[Editor's
note: I wanted to thank all of you for your in-depth replies to
the Sasquatch Breeding Grounds article I published in last month's
newsletter. (If you missed the article, you can read it online
here.)
Below are some of the email responses I received from readers.
Please keep in mind that the opinions expressed here do not necessarily
reflect those of myself or Oregonbigfoot.com.]
Hi Autumn,
Warren Scott was just a BS artist. His story blew apart immediately
when Rene and I checked him out. As to "Muchalot Harry",
I know of no reason to believe that an Indian with such an unlikely
name ever existed.
John Green
*******
Hi John,
Thanks for the feedback. I figured the Warren Scott story was
too good to be true. But it still got me thinking. What are your
thoughts on the rest of the article? Have you given any thought
over the years to whether the creatures leave breeding up to chance
or ??? :)
Autumn
*******
Who knows?
My guess for a long time has been that the sasquatch have a lifestyle
similar to orangs', with the males being solitary and territorial
and not involved in raising their offspring. My reasoning is based
on one overall fact and one individual report. Such a lifestyle
would account for the overwhelming majority of sightings involving
males. Sasquatch are undoubtedly aware of human activity and females
could easily avoid most encounters on their home turf, but males
could afford to be less cautious and if they have to seek unoccupied
territories they must often have to take their chances in places
with which they are not familiar. And while Glen Thomas' recorded
account is usually assumed to be about a family group, in discussions
with me he stressed that the infant was very careful to keep on
the other side of its mother from the male.
The fall /
winter /early spring months also provide the best times to travel
due to reduced amount of daylight...(as sightings show) color
changes in foliage to provide blend-in /cover as this can also
applied to/ from deer, coyote, wolf, moose and in the tropical
jungles where gorilla reside...birds of prey use this in reverse
to seek out food.
I've many wonderful female friends & a few siblings whom have
been with child and they've told me (& I see first -or second
hand,so to speak ) just how uncomfortable they feel during the
warmest part of the year...
Hence I think your theory holds true...!
Sean
my grandparents
lived in LaPine from the 1960's through the 80's. my grandmother
related that she witnessed a group mating in the woods in the
spring..i think the year was 1969.. this was one female and a
group of perhaps 12 males..she wasn't sure but saw a large variety
of
footprints...also they were quite noisy..she said the event lasted
for about a week..
The summer before I remember there was already a gathering of
perhaps 4 to 6 adults ...they kept watching the house at night
and we saw there shadows and reflective red eyes among the
jackpines.....creeped me out..
The fall after the mating my grandmother saw the afterbirth....
we all heard the baby crying in the forest all winter...grandma's
cats disappeared too that winter..(not necessarily related)
(after
replying to Jim, I got the following response...)
My grandparents
lived just north of the town.... the house burned down a few years
ago..and the property has been subdivided..there is a buymart
to the west of where my grandparents house was. to the east of
the buymart there is a long dirt road that connects to Huntington
Road..that was where my grandparents driveway was..to the north
of that dirt road is where the mating took place... that area
hasn't changed. The buymart is now located on top of where the
female gave birth. They are planning to build a senior citizens
center/rest home on the location of my grandparent's house.
During my grandparent's life they were the only people living
in that area north of LaPine. They were surrounded by BLM land.
The terrain has flat volcanic soil. The area was thickly wooded
with jackpine and deer brush. The little deschutes river is a
short walk on the western side of Huntington road.... and the
deer migrated through this area too.
The female in question raised her young just north of my grandparents
property.. The males seemed to come and go, so to speak... This
area north of my grandparent's house was me and my cousins playground
too....we just knew that if the forest sounds were silent, we
stayed in the house. And if that wasn't enough... if the wind
was right, the smell reminded us of why we played lots of monopoly,
and cards...
Jim
Hello Autumn,
First of all I would like to say that it is really great to have
your Newsletter arrive. And, the great news about your baby. I
am so very happy for you.. Hopefully by the time she starts working
as a Researcher in her mommy's shoes, much of the speculation
about Sasquatch will have become fact ; proven by caring and dedicated
people such as yourself and a few others. The good Lord willing
your little one will grow up to be just like her mommy.
