Seriously Seeking Sasquatch . . .
Commentary by George W. Earley
Private eye John Denson doesn't believe in Bigfoot. Willie
Prettybird, his partner, who may or may not be a Shaman,
does. But when a wealthy wheeler-dealer puts up a
$ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 reward for the proof the creatures exist, and
when a beautiful blonde Russian prim atologist comes to the
Northwest to join the hunt, Denson puts skepticism aside
and joins the fun.
But the fun doesn't last long. Two murders sw iftly re­
duce the ranks of the hunters, a RV packed with 'priceless'
Sasquatchiana [including pint jars of alleged sasquatch shit]
is stolen, a tracker's dog is shot and someone seems to have
ordered large quantities of spendy rum long before it was
needed.
If you don't recall reading about all this in the local
papers - and even The Oregonian could be expected to
take note of murdered sasquatch seekers -- it's because it
all happens in B ig f o o t , a John Denson m ystery by Richard
Hoyt [Tor Books, 1993; $17 .95 ],
In writing B ig f o o t [which is a fun read, heartily recom­
mended to Upper Left Edge readers], Hoyt clearly did his
homework in researching the real world of sasquatch
seekers. He's captured the p e tty jealousies, rivalries,
name-callings, and the jockeying-for-m edia-attention th a t
permeates the lives of many involved in the hunt these days.
The scenes he paints of the people are as familiar as his
descriptions of the terrain around Mount St. Helens where
his oddly assorted groups do their searching.
To tell you how it all comes out would deprive you of
some fun reading . . . suffice it to say that Hoyt, reflecting
the real world, does leave open the question of the actual
existence of Bigfoot.
But in the real world, the search does go on. As does
the acrimonious rivalry between the various searchers.
To date, as far as I know, there have been no murders in
the ranks of the B igfoot believers, though there have been
lawsuits, threats of lawsuits, plenty of verbal trashing of
com petitors and, ju s t a few years ago, the jailing of one
Bigfoot buff on charges [later proven false] th a t he had
threatened the life of a competing sasquatch seeker.
That last incident happened in Pullman, Washington, on
the eve o f a major Bigfoot conference the summer of 1989.
And Pullman, as some may know, is the home of both Wash­
ington State University [where the conference was held]
and of Dr. Grover Krantz, associate professor of anthro­
pology at WSU.
Krantz, one of a mere handful of scientists who believe
the sasquatch exist, has paid dearly for his 'heretical' views.
Tenure was longer in coming to him than for professors who
hew closer to the path of establishment science, and he is
resigned to never being promoted to full professor.
Still, he plugs ahead, gathering evidence and hoping to
actually acquire a sasquatch body in his lifetime. He's fully
prepared to shoot one but has y e t to have the opportunity
to do so. What he's collected the most of so far are cast­
ings o f purported sasquatch tracks. In Big F o o tp rin ts
[Johnson Books, 1992; $1 4 .9 5 ] Krantz describes not only
the many fo o tp rin t castings in his collection, but the infor­
mation about the track maker th a t he believes can be
derived from the prints it leaves.
In his collection are a number of castings th a t show not
only the wrinkles and folds of skin on the sole of feet, but
dermal ridges, tiny whorls not unlike those you see on your
own feet.
Krantz has shown these to police fingerprint experts
who agree with him th a t these dermal ridges are, absent an
actual body, the strongest possible evidence for the tracks
being authentic prints le ft by an unknown living two-legged
but his book is peculiarly unillustrated. This is all the more
puzzling as the referenced photos were reportedly publish­
ed in his paper. If their lack is due to cost, it's a bad choice
- b e tte r to have cut the te x t a bit.
But while Orchard is almost uncritically accepting of the
tales told by Freeman and others, including the Summerlin
brothers who have "spent many years trapping and track­
ing wildlife and mankind in the Blues", others are not so
impressed.
Rene Dahinden, for example.
Dahinden, a native of Switzerland who came to Canada
several decades ago and got so hooked on sasquatch
stories that, in time, his obsession cost him his marriage, has
little patience with, and less belief in, Freeman and his tales.
In S a sq u atch /B ig fo o t: The Search fo r North
B m erica's in c re d ib le C re a tu re [Firefly Books; 1993;
$ 1 4 .9 5 ], author Don Hunter quotes Dahinden on Freeman:
"It's awfully suspicious. The firs t tracks ever discovered in
the watershed are discovered by a man who gets the job a
month before. Then more tracks are found -- not once, but
three tim es -- several miles apart. And never unless Paul
Freeman is around."
We could, I suppose, be charitable and believe that Paul
Freeman somehow emits sasquatch-attractive pheromones
but then we are le ft w ith the question as to why Freeman's •
photographs/video tapes are of such poor quality. As
Freeman adm itted of one of his tapes, "You have to look at
it tw o or three tim es until you see it." [the alleged
sasquatch] "A t least" wryly responds Dahinden.
Hunter's book, on which Dahinden collaborated, traces
Rene's career -- fo r it has become a career if not an
obsession -- as a sasquatch seeker. Originally published in
1973 and long out of print, this updated version will dis­
appoint long-timers in field as the update consists of a tenth
chapter, a shortish Epilogue and some changes in the photo
section. Not much, long-timers will m utter, to cover two
decades and in th a t they are right. But even w ith the
sketchy update, Firefly has done all Bigfoot buffs a service
by bringing back into print a fascinating book th a t provides
both an overview of the sasquatch scene as well as a unique
perspective on one man's lifelong search fo r the tru th
behind the reports. And at a price that doesn't strain
one's wallet.
While backpacking in western Canada some years ago, I
o fte n queried forest service personnel about sasquatch.
