Sasquatch Chronicles - SC EP:397 Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men

Episode Date: January 12, 2018

Author Timothy Renner returns to the show to talk about his new book Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men: A History of Wild Men, Gorillas, and Other Hairy Monsters in California, Oregon, and Washington state. Most of you remember Tim when he was on the last show and shared historical encounters from his book Bigfoot in Pennsylvania: A History of Wild-Men. Tim writes "The last time I was on it was to talk about my book Bigfoot in Pennsylvania - which included the historical newspaper accounts of the creatures from the 1800s through the early 1900s in PA. As you suggested at that time, I compiled reports from the NW and I have published my next book in what looks to be a series: Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men This book covers reports from the 1850s through the 1920s in CA, OR, and WA. This book contains one of the single best bigfoot descriptions I think I've ever read (the result of hunters killing a creature and describing the body in detail - but there's a lot more to the story - it's fantastic); as well as some really interesting reports of "wild gorillas" in CA, attacks in OR, and a creature which appeared on the campus of the University of Washington multiple times. I love Sasquatch Chronicles because of the witness reports - which I believe are the best source of information regarding bigfoot creatures - and these old articles often read like witness reports. The descriptions of not only the creatures but their behavior mirrors reports we hear on SC today and these articles are well over 100 years old in most cases."

Black thing go from left to right, and I thought, I'm going to die out here and no one's ever going to know. I couldn't believe what my eyeballs was showing me. I'll never forget how evil the eyes were. It was horrible. I mean, I've never seen nothing that evil. It ran towards me at a rate that I can't even explain, turned and stared at me. And this look of, I just want to kill you. I want to say it was human, but it wasn't.

He was yelling at me to grab a gun, grab a gun. I was like, for what? He said, just grab a gun. And there's footprints all the way to the door of my house. It had went inside my garage all the way to the door. 9-1-1. What are you reporting? Get somebody out here. What's going on now, sir? That son of a bitch is about 6'9, I don't know.

Do you see him now, sir? Yes, I'm looking right at him. Uh-oh. You're listening to Sasquatch Chronicles. Check us out online at Sasquatch Chronicles.com. If you've had an encounter, email me. My email address is Wes at Sasquatch Chronicles.com. Welcome to the show, everyone.

Thanks for being here tonight. Got a great show planned for you this evening. I'm going to be bringing back author Timothy Renner. And before I forget, he actually has a podcast called Strange Familers. If you get a chance, go to iTunes. It's got a picture of kind of a greenish tree. Strange Filmmyers, it's on iTunes, Stitcher, and it's Tim's podcast. If you get a chance, go check it out.

But I had Tim on a while back, and he was talking about Bigfoot in Pennsylvania, a history of Wild Man. And Tim grabs these old accounts and kind of puts them together in a coherent fashion for you to read. And he actually did a West Coast version of the book, Bigfoot West Coast Wild Man. And there's a link, if you're listening to this on, In Sasquatch Chronicles.com, there's a link to his book. And I highly recommend that you go out there and get it. Again, if you love Encounter Stories, you will love Tim's book. And we'll get into a lot of those encounter tonight. If you've had an encounter, then you'd like to be on the show. Shoot me an email.

My email address is Wes at Sasquatch Chronicles.com. If you get a chance to check out the website, Sasquatch Chronicles.com. You can become a member, help support the show, get additional shows. If you get a chance, check it out. Forgive my voice tonight. I'm going on almost two and a half months of walking pneumonia. I'm on my third dose of antibiotics. So if I sound a little different tonight, that's why. So forgive me, but I'm doing my best.

Later today and tomorrow I'll be searching for a missing person. And I posted this to the blog. I may update it and put it higher up on the blog so you guys can read it. But this gentleman, he disappeared here in Washington State. He was coming out of a place called Sunset Falls. It's a weird area. It's a really weird area. From that Sunset Falls area, about a half a mile from there is where Woody and I had our encounter.

From about 500 feet from there is where I filmed lights. So it's a very strange, very odd area. The story behind what happened to this guy is his friends were out four-wheeling. He wanted to come back to camp. And I guess they had been drinking. And so they dropped him off and they went back out again to four-wheel. when they came back he was gone and he just vanished. And I'm going to go up there and I'm going to look for this guy,

but I'm going to videotape the area to kind of show you, I don't believe for one moment that he vanished in the forest and I don't believe he drowned in that river. I could be wrong, but I've been in that river and I can tell you I don't think he drowned in that river. It comes up to very shallow areas. It's a very fast-moving river. Well, I'll show you guys a video and you guys will see what I'm

mean. So look for that later today or tomorrow. Let's jump into it tonight. I want to welcome Timothy Renner back to the show. Tim, thanks for coming back. Thanks for having me back, Wes. Always great to be here. No, I really enjoy having you on. And most of the audience remembers and his author's name. I call him, I'll call him Tim, if that's okay, Tim. That's fine. If you go to Amazon, look up Timothy Renner, R-E-N-N-E-R. Most of the listeners know when I had Tim on the show back. We did the Bigfoot in Pennsylvania, history of wild men. And Tim, you also did the little people showed with me, didn't you? Yeah, me, you and Duke did that. I'm involved with the Albatwit stuff here. That's right. Which is our little guy. I love that show that we did. I loved

all the information you brought into it. And you have a new book out now. History of Wildman, Bigfoot, West Coast Wildman. You can find it on Amazon. And if you're listening to this on iTunes or Stitcher. If you click on the description, there's a link right to the book. And Tim, welcome again to the show, man. I'm so happy to have you on. Oh, it's great to be back. The, like I said, the reason I do these books is because I love Sasquatch Chronicles so much. And I was kind of looking, looking around at these old reports. And I'm reading them. I thought, geez, these sound like witness reports, you know, and not a lot of records of witness reports from back then. But these are as close as we get, I think. I mean, there may be a few other notes and books and so forth

and diaries and like that. But as far as stuff you can find, it's hard to track stuff down. So these old newspaper reports are treasures. Yeah, it is. And if you're right, when you do read the old reports, it does sound like modern day encounters. And I know with your book, well, Bigfoot West Coast Wildman, tell us about it. Yeah, this is, these are newspaper articles from the 1850s the 1920s, and this covers California, Oregon, and Washington State. And the reason why I had to put three states together, I think, where Pennsylvania got one book, I think this has to do with just simply the population. I think there was a lot more people in Pennsylvania to see these creatures and the number of newspapers. We had a lot more newspapers here to report on stuff. Pennsylvania

has a long history. I mean, Ben Franklin started one of the first newspapers in the country and the first printing press in the country was here. So we just had more newspapers around. So I think that's why I got more stories for Pennsylvania. But I tell you, I got some good ones for the West Coast. Yeah, well, let's jump right into some of the stories, if you would. Sure. I'll let you take it away.

All right, cool. Well, one of the things I'd like to note is gorillas, and they call them gorillas and they call them Wild Men. Usually it's Wild Man in the 1800s, right around 1900. they'll start calling them gorillas. That's because people know what guerrillas are. At that time before, then, they didn't really know what the mountain gorilla was. Yeah, something to compare to.

Yeah, exactly. But every now and then, you'll get an earlier report that I'll mention them as guerrillas. This one's from 1870. This is California guerrillas. An old hunter who vouches for the truth of the story, writes to the Antioch ledger, averring that the statement about a gorilla having been seen among the mountains at the head of Orastron Creek and in the Crow Canyon is strictly true. He says,

I positively assure you that this gorilla or wild man or whatever you choose to call it is no myth. I know that it exists, and that there are at least two of them, having seen them both at once, not a year ago. Their existence has been reported at times for the past 20 years, and I've heard it said that in early days,

an orangutan escape from a ship on the southern coast, but the creature I've seen is not that animal, and if it was, where did he get his mate? Importer as webfoot's do their wives? Last fall I was hunting in the mountains about 20 miles south of here and camp five or six days in one place, as I have done every season for the past 15 years. Several times I returned to my camp after a hunt and saw that the ashes and charred sticks from the fireplace have been scattered about. An old hunter notices such things, and very soon gets curious to know the calls.

