Major Misquote of Me in the News!
My face is red… OMG I didn’t say that! I love the publicity but I wish it said something I’d actually said rather than something that sounds to me like a grandiose delusion.
Here’s what I’m quoted as saying: “There have been more Bigfoot sightings here than anywhere in the world,” said Linda Martin, who operates the blog bigfootsightings.org. “Happy Camp is surrounded by wilderness. It’s one of the only areas left where they can survive.” See the Article!
I personally don’t believe there are more Bigfoot sightings in the Klamath River Valley than anyplace else in the world, so I’m sure I didn’t say that. Sorry if I gave that impression, but reality is that there are probably more sightings in other areas, such as in Washington and British Columbia.
And as for the Happy Camp area being one of the only places where they can survive, I’m sure I wouldn’t say that either. There are Bigfoot sightings in many countries and 49 of the US states (not in Hawaii).
The reporter might have gotten the wrong impression because I am concerned about how Bigfoot’s world has shrunk. 150 years ago they lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley. But now they’re shoved back into the forested mountains. As humans pave over more of the planet our forest cousins are forced to retreat.
Yes, they’re here in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, but that’s not one of the only places. There are many areas all over the USA and world where they’ve been seen.
So, I’m posting this here, blushing, because I sure didn’t say what was quoted and I think the reporter may have misunderstood because of the noise level around the booth where he spoke to me. The interview was in the middle of our Bigfoot Jamboree celebration.
Being a reporter is a tough job. The man was very busy gathering information for his article, and the pressure to get these articles out quickly without fail is enormous. So I am not angry that I was misquoted, but just a little embarrassed because any Bigfoot researcher would immediately know that what I was quoted as saying is simply not true.
This just goes to show how easy it is for a reporter to get the wrong idea about what’s being said.
July 28, 2011
Could Bigfoot be the Next Newly Discovered Race of Human Beings?
This video about the discovery of a hitherto unknown race of humans is an eye-opening reminder that the next big news story could be that Bigfoot is real and they are our cousins!
We are all looking forward to learning the results of Dr. Myrna Ketchum’s Bigfoot DNA project. If we learn that Bigfoot is human, we’re going to drop the “ape” description and rethink our approach to meeting with them.
If they are hiding from us because we’re a dangerous species, maybe with enactment of protection laws they’ll decide eventually to communicate more with us.
If they’re hiding because contact with us could cause them to develop new kinds of sickness, perhaps there’s a solution for that too.
I would like to think that there’s something we might be able to do to make their lives in the wilderness more comfortable. Cave furniture? Soft beds? Better food? Whatever it is, a program for getting Bigfoot out of isolation and primitive living and into better living conditions would be something to consider.
As usual, my imagination is working overtime.
What would you do for Bigfoot if you knew they were your cousins? Would you want to leave them alone and let them fend for themselves, or would you want to do something to help them?
July 25, 2011
Alberta: Bigfoot Walking on Water
I just had to use that title! …But the water was frozen, so it was actually walking on ice. I recently received this Bigfoot sighting report from Alberta, Canada. The sighting was in 1991 – about twenty years ago.
It was January 1991 and I was south of Valleyview, Alberta Canada about 10 pm with a co-worker in the woods. We were crossing a bridge in our truck, and when I looked down I saw a large, black, being marching across the frozen river. It was swinging its’ arms. I knew it wasn’t a man because of its size and color. When I told people what I saw they just laughed, but I know what I saw was Bigfoot.
To the person who sent me this report: I’m not laughing because… I believe Bigfoot exists. I admit I laughed a little, but only because you saw one walking on water (frozen) which I believe is fairly unique! Maybe not in your neck of the woods, though. Where I live, the water doesn’t freeze over.
Because many people laugh and scoff at the idea of a Bigfoot sighting, many experiencers stop telling what they saw. I find that sad and frustrating because there are a lot of people, like myself, that love to hear about Bigfoot. We want to know the habits, habitat, and actions observed during each sighting so we can learn more about our elusive, primitive cousins.
On the map, near the sighting location, there’s a lot of forested territory. There’s also the Willmore Wilderness Area, the Kakwa Provincial Park, and five other provincial parks and three national parks! It must be a beautiful area!
March 16, 2010
Sierra Sasquatch – on Monster Quest, March 17
Apparently there’s a new film? More footprints to examine? Some frightened witnesses?
Am I the only Bigfoot researcher in the world who has never seen an episode of Monster Quest? (No TV connection!)
