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Copyright September, 1994 #41 Ray Crowe, ed.
WBS MEETINGS
SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES
* The September meeting covered a lot of interesting ground with several new reports. New member Floyd Henderson had and interesting experience that he told the group about. Floyd said he was hiking from Polallie Camp to Surveyors Ridge, east of Mt. Hood, OR, on Zigzag Trail. He was alone at 10:30 AM and the trail was dusty, a light rain the night before smoothing and settling the dust. Animal tracks were common and there were no other human tracks. Game tracks were common, and Floyd, a naturalist-geologist, was studying them intently when he came across a single barefoot human track in the middle of the trail, as if it had crossed near a big tree (this is as he was descending. The track was not present on his way uphill). On up the trail he heard snaps of limbs and rustles of brush, and felt he was being watched. On his way back, 200 yards down the trail towards camp from the track, he noticed a heavy, sweet/sour odor. The track of the right footprint was 14 inches long, 5 1/2 inches wide at the ball, and the big toe was about 2 1/2 inches long. The track was impressed about 3/8 ths of an inch into the dust. Tod Deery and Peter Byrne of the Bigfoot Research Project (1-800-BIGFOOT) investigated the trail with the witness on the following Tuesday, but by that time the trail had been heavily trampled by other hikers.
Woody Woodworth came forward to urge members to vote against upcoming Oregon Measure 18, that would outlaw the use of baiting or dogs to hunt bear and cougar. A bit of heated discussion followed from animal protectionists. Woody countered with the killing of a lady in California (where the same law has been enacted) and other problems brought on by predator overpopulation...the only natural enemy of bears and cougars is man. IÆm on the fence.
Bruce Hoffman commented on a possible Bigfoot confrontation he had while on vacation. On the Chetco River about 18 miles NE of Brookings, OR, during the end of August, when he was prospecting for gold (yes, he found a vein). He was exploring the area by driving the many dirt roads, and stopped at one place to let the car engine cool. The brush was very thick, and you could only see about 15 feet into the very dry and steep slope. All of a sudden something charged him in the brush, then stopped before he could see what it was. He could hear it moving around in the brush about 35 feet away, and spooked, he took his magnum gun from the trunk saying, ôIÆm ready for you.ö Nothing further happened after the original 3-4 minute confrontation. We discussed the possibility of another animal...bear or elk, and it was not conclusive.
Rip Lyttle had some very interesting film clips to show us. One clip from last summer near Sisters, OR, where he was investigating the Davis sighting had a strange set of limbs, stacked like civil war army rifles. More recently, he asked for volunteers to help out in an area of apple trees near Prindle, WA, where he has been spending weekends. On audio tape, 9/24-25, he had a series of sounds of something approaching his vehicle as he slept, and the loud thumps as the apparently two-legged thing loped away. He said it could only be human...or a Sasquatch.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Steven McClure had a very interesting presentation on apes and early men, with several video clips, one of chimpanzees eating the flesh of colobus monkeys that they had caught. Another clip had some early men and Australopithecus types in the context of Arthur ClarkeÆs movie, ô2001.ö Dr. McClure has written a report on his ideas that will be run this issue.
Newspaper editor Ty Walker of the Saint Johns Review sat in on the meeting, taking several notes and photos, so weÆll hope for a good write-up soon.
SADDLE MOUNTAIN EXCURSION
* September 25th several WBS members visited the Saddle Mountain area. The first stop was at the worlds largest Sitka Spruce tree for photos (Picea sitchensis, 216 feet tall, 52 foot girth, about 700 years old), then on up the mountain. We hiked side roads looking for possible Bigfoot tracks in the dust. None were found, but there was plentiful sign of elk and deer - beds, droppings and tracks, canine tracks (dog or coyote), and bear scat at numerous places. Ron Hudson found some nice fossil clams (Miocene Age, Anardara divencta) along the creek, and the superb weather hosted numerous wildflowers and butterflies. Archery elk season was in progress, so numerous boot tracks and archers were seen. Clam chowder for dinner was found in nearby Seaside, then a short historical excursion to the Lewis and Clark 1805-06 wintering over site at Fort Clatsop was enjoyed. The Park Ranger told us an odd tale...seems President Thomas Jefferson ordered Lewis and Clark to be on the lookout for living dinosaurs. Jefferson had dug up the skeleton of a Mammoth, and considered the possibility that this and other extinct animals might have survived in this uncharted region of North America. At that time, of course, the ancientness or a scheme of time concerning extinct animals was unknown. I have been told, but have not confirmed, that the party split up in Idaho, and when Clark explored the now Clark River, he saw a Bigfoot. Does anyone have any information on this possibility? Let us know please.