For the most part the responses were non-comm ittal al­
animal.
though
in Alberta, a senior official huffily responded "There
But why no bodies, no bones? ask the skeptics. Injured
are no sasquatch here. That's a B.C. problem!"
or sick animals, says Krantz, carefully conceal themselves.
I didn't believe him and neither did Albertan Thomas
Dead bodies are quickly found and consumed by scavengers
Steenburg
who, some years ago, placed ads in local papers
- Krantz knows of no instances where the bodies of bears
seeking
reports.
From those responses, plus his own local
or cougars, which exist in far larger quantities than do sas­
quatch, have been found after having died a natural death. investigations, came a privately-published book now expan­
Bones are quickly scattered and "deteriorate, with most of ded and commercially published as Sasquatch: B igfoot —
The Continuing M y s te ry [Hancock House, 1993;
them being com pletely reincorporated into the soil in
$ 1 1 .9 5 ].
several years . . . "
Steenburg, who has spent a large part of his free tim e
As fo r your chances of seeing one, they're slim says
over
the past 1 5 years either in the field or interviewing
Krantz, who characterizes sasquatch as "shy, solitary and
witnesses,
provides a number of adm ittedly anecdotal, ye t
n o ctu rn a l. . . most evidence of their passage and feeding
consistent,
reports from the northern half of Alberta.
can easily be mistaken for bears . . . their usual forested
Included, along with witness accounts, are sasquatch
habitat provides maximum concealm ent. . . and includes
sketches
by eyewitness, photos of track casts and of fo o t*
relatively few places th a t record fo o tp rin ts."
prints
found
in the snow. Having personally spent many
A slim chance of seeing sasquatch? Vance Orchard
hours
hiking
in
the snow, I agree w ith Steenburg's assess­
wouldn't agree w ith that. In B igfoot o f th e Blues
ment th a t his track photos are highly unlikely to be the
[Earthlight Books, 321 East Main St., Walla Walla WA
result of conventional animal tracks distorted by melting.
99362; 1993; $ 1 4 .9 5 ], Orchard, a newsman for many
There are hoaxers and jokesters -- Steenburg recounts
decades, has set down his memories of years of recounting
one phone call from a man who claimed a sasquatch was his
the sasquatch tales told by others.
Prominent among those tale tellers is one Paul Freeman, drinking buddy - but, as evident in reports received by
who while riding patrol for the Forest Service in I982, found other investigators, the vast m ajority of folks Steenburg
has talked with are sane, sober and sincerely puzzled by
sasquatch tracks in "the Mill Creek Watershed, source of
what they have seen.
water fo r Walla Walla." Freeman's report, says Orchard,
So the hunt goes on . . . right here in Oregon. Yes, dear
brought him and his family so much grief from foul-tongued
readers, if you are now interested in being part of the sas­
skeptics th a t he quit his job and moved out of the area, not
quatch scene and care to drive to Portland, the Western
to return fo r several years.
Bigfoot Society is always open to new members. A for-
Apparently more thick-skinned after his sojourn away,
p ro fit organization [$ 2 0 /y e a r] sponsored by, and meeting
Freeman, says Orchard, has now become an almost full-tim e
sasquatch seeker and has had the skill [or luck?] to find far in the basement of, Ray's Used Books & Curios, 8622 N.
Lombard [Portland 972 03], the WBS publishes a regular
more tracks than any other creature chaser. And video
new sletter [The Track Record], meets monthly [7 pm, the
tape. Don't forg et the videotape, says Orchard, describing
last Thursday] and often makes weekend field trips to such
how Freeman and son Duane succeeded some years ago in
places as the wilds of Estacada where there have been
getting some [regrettably poor] tape of a sasquatch
recent sasquatch sightings. [The WBS also sponsors "Big­
prowling the woods.
fo o t Daze" in Carson WA each summer: Aug 26 - 27 this
B ig fo o t o f th e Blues is packed w ith th a t sort of
year. Send the WBS a SASE for detailed inform ation.]
anecdotal reporting . . . fascinating accounts of close
For those who may wish to go further afield, the
encounters of the Bigfoot kind.
recently formed United Bigfoot Expeditions [P.0. Box
Unfortunately fo r skeptical/curious readers, what
12644, Salem 973 0 9 -0 5 6 4 4 ], a "n o n -p ro fit organization
Orchard's book is n o t packed w ith are pictures. He con­
whose primary objectives are to prove the existence of
tinually mentions photos of many tracks he says various
Bigfoot, study them in their natural habitat, and preserve
sasquatch seekers have seen, photographed and/or cast,
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th a t habitat," is actively recruiting like-minded members.
UBE's director, Scott White, says th e ir "p roje cts will be
discussed periodically" at WBS meetings.
Also occasionally attending WBS meetings is Peter
Byrne, director of The Bigfoot Research Project [P.O. Box
126, Mount Hood, 97041. Write, or call 1-800 -BIGFOOT, to
report sasquatch sightings or fo r a free brochure]. TBRP is
a full-tim e research e ffo rt, funded by the Boston-based
Academy of Applied Science.
Byrne, who searched for Yeti in the Himalayas before
coming to Oregon, characterizes the project as "a benign,
scientific investigation designed to prove the existence of"
the B igfoot creatures. TRBP believes "th e creatures are
more man-like than ape-like . . . [p o sse sin g ]. . . unusual
intelligence, on a level possibly close to our own."
Could be . . . could be too th a t TBRP will succeed where
other groups have failed. Until then, fo r m ost o f us, the
search fo r sasquatch will consist o f avidly following the pub­
lished accounts of the stubborn few who stalk field and
forest, cameras at hand, hoping fo r t h e photo-op proving
th a t Sasquatch .Lives! • • •
George W. Earley, a freelance w riter living in Mount
Hood has long sought the elusive sasquatch.
© 1995 by George W. Earley - All Rights Reserved
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