Here’s the announcement from the History.Com website:
Sierra Sasquatch
Premiere Date: 03/17/2010
Ancient petroglyphs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains depict footprints left by frightening packs of hairy man-like beasts. Now, MonsterQuest heads to the heart of California where witnesses are encountering aggressively territorial packs of Sasquatch. The team will investigate groups of large footprints found here and analyze compelling new video which could be that of the beast.
Their show listings: Monster Quest … hmmm – I see they have full episodes online so I can go there in a few days to see this one!
Now normally I could have just linked you to that page but I wanted to comment on what they said in their blurb…
1. “…witnesses are encountering aggressively territorial packs of Sasquatch…” – assuming this is true, can you blame a Sasquatch for being upset about human beings encroaching on his territory? I always think of the Bigfoot shaking the trees on the border of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties when he found people camping out on his ridge that led to the ocean. That’s in David Paulides’ book, Tribal Bigfoot – but I mentioned it here: Santa Cruz County Bigfoot. These poor creatures are constantly being pushed back further into the wilderness as human beings take over forested areas. We cannot count on all Bigfoot people to take it calmly. I’m sure they have many variations in character just as human beings do. Some are calm, some excitable, and some oppressive!
2. “…analyze compelling new video which could be that of the beast.” – Hmmm. The beast? I’m totally getting away from the concept of a Sasquatch as a beast, animal, or creature. Of those three words I like ‘creature’ best but for now, I’m going with “Bigfoot” or “Bigfoot people” or something like that. Sure, they live in the woods like animals, so far as we know, but I prefer to think of them as an intelligent tribe of people living in primitive conditions. They’ve learned to avoid human beings because when the white settlers came here they brought rifles and were seen to use them. Before that they came close to the native villages and there wasn’t such a huge divide between “them” and “us” as there is now. The natives were aware of them; they didn’t question their existence. But if they were truly “beasts” we’d be hearing about people being killed by Bigfoot, as they obviously have the greater strength, and we don’t hear that, do we?
September 27, 2009
Squatchers: Be Careful in the Forest During Hunting Season!
By Linda Martin – © 2009
A few notes for those planning to do any squatching in the Klamath National Forest any time soon:
First, be aware that this is the marijuana harvest season. This means that those who are holed up in our forest growing marijuana illegally will be paranoid and on edge. Do be very cautious and watch for forest marijuana farms — which should be cleared out by the end of October. These are not usually locally based growers. They often are growers from south of the border working for cartels. They are well armed, and dangerous. I wrote about this before recently: Marijuana – Danger in the Forest!
Second, the hunting season has just opened. Our area is inundated with deer and bear hunters this time of year. Deer season started Saturday, September 26. Hunters are encouraged to wear bright orange vests for safety. Visitors (including squatchers) should consider doing the same.
Third, fire safety regulations require a fire permit, available at the Forest Service office. Use of the small portable gas/propane/petrol stoves also requires a fire permit. Smoking must be confined to vehicles, buildings, and developed recreational sites and campfire areas.
Internal combustion engines are to be used only on roads and designated trails. Engines must have spark arresting devices, including ATVs. This reminds me of the ATVs GABRO brought into our forest back in 2005. Such noisy devices! I’m sure any self-respecting Sasquatch heard them coming and found an appropriate place to conceal himself.
For more information, refer to the Klamath National Forest website.
Something else to be aware of: vehicle vandalism and theft.
On September 13 a visitor from Chico parked his vehicle on Klamathon Road near Collier’s Rest Area. This is at Highway 5’s Klamath River exit, about 70 miles east of Happy Camp. While the owner was rafting on the Klamath someone broke into his vehicle and took wallets, cash, cell phones, backpacks, and a video camera. Sad to know there’s a thief running around loose there near Yreka somewhere.
I wish I could say that behavior is confined to the more “civilized” area of our county, but I saw something recently that made me think that vehicles parked along the Klamath River Highway may not be entirely safe either. An old truck was parked on the side of the Bigfoot Scenic Byway a few miles downriver from Happy Camp. We passed it in the morning; later when we came back the windows had all been broken! Since then, we don’t leave our vehicles parked on the highway. I’ve also heard that vehicles left at trail heads are subject to being broken into or vandalized. If you have a beater, sometimes that’s the better choice for a Klamath River adventure if you’re planning to leave the vehicle untended while you hike into the wilderness. A sad state of affairs. I would love it if all people were trained in the ways of compassion since birth. Unfortunately, that’s not the civilization we’ve got right now.
