1 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:15,320 This is an email from Betty. Miss Betty, this is quite unusual. 2 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:20,600 I've never read a story like this. I think you'll enjoy it. Miss 3 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:25,760 Betty writes, I spent most of February twenty eighteen in the hospital in central 4 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:31,359 Louisiana. The Red River runs behind that hospital. I was on the fourth 5 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:35,200 floor, and with the floor to ceiling windows in my room, I had 6 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:40,000 the perfect view of the flooding that was occurring at that time. Every day 7 00:00:40,039 --> 00:00:45,119 I watched the river rise a little more. It left its bank and flooded 8 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,920 a small park, leaving just the tops of the tree sticking out of the 9 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,960 water, and then it flooded the parking lot and the road that went to 10 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,679 the park. I sat there for hours watching the river traffic until it was 11 00:00:57,719 --> 00:01:00,880 shut down due to high water. And then I watched as all sorts of 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:06,480 debris floated down the river. There were pieces of buildings and trees of all 13 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,879 sizes. I even saw a car float by close to the bank, or 14 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:17,000 what was supposed to be the bank was a whirlpool. It must have been 15 00:01:17,079 --> 00:01:21,840 eight feet across, and it spun round and around, sucking in anything that 16 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,959 got close to it. And I often wonder where that stuff went once it 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,599 got pulled under. One day, my husband was there and we were watching 18 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,319 the river as usual. Since I was bedbound, there really wasn't anything else 19 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,280 to do, and as we watched, we saw a huge pile of debris 20 00:01:38,359 --> 00:01:44,079 coming down the river. It floated over toward our side, and by the 21 00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:47,120 time it reached us, it was hitting the tops of the trees and the 22 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:52,560 park and it started breaking up. First I saw a big tree break off 23 00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:57,680 from the pile and moved toward the whirlpool. And then something else broke off. 24 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:01,400 As it started moving in the same direction as the tree, it turned 25 00:02:01,439 --> 00:02:06,840 in slow circles. I saw the end of it and then the side, 26 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:09,599 and I could tell what it was, but the part that was sticking up 27 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:15,199 out of the water looking like long red hair. The part in the water 28 00:02:15,319 --> 00:02:19,680 was moving with the floe and was darker in color. And then it turned 29 00:02:19,759 --> 00:02:23,199 to the other end, and this end was bobbing up and down in the 30 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,360 water, and when the top broke the surface, it looked kind of pointed. 31 00:02:28,879 --> 00:02:31,960 This thing was long and big. I would say it was nine feet 32 00:02:32,039 --> 00:02:37,919 long. And that's when it hit me what this thing could be. My 33 00:02:38,039 --> 00:02:42,120 husband thought maybe it was a cow, and then he suggested that it could 34 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,680 be a horse, and I pointed out how it looked like it was on 35 00:02:45,759 --> 00:02:50,240 its belly with its arms and legs stretched out. He said he knew it 36 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,599 was big and it had long hair, but he just wasn't sure what it 37 00:02:53,759 --> 00:02:58,599 was. But I was sure. As the tree was being sucked into the 38 00:02:58,599 --> 00:03:02,960 whirlpool, this thing stopped circling and it turned. It started down the river, 39 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,080 and at that moment the nurse came in and drew our attention away long 40 00:03:07,199 --> 00:03:13,479 enough that we barely turned back in time as it floated away. My husband 41 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,199 will only say that it was very big, and Harry, he won't commit 42 00:03:16,319 --> 00:03:21,199 himself to say one way or another what it was. But as for me, 43 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:23,919 I was in the hospital and I was on painkillers. But I know 44 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:30,560 what I saw and nothing will change my mind. And that's the end of 45 00:03:30,599 --> 00:03:34,840 her email. And she tells this whole story, but she never says the 46 00:03:34,879 --> 00:03:38,960 word. She never says that she thought it was a bigfoot. I can 47 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:43,439 only assume that that's what she thought. It was. Red hair swirling in 48 00:03:43,479 --> 00:03:46,719 the water, nine feet tall. Something pointy kind of rises out of the 49 00:03:46,759 --> 00:03:52,560 water. Maybe it's a conical shaped head who knows, but this is very 50 00:03:52,599 --> 00:03:57,879 interesting. I've never read anything like this. And you never hear stories about 51 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,080 dead bigfoots ever. Ever, you'll never hear a story about a dead bigfoot. 