OCTOBER WBS SPEAKER
* Jim Bonnicato, an engineer for FLIR Corp., will speak at the October 27th meeting on new technology available from his company. Some equipment will be displayed, and a possible video-slide presentation is being considered. A personal battery pack rig , lead wire through the sleeve, will be reviewed. FLIR, Foreword Looking Infra-Red, devices from this company are common rescue equipment on helicopters. Jim also intends to bring his friend Jeremy Rooper to tell of a possible encounter. Jeremy was on the south slope of Mt. Adams, WA, picking blue huckleberries, August 6th, when they heard a scream and heavy brush breaking and a thumping noise, and they got out of there. There is the possibility that they might have run across an elk or bear. More details from Jeremy at the October meeting.
THE BIGFOOT RESEARCH PROJECT TRIP
* Peter Byrne invited several members of the WBS to his mountain retreat at Mount Hood, OR, for lunch on October 2nd. The weather was nice and we spent most of the day on the deck eating Chinese food and discussing a myriad of topics...even about Bigfoot from time to time. Henry Franzoni loaded a digitalized version of the Patterson Bigfoot, frame # 352, on the BRP computer, and we were all amazed at the modified version in color. Large lips were evident, as was a bulge in the forehead, a rubbed away area of fur on the side of the creature, and a good view of the face. IÆll do a black and white on the cover for readers.
In an interview with Peter Byrne, several reports of Bigfoot activity were discussed, among them: a call on the 1-800- Bigfoot number concerning a sighting Sept. 26th. At 3:00 PM, the couple were enjoying the view while sitting along Forest Service Road #54, 29 miles NW of Carson, WA (T5N R6E), west of the Trapper Creek Wilderness at about 5000 feet. The girl commented to her companion, ôwhat was that?ö That...was a Bigfoot, 3-400 feet away, and was in sight for 10 seconds before disappearing in the brush. The creature was brown and about six feet tall, and walking upright. Peter Byrne and Tod Deery were on the scene the following day, but found the area shrouded in dense fog, and it was raining. No footprints or other sign of the creature was located at the rocky site.
Another interesting report was from a 79 year old grouse hunter in mid September of 1993. He was on a road south of Mount Adams, WA, west of Snipes Mtn. (T7N R11E Sec. 8) on the edge of the Yakima Reservation. He had been hunting for 50 years when he saw something new. The Bigfoot crossed the road from right to left, and he hit the brakes and cut the engine. The creature walked 1500 feet up a hill, taking two minutes. A perfect footprint was found on a gopher mound. He couldnÆt see the face, but the rest of the creature was black or very dark brown, very hairy, and he was adamant that it was 7 feet tall.
A sighting from the Colton, OR, area September 18th is puzzling because of recent hoax activity. (The hoaxer promised to stop due to the threat of being shot) This new sighting was at 11:00 AM, according to Peter, and just east of the junction of Hy. 211 and Unger Road. It crossed from left to right, stopped, spun around and looked at the witness. The top of the head was said to be rounded rather than pointed. The black-brown creature was very hairy. The witness followed some 30 feet into the forest, but was spooked and came back to his car. In previous hoax cases, a nearby road was where the BF ran, jumped into a car, and took off laughing. There was no side road at this site, Peter said.