I have read and studied your speculation on this subject of winter
meeting places for breeding and giving birth. What you have to
say really makes sense. However, with a large group food is going
to be a problem in the winter months. Could it be that these gathering
places would correspond with the winter feeding grounds of ungulates
such as Deer and Moose, maybe Elk? This would solve the problem
of a meat source. Also, from the hundreds of stories that I have
read on the internet I have suspicions that Sasquatch might be
a gatherer, storing some food away for the winter months. I highly
doubt that they would have a giant storehouse filled to the brim,
but could likely have enough stored to sustain them between successful
meat hunts. Dried roots, herbs, and certain vegetation stuffs
would be the likely choices. During the mushroom season it would
not be hard to set up a store of dried ones. [Excellent
point! - Editor]
If they chose these winter communes close to where ungulates winter,
the calves and fawns and the elderly, would be an easy food source
Wolves and other predators follow the herds through the winter
feeding areas, why not Sasquatch. If they have to journey an entire
day or so to find the meat herds, it wouldn't take much longer
to bring back a few of the smaller animals for food for the females
and the young Sasquatches. Stored supplies could sustain the group
until the hunters returned. Sounds much like the life of the Indian
people in the olden days ; and it worked for them for thousands
of years before now.
This could also offer an explanation for the question of, "Do
Sasquatch hibernate in the winter?" I personally don't believe
that they do, nor are capable of doing so. However, I honestly
can not offer a proper explanation for that opinion.
Another point to consider in your speculation would be that if
the pregnant females and youngsters of puberty were to go to these
places in the winter, it would take a lot of pressure off of their
family that was left behind ; making it easier for them to make
it through the lean food months.
From all that I have learned from study, and from what I have
learned from my own research, I simply cannot accept that Sasquatch
lacks the intelligence to live a life that way. I think that your
speculation is incredibly reasonable ; especially if one ads to
that the aspect of food supply.
I stand firm in the belief that there are very few researchers
who can even imagine the intelligence level of these big hairy
friends of ours. We should never underestimate the intelligence
of someone that we do not know..
.................. Leo Selzer, Prince George BC............
Hey Leo
I think that Autumn needs to mix the crèche theory with
the ideas that you put to her. What you finish up with is the
concept of a crèche unit but way smaller than she has suggested.
Now what would be the plan of action if like we think Sasquatch
travels a circular route with inter-arcing circles where mating,
social and inter-familial actions occur.
Yes to the gene pool. Yes to broadening mate choices. Yes to interactions
for group hunting/trading/ story telling/gathering and territorial
dispute settling. They must have some communication techniques
for all these things because they are pretty basic if a) they
are going to continue as a species but b) they are survival 101
if they are to continue to avoid man.
Why not a high protein pemmican for winter food? Is there any
info about hot springs and Sasquatch, and before you get excited
about around Mission/Harrison, there are a huge number of hotsprings
scattered across BC, including all year round crabbing sites/crayfish
availability/late and early fruits/double header fish runs and
with the expansion of logging a wider source of meat foods. They
don't seem to be intimidated by water so they can probably swim.
Do they fish? The idea of dumpster diving/garbage picking bothers
me especially as a winter food source. But I can accept a correlation
between gestation/winter solstice -ish births and crèche
facilities related to stored and easily available food supplies.
I wonder as well about the sap sucking and licking that we evidenced
in early spring. Is there a high sugar content? But what stays
with me about that winter spring/crèche thing is the discovery
of the moose with the ripped off jaw, the spread legs and the
untouched meat/hide/maggot pile.
We never really pushed the idea too far but what if sasquatch
has a means of marking its kill that stops other predators/foragers
from using its kill?
Then the idea of winter killed meat for use over time becomes
even more interesting.
Just a few ideas to add to the pot and send down to Autumn.
Best,
Mike
Hi Autumn,
I read with
interest your theory on sasquatch congregating for birthing.
I am skeptical
about this theory, and the sighting it is closely linked to, for
a couple of reasons.