52 00:04:02,599 --> 00:04:05,599 I'm not talking about a kill to bigfoot. I'm talking about just a 53 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:11,199 dead bigfoot someone finds and she saw one floating down the river from her hospital 54 00:04:11,319 --> 00:04:14,599 room. I thought that was really interesting. I hope you guys enjoyed it. 55 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,959 I know I did. In the late nineteen sixties and continuing through most 56 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:24,639 of the seventies, there was a great influx of Haitian people into the Miami 57 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:30,399 area. A youth pastor was working missions in those community. His name was 58 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:36,600 Bob. The Haitian immigrants practiced a mixture of Catholicism and traditional Voodoo, so 59 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:44,519 the Baptist Church in South Miami sent missionaries into that community to evangelize. A 60 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,480 close bond formed between the groups. A young man in the Haitian neighborhood who 61 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:56,120 was involved in the outreach program had passed away. Bob went to the funeral 62 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,399 along with two others in their group. The service was unusual, with burning 63 00:05:00,519 --> 00:05:06,240 incense and other rituals. Bob spoke the French creole language, but the people 64 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:12,079 were speaking too fast for him to keep up and fully understand. There was 65 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,839 a woman there who was dressed in white a funeral clothes. Bob knew her 66 00:05:15,879 --> 00:05:21,480 as the boy's mother. She was inconsolable, crying and mourning the loss of 67 00:05:21,519 --> 00:05:27,439 her son. There were men who tried to restrain her. Maybe they were 68 00:05:27,439 --> 00:05:30,360 her brothers or even a husband, but they did no good in calming the 69 00:05:30,439 --> 00:05:35,319 woman. The service was coming to an end, and the pastor walked back 70 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:42,279 to the casket to close the lid. The boy's mother, still wailing uncontrollably, 71 00:05:42,439 --> 00:05:46,560 broke free from the men who surrounded her, and she rushed the casket, 72 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,439 screaming the boy's name. The crowd all stood up, and the pastor 73 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,439 and her family rushed in behind the mother and tried their best to pull her 74 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:00,959 away, but she could not let go of her son. Climbed onto the 75 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:05,040 casket and began screaming to her son, wake up, Wake up. The 76 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,240 men held on to her and tried to pull her from the platform, but 77 00:06:09,319 --> 00:06:14,199 her grip on the casket was too firm. She began kicking and screaming at 78 00:06:14,199 --> 00:06:17,639 those trying to help her, all the while asking her son to wake up. 79 00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:23,759 In the scuffle, the casket fell from the platform, and down came 80 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:29,240 the mother, the casket and her son on the floor lay her and her 81 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,519 son halfway laying out of the box, which was now laying on its side. 82 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,639 The scene got very quiet, and everyone took a few steps back. 83 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:44,120 When the boy woke and reached for his mother's hand and spoke these words in 84 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:48,720 Creole, It's okay, Mama, I'm home now. The body of the 85 00:06:48,759 --> 00:06:55,639 young man slacking then back into death. The mother fainted and went slack on 86 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:00,920 the floor. The crowd suddenly all ran from the building. The church was 87 00:07:00,959 --> 00:07:04,319 empty except for Bob, the pastor, and a couple of male family members. 88 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:10,600 Bob and the other men turned the casket upright and reposition the corpse. 89 00:07:11,399 --> 00:07:15,040 Bob then held the boy's wrist in check for a pulse, but the boy 90 00:07:15,199 --> 00:07:19,439 was dead, cold dead. Bob left before the coffin was moved to the 91 00:07:19,439 --> 00:07:25,560 grave site. No one could explain the event. Bob later told me that 92 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,000 these are just some of the things that we see in this line of work 93 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:35,000 with third world cultures. Here's another story Dave sent me last week, and 94 00:07:35,079 --> 00:07:39,759 I thought this one was great. He says, this is about a resident 95 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:45,120 at a hospital where I worked. Mister Greene was a schizophrenic, and he 96 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,680 was medicated because of his condition. He was a harmless old man, and 97 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:53,680 most of the time he went about his life in a happy stupor. But 98 00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:58,040 every now and then he would request paper and pencil, and he would write 99 00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:05,720 pages of algebraic expressions or diagrams of some device so sophisticated that I had no 100 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:11,519 idea what they were. When he was finished, he would turn the papers 101 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,399 