigfoot’s behaviour that are typical according to Milton LaSalle, a New York State soils engineer who has studied Bigfoot sightings on the East and West coasts the past 20 years and traveled to Little Eagle last week. Among Meller’s findings were that Bigfoot has a tendency to “sneak” around on all fours when the animal feels threatened instead of walking erect. Of greater interest, though, is Meller and others say they have heard Bigfoot attempt to mimic the human voice. “They sound a lot like a coyote, but they can give you any sound they want you to hear,” he contends. He describes the vocalizing attempts as “chattering” altough he claims Bigfoot has successfully only said the word “Hey.” ‘ notes that such abilities by Bigfoot have been rarely experienced and are not documented as fact, but ha ve been reported of the animal in the past as well as of his third cousins, Mono Grande of the South American Andes Mountains range and the Yeti of the Himalayas. Meller attributes his success to the fact Bigfoot “is pretty nosy. Anything that goes on he just has to see.” The animal showed up at the van two weeks ago Saturday and two of them appeared twice about 4 a.m. last Wednesday, Meller says. About a dozen women and children set up a campfire and held a party to lure Bigfoot close to the van. Meanwhile, an eight-track stereo was turned up all the way with recordings of female vocalists. “We had a couple (Bigfoot) crawling around behind and on side of us, about 50 yards away,” illuminated by the campfire and yard light. Meller said one of the creatures was black with a beige mantle across his chest and shoulders. The other was pure black. He said they appeared to be “sneaking”. “They crouched so low in the brush that you could just barely see their outlines.” i . :’ THIS PLASTER cast of a Bigfoot track was lifted from along the Grand River. Bigfoot researcher Milton LaSalle says it is typical of Bigfoot tracks, showing the double-ball behind the big toe common to the creature.
GARY ALEXANDER’S Little Eagle Trading Post has served as headquarters for Bigfoot searchers. REV. ANGUS LONG ELK: “I got tired of it shrieking all night. My wife saw it down by the river two weeks ago and wanted to move.” The toe imprints, though, are smaller than those found in the Pacific Northwest. The track measures about 18 inches long by eight inches across. ( Xlv’ V X R4 I SB” ‘ww GARY ALEXANDER: “If it was a hoax we’d have caught whoever it was by now.” He explains: “They knew we had firearms they were sneaking. But we could tell what they were with binoculars.” Meller said one eyewitness described them as having “long fingers”. Meller said on a previous occasion he saw they had “red, glowing eyes”. “We’ve got some phenomena around here that the world just won’t believe,” Meller shakes his head and bemusedly adds. However, he refuses to say why he thinks the Bigfoot is invading Little Eagle. “We have an idea what it is, but no comment. It’s way beyond your wildest imagination. We’ve got proof of what it is, but there are a lot of people who don’t believe us now when we say that Bigfoot is here.” He adds the creature has been around Little Eagle for several years now. “There were sightings before, or people now know the shrieks they heard previously weren’t from coyotes. They didn’t believe it was Bigfoot then.” LaSalle, the only Bigfoot enthusiast of substantial experience to visit the community, is convinced that something is going on there. “There are far too many witnesses involved in the various sitings for it to be rigged. The sightings are conclusive that it doesn’t fit the description of any wildlife native to the area. It’s not a bear, either, that I’m certain of.”
LaSalle says there is “some question in my mind whether the long distance sightings actually were of Bigfoot. But the other close up eyewitnesses seemed quite sincere and honest in their stories. I would say that at least a portion of the sightings are genuine.” Noting that many sightings took place within 25 yards and up to three minutes in duration, LaSalle thinks it would be impossible for someone to be hoaxing the community. “With animals that stand up to 10-or 11-feet tall, it would require a drastic costume that over a long sighting period would be eventually seen to be a quite obvious fake. “But with the ‘smaller’ Bigfoot, the 6-foot one, it could be a fake. It’s the size of a man, and it is quite possible that someone is pulling a hoax in that case.” LaSalle also feels that Meller’s tapes and castings made of the Bigfoot tracks are “either genuine or very good fakes.”
The footprint castings found by the river measuring 18 inches long by eight inches across the ball of the foot “are about what I expect,” LaSalle says. The tracks show a double-balled big toe typical of Bigfoot tracks, and do not show an opposable toe that large apes use for 4 rv-W 4 sm Pt ED MELLER: “We’ve got some kind of phenomena down here that the world just won’t believe.” grasping, but not a common Bigfoot characteristic. The toe size of Little Eagle’s Bigfoot is “smaller than normal,” he adds. LaSalle is not bothered by the fact the sightings only recently began to occur. He notes that there have been a rash of sightings in the last few months across the United States, at California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, the Dakotas and British Columbia, in some instances where Bigfoot has not been reported before. Nevertheless, LaSalle won’t conclusively agree that Bigfoot has inhabited the Little Eagle area: “I won’t says it’s a Bigfoot, not until 1 see it myself.” Whether the townspeople will be able to track down and capture a Bigfoot remains to be seen. It is unknown whether last week’s heavy snowfall on the Indian Reservation will aid the search. There are conflicting opinions as to whether the Bigfoot hibernates. LaSalle thinks the hominids “hole up” and ride out a storm until it is safe to move about again.
