by Scott Harper
Maine isn't a huge state, but it
boasts a lot of forested area. These woodlands seem to be home to a population
of Sasquatch, given the fairly steady flow of recent sightings coming from
Maine. However, the state's Sasquatch reports aren't all from modern times. There
has been Sasquatch activity in the state for quite a while. According to Native
Americans, tribes of the creatures we now know as Sasquatch have long lived in
the area. Their stories, and accounts of them reach back well before Maine
joined the Union in 1820.
Sometime in the early 1800's a
trapper witnessed a tall, hairy being approach his camp. The creature simply
turned, and walked away. What was presumed to be the same Sasquatch was spotted
standing on a rock in a lake the following morning. These sightings happened
near Mt. Katahdin.
In Waldoboro Maine in 1855, a
man was chopping wood when he heard screams coming from behind his house. Upon
investigating, he spotted a short, hair-covered creature. A juvenile Sasquatch?
A book titled "Camping
Out" was published in 1873. It chronicles six encounters of creatures
known at the time as "Injun Devils". There is also a report in the
text concerning the death of a trapper. The man had been beaten against a
tree, and torn apart. Many people dismissed the death as the result of a
mountain lion attack. Mountain lions don't slam their victims against a tree
repeatedly to dispatch them, though. Such an activity has been attributed to Sasquatch more than once, however.
In 1886, a newspaper called the "Waterville
Sentinel" reported on the death of a camper. The dead man had been found
by two companions. As a 10-foot-tall "wild man" had been spotted in
the area, it was immediately named as the suspect. A group of men set out,
armed, to hunt for the creature. Reports state that the group found, and killed,
the creature, but do not say what became of the body.
1946 brought a report from four
men who were on Bigelow Mountain. They sat down for lunch, and spotted what
they later claimed was a 10-foot-tall being covered in black hair walking
toward them. The figure looked to be carrying a large rock. The men wasted no
time in leaving the area. Three years later, in the same
area, in 1949, a 7-foot-tall Sasquatch was spotted alongside a roadway by a
passing driver.
All in all, the state of Maine
has a wealth of Sasquatch sightings—some of which predate the Patterson/Gimlin
footage from 1967, further proving that these beings didn't just suddenly pop
into existence with that film, as some people seem to think.
The sightings continue right up
to present day as well. They even include a few rare white Sasquatch reports.
Canada boasts a large number of Sasquatch sightings. Maine adjoins two Canadian
provinces. Sasquatch aren't affected by man-made borders. It's probable that the Sasquatch populations from Quebec, and New Brunswick wander back and forth
into, and out of Maine. Odds are that this wandering has been going on for a
very long time, and will continue to do so. Such a large area, with wooded
terrain friendly to Sasquatch, goes a long way to explain why there have been
so many sightings of these beings in the state of Maine for such a long time.
About the Author
Scott Harper is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 30 published short stories, and several novels. Harper grew up in Ohio, and graduated from Marysville High School in 1993, and began screenwriting in 2007, after the publication of several short stories and novels. He has worked on projects for James Tucker Productions, and 11th Dimension Films. He is currently involved with several projects, covering literature, film, and comic books. He was also a contributing writer for "Nuclear Winter Entertainment" for several months before that site shut down. Scott is very happily married to bestselling paranormal author Desirée Lee. Together, they have a wonderful little girl, and are working jointly on several projects. Those projects include multiple books, as well as the hit webcomic "MoonWraith."
More information about his work can be found on his website: www.scottharper.net
Blog Post by Dan Lindholm