back into us, telling us to call the boys. We had to monitor 102 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,759 the paper closely. If we gave him five sheets, he had to return 103 00:08:20,879 --> 00:08:26,160 all five sheets and the pencil. We were then to take those sheets without 104 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:31,360 reading them, and place them in a Manila folder and write mister Green on 105 00:08:31,399 --> 00:08:35,399 the outside, and then put them in a lockbox. We were then to 106 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:41,519 call a phone number on his chart, instructing them that mister green had something 107 00:08:41,639 --> 00:08:46,360 for them. Soon after the call, two men would show up and barter 108 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,679 with mister green for the package. The price was usually a trifle, a 109 00:08:50,759 --> 00:08:56,799 box of Kfcat chicken, a milkshake, or a box of snack cakes. 110 00:08:56,919 --> 00:09:01,559 When an agreement was reached and the transactions had been made. We opened the 111 00:09:01,639 --> 00:09:05,519 lot box and gave them in the envelope and they were on their way. 112 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:13,879 These guys were all business, very serious operators. The question that would end 113 00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:18,679 their time with us was always have you given us everything he wrote? I 114 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:24,279 once jokingly asked what did he draw this time with the cold look? Their 115 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:31,159 response was that is classified. Mister Green's health began to fail and we had 116 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:37,080 to transfer him to a geriatric unit, one that was more suited to his 117 00:09:37,279 --> 00:09:41,799 needs. Now that mister Green was moving, we had to call the number 118 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,039 to inform whoever these men were about the move. That day, they arrived 119 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,639 and searched mister Green's room, looking for scraps of paper he might have picked 120 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,879 up or left behind. I guess they found something because they were not happy 121 00:09:54,919 --> 00:10:00,759 when they left. I had a chance to look over mister Green's chart before 122 00:10:00,759 --> 00:10:03,919 we transferred it over to the new ward. I found that when he was 123 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,720 first admitted, which was long before I went to work there, some of 124 00:10:07,759 --> 00:10:16,120 the notes on expressed delusions stated that the patient believes the Department of Defense is 125 00:10:16,159 --> 00:10:20,480 out to kill him. The patient believes he worked for lockeed Martin. The 126 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:28,200 patient believes he worked on UFOs. The list was quite extensive. We had 127 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,840 guys on that ward that believed they were Jesus Christ, some thought they were 128 00:10:31,919 --> 00:10:37,559 the Devil, and everything in between. So mister Green's delusions were dismissed as 129 00:10:37,639 --> 00:10:43,879 just that delusions, and pretty tame ones at that. But looking back now, 130 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,559 I have to wonder were they really delusions at all. I have a 131 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,679 buddy that I grew up with in my neighborhood. I moved to a neighborhood 132 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,320 when I was seven or eight. Of course, you meet all the kids 133 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:58,240 in the neighborhood and you play ball together, and you ride bikes all the 134 00:10:58,279 --> 00:11:01,240 time. You stay out out till the street lights come on, or in 135 00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:05,600 the summer you got to stay out till like ten o'clock. And I remember 136 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:13,559 when I first saw the Patterson Gimblin footage. We were at the Bristol Theater 137 00:11:13,879 --> 00:11:18,679 on Summer Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. I can't remember the movie we were 138 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:24,000 there to see. It may have been The Boggy Creek Monster, whatever the 139 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,240 name of that movie was, but the prequel to that, or the Teaser 140 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,759 or you know. They used to play cartoons in front of movies at the 141 00:11:31,879 --> 00:11:37,559 drive in and they would play a cartoon or some little bit of footage before 142 00:11:37,879 --> 00:11:43,000 the feature film. Before the movie started. There was a segment on the 143 00:11:43,519 --> 00:11:50,440 Patterson Gimblin Patty, the Patty footage that didn't even get me necessarily interested in 144 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,320 Bigfoot, but I remember it, and you know, as kids, we 145 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,360 were ten or twelve years old, and that was that was the big talk 146 00:11:58,399 --> 00:12:01,080 around the neighborhood all summer. You know how big hey man, he's real. 147 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,519 This friend of mine, I was talking to him about a month ago 148 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,480 and he said, I want to share with you a story that my grandmother 149 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:15,000 shared with me. I had no idea. We never talked about this. 150 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,879 Here we are pushing sixty and he reveals to me he knows