The sighting
involved fire. Sasquatch using fire. I have never heard of this.
Do you have any other sightings of this? I have heard of them
using human fire for warmth, but never making their own.
The sheer
numbers you mention. If these animals did indeed gather into such
number on a regular basis, they would be known to science, I would
think. Such an encampment would be seen from the air, would leave
huge trace, ect... This is the ONLY case I am familiar with of
a large group like this, other than the 'cabin assault' incident
in Ape Canyon, which was decidedly not social.
The sightings
I am familiar with are of small family groups, which are a sighting
rarity, so one can assume a temporary arrangement, and of large
male adults traveling alone, which appear to be the norm. I believe
on average, 1 male, 1 female, and 1-3 infant-juvenile animals.
So, we might
agree that Sasquatch mating may involve finding each other through
vocalizing, perhaps the females let out a distinctive cry (that
may already be on somebody's recording) letting all the boys know
she's available (forcing to keep straight face here ;). The adult
male and female meet, court, and mate, and then the male either
stays with the female during
her pregnancy to protect her as she is less mobile, or leaves
for a short while and returns when she births. I tend to believe
the latter, as I have a sighting from Alaska of a very pregnant
adult female feeding at the shoreline, and there was no male anywhere
to be seen, so it appears the mom is on her own for the pregnancy.
Too bad. Then he stays with her a few
years until the young ones are large and strong enough to be reasonably
safe from predators. During this time a Sasquatch family will
become sedentary and choose a secluded location to raise the young.
After the young are strong enough, the male once again departs
and heads off alone.
This is consistent
with the Albert Ostman account, which is to me, a credible abduction
account. And other sightings I am familiar with, such as a family
encounter near Nanaimo, on Vancouver island (just up the road
from
me).
The account
you provide from north Vancouver 1961, while very interesting
reading, by itself provide nothing. In my mind, it is the frequency
of a reported piece of data that slowly increases it's credibility.
So if we have many many many sightings of 7 to 8 foot animals,
and only a few of 12 foot animals, I tend to believe the 12 footers
were overestimated, and the
average and normal height is 6-7 feet for females and 7-8 feet
for males, with obviously some statistical variance as occurs
in our own species of 'gigantism'.
Since this
report you recount is the first ever case I have ever heard of
sasquatches using fire, I must discount it almost entirely as
a hoax. [Editor's note: I tend to agree on this point]
Thanks for the very interesting read, keep up the amazing
work! And good luck to you and your significant other with your
child.
Gavin Joth
British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club
Victoria, BC.
Hi Autumn;
Enjoyed your hypothesis, of course, a hypothesis is something
assumed for the purpose of argument. We probably will get a lot
of argument on this. However, I do not believe our friends lead
a solitary lifestyle. I had a multiple (2 of them) sighting many
years ago as a youngster.
I never knew anything about this until many years later. I read
an article in a magazine and realized what I had encountered.
I have been investigating (mostly alone) for many years keeping
my own counsel because Police Officers who see things or are interested
in our friends are usually assigned desk duty because of skeptics.
I'm retired now and continue my own little quiet looking around.
Tom in Maryland
Dear Autumn,
I’ve
been getting your newsletter for a few years now and felt compelled
to finally comment on an issue. Your theory of mating and breeding
intrigued me to offer my knowledge.
Allow me to
introduce myself. I am Heidi McCann. I am Yavapai-Apache/Kashia
Pomo born for the Matikiwawipaya or Verde Valley people today
known as the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN). I am an enrolled member
of the YAN. I graduated with a B.A. in American Studies and an
M.S. in Museum and Field Studies, both received from the University
of Colorado at Boulder. I am an American Indian Culture Preservationist
and am currently on contract with my tribe as a consultant.
I am working
on many side projects in addition to my current work in Language
Revitalization/Preservation. One project is a paper currently
titled “Cultural Production as cultural preservation between
American Indian tribes”. I am including “Indian storytelling”
into this paper in order to bring “Bigfoot” into an
academic paper legitimately and without being chastised, though
I doubt I would be chastised by the academic community, except
an Ivy League school.