Although my bedding and traps and little stores were not disturbed that I could see, I was anxious to learn what or who it was that so regularly visited my camp. for clearly the half-burned sticks and cinders could not scatter themselves about i saw no tracks near camp as the hard ground covered with dried leaves would allow none so i started on a circle around the place and three hundred yards off deep in sand i struck the tracks of a man's feet as i supposed bare and of immense size Now I was curious, sure, and resolved to lay this barefooted visitor. I accordingly took position on a hillside some 60 or 70 yards from the fire and hid in the brush. I waited and watched. Two hours or more I sat there and wondered if the owner of the bare feet would come again and whether he imagined what an interest he had created in my inquiring mind,

and finally what possessed him to be prowling about there with no shoes on. The fireplace was on my right and the spot where I saw the tracks was on my left, hid by bushes. It was in this direction that my visitor would appear there, and besides it was easier to sit and face that way. Suddenly, I was startled by a shrill whistle, such as boys produced with two fingers under their tongues, and turning quickly, I ejaculated, good God, as I saw the object of my solicitude standing beside my fire erect and looking suspiciously around. It was in the image of a man, but it could not have been human. I was never so be numbed with astonishment before. The creature, whatever it was, stood fully five feet high,

disproportionately broad and square at the shoulders with arms of great lengths the legs were very short and the body long the head was small compared to the rest of the creature and appeared to be set upon his shoulders without a neck the hole was covered in dark brown and cinnamon-colored hair quite long on some parts Then on the head, standing in a shock and growing down close to the eyes like a digger Indians. As I look, he threw his head back and whistled again, and then stopped and grasped the stick from the fire. He swung it around and around until the fire on the end had gone out when he repeated the maneuver. I was dumb almost and could only look. Fifteen minutes I sat and watched him, as he whistled and scattered my fire about. I could easily put a bullet through his head, but why should I kill him? Having amused himself, apparently, all he desired was my fire.

he started to go, and having gone a short distance, he returned and was joined by another, a female unmistakably. When they both turned and walked past me, within 20 yards of where I sat, and disappeared in the brush, I could not have had a better opportunity to observe them, as they were unconscious of my presence. Their only object in visiting my camp seemed to be to amuse themselves with swinging lighted sticks around. I've told this story many times since, and it has often raised an incredulous smile, but I have met one person who has seen the mysterious creatures and a dozen who have come across their tracks at various places between here and Pacheco Pass.

Wow, that's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. So here's, I mean, and again, this is the, what I really like is that these reports are describing behavior that we hear in witness reports now. This visiting a campsites, you know, waiting to someone who leaves, they're visiting the campsite, they're, you know, messing with this stuff. It's, uh, it's just the same, the same reports we hear over and over again. Yeah, and I find it fascinating that last report. I've actually read that one a lot. It's been

years since I've read it, but it's fascinating to me because that they were so intrigued with the fire. You know, a lot of people, they say, well, does Bigfoot make fire? And I don't see any evidence for that. But it's, it is interesting that they would be intrigued with this and just kind of come in and mess with this fire. It didn't seem like they were really, he didn't seem threatened by him. I mean, when you read that report. That's the other thing. I figure anybody who's out that far west in the 1800s, probably pretty tough people. Yeah, I think it was a different type of breed of people. I'm not so sure that we would survive out there now. But yeah, that's fascinating. And that was what, 1870? That was from the Petaluma

Weekly Argus from Petaluma, California, November 5th, 1870. Yep. So if we move to 1876, and we talk about these recurring behaviors. Here is, and this is, you know, quite early, this creature seems to realize what a gun is, and we've heard this before, too, on Sasquatch Chronicles. This is from the independent record, April 25th, 1876, the missing link, an interview of a California hunter with a gorilla-like wild man. A correspondent of the San Diego Union writes as follows concerning a wild man, recently seen in the mountains in that county. About 10 days ago, Turner Helm and myself were in the mountains about 10 miles east of Werner's Ranch when a prospecting tour, looking for the extension of a quartz load, which had been found by parties sometime before. When we were separated, about a half

mile apart, the wind blowing very hard at the time, Mr. Helm, who was walking, looking down at the ground, suddenly heard somebody whistle. Looking up, he saw something sitting on a large boulder, about 15 or 20 paces from him. He supposed it to be some kind of animal and immediately came down on him with his needle gun. The object immediately rose to its feet and proved to be a man. This man appeared to be covered all over with coarse black hair, seemingly two or three inches long and thick. He was a man of medium size and rather fine features, not at all like those of an Indian, but more like an American or a Spaniard. They stood gazing at each other for a few moments when Mr. Helm spoke to the singular creature, first in English, then in Spanish, and then in Indian. But the man remained silent.

He then advanced toward Mr. Helm, who not knowing what his intentions might be, again came down on him with the gun to keep him at a distance. The man stopped as though he knew there was danger. Mr. Helm called to me when the wild man went over the hill and was soon out of sight and made good his escape. We'd frequently before seen this man's tracks and that's part of the mountains, but we supposed them to be tracks of an Indian. Mr. Helm is a man of unquestioned veracity. You know what's fascinating is how they thought it was a man. They kept saying wild man, wild man. And I would love to know what they meant by wild man, just manlike.

But, I mean, I guess it kind of answers itself. But, you know, when you see these things, you don't necessarily think, man. I mean, I know some people do, but for the most part, the consensus across the board is that it's obviously, well, I guess maybe I'm getting, I'm rambling. Well, the thing about it is, I don't think they knew what to call them before they knew what guerrillas were. So they see something walking upright covered with hair that sort of walks like a man and sort of looks like a man. I guess they didn't have too many things to call it. So they called it a wild man, but that in no way would prepare you for seeing one, I don't think. You know, the image that wild man calls up is a little bit different than, you know, the descriptions seem to indicate.

Yeah. And in this report, what's fascinating is, you're right, it did seem to know what a gun was. And I think it throws a lot of hunters off when they see, I've talked to a lot of hunters where they originally thought it was a bear. then it stands up, turns around, looks at them, and the hunter isn't sure what to do. He's not really sure what he's looking at. So there's a lot of confusion. But I tend to agree. It does seem like they know what a weapon is because that thing sure seemed to turn and want to leave as soon as possible.

Yeah, and we can't say it. We don't know if they do or not. But it's just interesting to note that here's a witness from the 1870s saying it seemed like it knew what a gun was. And I know you've had several on this show say, you know, it seemed like it knew what a gun was. lowered the gun at it, that's when it started growlinger. That's when it, you know, reacted in one way or another. Isn't it, and before you go on to the next one, isn't it amazing? This is still a mockery. I mean, this reports what, over 140 years old plus, and it relates to what people are saying today. It's the same type of thing people are saying today. It amazes me that it's still somewhat of a mockery.

It's something to be laughed at. And yet we've been seeing it for so long. And it goes back for so long, you know. Yeah, I mean, these reports, the more I find, and, you know, and I, this is, I plan on doing more, I'm going to do the whole country, I think, in, in parts, the more I find, the more I'm convinced that, you know, people were seeing something. And, and what they're reporting, they're not reporting something different. It's not like they're reporting a hairy wild man with wings that's flying around and, you know, singing songs. They're reporting the same things that people are reporting today. Yeah, it's amazing. behaviors. Same exact behaviors. So this is a long one and this this one is pretty dark but it is for my money one of the best, at least one of the best written reports I've ever seen of a bigfoot creature. And it involves hunters killing a creature and then they describe it. It's quite long but it's it's worth sticking through the whole thing. Now this occurs at a place called dead man's hole which was an isolated Hall in northern San Diego County.

