Bigfoot is one of the most popular unexplained mysteries of the world next to ghosts and aliens and the most popular cryptid on Earth. You’ll find it very difficult to come across a person who has not heard of Bigfoot in some form and many parts of the world have their own version of Bigfoot and the word Bigfoot is generally used to reference all of them within one category.
The many type of Bigfoot cryptids around the world include the Skunk Ape most often sighted in the US state of Florida within the Everglades but has also had sightings in other parts of the South Eastern United States. The Yowie which has had sightings in the Austrialian Outback and is part of Aboriginal Folklore. The Yeti or Abominable Snowman that is said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. And the Almas which is said to inhabit the Caucasus and Pamir mountains of Central Asia and the Altai Mountains of Western Mongolia. These I have mentioned are just a few of many types of so-called Bigfoot said to be out there.
But this blogpost is going to focus on one of the more infamous Bigfoots, in fact the original Bigfoot, this is the Sasquatch, most likely the most popular Bigfoot that is most often talked about when refering to Bigfoot.
What is the sasquatch?
Like most types of Bigfoot, the Sasquatch is said to be a very large and tall type of primate creature that is able to walk upright like a human, covered in thick dark brown (or sometimes lighter more reddish) hair and having abnormally large padded feet, as to why it is reffered to as “Bigfoot”. Many have also described it as being capable of having immense strength to the point where it can even snap thick tree branches or brake down small trees with ease. Some who have apparently encountered the creature say it has a horrible foul stench.
Some of the most prominent and widespread evidence of the Sasquatch are large footprints that have been found around the areas it is said to inhabit. The areas that the Sasquatch is said to inhabit are the forested areas of northwestern USA and Western Canada. Many casts have been made of these huge footprints but none of them have ever been officially verified or formed conclusive evidence of an actual Sasquatch. The first ever documented case of a Sasquatch footprint was said to have been found by David Thompson in 1811 in Alberta, Canada in the Rockies.
Infamous Sightings
There have been many fascinating and downright strange and scary stories about the Sasquatch and there have also been much alledged footage captured of the beast which can easily be found on the internet.
The Patternson/Gimlin Film
Without a doubt the most famous and iconic piece of alledged Sasquatch footage was the film taken by Roger Patterson and his friend Robert Gimlin in 1967 when they were searching for evidence of the beast after claims of the creature being seen around the nearby woods of Orleans, California. On the footage they captured what appeared to be a Sasquatch walking across an open area near to the woods of Bluff Creek, walking in long strides (known as a complaint gait, seen in some primates) and turning its head to look at the camera for a short moment as it continued to walk. The apparent Sasquatch in the footage got dubbed the name of “Patty” as many believed it to be female.
Much analysis has been done of the footage over the years since it was taken and no agreement has been able to be formed of its authenticity. Many say it was simply just a man in a suit and nothing more than a hoax, while interestingly, many researchers who have analyzed the footage say that the joint movements and build of the creature simply do not match up to human anatomy and movement. The two makers of the film (one of whom is now deceased) have sworn ever since that the footage is genuine.
The Ostman Account
One of the more strange alledged encounters with the Sasquatch kind was experienced by Albert Ostman, telling about the account in 1957. In his story he claimed the event took place when he was out searching for gold near Toba Inlet, British Colombia in 1924. On one night while sleeping he claimed to experience the feeling of being carried and upon waking up he could see the beasts, very tall with long arms and a hairy body but padded feet and that they appeared to live like a family as modern apes do. He said he was held captive by these so-called Sasquatches for six days before he managed to escape.
This is interesting as David Thompson (said to have found the first documented Sasquatch footprints, while mapping areas of the US and Canada back in 1811) talked to a Native American Tribe called the Spokanes who believed in a race of hairy giants that lived in a nearby mountain to them, possibly talking about Mt. Saint Helens or the Cascade Mountains and told stories of them stealing salmon and even people while they slept, so that part of the Ostman Account adds up to what the Spokanes believed.
The full Ostman Account can be found online.
Ape Canyon Encounter
A more scary and terrifying story of an encounter with the beasts came from a prosperctor called Fred Beck, him and four others had been prospecting for six years in a Washington mountain range near Mt. Saint Helens known as Ape Canyon. Through the time they had spent there they had already found several large tracks that they could not pinpoint to any known creature, despite being seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. The largest had measured nineteen inches.