You mentioned
the following in your newsletter:
So there
you have it. Again, please remember that these are IDEAS, not
beliefs. It could also be that the creatures simply stumble around
in the woods, bump into one another, breed, and give birth on
the fly. I think it's unlikely, simply because the closest model
we have to a "Sasquatch lifestyle" is Early Native Americans
and they didn't do things that way, for good reason.
(Also,
researchers often ponder whether these creatures are "territorial"
or "nomadic". Weren't Early Native Americans both, in
a way? They'd choose a spot to inhabit but then would journey
occasionally to other areas for a specific purpose...)
One final
thought... can you IMAGINE coming across one of those box canyons
and seeing a gathering with your own eyes? Wow. Of course, the
creatures there might be overprotective and not-quite-friendly...
I have
my ideas about where some of these areas might exist. Where do
you think they might be? Why do you think, if the above stories
are accurate, these creatures would kidnap humans and bring them
into the Gathering Place?
Here are my
thoughts on ‘early American Indians and nomadic lifestyles
and specific purposes on territory”:
Indians were
expert observers of the natural world, so they realized that old-growth
forests sucked (old growth forests meaning Douglas fir, hemlock,
and cedar. This forest type moved in and took over the coastal
states i.e California, Oregon, Washington, up into BC, maybe even
further east. It created the closed-canopy forest that we see
today. These forest types were viewed as a pest, almost pest weed
type environments because they made the ground too dark for other
trees or plants to survive. The forest may look impressive today,
but they were dead landscapes for game at the time of the early
American Indians. So Indians set fire, making sure the forests
burned down periodically. They made sure there were only islands
of old growth forest in the midst of the plains and meadows. Most
forests that the early settlers saw were cultivated. Early American
Indians were realists and still are rather than the romantic myth
of today or in more modern and contemporary times; Early American
Indians understood land management.
Let’s
look at the history of land management in Yellowstone National
Park. It was the first wilderness to be set aside as a natural
preserve anywhere in the world by President Ulysses Grant in 1872.
The only problem with creating national parks was no one had any
experience preserving wilderness because there had never been
any need to do it before and presumed to be much easier than it
proved to be.
When Theodore
Roosevelt visited the park in 1903 and he saw a landscape teeming
with game, thousands of elk, buffalo, black bear, deer, mountain
lions, grizzlies, coyotes, wolves, and bighorn sheep. By this
time the rules were to keep things as they were. After about 10
years the landscape was no longer and gone forever. The park managers
charged with managing the landscape had taken a series of steps
that they thought were in the best interest of preserving the
park and its animals.
The park managers
mistakenly believed that elk were about to become extinct, so
they tried to increase the herds by elimination predators, thus
no wolves in WY and they prohibited all the Indians from hunting
in the park even though Yellowstone was a traditional hunting
ground for Indians.
Protected,
the elk herds exploded and ate so much of certain trees and grasses
that the ecology of the area began to change. The elk ate trees
that beavers used to make dams, so the beavers vanished. The park
managers discovered beavers were vital to the overall water management
of the region.
When the beavers
disappeared, the meadows dried up; the trout and otter vanished;
soil erosion increased; and the park ecology changed further.
By 1920 it
became clear that the elk became abundant and there were too many,
so the rangers began to shoot them by the thousands. But the change
in plant ecology seemed to be permanent: the old mix of trees
and grasses did not return.
It also became
increasingly clear that the Indian hunters of old had exerted
a valuable ecological influence on the park lands by keeping down
the numbers of elk, moose, bison. This belated recognition came
as part of a more general understanding that American Indians
had strongly shaped the “untouched wilderness” that
the first settlers saw – or thought they were seeing –
when they first arrived in the New World. The “untouched
wilderness” was nothing of the sort. Human beings on the
North American continent had exerted a huge influence on the environment
for thousands of years – burning plains grasses, modifying
forests, and thinning specific animal populations by hunting.