It was a stagecoach stop, so they would stop and I guess water the horses there and so forth, but it was pretty remote. And over the years, a ton of just dead bodies turned up there. That's how it got its name, Dead Man's Hole. This article's from 1888. In 1888, seven human corpses were found in that area. And many of them were brutally strangled and beaten. They'd find them beaten and strangled.

And as I read the article, right before they see the creature, notice an eerie silence, which again is something people talk about. And then the description of the article, including the souls of the feet and the locomotion of the creature, it says as it walks, you could see the bottom of its feet, which is just like Patty. So this is a dead man's hole, a tough tale of northern San Diego County. The adventure of two hunters with a half human, half animal monster, the mysterious murders of that section explain. The San Diego Union of Sunday contains a long account of a monster, half human and half animal, which had been killed at Dead Man's Hole in the northeastern part of the county. The story is too long to produce entirely, but the following is the

most interesting part of it. Hunters seldom venture into Dead Man's Hole, partly because of the general all and fear of the place, but more especially because it is well known that there is no game there. Last Thursday, however, two venturesome hunters named Edward Dew and Charles Cox, determined to explore the dark and mysterious canyon. After a hard struggle, they had proceeded for about a mile through the tangled maze of brush and rocks. At each step, the canyon became narrower, and their progress was necessarily slower. Up to a certain point, they had seen or heard nothing extraordinary, and the silence was quite oppressive when added to their natural fear of the mysterious place. The boulders and cuts in the canyon side ahead of them were gradually becoming deeper and more

impassable. The explorers had almost made up their minds to turn back when suddenly they were startled by a slight rustle ahead of them, and almost immediately a crushing sound as if some heavy object moving through the brush was heard to proceed further up the canyon. The brush and rocks impeded the view, and the hunter scrambled up the canyon sides as quickly as they could to a commanding point. The sight that met their gaze almost paralyzed them with fear. An immense, unwieldy animal that from a rear view resembled a bear was making rapid strides through the narrow dell. Its legs were long, and they were used with such ease and facility in climbing over the rocks and logs that on second thought the animal appeared more like an immense gorilla. Its hair was dark,

brown, and it was at least six feet in height. The front legs from their use resembled arms, and the beast moved almost uprightly, like a man or a monkey. Its body was quite round and covered with extremely long hair, much unlike the hair of any animal. The hind legs or feet from the knees down were the most peculiar features about the strange being. They were extremely broad and long, and the insides of them, upon which the animal walked, were entirely bare of hair. Every time it made a move it exposed to view the bottom of its immense pause, except for the arms and the hands of the beast greatly resembled as a human being. The body was large and round and entirely devoid of a tail. As soon as the hunters recovered from their surprise, they began to follow the beast. It had no

difficulty in moving along and was making rapid headway up the canyon. To call its attention and arrest its progress, Cox suddenly fired a pistol shot into the air. At the report, the beast stopped and turned its face toward the pursuers. It was now about 20 yards distant, in full view, and terror was added to the surprise of the adventurers. They saw before them a human countenance. The animal turned almost instantly and resumed its flight up the canyon. The hunters were now more eager than ever in their pursuit. At last the beast suddenly disappeared in a narrow, obscure cut, full of brush and fallen trees and immense boulders.

The next moment it was seen scrambling toward a small opening in the rocky mountainside. At that instant, Cox, who was a wonderful shot with a rifle, brought his weapon to his shoulder and fired. With a cry like that of a human being, the beast instantly fell in a hideous heap across a boulder that it was in the act of scaling. Slowly and with much trepidation, the hunters made their way to the prostrate object. It proved to be dead, shot through the breast.

The face was exposed to view as it lay on the side on the rock. The features were unmistakably Indian in character. The hairs of the face were few and black, and on the head it was long and jet black like that of an Indian. The skin on the face was very dark and wrinkled. The teeth, which were partially exposed, by the position of the mouth were plainly those of a carnivorous animal. They were longer than those of a human being. This was the only feature of the face and head that did not exactly resemble the characteristics of an Indian. Perhaps the most singular point about the strange creature was a disproportion between its head and body. The former was not larger than that of an ordinary man, yet the body would weigh 400 pounds. The long muscular arms were provided with a pair of hands almost like those of a man. They were five fingers on each hand. The outside of the fingers were covered in hair, but on the side the skin was bare and white and thickly calloused. The feet, if such could be called,

were entirely unlike anything the hunters had seen. They were two feet long and eight inches broad and covered on the bottom with a hard substance like that of a dog. The being was of the male sex. It was evidently a cross between an Indian and some carnivorous animal. Such monstrosities, anthropologists say, are often born into the world, and many of them are mentioned in natural history. After an examination of the body, the hunters began an exploration of the opening toward which the animal was making its way. The entrance was under a large rock. The explorers advanced with caution for fear of meeting the mate of the brute. A large apartment was found not more than 10 feet from the outside. It had evidently been dug out of the hard earth by hand. In the dim light,

it could be seen that the room was empty. Cox struck a match, and by its blaze, all the mysteries surrounding the murders in dead man's hole were revealed. In one corner was a pile of bones, among which were portions of human skeletons. Five human skulls were found laying together. The half man and half beast was also evidently a semi-cannibal. On the floor in the middle of the cave was the half-devoured remains of a goat. In another corner of the room was a pile of leaves and weeds the animal used as a bed. These and the bones were the only objects in the cave.

The methods of the brute and its mysterious work are evident. It sprang on its victims from behind and choked them to death. Then it would drag them to a place of concealment till night fell. There is no doubt that if the bodies of Blair and Belita, those were two of the people that were found dead there, had not been found on the day that they were murdered, they would never again been heard of, as was the case with the many other mysterious disappearances at dead man's hole. The absence of human footprints or human motives and all other remarkable circumstances surrounding these murders are now explained. Did they ever say what happened to the body, or does I know? I did. I found an article after the book was already published, and that's the thing.

I keep finding articles. I've found about five since the Pennsylvania book that apply to Pennsylvania. I've found a couple for the West Coast since publishing that. So one day I'll have to do an extras book or something. But I did find another article. They took the body. They said to exhibit in town and nothing more was ever heard. So nothing more was ever said.

I don't know if it was put on exhibit. I don't know if it was lost. But they did take the body. Yeah. And that's interesting. And you hear some of that too in some of these old reports where they do drag in body. and they're put on display, and then after that, the trail just goes cold. It's like it just vanishes after that, which is odd.

You know, hearing that story, you know, when you first hear it, and they're taking shots at this thing, and everyone's probably boo-hooing this creature. But to find what it did, I think they did the world of favor. You know, it worries me, Tim, is here in Washington, a kid went missing, and he went missing about a quarter of a mile where Woody and I had her encounter, and he just vanished, completely vanished. And I'm going to take my camera up there and show you there's nowhere for this kid just to vanish. This kid didn't just vanish off the planet.

There's only one road basically for him to take. And the river's too shallow right there. That whole river through there was too shallow to drown in. And for him to go off into the forest would make absolutely no sense because there is a main road you can stay on there. And he just vanishes. And you wonder what happened to that kid. Now, I'm not saying Sasquatch did it, but it's very suspicious, very suspicious, because I know that area well, and there is still activity in that area. And then you hear something like this, and you're just like, oh, my God.

Yeah, I mean, and I know, like, just from being a fan of the show, I know over the years you've softened a little bit, used to, you know, said he used to kill them all. And you soften a little bit. But I think the fact is that occasionally they do kill people. I mean, this article seems to point to it. I think, you know, some of these missing reports and so forth, I think, you know, I think occasionally they do. Why, or if it's a regular thing or if it's just a bad one, I don't know. But it, you know, I tend to tell people that when they ask me, you know, do you believe

in the, yeah, I believe in them. I wouldn't devote so much time if I didn't. What are they? I don't really quite know. but I do believe they're real, and I do believe they're occasionally dangerous. They take people's pets on the regular, and occasionally I think they take people. Yeah, there's no doubt in my mind. It's funny, Dead Man's Hole. You know, and I know you probably know this better than I do, Tim, because you've looked at some of the old articles, you know, Devil's Canyon, Devil's Lake,

Dead Man's Canyon, Dead Man's Hole. You know, it makes you wonder why they would stop somewhere like that. I think if I live back then, I'd be like, could we go to everyone lives whole, and Can we, you know, do we got to go to Dead Man's Hole? You know what I mean? It's like they give you those names and it just amazes me. So you know the people knew something was going on. It was something more than just a person because back then I think they would have put out a posse if they would have thought it was just someone out there killing people at random.