At the time they were working on a gold claim in Ape Canyon and they all shared a log cabin that they had built together. In the account it was claimed every evening for a week they could hear strange sounds around them such as whistling or sounds such as thumping, such as the thumping on a chest.
But it didn’t begin getting real until the next event. Fred and one of his companions under the pseudonym of “Hank” had went to get some water from a nearby spring. This is when they had their first proper sighting of one of these beasts, said to be standing around 7ft tall with blackish-brown fur, they could see it hiding behind a pine tree over a small canyon in the distance. Hank fired his rifle at the creature several times but missed it each time as it went away down a hill. They brought the water back to the cabin and told of the story to the other prospectors, they all agreed that it’d be best to head home after the incident, but decided to wait until the next day to avoid getting caught in the nightfall.
The sleeping though would only last until midnight where the most terrifying encounter would take place. They were woken up by an almighty thud against the cabin wall. Chinking was knocked loose from the wall and covered Hank who was on the floor, peering through the space left by the chinking he could see the eyes of three-ape like creatures that he reffered to as “Mountain Devils” and they looked just like the beast that they had encountered at the spring.
The creatures hurled rocks at the cabin and attempted to brake through the door which had been braced by a pole scavanged from a bunk bed. One of the creatures even went as far as to reach through a space left by the chinking and attempted to grab an axe, although it could not get it through the gap.
All of the prospectors were armed but only Fred and Hank were firing shots and they only stopped when the creatures quieted down in hopes of them leaving peacefully. The attack from the creatures lasted until sunrise and the prospectors left their ravaged cabin as soon as they believed it was bright enough to leave safely. Not long after Fred apparently noticed one of the creatures about 80 yeards away which he shot at and of which apparently hit this time and its body tumbled down into a gorge, although this body was never found. Fred claimed that the creatures were of super-natural origin as to why a body would not show up. Also according to Fred the cabin burnt down many years later.
Investigators tried to offer a rational explanation to the incident by saying it was actually youth members from a nearby YMCA camp that were throwing rocks down the canyon unaware they were not alone. They also said the darkness combined with the narrow walls of the canyon may have distorted the youths into something more frightening.
Both of the above stories to me are quite interesting but at the same time are clearly completely unproven with no available evidence to back it up, but frankly also the explanation from the investigators on the second story was hardly convincing either. Which leaves you to think more about what it could have been, could it just have been mass hysteria and the mind playing tricks? Could it have actually been the real deal? Or are they just completely made up hoaxes? We’ll likely never know for these batch of stories, which is what keeps the sasquatch mystery going strong.
But finally to begin rounding this off let’s go on to something a bit different. Alledged captured sounds from a Sasqautch. This account actually includes some form of proof rather than just a story with no backed up evidence.
Sierra Sounds
This event is known as the Sierra Sounds as it happened in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Eastern California. It was captured and experienced by Al Berry, Ron Morehead and several other friends camping in the area in the early 1970s. The sounds were caught at at their deer-hunting lodge, for several months they had heard the sounds in the distance and Al Berry caught the sounds on a portable tape-recorder that was hung on a tree branch. Many have attributed the sounds to Sasquatch vocalizations.
Listening to it, it does sound very strange and a little scary. Many who have listened to it have claimed that the noises could have been made by other animals or that it could simply have been made by human voices as a hoax. Meanwhile others who have looked into it, such as Scott Nelson, who has had 30 years experience with Foreign Language and Linguistics have claimed that the sounds are too complex to be made by normal animals and that further analysis and studying of the sounds he believes that it is a complex language that is spoken and understood by these unknown creatures and that research into the sounds should be continued.
Al Berry continued to believe and claim all of the rest of his life that the sounds were made by a very intelligent species.
So there we have it. The legendary Sasquatch. All that has been typed up in this blogpost is only a very small snippet of the most infamous and iconic accounts and captures of the so-called Sasquatch. There are so many more stories and alledged footage out there about the Sasquatch that I could not possibly cover it all in just one blogpost so in the future it is likely I will come back to this creature and go over some of the lesser known footage and stories that are out there.
All in all from what there is out there, the evidence, captures, stories and even folklore from Native American Tribes such as the Spokanes make it seem like something has to be out there in some form. There are many hoaxes, many cases of mistaken identity such as bears for example but also many cases that remain unverified and unexplained. The Sasqautch will continue for decades more to inspire peoples love and interest into the unknown.
If you enjoyed reading this blogpost please share it far and wide! It really helps. And there is much more to come. So stay tuned, stay alert, keep open minded, because the world really is not always as it seems.