Hiding Isn’t Always Easy: Discovering Bigfoot

Jerry Crew, a machine operator at a logging camp in Northern California, discovered something puzzling during the late 1950s. Crew discovered a series 16-inch footprints that looked like human feet. Ray Wallace, the boss of the crew, was also involved in this discovery. They were aware of the unusual nature of these huge footprints, but did not know whose prints it was. The group decided to call the creature that made these prints “Bigfoot”. Crew and Wallace went to the town that was below their construction area to talk to a local taxidermist. Bob Titmus was the taxidermist that they met. Titmus wanted to keep this story quiet, so many people don’t even know that it happened. Titmus taught Crew and Wallace the steps to creating plaster casts. Crew cast the first plasters and brought them to town. The editors of the newspapers took photos of Crew holding up the plaster castings. They were then circulated all over the globe. Crew, Wallace and their rest of the construction crew claim to have seen more footprints as well as droppings in the period from August to November. These discoveries are causing a lot of controversy. It led curious people to dedicate their lives to the search for Bigfoot. Many theories have been developed after years of research on Bigfoot. Bigfoot’s existence is best explained by a hybrid of a man and wolf that has existed on the planet since its creation. Bigfoot will be discovered in due course.

It may be helpful to take a look into the minds of scientists and ‘logical’ individuals, as well as our ancestors, in order to understand the Bigfoot phenomenon. It is estimated that there are between 10 and 50 million different species on the planet. However, we only have discovered 1.9 millions of them. Scientists would consider Bigfoot to be a true undiscovered species. The stories of similar creatures are told by our ancestors in all parts of the world. Bigfoot will be around forever, according to our ancestors. Stories of Bigfoot’s existence will be told for generations to come as we continue to find and see Bigfoot. A logical person’s mind would say that all the evidence we’ve collected is consistent. Evidence is available from around the globe. It’s almost impossible to recreate something perfectly. Especially not repeatedly. Bigfoot exists.

At dawn, many years ago on a mountain 5,800 feet high in an African city, a team was following up reports about a strange primate. Scientists suspected this strange primate, which native hunters call ‘Kipunji,’ would not be real. When someone yelled, “Kipunji! “, everyone turned around to see what biologists called “the most bizarre monk I’ve ever seen”(Conniff). The monkey was about three-feet tall and covered in a thick, brown coat. Around its black muzzle were brown hairs. “Bloody hell! It’s got to a be a new specie” (Conniff). It was unusual to find an outsized primate in the 21st century, especially in a region where humans have lived for centuries. It is, however “a time of new discoveries” (Conniff). There are many new species that appear big, colorful and spectacular. Smithsonian Institution interview Dr. Richard Conniff. This field biologist stated, “The amount of species that are being discovered today compares favourably with any time in the past since the middle of the 1700s – since scientific classification began. These new species are strange enough, they say, to invoke the same senses as awe or amusement that were evoked by remarkable new organisms in the past, between the 15th and the 19th centuries. This would lead to the conclusion that Bigfoot was on earth and residing in the forest, just waiting to discovered. New technologies are likely to have a greater impact on the discovery of species.

It is logical that Bigfoot would be among these species. Scientists must check to see if the species is not already known or described elsewhere before they can consider it a possible new discovery. To do this, they can visit museums, coordinate with other specialists or read journals. Scientists are often on exotic trips. These are places that have not been touched by humans. They are looking for samples and evidence in the habitat. Then they take the specimens to their laboratories and start working down a path that they do not know. They could find out something or just ‘waste’ time. Once they’ve found a hint, such as a DNA sequence, they can begin their hunt for the real creature. Finding new species can be a challenge because of the time and money involved. A person or an organization must literally dedicate a part of their life to research. David DeFranza of TreeHugger Natural Science stated that “Some discoveries are made in a blink.” Sometimes, the time between a species’ discovery and its official declaration can be years or even decades. According to the results of a recent study, it takes an average of 20.7 years for a species to be officially recognized” (DeFranza). This would demonstrate that Bigfoot’s not yet being recognized as a distinct species isn’t unusual. Piers Plowman’s poem “Patience Is a Virtue” is an excellent guide.

Nearly a 1000 years ago, people began to recall, talk about, and create folklore involving a hairy giant, human-like creature. The stories continue to be reported daily all over the globe. In this day and age, Bigfoot is considered folklore by some (that’s one theory, at least). The fact that folklore blurs the lines between fiction, non-fiction and myth makes it interesting. Dr. S.E. Schlosser says, “Folklore refers to traditional beliefs, stories, myths and practices that have been passed down orally, usually by word of mouth.” (Folklore definitions, 2010). Folklore is similar to modern-day rumors or exaggerations. The term is often used when something is only partially true. Imagine playing the telephone game, in which a person whispers a phrase to someone next to them. As the conversation continues, the original phrase sounds more and more similar but it’s not quite true. Folklore is a mixture of fact and fiction.

