Bigfoot by Oliie Welch

BIGFOOT

Ollie Welch, "Bigfoot: A unique northwest mystery,"  Clark County History.  1996.  XXXVII (1996), p. 88-92.

If someone were to ask people around the world to tell them something about the American Pacific Northwest, nowadays they would most likely tell you about Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly.  But, if they thought for a moment about world legends and had any kind of geographical knowledge about the area in question, they would probably be able to give a little information about Bigfoot.  

Everyone knows, or has heard, something about Bigfoot, just as everyone knows something about the Loch Ness monster.  We might not know anything about the country that Old Nessie comes from, but we know that she lives in a lake, or to sound a bit more Scottish, a "loch," somewhere in Scotland.  In the same way everyone knows that Bigfoot lives in a big forest somewhere in America; what they might not know is that the roaming ground or the "big forest" where Bigfoot lives is in the Pacific

 Northwestern area of the United States, just a few hundred miles north of Disneyland.

Known as Bigfoot south of the 49th parallel and Sasquatch to the north of the same parallel, this strange Hominid has been sighted from Northern California all the way to British Columbia (Gordon, p. 8).  Most of the early recorded references to Sasquatch are from British Columbia.  A coastal British Columbian Indian tribe called the Kwakiutls have the earliest records of Sasquatch carved in totem poles.  

A main feature on the poles is a representation of the "Dsonoqua" (Cannibal Woman) with her hairy son sitting on her lap held close to her body, while on the popular masks of their culture is a mean-looking and remarkably detailed face of the "Bukwas" or Wild Man of the woods.  All of these carvings suggest a creature resembling man more than animal.

In 1792 Jose Mariano Mozino, a naturalist who accompanied Juan Bodega y Quadra during his exploration of the British Columbian coast, gave one of the first descriptions of Sasquatch, told to him by natives of the area.  Mozino wrote that Sasquatch was an "inhabitant of the mountainous country, of whom all have an unspeakable terror.  

They figure it has a monstrous body, all covered with black animal hair; the head like a human; but the eye teeth very sharp and strong, like those of a bear; the arms very large, and the toes and fingers armed with large curved nails.  His howls fell to the ground those who hear them, and he smashes into a thousand pieces the unfortunate, on whom a blow of his hand falls." These natives made it pretty clear to Mozino that Sasquatch was not exactly very friendly.

The Huppa of Northern California's Calamity Mountains shared the same fear for "Oh-mah-'ah" as the British Columbian natives felt for Sasquatch.  Oh-mah-'ah was believed to have kidnapped children and could drive adults insane.  Washington's Nisqually tribe had an excessive fear of "T'siatko," a group of large hairy animals that lived in holes on the mountain side.  Every year during fishing season the Tsiatko would come down from the mountains to feed on the fish.  

The Nisqually say that the Tsiatko smell, they have the voice of an owl, and they possess the power of changing so that those hearing them become demented and fall into a swoon (Gordon, p. 9).

Although most natives feared this mysterious beast, others believed that it was some type of spirit.  The Upper Skagit people from Washington believed in "Kala'litabiqw," a spirit who had moss growing on his head and could cross the Cascade Mountains in a single stride (Gordon, p. 10).  

Although the natives believed that this creature could do different things, and could not agree on whether or not it was a

 spirit or living being, they had all actually laid eyes on this creature and described it very much in the same way.  The Indians had nothing to gain by faking a sighting, and because of the similarities of the descriptions from one tribe to another, it would seem that coincidence could be ruled out.  

The natives of both British Columbia and Western America had actually seen a strange creature and incorporated the experience into their lives as best they could.

Today scientists and anthropologists try to explain what the Sasquatch might be and from where they came.  Similarities in physical form and behavior lead anthropologists to believe that Sasquatch is a member of the primate order, a taxonomic grouping of warm-blooded animals with grasping hands and feet, eyes that face forward, and well developed brains.  

There are two suborders of primates: the prosimians, who are nocturnal tree-dwellers, and the anthropoids, who live mostly on the ground and are considerably larger than the prosimians.  Sasquatch is believed to be a member of the anthropoid group (Gordon, pp.  I I- 13).

In China and Vietnam, scientists uncovered what is believed to be the closest descendant of the Sasquatch: "Gigantopithecus." Anthropologists propose that Sasquatch came to North America by the alleged land bridge between Siberia and Alaska.  

Gigantopithecus is believed to be the largest primate ever to live, standing around ten feet tall.  It has been estimated that Gigantopithecus may have walked the earth as recently as 300,000 to 500,000 years ago.  

One Sasquatch scholar, anthropologist Grover Krantz who is positive about this theory, firmly believes Sasquatch to be a real primate and has proposed that Sasquatch should have his own scientific taxonomy: "Gigantopithecus blackii" (Gordon, pp. 13-15).  Unfortunately for Dr. Krantz, not all in his profession are as positive about this whole "Sasquatch gets his own taxonomy" business as he is.

