RIP Don Campbell – Bigfoot Researcher
Am I the last to know?
I got my first email from Don Campbell on September 4, 2009. He started by telling me about his Bigfoot baiting techniques.
“Just read my friend, Cliff Barackman’s blog and now have read your
site. Cliff is trying out some of my bigfoot baiting techniques. I
mentioned to Cliff and DB Donlon aka The Blogsquatcher that I had been
using honey and sweet feed as an attractant to Bigfoot in the Carmel
Highlands area of Monterey County.” – Don Campbell
I posted some of his earliest emails in Creative and Useful Bigfoot Research Techniques, by Don Campbell. He recommended using honey jars to give Bigfoot a special treat, and had other very creative and unique ideas for connecting with them.
I continued to get steady email correspondence from him until Christmas, December 25, 2009, and then he disappeared from my email inbox without another word – until March 9 when he got out of the hospital after a nearly 3-month stay. His health had been bad for years. He spent eight years of his life in hospitals after an industrial accident crushed the lower half of his body.
On March 11 he wrote:
“Got the H1N1 swine flu shot in Nov. and ended up getting it anyway at end of December plus foot was acting up. Then I got MRSA on top of all that at hospital. Then they sent me home without rehab and my blood pressure dropped and I went back. Ended up in a acute care rehab place for 8 days.” – Don Campbell
After March 11, 2010, I never heard from him again. I emailed several times – until I got a notification back that his WebTV account had been closed.
At the time I suspected he might have died, but when I looked for obituaries online I couldn’t find any information, so I accepted that either he’d died or decided not to email me anymore.
Just a few days ago I was at JavaBob’s house and mentioned to him that I wanted to go on local expeditions this summer to use Don Campbell’s Bigfoot contact techniques. When I got home that day, I decided to do another web search to see if I could find any more information. I was hoping that some other blogger might have written something more recent about him. But that didn’t happen. Instead what I found was verification that he’d died last June. One year ago, on June 26, 2010.
He gave me permission to publish anything he’d written to me in email, so it is my intention to publish all his emails in an e-book, so his voice won’t be lost.
Donald E. Campbell Jr. – November 12, 1950 – June 26, 2010
March 11, 2010
Bigfoot: to Research or Not to Research?
Bigfoot Research: Good or Bad?
There’s been a bit of controversy recently about Autumn William’s Professional Suicide blog posting in which she videoed herself saying she met a person who is friends with a Bigfoot. Her new informant, she says, “doesn’t like Bigfoot researchers.” She’s convinced his story is so compelling she’s writing a book about it, without any of what people normally consider evidence or proof. So, she now says, “I am not a Bigfoot researcher – I’m an eyewitness advocate.”
In saying all this she managed to upset a few Bigfoot research bloggers and people on Bigfoot message boards. As for me, I sensed that she’s had a shift in self-perception and no longer feels comfortable with the former role we all perceived her in, as a Bigfoot research blogger and website owner. She has a great website with a large database of sightings. What about this is not really research?
Despite what she said, I don’t think it should now become unpopular to be called a Bigfoot researcher, or to call oneself that. Call yourselves whatever you like… and if your interest is in learning more about Bigfoot then you’re a Bigfoot researcher no matter what you intend to call yourself. If you put “Bigfoot sightings” into a search box and found this site, you’re researching Bigfoot, right? So to eliminate the term makes no real sense to me.
I’m sorry to hear that Autumn’s new friend doesn’t like Bigfoot researchers. Perhaps, more specifically this person could say what exactly isn’t liked. Is it the action of going into the woods with loud Bigfoot scream recordings, making tree knocking sounds, and all the other things some Bigfoot researchers consider standard? Is it the attempt to learn anything about Bigfoot at all that is not being liked?
It is a fact that as long as there’s a mystery there will be people intrigued and wanting to resolve it. However they go about that, it is hopeful they’ll do so with an intention not to harm any other living creature. Those that seek to capture, imprison, or kill a Sasquatch for fame or financial gain are not approaching the issue with pure hearts. Purity of heart is most likely the only thing that will result in relationship with a Bigfoot. Rather than seek Bigfoot with motion sensors, trail cams, and night vision cameras, perhaps it would be best to search within, to purify our hearts and clarify our thoughts, so that when we’re faced with the reality of a Sasquatch we’re ready to befriend and not to exploit.
A lot of what Autumn said in her video, I can agree with. I don’t have a need to drop the word ‘researcher,’ however. The specific term for the people who are difficult to tolerate is Bigfoot exploiters… those who would harm a Sasquatch and interfere with that person’s life, for their own self-aggrandizement (or pocketbook) — those are the ones who should be ‘not liked’ … not researchers. Research is a human occupation. We think, we question, we study. Being human is not something to be ashamed of.