Another conversation centered around the airing of the Unsolved Mysteries version of the Minnesota Iceman on 9/25. Peter mentioned that he had a call from Frank Hansen in Minnesota three-weeks ago about the contract language of an interview that UM had planned. Peter said it was standard ôsign your life awayö type of contract, which didnÆt interest Hansen in the least. HeÆs still very secretive, apparently fairly well off on a large farm, and has a large collection of antique tractors. He had originally shown the dead creature in 1969, frozen in a block of ice.
NEW SIGHTING STUFF
* Reynold Furrell was hiking in late August, 1994, in the Mt. Washington Wilderness area, OR. He parked on Hy. 242 near the Dee Wright Observatory in McKenzie Pass, and hiked north on the Cascade Crest trail about 20 miles (T14S R8E), and was off the lightly forested. trail when he and his companions noticed a particularly foul smell. He said it might have been a bear, but wasnÆt sure and called the WBS. A wildlife expert, Jim Hewkin, says bears are known to roll in offal, the same as a dog will roll on something dead to cover its scent.
* Woody Woodworth was 1/4 mile off Wildcat Mt. Road, 7-8 miles from the junction with Kitzmiller Road (T3S R5E, OR), on September 2nd, early in the morning. He was checking the movement of an elk herd that returned to the area every seven days to feed. From the next canyon over he heard a high pitched whistle, quite loud, that lasted for 20 seconds or so. Very familiar with wildlife sounds, he thought this whistle was peculiar, and not an elk or cat. The whistle set dogs from nearby homes to barking crazily for about five minutes.
* Tex Occanaa was camped at Hillson-Sanyo Camp near Baldwin Mtn., NE of San Bernardino, CA, when a Bigfoot was sighted. It was Monday night, Sept. 19th, about 8:30-9 PM when the creature was glimpsed in the campground lights, and ran away in a loping fashion after seeing Tex. The seven foot creature turned and grinned or grimaced at Tex, and it displayed fangs. It was described as having long arms, proportional to its body, brown shaggy hair, and had a bad smell - putrid or sulfurous. There was howling in the woods also, and he packed up and left camp that night, but did notify a park ranger.
Sent info to Peter Guttilla, who thinks somethingÆs funny. Letter, 9/28: Sounds like somebodyÆs idea of a joke. Goshen Ave. (witnessÆs address) is nowhere near LAX. The eleven thousand blockÆs in Brentwood, north of Los Angeles. Hillson-Sanyo, as in the Japanese electroncics company? Is that a campground, or somebodyÆs retreat? Whatever, no such place. No Mt. Baldwin either. (There is a lake by that name on my road map, Ray.)
* Tom Olson tells of a friendÆs encounter with Littlefoot while fishing in the fall of 1992. He was on the Sandy River, east of the town of Sandy, OR, and off Coleman Road (T2S R5E), where he lived, just 500 feet from the river.. While he was kneeling and working on his fishing gear along a rocky sandbar, he was alerted to a noise twenty feet away in the trees. Looking up, he saw a very short, 3 1/2 foot tall, hairy creature staring at him. The eyes were the most prominent feature, and they were red. There was no distinct face as the creatures face and body was covered with black-brown shaggy fur. The creature growled at him and he took off.
The witness found the area strange, in that he found the remains of a fish, probably a steelhead, the skeleton and head remaining on a rock (any other animal would have eaten the whole thing). It had been picked clean. Also, the remains of a mallard duck were found. All the feathers had been picked off and were in a neat pile, and the bitten off head was on another nearby rock.
OLD FOOT NOTES
* Rip Lyttle report. Ms. Grant lived next to a police officer in Sweethome, OR. She said he came over one day shaken, and he had been sworn to secrecy. In the early 1970Æs, he had an early evening report from Manns Ridge, that people from California were moving into a new house on the ridge, and had heard noises from the garage. A huge head appeared above the garage door, from where it had been stooped over looking at stuff in boxes. It left, stepping over a barbed wire fence and loped off. The creature was described as bad smelling and of a really dark color. Silver and black hairs from the fence were analyzed and said to be of no known species (Oregon State Univ. Ms Grant thought) The Police had been ordered to keep quiet to avoid a panic. The Californians never moved into the house. Ms. Grant had a grandma that lives in a cabin on the ridge (T14S R5E).