a little bit 151 00:12:18,919 --> 00:12:22,840 about Bigfoot, and he's given me permission to share this on the channel, 152 00:12:24,279 --> 00:12:26,159 and I want to share it with you now. It's really a cool little 153 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:31,679 story. He writes. The other night, when after we talked, it 154 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:37,120 made me reminisce about stories I heard in my youth from my grandmother, who 155 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,159 was half Cherokee Indian. Her mother, my great grandmother, was full blooded 156 00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:46,200 Cherokee, we think born in or around eighteen forty two. On the Tennessee 157 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:52,600 and North Carolina border and the area known as the Great Smoky Mountains. My 158 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,360 great grandmother married a white French trapper who had stumbled into the area in his 159 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,679 trapping adventures. I guess so I we'll get on with the story which has 160 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,960 been passed down from my youth but now has pretty much been set aside and 161 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:11,200 forgotten. In my great grandmother's youth, it was told that what we now 162 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:16,120 know and call as Bigfoot was another inhabitant of the wilderness of the Appalachian Mountain 163 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:22,559 area. According to my grandmother. Her mother said, the Native Cherokees call 164 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:30,320 them suel kaloo giesa ney live he roughly translated as the sloping giant brother. 165 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,360 It was told that these creatures stood almost twice as tall as humans, covered 166 00:13:35,399 --> 00:13:41,240 in brownish coarse hair, with large shoulders, long bodies, large dark eyes, 167 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:46,679 and a sloping, almost conical head. It is said that these Bigfoot 168 00:13:46,759 --> 00:13:52,879 lived and in ways associated with the indigenous Native Cherokee people of the Appalachian region. 169 00:13:54,039 --> 00:13:56,960 The story told down from my great grandmother was that one evening, as 170 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:03,039 the fires were burning down, a soft moaning noise was heard from an area 171 00:14:03,159 --> 00:14:07,679 not far from the tribal settlement. It was coming from near a large creek, 172 00:14:07,759 --> 00:14:11,399 and several of the elder males took torches and began walking down a trail 173 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:16,759 towards the creek where the moaning noise was coming from. Supposedly a couple of 174 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:22,519 the women followed behind by several paces. Upon coming to the creek, everyone 175 00:14:22,639 --> 00:14:28,440 stopped to listen for the noise again. After a few minutes, the moaning 176 00:14:28,519 --> 00:14:31,279 was heard, and as the men walked up on the location, it was 177 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:37,000 then they realized the source of the moaning. It was an almost grown human 178 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:43,879 sized creature, but obviously a young, juvenile bigfoot. It had obviously been 179 00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:48,639 separated from its mother, which to them was highly unusual, as with any 180 00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:54,000 human or animal with young The Cherokee elders looked on holding their torches up, 181 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,799 lighting the area, as a couple of the women made their way down to 182 00:14:58,879 --> 00:15:03,600 the men. It was said that the women instinctively knew something wasn't right about 183 00:15:03,639 --> 00:15:09,120 the situation and convinced the men to allow them to bring the young bigfoot back 184 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:16,120 to their encampment. It was said the young bigfoot was obviously scared and lost, 185 00:15:16,519 --> 00:15:18,879 almost like a human child lost from its mother. And the dark. 186 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:24,960 The women stayed up all night with the young bigfoot, giving it food and 187 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:31,039 drink. The story was that it stayed mostly in a coward posture and moaning 188 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,279 almost like the form of crying, most of the night, obviously wanting its 189 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:39,000 mother. The fires of the camp seemed to frighten the young creature, but 190 00:15:39,039 --> 00:15:43,840 the women of the encampment did their best to comfort him during the night. 