Getting back
to your question about where these places might be I do not know
nor can I speculate. On why would they kidnap humans and bring
them to the Gathering Places, perhaps as witness to what is taking
place? American Indians often adopted white people or other non-tribal
members, so why wouldn’t the Bigfoot? If you investigate
many Indian stories you will find this theme of adoption common
amongst most Indian tribes and many of these non-Indian, non-tribal
members often acted as spokespersons or translators to relay a
story.
So what I
know about marriage customs in Early American Indian life - those
customs which might have been designed to avoid birth defects
due to interbreeding - is that like it is speculated in early
man, the woman or female was always made to leave a group or clan
and join up with another group. There was the practice of arranged
unions between tribal peoples (even we practiced this custom like
Europeans, but we did this to avoid interbreeding, not for political
gain). These were usually done at gatherings, not pow wows (is
what some want to call them). There was also raids and kidnapping
that went on. It was common, thus we have the stolen maiden icon.
It is common knowledge that Sacajawea was kidnapped during a small
raid.
Of course, if you ask an elder about this I will speculate that
some will say we learned these things from the Hairyman Tribe.
You will find that he/she is a teacher to some tribes and this
is one of the things taught to us by them. And there are the other
stories as well.
Respectfully,
Heidi McCann
[Editor's
note: THANK YOU, Heidi, for sharing your expertise with us! A
reply from Heidi follows...]
I need to
correct my incorrection about arranged unions. Indian people did
arrange unions between tribes for political reasons, usually to
keep the peace between neighboring tribes, but not so much for
gain of wealth or fortune. So it can be hypothesized that Bigfoots
practice something similar in culture.
Now it is a mistake to view this as Indian men being "possessive"
or "objectifying" women. Women, in most Indian cultures,
are and were valued. It was us who carried on the line, so to
speak.
I'm researching more of this topic. I failed to see this, so you
see, even we make mistakes in interpretation.
Respectfully,
Heidi McCann
I have been reading your newsletter for some time, and enjoy it
greatly. Your breeding ground article was excellent.
Re: "Why
do you think, if the above stories are accurate, these creatures
would kidnap humans and bring them into the Gathering Place?"
To assuage
the maternal instincts of an individual who lost a child, or was
otherwise w/o such companionship.
Or to teach
their young about our existence? Perhaps to caution them about
how intelligent people are, and to let our scent and form be known?
Yeah I agree
with you. Ostmen said it himself that he thought he was caught
for breeding that young female in that group. Just like in North
Dakota a sasquatch was seen over a few days by some native americans
in the winter/spring (bfro). By that story it was absolutely obvious
that that creature was traveling somewhere. I've been in that
part of North Dakota. I remember reading that on bfro and thinking
to myself where is that sasquatch going.
Scott
Autumn,
Finally got
around to reading your theory about breeding grounds for Bigfoot
and it brings up some interesting points. My group has been studying
an area for the last four years that we feel is a ‘nursery’.
What has led us to this conclusion is that we have found three
different size footprints, 17” footprints and two smaller
sets, that with each year seems to be growing in size. It seems
that a breeding female has a small juvenile and an older juvenile
in this area.
We are able
to bait the smaller creatures into close proximity to us, until
what we believe is a warning scream is given and they back away
from us. Basically this is all theory on our part, but I just
wanted to pass it on to you for your information.
D.W. Lee
Dear Autumn:
Your research and ideas on breeding grounds do have merit. I just
want to elaborate on a few things and what you have written here.
I know of
a family that brings there 'children' to show to a woman not far
from here. And it seemed that it would be in the Spring, but I
am not sure if that would be considered a period of gatherings
or such, because the family would show up at all times.
I do believe
that they must mate, possibly for life. Mainly because they are
a rare breed, be it human or animal. We as humans have rare breeds
among us and we all have different customs and breeding styles,
religions, so forth and so on. And since they are very few and
rare, they wouldn't have the luxury of having sex once a year
and going about their business and then finding someone a year
later and so on. I do believe when they do find their mate they
stay together, as with the family that is often seen. They are
a family...father, mother and children.