* Rip Lyttle report. Tim Hurst informant, lives on Icicle Creek Road #2451, 4 miles south of Levenworth, WA (T24N R17E), on BrenderÆs Pig Farm. Ten young fellows in the early 70Æs were drinking on a Friday night at the farm. They had some heavy weapons handy, Tim had a Weatherby ôelephantö gun. At 1:30 AM they heard a big sound in the barnyard, and thinking it was a bear, they had a competition to get to the door to shoot the bear going after the pigs. They saw a huge thing with a 150 pound pig in its mouth biting the neck. All started firing guns, and there were terrible sounds. Tim knew he hit the 7 foot tall, wide shouldered thing at 75 feet, and it was screaming bloody murder...dropped the pig from its mouth and drug the pig away with the ten guys shooting at the strange creature. The next morning they followed the blood trail on horseback for 15 miles before losing the trail.
MISCELLANY
EARLY MAN FOSSILS FOUND
* A new species of early man, Australopithecus ramidus, has been found in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia. Described in Science by team leader Timothy White of the University of California at Berkeley, the 4.4 million year old fossils predate Lucy at 3.6 million years. The first of the bones and teeth of 17 individuals was found Dec. 17th, 1992, by Tokyo anthropologist Gen Suwa, and represent a species that still lived in a wooded setting, where living in trees was preferred, rather than the open plains. The jaw and teeth are similar to those of a chimp, while other details are human. A childÆs jaw and arm are different from other human ancestors. Premolars and molars are smaller while canine teeth are larger, and the enamel was thinner. The surrounding rock, dated at 4.4 million years, was once a flood plain, and 600 associated fossils were of primitive rhinos and elephants, birds, bats, rats and the first large east African bear fossil ever found.
EARLY FOOTPRINT RECORD
* The National Geographic, November 1993 issue, has on page 92, a left footprint carved in greenstone. The George Stewart article, New Light On The Olmec, mentions that the ax was identified by Mexican villagers when they saw the footprint. It was a sign of Chaneques, the legendary dwarf trickster who lives in waterfalls, but its actual meaning to the Olmec is not known. It was found at El Manati, where other stone and wood artifacts had been found. The Olmec were in southern Mexico 400-1200 BC. A wood bust from the site was dated at 3,000 years ago.
VEGETATION MAP AVAILABLE
* The July issue of Science and Technology has an interesting item. A large color map of vegetation regions in the US may be had for only $3.00, in the event youÆd like to try your hand at comparing Bigfoot sightings with vegetational distribution. Write, and send check, to USGS Map Distribution, Box 25286, MS 306, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225. Ask for Vegetation Delineation map.
NEW BIGFOOT BOOK RELEASED
* Tom Morris has released the first copies of CaliforniaÆs Bigfoot/Sasquatch, $19.95, 1000 Pleasant Valley Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, (510) 930-8123. He asked for, and received permission to use material from the Track Record. My copy in the mail, will review next Track Record.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
* Henry May letter 8/31. A meeting of the Southeast Sasquatch Association was held 8/27, and members discussed sightings of Bigfoot from recent months. Secretary, Sheena B., said she saw a male Sasquatch in Cleveland, MS, on Friday the 19th at 9:00 PM. It was in a field across from the ôCinema 4.ö She said it was tall, possibly 7-8 feet, and it was blackish-brown, had a human-like face, and it had obvious male genitalia. Henry recounted his own sighting from Monday, August 22nd, 9:15 PM, where he had seen a large black hairy manlike shape walk across his field of vision from left to right. The creature had hid behind some bushes at the end of South Bishop Road, at the intersection with OÆReilly Road. That was his most recent sighting of Bigfoot. Pam G. recounted some experiences over the last three months of hearing mysterious howls and grunts from near her home in Cleveland. She retold members of her Bigfoot sighting on Friday, June 17th. It was close to sunset when she and HenryÆs sister both saw a large, black object near her backyard. She says now she may have seen two of them, but sheÆs not quite sure. The next meeting will be September 3rd. Henry May, Director SE Sasquatch Assn., PO Box 344, Boyle, MS 38730.