Van vandalized downriver a few years ago.
September 25, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot
Re: Chapter Nine of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Del Norte County”:
The Del Norte County chapter of Tribal Bigfoot is a montage of fascinating Bigfoot sighting accounts. In this chapter you can read about a tall, thin, golden-haired Sasquatch, a group of six Sasquatches that surrounded a pair of hikers, and many others. There are fourteen interviews featured in this chapter. All worth reading. You’ll also find some of Harvey Pratt’s fascinating forensic sketches illustrating sightings found in this chapter. The golden Sasquatch was especially believable because it is so unusual that someone would report seeing a Bigfoot with that shape and coloring. There are many very credible witnesses profiled in this chapter.
One of the sightings involved two young hikers in the Siskiyou Wilderness. They were on a hillside overlooking a lake in the remote backcountry when they became aware of two Sasquatches playing in the lake below. The creatures splashed water on each other, and had a grand time until they suddenly became aware of the two young men. Then they ran to get out of the water and to disappear in the forest near the shoreline.
Another man accompanied friends to the Siskiyou Wilderness. His friends hiked into the wilderness to climb Preston Peak while he stayed near Raspberry Lake. He decided to take a hike and walked for nearly an hour. Just as he turned back he started hearing vocalizations. First there was the sound of a goat. These men had two goats tied up back at the lake – goats intended to be pack animals. The goat sounds were followed by a loud, long scream, some guttural sounds, and some gibberish which may have been a Bigfoot language. Next he heard “Hey, hey,” as if one of his friends was trying to get his attention. Startled and fearful, he raced back to camp to find the goats still securely tied up there.
This particular experience excited me because my goal is to be able to communicate with Bigfoot, and so the linguistic abilities of Sasquatches intrigue me. This one apparently had eavesdropped on the group, hearing them call to each other using the word, “hey.” The creature also mimicked the goats! It is extremely hopeful to know that they’re able to vocalize in imitation of others. This could eventually lead to an exchange of languages, once contact is made. Then we can find out what it is really like to live as a Sasquatch, to experience nature as a highly intelligent species living in the woods. I would love to know what they think about us!
In this chapter David Paulides stated several times that the Siskiyou Wilderness area is a prime area for Bigfoot research because it is between Highway 199 (which runs between Crescent City, CA and Cave Junction, OR) and the Bluff Creek area. He wrote: “The Siskiyou Wilderness Area sits in probably the best location in the world if you want to study Bigfoot. It is located between Bluff Creek and the end of the Go Road (the location of the Patterson-Gimlin movie) and the region in Del Norte County of Gasquet and Crescent City. This region is remote. There are no vehicles allowed and I have personally never seen anyone take horses into the region.” (Pg. 247)
I had an experience back in the summer of 2000. At that time I was exploring local swimming holes. My neighbor suggested a swimming hole eight miles into the wilderness on Clear Creek. To get there I had to drive six miles south from Happy Camp to the Wingate River Access. From there I turned right on 15N32, also called Clear Creek Road. Staying to the left at the fork in the road I drove eight miles west. At the end of the road there were a couple campsites and a sign installed by the Forest Service. There, we parked and hiked along a trail which was at least a mile long, to a place where there were some very beautiful swimming holes.
The swimming hole where the teens were playing.
A large group of teenagers were at the last swimming hole just before the bridge. The young people were jumping off a rock, laughing, and in general making a lot of noise. We crossed the bridge into the Siskiyou Wilderness. From that point there’s a trail (Clear Creek Trail) that crosses the wilderness. We looked at the creek over there, and hiked a little further in. I remember a Forest Service sign there that was shattered and splintered. My first impression was that a Sasquatch had done it because they didn’t want people in their territory. This was five years before I started my Bigfoot research.
That’s me, hiking on the Clear Creek Trail in 2007.
I started walking uphill on the trail leading further into the wilderness and got a very distinct feeling that something didn’t want me going there. The feeling was overwhelming and I decided to stop and go back downhill.
Now, while reading this book, the memory of this experience came back to me. Was a Sasquatch there guarding the wilderness? Was he watching the teenagers playing in the swimming hole? Did he send me a mental “stay away” message? I’ve been back several times since then and have not received the same mental warning. Maybe a Sasquatch was on the hillside, worried that I’d see him if I continued further along the path.