For more information and links, see Steven Streufert’s comments re: A Bold Statement Out of Oregon.
December 4, 2009
M.K. Davis – Have You Seen the New Interview?
For those of us obsessed with the weird “Bigfoot Massacre” theory… you may be interested in reading the new interview with M.K. Davis by Steven Streufert on Bigfoot’s Blog. I’ve visited Steven at his Bigfoot Books store just east of Willow Creek, CA, and can see that he probably has plenty of time to work on his interviews with Bigfoot researchers between chats with customers. He’s been producing a great series of interview postings on that blog… including interviews with Daniel Perez and David Paulides.
Anyhow, the new interview is with M.K. Davis, and will help us all get a grip on understanding who he is and why he thinks someone killed a Bigfoot at Bluff Creek!
While I’m talking about Steven, I should mention he’s started a second blog to write about Bigfoot books. Since he owns a rather large used bookstore and sells both new and used books about Bigfoot, he’s also done a lot of reading. Here’s his blog with a Bibliography of books on Bigfoot, Sasquatch and the Yeti.
November 9, 2009
Bigfoot Blogsearch
A few days ago I went to Google Blogsearch and put “bigfoot” in the searchbox at the top of the page… and was excited to see a link to my blog at the top of the results page! A link to one of Linda Newton-Perry’s articles was not far beneath that.
It amazes me that this blog is getting as much traffic as it does. I’m deeply grateful, especially since I know there are other Bigfoot blogs that deserve a lot more recognition. I’d like to share my blog traffic by redirecting you to some very worthy bloggers.
1. Cliff Barackman’s blog – Cliff is in Oregon
2. Bigfoot’s Blog – Steven Streufert in Willow Creek, California
3. Autumn Williams – also in Oregon
4. Blogsquatcher – I loved hearing him on Blog Talk Radio…
5. Stan Courtney – he always seems to have something new and worth reading.
6. Bigfoot Times – Daniel Perez
7. Bigfoot Field Reporter – Sharon Lee
There are some great Sasquatch bloggers out there on the internet! [I will be adding to this list.]
You’re welcome to place your Bigfoot blog link in the comment section here. I know I haven’t mentioned all the good ones, and I’ll appreciate any heads-up links to Bigfoot blogs I don’t know about yet.
November 8, 2009
100 Best Paranormal Blogs
Today’s email brought word that this blog was selected as one of the 100 Best Paranormal Activity Blogs at Satellite Internet.
Thanks to whoever chose this blog!
To everyone else – enjoy the list… there are some great blogs linked there.
October 31, 2009
Derailed in October . . . ready for some excitement in November!
October was a difficult month for me due to health problems and being far too busy doing things that had nothing to do with a computer or a Bigfoot! Please accept my apology for not updating this blog more often. I’ve actually heard from several people who cared enough to email me and ask if I was okay. I truly appreciate that… my heart is warmed and I feel surrounded by Bigfooting friends… a good feeling!
November should be an interesting month. I’m not promising daily updates here because I’m going to be busy writing a novel along with the crowd at NaNoWriMo. I have been doing this every November since 2001. Most of my novels have Bigfoot in them!
This year my novel will be special (and different!) because a Bigfoot will be the main character! I’m looking forward to getting this project underway at midnight tonight, when the NaNoWriMo fun starts. I’ve been planning this novel since early September and feel well-prepared for the challenge. In case you want to check on my progress, here’s my NaNoWriMo profile page.
I have another blog I write in about writing topics… and I’m not sure that I’ll write much at all about my novel in this blog during November. After all, don’t people coming to this blog want to hear about a real Sasquatch, not a fictional one?
Does anyone have an idea on what I should have my main character, Oja, call her people? The word Bigfoot is out. Sasquatch is contrived, not something that came out of the wild. I’d love to have an authentic word for Bigfoot – one that they themselves might recognize as pertaining to them. Any suggestions will be welcomed.
Aside from that, I have some columns to post from Linda Newton-Perry, and will probably work on reviews for the last few chapters of Tribal Bigfoot – I left off after the last Northern California chapter was done. I haven’t given up on the project. That was such a good book! I hope others have been able to read it and please, if you do read it in the future feel free to come back here and comment on the postings for the chapters. Many thanks to David Paulides for writing such a thoughtful and unique book! By the way, there’s an excellent interview with Mr. Paulides over on Bigfoot’s Blog which comes from Bigfoot Books in Willow Creek. Steven Streufert has been producing some fascinating interviews this past month. These could become classics!