THE USE OF SET CAMERAS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING WILD CREATURES
Russ Kinne, September 27th, 1994
This procedure basically consists of arranging for a wild animal to take its own picture -- while the photographer is elsewhere. It can be a highly productive technique, and requires little in the way of equipment. Furthermore, much of this gear can be, and sometimes must be, home-made. It certainly should be considered if youÆre ever in a ôhotö BF area that seems suitable.
A set-camera rig consists of the camera, some sort of lighting apparatus, and a device to set off the camera. If you plan to tend it daily or weekly, and donÆt mind spending a bit of cash on batteries, you can use electronic cameras, flash, and triggers. But IF youÆre leaving a set for a long time, or in cold weather, itÆs best to use simple mechanical things.
Starting with cameras; nearly all models now in production are electronic, and leaving one ôonö and ready to fire does drain the battery slowly: IÆd guess one would last up to a week. The camera must have a socket for a remote- control switch (most of them donÆt.); then a cord can be wired up to fire the camera when a micro-switch or mercury switch is closed. A thread across the trail, six or seven feet high for a BF, will close the switch and fire the camera when it is pressed or broken. Rubber ôSwitchmatsö on the trail itself will also work, but are expensive and have an odor. Infrared beams will also work, but drain batteries much more quickly.
Some sort of a light source is necessary, as the camera may be tripped day or night. Low-voltage flash units, by far the most common, do make a noise; even if you donÆt hear it, wildlife does. Count on it. Some units can be powered by high-voltage batteries, usually 300 volts or more. These are quiet, but the batteries are not rechargeable and cost $20-30 apiece. 110-volt power is quiet but the long extension cords needed are seldom practical.
The Mechanical route -- requires you to buy an older, mechanical camera, but at least it will be cheap. You must set the aperture and shutter speed, and it must be rewound for each exposure. Brand doesnÆt matter, but it must accept a cable release; most do. The trigger can be a strong solenoid or a modified mouse trap. Lighting comes from an old- fashioned flashbulb, and a small tractor-type battery powers the whole works. Since there is NO battery drain -- nada, zilch, nothing -- while the camera is set, the battery will last a long time, even in cold weather. Such a rig can be left, set and ready to go, for months at a time.
The big advantage to Mechanical is its reliability and low cost. The disadvantage lies in being able to get only one shot before resetting.
The big advantage to Electronic lies in the possibility of making the rig self-setting (with a LOT of tinkering), and getting a whole series of pictures. The disadvantages are leaving a lot of expensive gear out in the woods, high original cost, high battery consumption, and the tendency of electric gear to fail when left out in the weather.
I frankly feel Mechanical has the best chance for success, and IÆll happily settle for one good photograph. However, if you have a clever-with-electronics friend, the money, time and inclination, try Electronic.
Either way, protect the gear with plastic bags, be optimistic, and be SURE to take a test shot when everythingÆs set up, so youÆre positive that everythingÆs going to work.
Think how youÆd feel to find huge footprints marching up the trail, a broken trip-wire, and a camera that hadnÆt gone off ------
Track Record Number 41, September 1994 issue, Copyright 1994 by Ray Crowe
Advocates of Bigfoot/Sasquatch study
The Bigfoot Research ProjectTrack Casts for Sale (Dr. Grover Krantz/Ira Walters)Hominid Skull Replicas for Sale (Dr. Grover Krantz/Ira Walters)Cryptozoology HomepageSkeptical Viewpoints
Fringes of ReasonThe Skeptics DictoinaryA listing of general skeptical publications.Track Record #41 web page by Henry Franzoni / Visit Henry's home page or Email Henry Franzoni