I’ve always known that the Siskiyou Wilderness is the place to go if you want to be near Bigfoot. It isn’t used as frequently as the Marble Mountain Wilderness. You can read more about the Siskiyou Wilderness in The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution
David Rains Wallace mentioned Bigfoot in his manuscript. In the epilogue he wrote:
The main such experience was my sudden illness on Clear Creek in the Siskiyous. Exhaustion or a backcountry microbe may have caused it, but the mental effects were more striking than any other illness I’ve had. They included not only the terror and historical visions I described in the book, but something I didn’t. Lying in the dark, I couldn’t close my eyes because intensely vivid faces would appear, mouthing incomprehensible words. The faces seemed so real that I had trouble reassuring myself that they came from my mind, and I afterward saw them at other camps, as though I’d been sensitized to something. The rational explanation was that I was sensitized to my experience in the forest, but I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that I was sensitized to something in the forest. It made me wonder where the mind ends and the forest begins.” Epilogue to The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution, Twentieth Anniversary Edition
, pgs. 146-7.
 Another Clear Creek Swimming Hole |
 A rattlesnake next to the Clear Creek Trail |
Clear Creek, February 2006
…
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”
…
September 22, 2009
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Book review by Linda Martin – © 2009
Reading group homepage for this book: Tribal Bigfoot
Re: Chapter Eight of Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, “Siskiyou County”:
Since I live here in Siskiyou County, I looked forward to reading this chapter of Tribal Bigfoot. It was short and didn’t contain as many sighting reports as the chapters on Trinity County, Del Norte County, and Humbolt County, and I had to wonder why David Paulides kept mentioning other Happy Camp area sightings he was aware of, but profiled only Lars Larson and Tara Hauki, both people I know in this community.
He mentioned that “There aren’t many towns in California more remote than Happy Camp.” (Pg. 212) Maybe it is just too remote for most people, but I call it home and so do about 1200 other people hereabouts.
There are only three Bigfoot reports in this chapter. The first was from a hunter, Darrell Whiteaker, who entered an area near the Marble Mountain Wilderness and found himself in a quiet zone, associated with possible Bigfoot habitation. The experience is that the forest becomes entirely quiet – no birds twittering, no squirrels running about in or out of the trees. Nothing… just silence. A theory is that Bigfoot may frighten all forest creatures so severely that they must be still for self-protection.
The second segment of this chapter concerned Lars Larson, a local prospector that came here to Happy Camp back in 1987. Everyone who has been here a while knows Lars. I was sorry to read this part: “He told me that several years ago there had been visitors in town claiming to be professional bigfoot researchers, and they told him they didn’t believe his cast was real; they stated it was a hoax. This made him very upset….”
I’d like to respond to that. First of all, everyone in Happy Camp accepted that the casting he made was probably a Bigfoot footprint, prior to the summer of 2005. Everyone I know of who has ever spoken of Lars respects him. Nobody here has any negative feelings toward him that I know of, and I have no reason to doubt his credibility. To me he seems like a very sweet but quiet older man who doesn’t hurt anyone and keeps to himself most of the time.
I just read about this episode in JavaBob’s book, Monsters Myths and Me: And now my eyes are open
Quoting from pages 32 and 33 of JavaBob’s book:
When I asked Lars what he thought might have made the print, he answered that he had absolutely no idea. He only knew he was not able to identify them.
I had asked Lars and the owner of the Moon Dragon, several days earlier, if they minded if I take the print and share it with the GABRO team to investigate. They both agreed and let me take it back to my business to share with the team.
Later, after the GABRO team arrived and I had my conversation with Tom, I went into the back room and brought Lars’ print out for Lee to see. [Lee Hickman, tracker.] Lee took about three minutes to identify the print. He explained to me; “…the print was most likely made by a small black bear. It was apparently walking down hill, probably after a rain, on soft wet soil. The bear print was elongated as it slid down the hill and pushed the soft dirt in front of it. This is not a Bigfoot print!” I was totally amazed by his explanation. It fit the story that Lars had shared with me … perfectly.
Later that day, I returned the print and shared this information with Lars. Lars was happy to finally get an answer he could be comfortable with. However, after Lars told the owner of the Moon Dragon about our findings, it got back to me that she was not quite as happy about the findings as Lars was. I never followed up to find out why.
On the other hand, I was impressed to see that not every unusual object was accepted by the GABRO team as a Bigfoot artifact.”
That’s how I remember it. I never talked to Lars about the pronouncement that his print was from a bear, but I clearly remember in 2005, Bob talking about this incident exactly as he reported it here. He too likes and respects Lars as much as the rest of us do, and none of us ever had any intention of calling his footprint casting a “hoax.” According to what we remember, Lars never said it was made by a Bigfoot. He always said he didn’t know what it was. It was everyone else in town (well, lots of us) that thought it was a Bigfoot footprint because of the size.