Sasquatch is said to be between 6 and 11 feet tall and weighs between 700 and 2,500 pounds.  Reportedly, he walks upright or slightly stooped.  His skin is dark and his fur is usually reported to be auburn or black, although there have been some reports of Sasquatch being beige, white, or silvery white.  He appears to be very ape-like in features and is believed to be nocturnal.  It is said by witnesses that Sasquatch has long arms that swing while he walks (Gordon, p. 16).

There have been many sightings in Washington, some of them close to our own Vancouver.  In fact, one of the most interesting and entertaining encounters with Sasquatch occurred very near to

 Vancouver in Kelso, Washington.  The whole story was printed in a July 1924 issue of the Oregonian.  

Marion Smith, his son Roy, and son-in-law Fred Beck had claimed for the previous six years that they had seen large gorilla-type animals roaming the hills.  One day, coming home from a hard day in the mines with a group of prospectors, one of them spotted a few Sasquatch walking across a field.  And, as luck would have it, one of the men happened to be carrying a large gun.  The man took aim and fired at a Sasquatch, presumably wounding or killing it.  

This was the day that the ill-defined relationship between man and hominid was suddenly clarified, taking a turn for the worse.  Later the same night, the family and friends of the shot Sasquatch found the prospectors' cabin and began to bombard it with large stones.  According to the prospectors, the attacks continued through the night.  At one point the Sasquatches were close enough to reach their hands inside the cabin.  

It was at that point the prospectors began to shoot in all directions.  Evidently, there was one direction they forgot to shoot because one of the prospectors was rendered unconscious by a Sasquatch.  Finally, the attack ended and the men went straight to the paper and told their story (Hunter, pp. 27-29).  Whether or not the men returned to their home is unknown, but no further attacks on them were reported.

Another Bigfoot incident close to Vancouver happened to Sheriff Bill Closner of Skamania County who found a huge 22-inch footprint, measuring 7 1/2 inches across the ball of the foot and 4 1/2 inches at the heel.  Bill was not the only man of the law to have a Bigfoot experience, Deputy Sheriff Verlin Herrington of Grays Harbor County, Washington, had his own run-in with the hairy beast.  While on duty, he spotted a Sasquatch running across a field and has given one of the most detailed descriptions of the alleged primate that has ever been written (Hunter, pp. 32-33).

In Bill Closner's county, Skamania, the Board of County Commissioners passed the first Sasquatch Protection Ordinance.  The ordinance states that "there is evidence to indicate the possible existence in Skamania County of a nocturnal primate mammal variously described as an ape-like creature or a subspecies of Homo Sapiens, and ... both legend and purported recent sightings and spoor support this possibility."

It says that "any premeditated, willful and wanton slaying of any such creature shall be deemed a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($ 1 0,000.00) and/or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed five (5) years." To date, no violators of this ordinance have been prosecuted. (Gordon, p. 43).

Roger Patterson from Yakima, Washington, began to look for

 Sasquatch while he was working on a small Yakima ranch.  He had heard many rumors from locals and decided to take Sasquatch seriously after talking to a local Indian tribe that told him that they had seen Bigfoot a number of times and so had their ancestors.  

Patterson began to neglect his ranch and make Sasquatch-hunting his full-time job.  Unfortunately, Sasquatch-hunting did not supply Patterson with the funds he needed to continue his search, so he created the Northwest Research Foundation.  The N.R.F. was a nonprofit organization that made it possible for Roger to continue his lifetime dream of finding Bigfoot.  Because of the funding of the N.R.F., Patterson was able to take a field study to Bluff Creek, California.  Here, the most substantial piece of Sasquatch evidence that Patterson ever found would be captured on film (Place, p. 136).

In 1967, Roger Patterson and his companion, Bob Gimlin, were riding horseback around a bend in Bluff Creek.  Suddenly, they saw a live female Sasquatch walking across a stream.  Patterson jumped off his horse and began to run after the Sasquatch with his hand held 16-mm movie camera.  While Patterson was partaking in the adventure of his life Bob Gimlin stayed with the horses.  

Patterson got as close as 80 feet to the Sasquatch when it ran into some thick forest.  He was able to film it emerging from the forest but that was the last he ever saw any kind of Sasquatch.  Patterson's film has yet to be proven a fake (Place, p. 142).

Some people say that living in the Northwest is boring and dull.  They say that we have nothing but a bunch of trees and a lot of fish - plus Tonya Harding.  That may be true but what I say to them is this, "You can plant a tree anywhere, everywhere there is water there are fish, and Tonya Harding may just hop on a plane and move to your neighborhood, but Bigfoot will always be unique to the great Pacific Northwest!"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gordon, David George.  Field Guide to the SasQuatch.  Seattle:

Sasquatch Books, 1992.

Heinzen, Steve and Others.  The Sasquatch Have Their Ways, Lowell:

Lowell Printing and Publishing Company, 199 1.

Hunter, Don and Rene Dahinden.  Sasquatch/Bigfoot.  Buffalo: Firefly Books, 1993.

Place, Marian T. On the Track-oflligfaut.  New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1974.

Ollie Welch, "Bigfoot: A unique northwest mystery,"  Clark County History.  1996.  XXXVII (1996), p. 88-92.