Even Native Americans, they'd put out possees and go kill them if they thought it was them. A fascinating story, very fascinating story. Yeah, that one was pretty intense. So here's one. This is 1891. We're still in California. And these are two stories. The first one, the person never sees the creature.

But there are so many elements of the story that just point to things we've heard again in modern reports. So this one is the what is it? Still at large and devouring everything within its wake. We've received a communication from Mr. James E. Martin of Casey's Flat, giving us additional information regarding the strange animals. seen in that vicinity some weeks ago. Mr. Martin is one of the best known citizens of this country and is well known in this city. At present, he is homesteading a quarter of a section above Ramsey, excuse me. Much of his spare time Mr. Martin spends in trapping, and of course,

if anyone would know anything of the wild man of the woods, it would be him. But to his story, about the sixth of this month, some of Mr. Martin's horses strayed from his premises. While looking for them, he suddenly came across the trail showing that some kind of dead animal had been dragged through the brush. The gentleman's curiosity was excited at such a large animal being made away with, so he followed it as fast as the jagged rocks and matted brush would allow him. Proceeding slow and cautiously, with keen eyes and steady nerves, he felt as though he was about to have a hand-encounter with the beast that had done the killing. After going some distance, he came upon the partly devoured remains of a two-year-old heifer, which he recognized as the property of Mr. John

W. Clap. After the monster had satisfied him on a large portion of the flesh, he covered the dead carcass over with brush and dirt, and had departed. Mr. Martin measured the tracks of the beast and found them to be 16 inches long, eight inches broad, with long claws, and which had torn up the earth that covered the slain heifer. Our informant is not a coward by any means, but he suddenly remembered he always felt better at that time of day if he had his trusty Winchester with him. So making his way homeward, he took his gun, and mounting a horse, proceeded to Mr. Claps, where he told him what he had seen.

Mr. Clap returned with him, and together they proceeded to the spot. to say that Mr. Clap was grieved at the loss of his fine bovine, now torn limb from limb, would be putting it mildly. Late that night, as Mr. Martin lay asleep, he was aroused by the piteous wines of his dogs, which are bloody, thirsty, and ferocious animals. Upon opening the door, the dogs rushed in and skulked under the bed, where they shivered with frightened fear, and from which place they could not be driven, either by threats or entreaties.

Stepping outside to see what was the matter, Mr. Martin heard something moving away from his cabin, at the same time giving vent to some most unearthly screams that echoed from crag to mountain, and which finally died away in the lonely canyons. The gentlemen asked for aid in capturing this unknown creature and says that if he can but secure the necessary help, he will not stop until he has captured it, dead or alive. So the same area, this is a month later. Once more, the wild and moly, what is it, has been seen. It does not seem to have reform yet, as it is as frisky as ever.

This time the person who saw it was Mr. Herman Gilbert, who was up in the head of the Cape Valley, looking for a suitable piece of government land that he might homestead. He says that he was near Rumsey, where he was stopping with some friends. On last Monday morning, he started out with his brother-in-law, expecting to be gone a day or so, as he wished to combine business with pleasure. They came to a nice valley about a half mile long on Tuesday afternoon, and it was cool, well-watered and full of nice green grass. They determined to pitch their tent there.

This they did, and about a half an hour later, Mr. Gilbert went to the spring nearby to water the horses, and was surprised to see around it tracks, very much resembling the same. that of a man, but thought nothing of it. Incidentally, when he returned, he mentioned to his brother-in-law. He then, for the first time, heard of the terror and suggested that the two return and track the mysterious animal to its lair. This they did, and as they followed the footprints, they found that they led to the other end of the valley.

Just as they came to the end of the defile, and were about to turn down the mountainside, they heard a peculiar cry, half human and half brutish, and quite near to them. As may be supposed, they wended their way carefully and slowly, before they had gone half a mile they came upon a path. The gentlemen were too sharp to walk in it and followed the direction it took by walking in the underbrush nearby. Just as they reached the bottom of the mountain, they came to a deep ravine, and there, walking up and down could be seen his nibs himself. Mr. Gilbert says the beast seemed to be mad at something and would beat its breast, which was covered with gore, and the sound made thereby was like distant thunder. It had lost some hair since last

scene, so the gentleman should judge, for the cuticle was painly discernible, and was of dark color, much like that of a horse. Nearby was a rude cave where the anomaly lived. About it could be seen bones from which the flesh had been eaten. The stentorizing from the decaying matter was horrible. The muscles of the creature were very powerful, and the creature made an exhibition of its strength once by lifting a huge rock that would weigh at least 300 pounds and throwing it, without any apparent effort, 100 feet.

After watching the what is it for some time, the gentleman crept quietly back as soon as possible and left the locality, determined not to make acquaintance with the Capet curiosity. You know what's interesting about a lot of these old reports, Tim, is you'll find that they go to caves. You know, we always question, like, where does Bigfoot go? It seems to show up in the forest, and then as soon as the sun comes up, they retreat somewhere, and they're so hard to find. And did you find that a lot with these old reports that when they tracked out, it was always back to a cave?

Yeah, not just in the West Coast book in the Pennsylvania one, too. They're hiding in mines. They're hiding in caves. Yeah, they seem to go underground. Yeah. If they can, it seems like. I mean, at least, very often, that's where they're finding them. That's where they're finding their traces of their bedding and bones and stuff.

So this one is, again, this is, we hear about this in reports now. A guy fires on a creature and it follows him home. Had a contest with a mild man. Residents of Eureka have a remarkable experience in the woods. Posse and dogs in pursuit. This is from the Oakland Tribune from New York. 1902. Eureka, California, January 18th, on Sunday last, Will Babcock, who resides on the Hayes place, hearing an unfamiliar noise in the brush and thinking it was a bear, fired one shot into

the brush. To his intense surprise, a white man emerged from the bushes on all fours and dashed at Mrs. Babcock, who was standing a short distance away. Before he could attack the defenseless woman, Babcock shot at him again when the stranger turned and fled into the brush. That night, the Wildman attempted to force an entrance into the Babcock home. Failing to gain entrance at the door, he tried the window. Babcock fired a shot through the window, and the prowler ran back to the woods. The Babcock vacated the house the next day, and a party has been organized to hunt him down with dogs. That's an interesting report, isn't it? Yeah. Because you do hear a lot of that retaliation. I mean, you hear it all the time. These things will come back, and it seems to happen more with Dogman,

but it seems like when people take shots at these things, if they're on their property, the creature does return to, I mean, look at ape canyon. Those guys shot it and what happened. It almost sounds like not quite as violent, but very similar to this. Very fascinating account. Yeah. And I believe I have another one here to read as well, not a little bit later on, where it happens again. And it's a very kind of ape canyon thing where it's shaking the shacks and so forth. Here's two short ones, but they're both very disturbing because they involve children.

