Bigtruth: California - Harper's History Vol.1 #6

by Scott Harper

Say anything regarding Sasquatch in the state of California, and most people automatically leap to the world-famous film footage recorded by Roger Patterson, in the company of his friend Bob Gimlin. That recording was made in 1967, at Bluff Creek, which is roughly 40 miles south of the state border with Oregon. The film is 952-frames-long. Frame #352 of Patterson's footage is probably the most recognized image of a Sasquatch in the world. It's the famous shot of the creature, looking back over her shoulder as she walked away from the two men.

California has a very long history of sightings—and other encounters—of Sasquatch reaching back well before Roger Patterson recorded the aforementioned historic film, however.

Going back to 1769, Spanish priests were warned by local native tribes, upon founding a mission in San Diego, of foul-smelling "hairy devils". These creatures were said to live in the forests nearby.

Around 1876, a Sasquatch caught the blame for a series of murders at a water stop on a stage coach line. During a stop for water, one stage coach passenger who had gotten off the coach for a drink reported seeing a large hairy creature watching him from the cover of some brush. Not long after, several people in the immediate area were found dead, having been beaten, or strangled to death. In 1888 two hunters went out looking for the creature. They planned to shoot it, thus ending the string of murders in the area. They also planned to take the body to San Diego, to put it on display. They claimed to have succeeded in killing it, but the body vanished before arrival in San Diego.

November 10, 1870 saw the publication of an article in the "Titusville Morning Herald" called "The Wild Man of California". The piece covered the sighting by a hunter who, upon returning to his camp after a day in the forest, discovered a Sasquatch in his camp. He hung back, watching as the creature proceeded to scatter ashes from the campfire, and generally explore the campsite. As the creature—presumably male—left the camp, it was joined by another that the witness classified as female. The pair wandered quietly away together.

The newspaper "Del Norte Record", from Crescent City, printed a report in 1886 concerning a sighting by several men. The men claimed to have spotted a 7-foot-tall "wild man" near the town of Happy Camp, which is about 60 miles north of Willow Creek. One of the men had a gun, but refused to shoot at the creature, claiming that it looked "too human".

In 1939 a gold prospector claimed to have had an encounter with "upright walking apes" at his camp in the Borrego Sink area. He credited his campfire with keeping the creatures from attacking him during the night. He reported that they seemed to be afraid of the flames.

August of 1944 saw a report from Siskiyou County—the county in which my family, and I live—what seems to be a family of three sasquatch, describing what appears to be a male, a female, and a juvenile spotted together. The sighting occurred near Yreka. Upon realizing they had been seen, the trio of creatures immediately walked into denser woods, and out of sight.

The summer of 1950 brought in a report from San Bernardino County. The witness heard whistling, and "chomping noises". Upon moving to investigate the sounds, a "hairy, man-like creature", which was said to be very muscular, was seen. The creature simply walked away upon being spotted. The witness left, but returned to the site later, and discovered very large footprints.

About the same time of year, in Ventura County, a young runaway girl was on horseback when she spotted three young Sasquatch. She estimated the oldest of the trio, a female, to be a teenager. The other two were smaller, and younger. When first seen, the creatures were drinking from a steam. Upon realizing they had been spotted, the oldest one took the smaller ones by the hand, and led them away from the scene, into denser trees, and better cover. The witness commented that none of the three seemed frightened of her, only cautious.

In the autumn of 1955, a Boy Scout, who was camping with a group, got up during the early morning hours to use the latrine. He heard tree limbs breaking. Upon turning his flashlight beam in the direction of the disturbance, he spotted a tall, shaggy creature with eyes that glowed orange. The Sasquatch was swaying from side-to-side, watching the boy. Frightened, he ran back to his tent, shouting, and made no further attempt to see the creature again. On a side note, such side-to-side swaying, or rocking motions are very commonly reported behavior of Sasquatch.

In the autumn of 1956 a teenager witnessed a tall "ape-like creature" walking along the top of a ridge. The creature was about 40 yards from where the teen sat.

In the summer of 1957, three children claimed a sighting of a Sasquatch near Eureka, California.

Two construction workers reported a sighting of a Sasquatch about 45 miles northeast of Eureka, California in 1958. 16-inch footprints had previously been reported in the same region.

California remains a hotspot for Sasquatch sightings right up to today. Many new sightings are officially reported each year. No one knows just how many sightings actually take place, though, as a large number of them go unreported. People who are afraid of being laughed at, losing prestige at their jobs, or other negative backlash often keep completely quiet about their sightings for years after it occurs. Some researchers have speculated that up to two or three times as many sightings take place as are actually reported in some official capacity.

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