191 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,679 By morning, the young creature had fallen asleep for a short time and awoke 192 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:56,080 scared being surrounded by humans. The women again stepped into comfort the young creature, 193 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:00,879 which seemed to work. I'm guessing the nurturing of a mother transcends all 194 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:06,600 boundaries and species. Later in the day, after the cooking fires had been 195 00:16:06,679 --> 00:16:11,039 lit, some young Cherokee children came running into the camp, saying that a 196 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,320 bigger creature like the young one, was following them from the creek. It 197 00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:21,679 was then on the outside of the encampment a loud roaring was heard. It 198 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:26,840 was said that the verbalization of this larger creature sent shivers through every animal and 199 00:16:26,039 --> 00:16:32,559 human in the near area. The larger creature entered into the outer brush surrounding 200 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,679 the camp, making its verbalizations The young creature began whimpering and stood to its 201 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,360 feet and ran into the brush to the larger one. They were seen by 202 00:16:42,399 --> 00:16:48,919 all in the camp to embrace, similarly to human mother and child. Then 203 00:16:48,039 --> 00:16:52,919 in the background, another even larger creature was seen, not making a sound, 204 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:59,200 but watching over the apparent mother and child and protecting them. A few 205 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,759 of the elders up and walked towards the creatures as men and hunters would, 206 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:07,720 but there are no signs of aggression displayed by either the creatures or the eldermen 207 00:17:07,799 --> 00:17:12,759 of the tribe. There was nothing but silence as both the creatures and humans 208 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:18,720 looked upon each other. The creatures, as an apparent family group, turned 209 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,599 and walked back into the dense forest, and then silence covered the mountains. 210 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:30,519 After that time, there were numerous times that contact was made between the tribespeople 211 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:36,559 and these creatures throughout the mountain forests. Each time all passed as though friends, 212 00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:40,720 would pass without having to say a word, but each knew that each 213 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:45,480 had the back of the other. This was supposedly how the creatures gained the 214 00:17:45,599 --> 00:17:52,960 name Seouel Calloo se Guy knee live Heat the sloping giant brother. As I 215 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,559 said, I do not know if this story is true, but it was 216 00:17:56,599 --> 00:18:00,799 handed down through my great grandmother to my grandmother and eventually to me. I 217 00:18:00,839 --> 00:18:04,440 did do some research. In the name of these creatures has spoken by the 218 00:18:04,519 --> 00:18:10,759 Cherokee Indians in the story, does actually translate the same as in the story 219 00:18:10,839 --> 00:18:15,400 of my great grandmother. I give you permission to tell my great grandmother's story 220 00:18:15,519 --> 00:18:18,960 because too many stories of yesterday year get lost in time, and I feel, 221 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,319 whether true or not, it is part of all of our history. 222 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:30,640 I guess thanks and God bless Signed Martin again, this is a good friend 223 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:36,599 of mine. I really appreciate him taking the time to actually write some memories 224 00:18:36,599 --> 00:18:42,640 down from his grandmother. I don't know who the writer is of this email. 225 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,079 In other words, he doesn't give me his name, but that doesn't 226 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,279 matter because this is really, really a cool story, he writes. I 227 00:18:49,319 --> 00:18:53,200 grew up hunting, fishing, and running tripelines, so it was only natural 228 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,240 that I get a job working for the California Fishing Game while I was in 229 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:03,720 college. Later, I spent two decades working for the US Forest Service. 230 00:19:04,039 --> 00:19:08,559 One morning in September nineteen ninety three, while I was working for the Forestry 231 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:14,160 Service, I arrived at a small clear cut located in the middle fork of 232 00:19:14,279 --> 00:19:19,640 Feather River at eleven thirty am. It was a wild and scenic spot above 233 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:25,880 the town of Oraville, California, and very remote. It had taken me 234 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,200 two hours to get there. It was the last of three small clear cuts 235 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,279 done on that ridge just before it dropped down to the scenic river. We 236 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,920 call those cuts Mountain Lion cuts, after a lion that had been seen there 237 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:45,960 several times. The last cut was nine acres that headed east up the slope. 