But what you
say makes sense. Where do the males and females go to meet? They
have to have some predestined area to go so that they can meet
their future mates. It only makes sense to me. You refer to the
Native American Indians quite a bit and frankly I dont think they
would be amused by being compared to a bigfoot but your points
are will taken. ( And I do have to say that in many Native American
Indian stories they speak of a tribe of hairy people that lived
among them and that they drove them out because they were so different)
But not only do Indians apply here. Also other animals 'gather'
for mating purposes. And if we really get right down to it, when
the elk are in rut and are calling and giving off scent, they
are making a gathering of some respect. Being a big game hunter,
I have studied the markings of these animals and seen where a
bull would year after year return to the same area and the same
trees to rub off the velvet and sharpen his antlers and make his
wallows for the near rutting season. I am not saying that Bigfoot
is an animal, but I am saying that they have to adapt some form
of conformity to breeding habits to keep the ongoing life of their
species.
And we all know that making life is 'bred' in us to many levels
and degrees.
The only thing
that bothers me about this is that the meeting places would be
so much easier to find if so many would meet year after year for
centuries. The trails of the Native Americans can still be seen
on the hills of Snow Peak. You would think that an animal as large
as Bigfoot would leave a good trail close to the 'gathering' and
that one looking for it would be able to find it easily. And the
grounds themselves would be very well worn down from the months
of living there. It is interesting to think about it though. Because
I have been in areas where the elk are numerous and then like
over night they disappear and not an animal around for the longest
time. Do you suppose this is when the Bigfoot move in and control
the area and run the animals off (unwillingly of course)? I know
it is hard to miss a trail of elk meandering through the forest.
But I have also been in the position where a heard of elk are
in the brush not 40 yards from me and they can remain hidden.
An intelligent animal such as the Bigfoot would be able to disguise
the entrance to the 'gathering' I suppose.
These are
just things to think about and I think your theory is a good one.
One not to just sweep under the rug.
I have had
my own encounters with Bigfoot and I have come to the conclusion
that he is a very intelligent 'being'. I can not say or will not
say if he is human or animal. I just know that he has more brain
power than one might think. But again, he/she is woods wise and
they know the forests and know how to hide and so on. Which brings
me to this...I read a lot in the papers
and books and many say that they smell a horrible smell when they
encounter Bigfoot. I dont think I would believe that so much.
They have to remain the best possible hunter in the woods. And
to go undetected by man and their dinner, they must remain without
the horrible smell that is reported of them. The American Indians
knew this well and always practiced hygiene to
the max. They didn't even like the smell of the European because
they smelled so badly from unwashed bodies and their bad hygiene
habits. The American Indians knew that cleanliness was also a
must for getting close to their 'groceries'. So I have a huge
problem with the odor thing. I know when mating (rutting) is in
full bloom the elk and bucks always give off an odor and you can
smell them a mile away. So if a Bigfoot stunk so badly and there
are many in a 'gathering' what keeps people from finding them?
One would be able to locate a bunch of stinking animals fairly
quickly I would think. If one would really think about it, animals
do not stink. At least the wild animals do not. You might encounter
a bear once in while that smells strange, but if you really smell
it you will smell the smell of a garbage dump. But you
will not smell a cougar, beaver, bobcat, lynxcat, deer, elk (unless
rutting), or any of the other wild animals in nature. On our continent
anyway. So why are these people saying that some times they encounter
a smelly Bigfoot and sometimes they dont say that they smelled
anything? Are they smelling a Bigfoot during the 'gathering' season?
Just some
thoughts.
Take care.
Sincerely,
Connie
Hi Autumn,
Hope your pregnancy is going as smoothly as possible.
When I saw the title to your article my first thought was - no
way. But you were able to sway me over to the possibility of a
utopian bf society in remote areas. What an imagination you have!
I doubt it would be possible in my area (East Texas) because they
would be too visible. I think it would be the 'bump and run' method
here. But who knows?
After the bleak future I gave bf in my story it was nice to read
your vision of hope. In my writing I sometimes like to make controversial
statements to provoke thought. I don't necessarily believe bigfoots
are being exterminated.
Take care,
Larry Godfrey