The Bigfoot of today is described in folklore, which leads us to believe that Bigfoot was around from the beginning. The folklore is true. He is a creature so amazing that he has been the subject of conversation for centuries. Before anyone realized it, everyone had been talking about him. Native Americans were the first to mention Bigfoot. The Kwakiutls, to be precise. Totem poles on the Kwakiutls are similar to those described by Bigfoot. The Kwakiutls were Indians of North America who lived in British Columbia. The Kwakiutls share stories of mythical creatures such as the Dsonoquas and Buk’wus. According to a Kwakwakawakw Folklore and Myths website, the Buk’wus, or Wildman of the Woods is a character who is not human. He lives at the edge of the forest, near the shore of the ocean. He hides in the creek mouths, where he lures drowned human souls to him by offering them ghost food. He lives in a house that is invisible in the forest …”. The Dsonoqua is a wild, dangerous woman who lives in the Canadian wilderness. She is known as a woman who steals children and brings wealth. She is described in the book as tall, big, and bold. And she walks graciously through forest. She looks very much like Bigfoot. Sasquatch was originally a name used by Dsonoqua for Bigfoot. The term Sasquatch first appeared in the 1930s long before any of North America’s popular sightings.

Cryptozoology is a science that specializes in cases such as this, since Bigfoot was a long-awaited phenomenon. Cryptozoology means the study of folklore to prove an entity’s existence. Cryptozoologists are now in charge of proving Bigfoot’s existence, since the majority of people have relegated Bigfoot to folklore. Cryptozoologists often refer to their subject as cryptids. Rachel Shea wrote in National Geographic that “a cryptid” is an animal never before described by science. Usually, it is something unusual. A cryptid cannot be one animal. There must be more than one cryptid. Cryptozoologists are always finding new evidence to prove that Bigfoot never existed. However, they’re also trying find out why Bigfoot can be a prank.

All the evidence collected from different sources has some connection. Titmus was intrigued when Crew, Wallace, and others reported their findings. Titmus began his lifelong journey with a colleague to find Bigfoot. Roger Patterson, Bob Gimlin and others claimed that they had filmed a Bigfoot female in the same area of Northern California 10 years before. (Do you remember the Indian folklore Dsonoqua?) She was a wild woman in the woods. It’s a strange coincidence that Patterson-Gimlin is portrayed as a woman in the video. Titmus went directly to the location where they said Bigfoot was spotted. In the process, he found 8 tracks which convinced investigators that this film was authentic (Green, 1997)

Titmus collected brown strands of hair from bushes, branches and footprints located in the same place as the Patterson Gimlin footage. In the 1970’s, they had no way of identifying hairs. John Green’s (Titmus’s) eulogy and obituary shared that years later, the hairs could be identified by an immunological response. According to a scientist who carried out the experiment, it was determined that the hairs came from a primate higher than humans. This limited the possibilities down to chimpanzee, gorilla and human. But no one hair was exactly the same as these possibilities”(Green). This was more evident, as there are neither chimpanzees nor gorillas living in California. Titmus achieved honorary membership in the International Society of Cryptozoology (Coleman) for the first time ever. Daegling is the author of Bigfoot Exposed. An Anthropologist Examines America’s Enduring Legend. He states, “When scientists who have been recognized for their work have argued that an undiscovered primate may be behind the phenomenon’s occurrence, they always argue from the standpoint of natural history. The existence of Sasquatch species cannot be denied”. FBI scientists and others conducted some research using hair samples collected by Bigfoot enthusiasts. Researchers found that one hair sample was from Oregon, brought in in 1990. It was a match with the hairs Titmus gave to scientists during the 1970s.

Bigfoot is a hybrid of humans and other animals that exist on Earth. Bigfoot has to be able produce. Other research topics include the evolution of primates and Bigfoots unreachable habitat. This is because research results are so varied. Bigfoot is at a standstill in terms of research. Even though cryptozoologists are constantly searching, and other enthusiasts have been doing so for years, there hasn’t been any new evidence. There are reports of sightings, but no recent or new physical evidence. They are now digging deeper to see if there is anything buried beneath the surface we can’t see that could help us locate him.

Ray Wallace passed away in November 2002. When he died, his sons revealed that a pair or carved wood feet had been used by their dad to stomp on oversized tracks in a Northern Californian Logging Camp in 1958. The New York Times quoted him as saying: “This wasn’t an elaborate plot. It was just a funny joke that took on so much life. We can’t even stop it now.” Evidently, Mr. Wallace liked to make jokes. His son stated that “his father’s friend had the feet carved”. Then, he drove a truck to make a slow gait while he stomped on the prints. Others who saw the prints believe that it is real. Wallace has died, and he can’t be making prints.

It is only by connecting the puzzle pieces that you can make the picture. We can make the connection by looking at how scientists, logical individuals, and even our ancestors thought. It is clear that the only explanation for the existence of Bigfoot is based on the evidence. This includes the fact that new species are found every day and that physical evidence from around the world has been found. The only logical explanation for Bigfoot’s existence is that it is a hybrid of a man and wolf. It has been roaming the earth ever since God created him. Bigfoot will be discovered in due course. The absence of evidence does not prove absence (Gin-Rummy, The Boondocks).