238 00:19:45,519 --> 00:19:48,960 At the bottom was a twenty foot circle of brush that had no trees 239 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:55,240 worth harvesting, so it had been spared. I crawled into the brush with 240 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,440 my lunch and decided to be quiet and hidden as I ate, so that 241 00:19:59,559 --> 00:20:04,240 maybe I could see the lion come through. After twenty five minutes, nothing 242 00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:08,720 had come by, and I was finished with lunch. As I was packing 243 00:20:08,759 --> 00:20:11,759 up, I heard a large limb or a small tree snap a couple of 244 00:20:11,839 --> 00:20:17,240 hundred yards across the clear cut. I thought it must be a range cow, 245 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:22,240 so I didn't even bother looking up. The clear cut had been replanted 246 00:20:22,319 --> 00:20:26,319 in the spring. My job that day was to take twenty four foot plots 247 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:32,480 and count how many trees survived in every third plot. I walked out a 248 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,000 few yards into the clearing and poked my tape measure into the ground, pulled 249 00:20:37,039 --> 00:20:41,880 out twelve feet and started making a circle, counting each tree within the circumference 250 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,000 as I did so. When I was done, I walked one hundred and 251 00:20:45,039 --> 00:20:49,759 twenty paces maybe one hundred and ten yards to the lower section and completed the 252 00:20:49,759 --> 00:20:55,079 second plot. And then I looked across and decided I could fit one more 253 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,920 plot along the bottom, so I took off, counting one hundred and twenty 254 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:03,400 paces. I was thirty yards from the brush on the opposite side when I 255 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,599 heard another large limb being snapped off a tree. This time it was done 256 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,599 close enough that it startled me, and I snapped my head up and looked 257 00:21:12,599 --> 00:21:18,519 through the manzanita through a three foot hole in the brush. I saw a 258 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:22,880 leg, or a back of a leg anyway from the knee down. It 259 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,880 was forty yards away, the sun was shining on it. The sunlight lit 260 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:32,000 up the two inch long red hair that covered the leg. It was close 261 00:21:32,039 --> 00:21:37,440 to the color of an orangutang's hair. The calf muscle was large and lean, 262 00:21:37,039 --> 00:21:41,119 and I stared at it, thought to myself, how well this thing 263 00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:45,880 was built. It took a couple of steps up the hill and I saw 264 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:51,079 the muscle flexing up and down in its leg. I stopped. Until that 265 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,640 moment, I hadn't thought much about whether or not they were real, but 266 00:21:53,799 --> 00:22:00,599 just then I was thinking they do exist. I started walking up the hill 267 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,799 in a calm, no rushed manner that gave me time to observe it, 268 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,160 and at eighty yards away, I could see all the way up the left 269 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:11,559 leg, I could see the butt about halfway down the right leg. The 270 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:17,759 hair was all the same light colored red, and its butt was pronounced and 271 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,880 muscular. Seeing it from the waist down, I thought it was built very 272 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,759 much like a professional football player, larger and taller, but not by much. 273 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,200 At a hundred yards away, I got my first glimpse of the entire 274 00:22:32,279 --> 00:22:37,000 backside of the creature, from the neck down. From the waist up, 275 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:41,759 it was massive. The shoulders were seven feet off the ground and five feet 276 00:22:41,759 --> 00:22:45,599 across. Ahead of it was a dense, dark patch of tan oaks, 277 00:22:47,039 --> 00:22:52,200 and it stepped into the trees and it was gone. I stood there, 278 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,799 fascinated by what had just happened. I did not take a step during this 279 00:22:56,039 --> 00:23:03,160 entire encounter. I just stood there in amazement. Above this dark patch of 280 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,079 tan oaks stood a single tree that was six inches in circumference. It was 281 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,960 cut off and bent one hundred and eighty degrees at six feet off the ground. 282 00:23:12,319 --> 00:23:15,720 The creature stepped out of the oak patch and put its left arm on 283 00:23:15,799 --> 00:23:19,920 that tree, and as it leaned in, the tree dropped seven more inches. 284 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,359 It turned its head and it looked at me. Now I could see 285 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,400 the left part of the body in a little bit of its head. The 286 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:32,799 only feature I could see was that it was not covered in long red hair 287 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,680 like the rest of the body. It was too far away now to make 288 00:23:36,759 --> 00:23:40,680 much else out, and I noticed there was no hair at the elbow of 289 00:23:40,759 --> 00:23:45,799 the left arm either. It looked as if it had been scraped or worn 290 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:51,000 off, and the skin was dark black. I don't know how long this 291 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,240 lasted, It was long enough that I wondered how the creature was such red 292 00:23:55,319 --> 00:24:00,119 hair could have such dark skin. We stood there, staring at each each 293 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,039 other for a bit, and then it straightened up and turned and took two 294 00:24:03,039 --> 00:24:07,880 steps before it was gone. I did not see it or hear it again. 