Whether the searchers will interfere with each other’s efforts also remains to be seen. Several sources have been critical of the THE REMOTE Grand River bordering Little Eagle has regularly produced Bigfoot footprints that have shown a 6 to 7-foot stride. i urn A LONNIE MAXNOR: “People are. tearing around all hours of the night, and shooting off guns and making noise…” Bigfoot chasers with hints that some stalking it are under the influence of marijuana, that others are treating it as a lark and frightening the creature away when “capture” opportunities look good, or that evidence that may provide clues as to the animal’s habits are being destroyed. Moreso, local residents are wary of some , residents who have been periodically firing their weapons at night, either at alleged Bigfoot or to lure it to the town by the disturbance. Also, some stalking the phenomena are keeping at the hunt for extensive periods, up to two days without sleep, manning stake-outs at night and searching for Bigfoot lairs in the daytime. And at least one resident who thinks the whole idea of a Bigfoot is ridiculous thinks the search is a nuisance. Lonnie Maxnor, 70, complains “pickup trucks are tearing around all hours of the night, people are shooting off guns and making noise.” Still, he notes, “a lot of my neighbors are afraid of what’s happening, and a lot of them are leaving town or talking about going.”
I’m watching the Hulu documentary Sasquatch right now, which so far has been pretty interesting, and got me thinking how many times has Sasquatch or Bigfoot been the named suspect or unwilling catalyst of a crime? Anywhere from he stole my homework to major crime he’s made a fairly good suspect for the “prove I’m lying” theory.
In the Hulu documentary he is blamed for savage murders in the Squatch and pot farm capital of the US. But, what other types of incidents has his name been dragged through the mud on? I found this gem digging around this morning.
According to NewsOn6.com in Oregon, Rogers County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene of a shooting to learn the suspected shooter and the shootee had been on a Sasquatch hunt when one man heard a “barking noise,” which frightened him – as one might expect when one is hunting large, hairy, mythical creatures in the dead of night – which caused him to jerk and shoot his friend in the back.
This guy is using the new “Sasquatch scared the shit out of me” defense. It’s actually a pretty good plan, an accident, it was an just an “accident”. Everyone has that one friend you want to go “hunting” with, right? If you’re a Bigfoot researcher you could totally use this excuse. I mean no one will ever go Bigfooting with you again, but now you don’t have to have that awkward “I don’t want to be your friend anymore” speech.
Here’s another interesting tale…
“The witness who talked to the missing man and child, went on to state that Fullmer told her he was “tripping out all night and could hear things but didn’t know what they were”; Fullmer also told her “Bigfoot had waved at them and bears paraded for [the 5-year-old boy] to keep him calm,” deputies said.
Fullmer told the witness that “they slept under a skidsteer,” and that when Fullmer and the boy were leaving the woods, he had the boy shake a tree (like Bigfoot) so they could be found, according to the complaint. The man was charged with child endangerment”
Although Bigfoot wasn’t charged with anything here, and may have actually been a hero. Dancing and prancing to Bare Necessities so the boy wouldn’t be scared, and most likely the one teaching an invaluable skill of tree shaking, he still got his hairy ass involved, however indirectly with a crime.
He’s such an easy fall guy, he makes himself a perfect target, first with that whole “Green Wall” bullshit, never ratting out another Bigfoot, or coming forward as a witness to probably hundreds of murders out there in the forest. His hiding out from us, leaves him vulnerable, and we can blame him for whatever we want.
I hope wherever he is, he can peek in a window and watch Hulu and other docs about him and maybe decide to come forward to set the story straight for all of it. Till then…
“I’m sorry officer, I know I was going a hundred, but I was trying to get away, did you see the huge ass ape thingy chasing me!’
It’s going to work too, he can’t prove it wasn’t there. 😉
I thought while I had a second on this beautiful snowy New England day I’d share one of my ridiculous camping, what not to do memories. Well ones that are funny now anyway, maybe not funny then. But my first few times camping without family in my teens were something, so here’s the first…more to come.
I have always been an outdoors girl. When I was little I was out dawn till dusk, later if I could get away with it, (I didn’t really my mother definitely had the sight) but I had been outdoors enough to convince my parents to camp on my friends land. He had acres of beautiful land. We camped every weekend.
So when I asked to camp away in the mountains of Maine , and she knew many friends would be there she said yes. Another friend of mine took care of a ski lodge in the summer months so my friend and I went up to camp. There was a clam bake that day sending the beautiful food smells on up to the bears hanging out up there. But because we were young (and stupid) we decided to sleep in a tent outside in the beautiful night air and not inside the lodge. (Again, I refer you to stupid).
When nightfall and the fire was all out and everything was quiet we heard some loud noises, things banging etc, and I knew, knew it had to be a bear.
A few minutes later all four of us in the tent saw the typical shadow of a big bear fall on the tent. And mind you, the bear could have been small but a shadow makes it look huge! We realized too, one of us brought the food cooler into the tent (Stupid as above).
So we needed a plan, so our friend pulled out his knife, cut out the back of the tent, and we all ran into the lodge like our ass was on fire. It didn’t follow, but them it didn’t need to, we pushed the cooler to him before we ran. He was able to enjoy some steak and eggs.
We survived the bear and learned to actually do what the camping guide said to do. Don’t put your food where you sleep. Hang it from the tree.
Sleep in the damn lodge next year.
Needless to say when I got home I just said it was a totally awesome time, years later I did tell her about the bear. She wasn’t amused…
If you have a funny camping tale I’d love to share it. You can message me here or send your funny tale to sasysquatchgirl@gmail.com…
Sasysquatchgirl 