And the first one is from 1902. Again, it's the Oakland Tribune. Family is frightened by a strange man in the woods. Reading, California, March 25th. Rimming around in the vicinity of Buckeye and the old diggings district is a wild man, with a proverbial long beard and flowing hair and stark naked. The women and children are afraid to go out of doors. And only the other day, the family of H.E. Klausen were basing.

frightened by the approach of the madman near their home. One of the children was playing near the house when a stone fell near him. Looking up, the child saw the wild man beckoning to him and making a peculiar sound with its mouth. The child ran into the house and informed his mother who ran with her children to a place of safety. The wild man disappeared and it is probable that an organized effort will be made to capture him. The impression is general that the wild man is the same being that made his presence unwelcome in the vicinity of Keswick some time ago. So you start It starts with a stone throw And then ends with the creature Kind of beckoning to a child And the next one is from 1920 Los Angeles Well wait a minute

When you say Beckoning to the child Like trying to get it to come with it Is that what you mean? That's what I took from it Yeah Interesting I'm sorry Jim I didn't make it off

Very disturbing As is this one This is Burglar looks like a huge ape This is from the Oakland Tribune 1920. Los Angeles, June 5th, the shaggy orangutang imposed murders in the room were could have been no more horrifying in appearance than the man or beast who at 3 o'clock in a recent morning invaded the bedroom of two small girls in Long Beach. The tiny daughters of H.H. Thompson Thompson were asleep in their room in the Thompson home at 3109 Corteau Place when they were

awakened by a man in the room. They screamed and huddled under the bedclothes and fear. Thompson, the father, heard the screams and rushed into the room just in time to see the most gorilla-like man he had ever seen climbing out of the window. Before the girl's father could reach the window, the man had dropped to the ground and escaped. Thompson says the man's head and face were covered with long black shaggy hair, that with his immense size and ferocious stoop, he in every way resembled a large ape. The father arrived before anything had been stolen. The Long Beach police are hunting for a man of this ape-like description, but so far without success.

That is disturbing. Because you hear of them going up to kids' windows, and God forbid it goes in. You know, what is its intention going inside? I hate it when kids are involved. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. It's, those two reports are very disturbing. And the thing that got me with the second one is it's the father describing it as a gorilla, not the children.

You know, it'd be one thing if the children were scared and some guy came through the window and they said, oh, it looked like a gorilla or something. But it's the father who ran into the room, and he's the one who describes the appearance as being like a gorilla. Can you imagine what was going through that guy's mind? You know, there's no finding Bigfoot on TV. There's no, you know, podcasts about Bigfoot at that time. He was probably like, what in the world is going on? You know, I would imagine he was pissed off and in fear. But I would love to know what he was going through his mind when he walked in there and saw this saying the immense size.

And we all say the same thing, but we tend to use different verbiage because of different times. and, you know, like the immense size and guerrilla-like stooped over. Yeah, fascinating stuff. So we're moved to Oregon now in 1901. We talk about knowing the different names they called these things, and that's part of the, it's interesting when doing this historical research, but it's also part of my job when I try to find this stuff. You've got to find out what people call them, because they didn't always call them wild man, they didn't always call them gorillas, a lot of local names. In Oregon, they were, in the eastern Oregon, they were calling it the kangaroo man in 1901. The boogeyman has been seen over in eastern Oregon.

They call it the kangaroo man. They say the creature has the shape of a man, but it's enormous size and is of an enormous size and covered with hair. He is supposed to eat miners raw without any salt and has been seen to jump from one mountain peak to another, and all the while emitting blood-curdling yells and spouting sulfurous flames from its nostrils. What kind of whiskey do they sell over in that country anyway? So newspapers having a bit of fun, but that continues today too. You can't find a newspaper article where they talk about Bigfoot without making some kind of dumb joke or trying to make fun of the witnesses in some way. But this goes on to 1904.

Is it Coos County? Is that the pronunciation? Yeah, Coos County. So Coos County has a gigantic wild man, Roseburg, Oregon, March 25th. It is reported here that a wild man has been seen by several Coos County, miners in the backwoods district. He is described as being nearly seven feet tall with large arms and legs. Three times since February 10th he has disturbed the cabins in which the miners were sleeping by shaking them. Twice he was fired at, and with no visible effect, except to cause him to retreat.

Many of the settlers near the place of his appearance are an abject fear of the creature, and are almost ready to leave the vicinity. What lends authenticity to the story is the fact that in years past, persons have reported seeing at different times such a man. Those residing in the district are discussing a systematic attempt for his capture. And that goes on. They were seeing him for some time, and they call him also the Sixes Wild Man. This is March 30th, 1904.

The Sixes Wild Man again. A hairy being, who is a horror of the miners, he hurls four-pound rocks through the air like baseballs. The appearance, again, of the Wild Man of the Sixes, had thrown some of the miners into a state of excitement and fear. A report says that the Wild Man has been seen three times since the 10th of last month. The first appearance occurred on Thompson Flat. William Ward and a young man by the name of Burleson were sitting by the fire in their cabin one night when they heard something walking

around the cabin which resembled a man walking. And when it came to the corner of the cabin, it took hold of the corner and gave the building a vigorous shake and kept up a frightful noise all the time. The same that has so many times warned the ventrison miners of the approach of the hairy man and calls them to flee an abject fear. Mr. Ward walked to the cabin door and could see the monster plainly as it walked away and took a shot at it with his rifle, but the bullet went wild of its mark. The last appearance of the animal was at the Harrison cabin only a few days ago. Mr. Ward was at the Harrison cabin this time, and again figured in the excitement.

About 5 o'clock in the morning, the wild man gave the door of the cabin a vigorous shaking, which aroused Ward and one of the Harrison boys, who took their guns and started into the disturber. Ward fired at the man, and he answered by sending a four-pound rock at Ward's head, but his aim was a little too high. He then disappeared in the brush. Many of the miners avowed that the wild man is a reality. They've seen him and nowhere of they speak.

They say he is something after the fashion of a gorilla, and unlike anything else, either in appearance or action. He can outrun or outjump anything else that has ever been known, and not only that, but he can throw rocks with wonderful force and accuracy. He is about seven feet high, has broad hands and feet, and his body is covered with a prolific growth of hair. In short, he looks like the very devil. So that's the account I was speaking of.

Again, they fired on it. And he goes to a different cabin that Harrison goes to someone else's cabin and the creature shows up there. So evidently it's following him. Yeah, and it returns fire with rocks. And we hear the same thing today. Was that still in Coos County? Yes. And that's interesting because you mentioned Roseburg.

And Coos County is actually east of Roseburg in Oregon. And it's kind of more towards the coast. And there's still a ton of even today, there's still a ton of. reports. Very fascinating. I love that account. I've heard that one too. I've read that. That's a famous one. Yeah, I think you'd put it up on your blog at some point. So the next, this is a really cool series of reports at the University of Washington of all places. And they called the creature Bosco. And I believe Bosco was the name of a, like a, they had these traveling wild men that were part of circus side shows. And they were generally not, well, I mean, they were never big foot creatures.

always guys in costume or occasionally they'd be like someone from Fiji or something they bring over and one of these that had traveled through recently was named Boscow so when they started seeing this creature at the university they called it Basko in it Bosco the Bosco thing it goes on for years I'll read some of the highlights there's there's several reports in the book it's in the early 1900s but it really gets interesting about 1914 this is from the Seattle Star July 2nd 1914 Bosco leaps out of brush on a workman. Laborer attacked by mysterious monster on Monlake Boulevard near Boat House.

Hurl's great weight hits his victim in the back with an iron missile wrapped up in paper. Women and children in the University District are terrorized today by the presence of a wild man in that vicinity. The police are searching the brush form following his attack on P. Delphente, a laborer 1648 Lane Street, early today. Delphente is employed by the independent asphalt company on Montlake Boulevard near the University. Boathouse. He arrived on the job early this morning and walked into the bushes to pick some berries when he was set upon by the wild man. After a struggle during which Bosco attempted to strike Delphente with an object wrapped in paper, the workman escaped and ran, only to receive a blow from the object in his back, causing a painful bruise. The object proved to be a window weight, weighing 25 pounds. Bosco is described as the regulation wild man with long matted hair and whiskers, teeth resembling long yellow tusks, hands like eagle talons, a hairy, chest, eyes like Sun Galleys only more so, and wearing only enough clothes to get past the board of sensors. Residents think that is the same wild man who caused a rain of terror in that neighborhood last winter. They mentioned sun galleys. Do you know what they were referring to?