Now here is Marcie Stumpf’s article about the incident which I reprinted in Happy Camp News in 2003 with New Era publisher Maria McCracken’s permission:
By Marcie Stumpf
Edited for space
. . footprints of a size and shape consistent with those of the legendary Bigfoot were discovered on a claim belonging to THE NEW 49’ers, on Indian Creek, near Happy Camp California.
Lars Larson, a NEW 49’er who was mining on the claim, discovered several of the footprints which measured 17 inches long, and 11 inches wide. Three of the prints were in gravel, and were not distinct, but one was on solid ground, and Lars was able to make a plaster cast of the print.
Happy Camp is well known as “Bigfoot Country”. The first sighting of one of these elusive creatures was made on Thompson Creek, a nearby tributary of the Klamath River, in the 1860’s. A group of Chinese workers who were building a ditch to carry water to a hydraulic mine sighted one, and were so frightened they refused to return to the job.
. . . Lars reported that he searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but was unable to find any further evidence, such as broken branches, or tufts of hair, or any further footprints.
Bigfoot, if he is out there somewhere, still desires not to be seen, and he has many miles of forest where he can remain secluded. Some of us prefer it that way also.
I am not a great tracker but I have looked at and compared bear tracks and Bigfoot tracks. I have no opinion on this particular footprint casting because I’m no expert, but I wanted to make it clear that nobody here in Happy Camp doubts Lars Larson’s credibility, and nobody considers him any kind of hoaxer, as was stated in Tribal Bigfoot.
Possible Bigfoot Bedding
Okay, that’s one Happy Camp story… and the other one David Paulides researched for Tribal Bigfoot is about Tara Hauki. In case you’re not familiar with her sighting experiences, you can read them on her website, Sasquatch and Me, and on the BFRO site here. I met Tara when she came to JavaBobs Bigfoot Deli to tell us about her July 2005 experience. We all went to her home and looked over the property she lives on – and this was within a day or two of the sighting.
The one thing on the property that looked like it could possibly be Bigfoot evidence was the “bed” of broken horsetails that was found right next to the spring. This is the picture I took that day of this area. You can’t see the spring but it is at the back of the hollowed area under the leaves. The bedding doesn’t show well in this photo but it is the dried out area. This was the only indication that I had that possibly something could be unusual with the property. I didn’t know what else could have picked the horsetails and piled them there… and figured it had to be a human, or a Bigfoot. In Tribal Bigfoot David Paulides wrote, “The next day Tara went to the front of her house and looked for tracks. She found one footprint, 18 inches by seven and three-quarters inches.” This was after her first sighting according to Paulides. Well, I was there right after that sighting and don’t remember anything about a footprint in front of her house, and I wonder where that story comes from… or was there some kind of misunderstanding? The only footprint I know of related to this sighting was found weeks later on the hill nearby by Bigfoot researcher Rex Howdyshel.
The Happy Camp Footprint Cast of 2005 is the abnormally big one.
This was discovered on the hill by Rex Howdyshel and cast by Rob Shorey.
I was one of the first people Rex showed the print to before it was cast.
Poker Flat
After that I spent considerable time with Tara during 2005, and up until about April 2006. One of my favorite memories was our trip to Poker Flat, just the two of us. We had a good time that day. It gave me a chance to get to know her better and I appreciated her knowledge of the plants that grew there. Poker Flat is a mountain meadow campground quite a few miles into the forest at a high elevation, near the Siskiyou Wilderness. At one time that area was used as a stop over for mule trains. The picture on the left is of Poker Flat.
In his segment on Tara Hauki in this Siskiyou County chapter of Tribal Bigfoot, toward the end David Paulides mentioned caves on the hill Tara lives next to. I live on the other side of that hill. The cave system is actually a gold mine that operated on the hilltop many years back (see photo below). The entire top of the hillside was washed away by hydraulic mining and the “caves” are probably a drainage system. There used to be an opening in my backyard.
The old gold mine could have indeed provided a place for a Bigfoot to live. Entrances to the gold mine system have been blocked by the forest service now which I think is a great idea because otherwise children could be injured while trying to explore them. The last time I went there, mountain lion tracks were evident in the area of the mine entrance at the airport. We’ve still got mountain lions roaming around at night so I guess they’ve found another place to live.
…
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”
…