I’ve also recently received several reports of Bigfoot activity, past and present, from readers. I’ll be posting them soon. Yesterday and today I spent time clearing out my email inbox and reorganizing my folders. It is such a good feeling to have email under control and findable again. It amazes me that we have so much information coming at us all the time, we must struggle to choose what pieces of information have real meaning.
Happy Bigfooting, Squatchers! What a great time of year to get out into the forest. I haven’t been able to go out much lately because I hurt my foot on September 17 and it still hurts… but since I live in the forest I don’t miss it too much!
[Update 10/29/09: The NaNoWriMo experience was successfully finished so there's one more novel about Bigfoot in existence now.]
September 21, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot
Re: Chapter Seven of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Trinity County”:
One of the things that makes David Paulides’ books so enjoyable to read is that he makes each segment a story in and of itself. Though the Trinity County chapter profiles more than ten Bigfoot sightings, each is related as its own story complete with lots of background information. For example, when he related Jeannie Lewis’ story (starting on page 162) he began with a description and history of Highway 299. From there he went on to explain how this highway figured into Jeannie’s life and her Bigfoot sighting story.
In the section about Shirley Forks, we get to learn a bit about her family’s history in Willow Creek before she takes off on the trip to Medford that resulted in a Bigfoot sighting next to the Trinity River. The time Paulides spends introducing the people involved makes them real to us by bringing forth the details of their lives.
Though in The Hoopa Project he focused on Bigfoot sightings only for most of the book, here he’s also included episodes that had only footprints or other phenomena, somewhat short of actual sightings. Nevertheless they are compelling accounts of highly unusual finds and experiences.
Doug Mortenson’s sighting account was remarkable because he was a logger. We hear few sighting reports from loggers though we know they’re likely to be in the right area at the right time. This particular sighting took place near Friday Ridge Road, a location name that jumped off the page for me as I recalled that just a few weeks ago I was there in Willow Creek where I went to the Friday Ridge Road vicinity, and later heard from Bigfoot Books blogger Steven Streufert that there have been recent sightings in that area. Later that evening after I left Willow Creek, Steven went squatching on that road with Craig Woolheater of Texas, Sharonlee of Ohio, and the Believe It Tour team members: Mike Esoridi, Diana Smith, and Brad Pennock.
There are a lot of Bigfoot reports in this chapter and I can’t write about them all, but will mention a few. In the segment about Mel Hester of Hyampom, a retired US Forest Service employee, he correlated UFO sightings with Bigfoot sightings in his area. Once he went to Big Bar Road to look for an unusual orb light phenomena and instead found Bigfoot tracks in the snow.
John Lewis of San Francisco shared a Bigfoot sighting event that took place in Trinity County in about 1915. His father was a line worker helping to build a railroad south of Eureka when another line worker disappeared. He was missing for about a month then was discovered naked and delirious in a pit. Before he died the man stated that a female ape had kidnapped him and held him captive. At the end of this segment Mr. Paulides shared a couple reports from Ray Crowe’s Track Record newsletter that mentioned rock-lined pits in relation to Bigfoot. One more thing to watch out for in the woods! This was a highly detailed section – you will have to read the book to learn more. If it were not for David Paulides’ research efforts this shocking and historic Bigfoot sighting and kidnapping report would probably never have been recorded!
On page 140 Paulides wrote about his arrival in Hayfork: “I didn’t have any specific names to contact when I arrived, so I knew I would have to canvass the area for locals willing to talk.” His efforts at finding connections in Hayfork and other towns have been very effective and fruitful!
One sad section of the chapter details Bigfoot killings. David Paulides got on this topic because of a report that a sixteen-year-old hunter claimed to have shot a Bigfoot on Knob Peak near Wildwood in Trinity County. Paulides brought forth other reports of Bigfoot killings near the end of this chapter. A very distressing topic! Not only is it distressing because possibly these creatures were killed, but also because now the other Bigfoot family members will be more cautious around humans, and may even harbor animosity toward us. That would make Bigfoot seeking in those areas more dangerous than it otherwise would have been.
Trinity County is a beautiful place to visit. I don’t know how David Paulides got through this entire chapter without mentioning Weaverville, the county seat and a favorite vacation destination of mine. I suppose there aren’t a lot of Bigfoot sightings right in town there but you can visit the Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park and learn about Taoism as practiced by Chinese miners who at one time populated the area. When I first visited the Joss House in the mid-1970s the temple was still being used. The Chinese settlers called this “The Temple of the Forest Beneath The Clouds.”
This spotted owl in the Shasta Trinity Forest probably knows more about Bigfoot than we do!
Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service
…
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
…