Sun Galley, my wife's a carnival. She collects carnival stuff. She just said from the other room. It's like a huckster or a trickster. A hypnotist, maybe. Oh, I got you. Interesting. And that's how they refer to his eyes. Yeah, yeah. And so, and again, it's throwing something. I don't know where it got its hand on a window wait, but I'm sure. And I supposedly, I guess it picked it up somewhere. And he mentions it having long tusk. I'm assuming he's referring to the canines. And so, you know, a lot of, I could see why people would say ape or gorilla or based on the appearance. And you get a lot of that here in Washington State. You don't really get, I don't get a lot of people saying it looked human-like. People refer to it more like. Like, like, like. an ape or, well, more like an ape, really. Fascinating, though, that he had a great description. I took some guff for the cover of my last book because it had a creature screaming and had large canines. And certain people kind of gave me some guffs. And they said, oh, they don't have teeth like that. I said, well, I've heard reports with both. You know, where a lot of people

report having canines. A lot, a lot of report. Yeah. A lot of times, even the people, when they say it looked human-like as you get more towards, you know, the middle of the country or more towards the East Coast. People will say it looked human-like. And when it shows its teeth or it growls, it always has that animalistic canine, not like a human. So that canines are reported more more often than not. Can't take two. Well, I feel justified in my cover then. There you go. So this continues. This is July 3rd, 1914th. Bughouse Bosco, Varsity Wildman, makes lunches off dogs and bites off trees. Bughouse Bosco, the Bushman, the terror of the university district, is still at large today, despite a determined search by the police yesterday.

Bosco is the man who leaped upon an Italian workman on the Montlake Boulevard within 100 yards of the university canoe house on Lake Washington yesterday morning. Not content with choking his victim with claws, he threw a heavy piece of iron at him and nearly caved in the workman's ribs. After that, he fled into the brush again. The Italian described him as a wild-eyed giant, clad much like Robinson Cree, so before he learned the art of tailoring. He says Bosco has long matted hair, forming a thatch on his head. His evil face is almost hidden by a tangled groves of black beard, through which long yellow tusks protrude. The workmen would not go near the spot yesterday afternoon, but he stood across the roadway and pointed. When it became necessary

to designate exact spots, he threw stones, but he would not approach the thicket from whence the wild man had sprung on him. Just at the edge of the thicket is a little plot of sand, and here the marks of bare feet were plainly visible. It was at this point that the scuffle occurred. The foreman for the independent asphalt company, who declined to give his name, said that during his examination of the thicket, shortly after the assault,

he found several altar trees, averaging six inches in diameter laying across the path, with evidence that they had been bitten down by Bosco to delay pursuers. Motorcycle patrolman J.A. Thomas, with a member of the mounted squad, found evidence that Bosco had employed a large log to kill what appeared to have been a yellow ducer.

dog near the lake shore, about 200 miles south of the boathouse. Yellow hair lay here and there and a few crunched bones, but no flesh. Thomas believes the wild man ate the dog. The log, measuring two feet in diameter, was broken in the middle. Evidence that a dog was following him was brought out in an interview with Mrs. Jack Arrington, who lives near the boat house, and who was the only one who witnessed the encounter. A few minutes after the Italian had been attacked, she declare she saw a form slink out from the water's edge, or excuse me, slink out to the water's edge and then dart back again. A yellow dog with dirty hair followed. Mrs. Elrin was walking along the railroad track with a pail of water when the wild man attacked his victim. She saw him dig his

talons into the man's throat, saw the Italian fight for breath, and heard him finally shriek for help. The wild man fled. Last night when Frank Swaps, fireman at the University Powerhouse, which is just across the N.P. tracks from the thicket, went down to adjust the electric pump near the boathouse. He was startled by a weird, unearthly cry, which seemed to come from the lake grass in the swamp at the head of the bay. Swaps doesn't believe in ghosts, and after a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and went inside. But when he came out in a few moments, he was just in time to see the wild man trot noiselessly down the railroad track from the direction of the swamp and plunge into the lake, not 50 feet from where he stood in the shadows. Swaps waited patiently, and soon Bosco

emerged and squatted on the bank. He seemed to be nibbling. Creeping closer to investigate, Swaps encountered a twig, which snapped. The wild man fled. Swaps found a half-eaten fish. Night before last, the wild man peered into the engine door of the powerhouse about 10.30. Engineer William Alclan attempted to coax him inside, but he came suspicious and went away. Alclan chased him to the tracks, but lost him in the darkness. For Sarr, Herbert T. Condon of the university, has been greatly puzzled in the past few days by the discovery of huge footprints in the asphalt walks of the campus and press there before the asphalt hardened from the heat of the day. Last night, he declared he believed them the footprints of Bosco.

Was there any more reports of this creature after this? Yeah, yeah. And they go, again, this goes for years. And they try to catch them. They say that, you know, they get the people from the football team together and they're trying to catch him. And they're, they never catch him. he apparently if it was groups of women less than three he was known to attack them so they put out recommendations on the campus for women to go in no smaller groups than three and try to

not go out at night there's a story of one must have been incredibly brave woman who i think she hit him with his with her purse smacked him in the face when he when he jumped out at her and and got away so yeah it went on and on and eventually they just start referring to it as as a wild man and some of the reports sound like like maybe it's a person but certainly these early reports aren't I mean what they're describing is uh you know it's eating dogs it's it's breaking off trees that last report where he talks about the trees being broken and laid across the path the the dog being killed I mean that's again it's like a checklist you know of things we hear from other sightings so I don't know if if then they had a problem with with a human later on

in the campus because the later reports are less, they're less clear in describing it as a large hairy creature. But it does continue for years. And they continue to say the wild man is still on this campus. Yeah, and I would imagine back in the early 1900s, there wasn't much around the University of Washington. You know, it's not like the East Coast. East Coast was pretty built up back then.

We weren't. But, you know, if this would have been like an escaped chimpanzee or an escaped gorilla, it would have eventually died because it's too cold. They're not going to survive it. And it's interesting how he talks about it, killing its victims. You know, chimpanzees do that same thing. They go up to smaller monkeys and get them on the back of the neck and basically kill them and then eat them. And it's fascinating.

This thing is still doing the same thing. What always fascinates me is no one really, there was no scientist at the time that was like, I'm going to go check this out. this is going on for too long. There's too many witnesses that are describing the saying, and everyone's describing the same thing. You wonder why no investigator or no scientist went to the area to see what was going on. Yeah, I have, there's one report in the book of, I think it's with the Coos County one, where a guy comes from a side show. And he says, I'm going to get this thing. Whatever it is, I'm going to get it.

He was this well-known, you know, I don't know if he worked for Barnum or who. And, of course, there's no other mention of him ever getting it. But, yeah, there's no, nothing ever comes from, like you said, from scientists or from biologists or anything saying we have to check this out. And it kind of seems like this Bosco character, for the most part, everyone was describing the same creature. It wasn't like, I mean, did you get reports, like conflicting reports of Bosco had breasts one day? when he showed up or was a consensus? It's the same thing, same creature. And especially with those two, those two early reports that I read, I mean, they're, they're describing the same thing that in multiple witnesses, the woman came forward

who saw the man get attacked and, you know, guys are seeing it, other guys, other workmen are seeing it. So they're describing the same thing, which is really interesting. I mean, and what you were saying about Escape Gorillas, I think I made this point when I was on last time, but it's important because they'll call these things gorillas and stuff. There weren't that many guerrillas in the country at that time. They knew how many there were. They were very hard to keep alive. They were reported on like they were celebrities.

There's one report I put in the book of some kind of chimp or monkey that actually did escape. And I put in there just to show people how much effort was put into recapturing it. The circus sent people back because they were expensive. These things, it's not just something they would let go. So, but as far as guerrillas go, big, big guerrillas, they didn't tend to live long because we didn't know how to care for them back then. We'd bring them over from Africa. We didn't really know how to care for them.

They certainly couldn't live in the winter, in the cold. These reports of, there weren't even enough guerrillas in the country to account for all these supposed reports when the article say, oh, it must have escaped from a circus train. They just, the guerrillas weren't here to escape. I mean, it's a, it was a convenient explanation for him at the time, I think. But it just, it's not, it doesn't hold water at all. The guys back in the 1800s, they knew how to track. And I don't think, and I could even speak for myself, I don't think today people really know how to track.

And I think if people really want to become Bigfoot researchers or, you know, whatever title they give themselves, the advice I would give them right off the bat is learn, become an expert on tracking. And I think you can find these things if you become an expert on tracking. And more than just deer, I think a military guy that, you know, sniper is a perfect example. Those guys know how to track. They can go in.

I think that's a level you need to really capture these things. But, you know, it's kind of enlightening to talk to you because, like I said, a lot of these old reports when they went to track these animals, it was always back to some cave or it was always back to some layer that they went to. It wasn't like a bedding area they just found temporarily made like guerrillas make up in the hills. and I'm not saying that Sasquatch doesn't do that. What I'm saying is it was always back to a cave. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And another point about the people back in that time, like we were saying, these are tough people. If you were out on the West Coast in the 1800s, early 1900s, you either came out there on your own or your, you know, your parents did, presumably.

These were tough people. And a lot of people said, oh, these are just, these reports are just humans. They're mistaken as humans. Well, first of all, I throw out 20 reports that I can tell were definitely humans. I don't just throw everything that says wild men in there. If, you know, sometimes for whatever reason, they speak to them or they end up in a county home or something like this. Easily 20 reports that were definitely humans, I throw out for every one report that I think, well, this sounds like they're talking about, a big foot creature. So for people, you know, these people, these miners and these people living on the frontier out there,

to report that they're terrified of a wild man, to me that says something. Like, if it's just a guy with long hair walking around, I don't think these people are going to be terrified of them. You know, they knew how to handle their business. And I think it speaks to them being something else. When they say they're, you know, they're absolutely terrified of these things. I don't think we're talking about just some crazy guy running around in the woods naked. No. And I think a lot of times when you find reports like that where it is a man,

like I was saying earlier, and again, you can verify this, Tim. You know this better than I do. They always sent a posse out, and they're going to go get that guy. You know, it's not just, you know, and I think even, it's funny I was talking to, I always laugh at the lady down in Texas. I probably shouldn't laugh, but, you know, being, she's 80 plus years old. And it's the guy, it's a lady that thinks there's three black eyes that mess with her constantly. Right, right.

And show out there and fire off shots at him. I mean, doesn't think twice about it. She'll go after them. And you're right, it's just a different generation than I think we're used to. Well, I have a few other reports. One is how weird do you want to get? It's really weird. Let's get weird. All right. This is a strange one. And this is from 1857 in Oregon. This is actually the earliest article I found for the book. Dear Sir, A Most Wonderful and Thrilling Adventure has recently occurred in the southern part of this county. A few weeks since it appears, a man and a boy started in quest of some cattle, and they had traveled a considerable distance from home when night overtook them, far away from any human habitation,

and building a fire they lay down to sleep beneath the spreading branches of a stately fir tree. Toward midnight the boy was awakened by a loud plain of cry that appeared to emanate from a human being in distress not far distant from the spot where he recline, springing to his feet with alacrity and without disturbing his companion, he approached the spot from whence, whence, and he approached the spot from whence preceded this to him singularly forlorn outcry. He had not advanced many steps, however, when he observed an object approaching him that appeared like a man about 12 or 15 feet high of athletic proportions, with glaring eyes which had the appearance of liquid balls of fire.

The monster drew near the boy, who was unable from fright to move a single step, and seizing him by the arm, dragged him forcibly away toward the mountains, over logs, underbrush, swamps, rivers, and land with a velocity that seemed to our hero like flying. They had traveled in this manner, perhaps an hour and a quarter, when the monster sunk upon the earth apparently exhausted. Our hero then became aware that this creature was indeed a wild man, whose body was completely covered with shaggy brown hair, about four inches in length. Some of his teeth protruded from his mouth like tusks. His hands were armed with formidable claws instead of fingers, but his feet, singular to relate, appeared natural, being clothed with moccasins similar to those worn by Indians. Our hero had scarcely made these observations when the wild man suddenly started onward as before, never for a moment relaxing his grip on the boy's arm, which had now become painful indeed.

They had not proceeded far before they entered an almost impenetrable thicket of logs and undergrowth, when the wild man stopped, reclined on a log, and gave one shriek, terrific and prolonged, the reverberations of which seemed to continue for the space of five minutes. immediately after which the earth opened at their feet, as if a trapdoor ingeniously contrived, had just been raised. Entering at once the subterning abode by a ladder rudely constructed of hazel brush, they proceeded downward, perhaps 150 or 200 feet, when they reached the bottom of a vast cave, which was brilliantly illuminated with a peculiar phosphorescent light, and water trickled from the sides of the cave and minute jets,

the appearance of which was indeed singular. Above the cave seemed slightly arched, the ceiling apparently composed of seashells of every conceivable shape and color. The bottom was, or appeared to be, thickly strewn with the bones of many kinds of animals, the sight of which impressed our hero with a fearful presentment of his own impending fate. As our hero thus closely observed the interior of this awful cave, the wild man left him, as if instinctively called away before partaking of his midnight repast of roasted boy. Presently the huge monster returned by a side door,

leading gently by the hand a young and delicate female of almost miraculous grace and beauty, who had doubtless been immured in this dreadful dungeon for years. As they approached our hero, the young lady fell upon her knees, and in some unknown language, implaintive accents seemed to plead for the privilege of remaining forever in the cave with the wild man. The singular conduct caused our hero to imagine that the wild man, conscious-stricken, had resolved to set at liberty his lovely victim by placing her in charge of our hero, whom he had evidently captured for that purpose. As this thought passed through the mind of our hero, His ears were greeted with the strains of the most unearthly music,

which came from the innermost recesses of the cave. The wild man wept piteously as he listened to the sweet voice of the charmer, commingled with the wild music, and sobbing like a child, his handkerchief moist with grief. He raised her very carefully from her recumbent posture and led her gently away as they had come. A moment afterwards, the damsel returned, alone, and advancing towards our hero with Lady Lake Modesty and Grace,

placed in his hands a beautifully embossed card, upon which appeared the following words, traced in the most exquisite hand evidently of the lady's own. Boy, depart hence forthwith, or remain and be devoured. Our hero looked up, but the lady had vanished. However, he acted at once upon the hint implied by these words

and commenced retracing his steps towards the ladder of hazelbrush, which he shortly reached and commenced the ascent. Upon arriving at the top, his horror may be imagined when he found the aperture closed. The cold sweat stood on his brow, his frame quivered with mental agony. When after a moment he bethought himself of a small barlow knife,

a present from an ear relative, he carried in his pocket, with which he instantly commenced picking the earth, being careful not to cut too near the spot where the ladder was made fast for fear of precipitating himself to the bottom of the cave.

After laboring in this manner for a short time, he was rejoiced to see daylight through the earth, and he was not much longer in working a hole large enough through which he was able to crawl. Then, having refuted, refreshed himself at a clear running brook close by, he wandered he knew not whither. It was midday when he made his escape from the cave, and he traveled that day and night, and the following day until about half-past four o'clock p.m., when he encountered a small party of miners prospecting for gold on the headwaters of the South Umcla River, to whom he told the story of his adventure. They listened in silence, evidently disbelieving every word. But as they could not otherwise account for the presence of our hero in that desolate region, they all said nothing, but gave him to eat and drink.

Our hero reached the house of his father in due time. He related his adventure. The neighbors called in. He told the same story. The circuit preacher called. The story was the same. At first they smiled, then they doubted, and then they believed. And the whole neighborhood are now prepared to make affidavit to the principal facts.

The boy is a mild, modest, and moral boy, about 13 years of age, a fair complexion, and has always born a character of truthfulness. His parents are moral and religious people. And it is hoped that out of respect to their feelings, the story will not be disbelieved It is a general thing, although many parts of it are truly wonderful. Yeah, that is an odd story. That's a very odd story. But you know what's interesting about the story is there's little truths to what he's saying.

I mean, how many times have you heard glowing red eyes on the show? Right. How did he describe them? Balls of fire, I believe. Yeah, liquid balls of fire. Yeah, liquid balls of fire. And, you know, you hear that today. I've had many witnesses on that have seen the glowing red eyes.

And I would imagine back then that's how you would have described it. But and then going into the cave and seeing the bones, I mean, there's little tiny details. You know, for a 13-year-old at that time, I don't even know that a 13-year-old today, would come up with something like that. You know what I mean? It just doesn't make any sense why he would come up with something like that. If he's going to tell a story, then let's include dragons. Let's include why would he have little small details that we know are true with witnesses today? The other thing, too, with the cave opening up, it made me think there was a show back in the 90s.

I'm going to have to dig this up. And they were tracking one of these creatures going up a hill. And I think it was from a helicopter. And it was one of the early Fleer systems. And you could see this heat signature looked like a man going up in the hill. And they were claiming that it was a Sasquatch. And then it just vanished. Now, this is on Fleer.

There is nowhere for this thing to go unless there was a hole or a draw. or drop down into a cave on the side of a mountain, there's no reason for the thing to vanish. And, you know, going back to the cave thing, very fascinating. I mean, I... Yeah, it's a really weird account, but it's so compelling and so interesting. It feels a lot like the tales that people tell about fairies in Ireland,

where they'll disappear and stuff, and it gets into that whole weirder aspect of Bigfoot. But that's hard to talk about, I know. Well, like the woman, you know, like I had the two brothers on. The other thing going back to this kid's encounter was this woman. And the brothers had very, the brothers that were tormented by these things had a very similar encounter with a woman in white that vanished. And so he's saying things that people are saying today, even though it is a wild, crazy story, there's a little truth to some of what he's saying. You know, and I don't want to judge a kid, but there's a little bit of truth to what he's saying.

It's not all just hocus pocus. Yeah, yeah. And like he said, I mean, the glowing red eyes. When he describes his feet and he says he's wearing moccasins, I have wondered if he wasn't just looking at the bottom of his feet, like they were talking about that other article, the pads that look like that. Yeah. Yeah. Almost like shoes. You look at, you know, I would imagine you take it, look at the bottom of a dog's soul.

and at the bottom of Arsul looked like that, and I was laying on my side, and he saw my feet. You'd probably think I'd choose on. So, yeah, I kind of get what he's saying. You know, these older accounts, like the Albert Otzman story, everyone boohooed that for the longest time. But Albert talks, there's little details in Albert's story makes me believe that that happened to him.

Maybe he embellished some parts of it, I don't know. But there's little details that he could not have known unless he had actually encountered one of these things. He talked about things no one was talking about at that time. I agree, especially when he talks about the speech, and I believe he even called it chatter or something. Yeah. The term he used was very similar to what we speak up today. Yeah, he said they chattered back and forth.

That's why I love these old reports, you know. And there's nothing to gain back then. You know, there's nothing to gain today, but everyone thinks there is. But there's really, it's a more heartache coming forward with an encounter than it really is something positive. But back then, I would imagine it was 100 times more negative. to come forward with something like this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's, it, there was, what could be the gain for it?

You know, you're not making money. You're not, the only thing you're submitting yourself to is, is, now that newspaper didn't, didn't, didn't, uh, make fun of the witnesses, but a lot of times, a lot of times you'll find in other newspapers. They'll make fun if one newspaper publishes a story, another newspaper will be like, oh, you know, the over in the times, they're telling crazy stories and then they'll make fun of it and stuff. It's, uh, you're right.

They had nothing to gain. by coming forward with this stuff. Well, like that one in Oregon. They called it the kangaroo man. Right. And if you ever seen one of these things jump, I could see why someone would say kangaroo man. Because they jump, man.

They're not like we do. And so it is. Well, I got one more for you as a bonus. This one didn't make it in the book. I found it after I published it if you got time for one more. Absolutely. All right. So this is, like I said,

I keep finding stuff after I publish books. And I imagine that's going to happen because I continue research. And they weren't always in the paper of the state. So this was a story from Maryland. But it was about California. And it says, when he materialized, he ate bacon rinds and raw flour. And they called the creature a ghost in this one. Owens Lake in Ennio County, California is one of the wonders of the world.

Certainly, it is the strongest water in the world. For the solid contents of any given quantity are nearly three times those of the dead sea and are chiefly salt and soda. Of course there is no living thing in the lake and the water is acid even to being poisonous, though freshwater streams fall into it. The lake has no outlet. For many years, teamsters who camped along the road, which skirts the lake, told stories of a ghost which invaded their camp at night and when spoken to plunged into the lake. No sooner with skeptics proved the story absurd than another reliable man would report that he had seen the ghost. A familiarity lessened in the dread of it. A few men observed that the apparition was like a naked man,

and that it picked up scraps left from the campers' evening meal. At length, some of the boldest fired at it, but it plunged into the lake, and as it was seen on later nights, the ghost theory took precedence again. At length, in the fall of 1871, some unusually cool fellows got a good view of it by moonlight. It was a white man of great size and covered only with straggling hair. It greedily devoured the bacon rinds and scraps about the camp, but dashed into the lake as usual when spoken to. Not, however, until one shot had been aimed at it by a good marksman. It was seen no more, but as many witnesses declared that it always made for a little point of black lava rocks, a careful investigation was made. At Waters' Edge was discovered an opening, unknown before, and by it the investigators crawled into a cave, some 10 or 12 feet square and six feet in height.

In it lay the ghost, a dead man, entirely naked. The floor was covered with rags, straw, and bones. The county corner was notified, and the wild man's corpse was decently buried, but no information could be had as to the name or history of. of the poor ghost of Owens Lake. Yeah, that's fascinating. The book, again, is Bigfoot, West Coast Wildman. And if you go to Amazon, you type in Timothy Renner, R-E-N-N-N-E-R. If you love Sasquatch Chronicles, I really think he'll love his book.

You know, it's basically Sasquatch Chronicles just at a different time. And I really do. I hope people get the book. I love that you put all these stories together from a historical account. I think it's important for people understand. There is a historical account. This just didn't happen with the Patterson Gimlin film and now everyone's seeing Bigfoot. This has been going on for a long, long time. One of the questions I wanted to ask you, Tim, before I let you go, did you ever look up to see if there was any werewolf stories or devil dogs or wolves upright on two lakes? Did you come across any of that? I know you were looking for Sasquatch. I'm going to do a Werewolf book for Pennsylvania Pennsylvania has a good history

Now I've just looked in Pennsylvania for Werewolf stories But there are a good many And again I don't know if it's because The German immigrants come from That's like a strong werewolf culture So they bring that kind of legend in lore with them Or if we're talking about Dogman creatures

Or what but there is a very healthy the werewolf tradition in Pennsylvania. So that's coming. I've got to balance my time between the Wildman stories and that, but I'm working on that right now. Yeah, no, I can't wait to read that one. You're right, it is more of an East Coast, even a southern Louisiana, Texas. They have reports of them. But if you're out there and you trust me, you'll love this book.

Bigfoot in Pennsylvania, the history of Wildman was one of Tim's first books. We talked about that a while back. This one, Bigfoot, West Coast Wildman. Go out and get a copy. Tim, thank you so much for coming on. Oh, anytime. Thanks for having me with. Thanks, Tim.

And that's it for tonight, everyone. Remember, if you've had an encounter, shoot me an email. My email address is Wes at Sasquatch Chronicles.com. If you had a chance, check out the website, Sasquatch Chronicles.com. Until next time, everyone.

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