295 00:24:08,799 --> 00:24:12,400 In fact, I never heard it except for the two times it broke 296 00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:18,480 large limbs or small trees. I never felt fear or anxiety. It was 297 00:24:18,519 --> 00:24:23,359 never aggressive toward me, nor seemed threatening in any way. I didn't smell 298 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,640 any odor, and sadly, I never got to see the front of the 299 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:32,960 creature or its entire head. I don't know its sex or anything about its 300 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:37,400 facial features except for the lack of hair, but I do know it was 301 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,480 very curious. It wanted to observe me as much as I wanted to observe 302 00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:47,279 it. I no longer work for the Forestry Service, but I wish I 303 00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:51,920 could have another encounter, and as an employee of the US Forestry Service, 304 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,440 I did not share this story with anyone other than a few family members until 305 00:24:56,519 --> 00:25:00,880 two thousand and twelve, when I finally went online to the f R and 306 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:06,160 submitted my first report. Since then, I've done some of my own research 307 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,400 and watched what I could. I've met a few others willing to speak about 308 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,200 their encounters, and I'm more than happy to meet and speak with anyone who 309 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,680 has had an encounter. I believe there was more than one that day. 310 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,000 As I sat hidden in that brush putting my lunch away, it broke a 311 00:25:22,079 --> 00:25:26,599 large lamb or tree. I was over two hundred and forty yards away. 312 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,319 I don't believe it was just telling me that it was there. I think 313 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:36,519 it was also telling the others that I was there. Fantastic story to the 314 00:25:36,559 --> 00:25:41,119 writer. Again, I don't know the man's name. I think I know 315 00:25:41,279 --> 00:25:44,119 because of his email address, but I'm not going to share it because he 316 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,119 didn't really say anything about it. But this is these guys in the Forestry 317 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,440 Service or in a position and in locations to see these things, not just 318 00:25:52,559 --> 00:25:56,039 these things, but all the things that go on in the forest, and 319 00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,519 they're used to it. They know it. They're very absurd. They know 320 00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:03,319 what's out of place, they know what's in place, they know what's usual, 321 00:26:03,559 --> 00:26:07,400 they know what's odd. If you spend any time in the woods, 322 00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:12,839 even you don't have to be a forestry Service employee to learn these things. 323 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,559 Just go in the woods and be quiet. Like I know, this is 324 00:26:18,599 --> 00:26:22,680 probably a little too much commentary, but there are a lot of images out 325 00:26:22,759 --> 00:26:30,720 on social media Facebook and Twitter and Instagram of blurry things in the background of 326 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:37,799 a forest. And have you ever sat in the woods for just sit there 327 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,079 for three hours and don't move, just sit there and relax and kind of 328 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:47,680 focus in on one area of the woods. And if you do that, 329 00:26:47,839 --> 00:26:52,200 you'll notice that the light has a lot to do with what you see, 330 00:26:52,799 --> 00:26:56,680 and the earth is spinning and the sun is shining light at different angles, 331 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,880 and every ten or fifteen minute, it's that spot you're looking at will look 332 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:06,440 totally different, and your mind can make out shapes and all kinds of things 333 00:27:06,519 --> 00:27:11,400 in that background as light penetrates through the forest and shines on things that are 334 00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:15,640 that are behind what you're looking at. And these guys know these things. 335 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:19,400 I mean, I began to notice that deer hunting many years ago. I'm 336 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,200 not a big deer hunter. A matter of fact, I don't really even 337 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,839 go to kill. I don't really like killing deer. I have killed several, 338 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,279 but not many, and I've never glad. I did kill one buck, 339 00:27:30,319 --> 00:27:33,640 anyway, it's another big deal. I'm just not that interested in killing 340 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,680 deer. But I love to be in the woods and just watch and look 341 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,440 at all the wildlife, and the deer is just icing on the cake. 342 00:27:41,519 --> 00:27:47,160 It's great meat. It's good clean nutrition for me and my family and my 343 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,119 friends. And but The big thrill is to sit there and just watch what 344 00:27:51,319 --> 00:27:53,640 goes on. And you're seeing what happens in the woods when you're not there, 345 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,559 because if you're quiet, you don't make any noise, and you just, 346 00:27:59,039 --> 00:28:02,880 you know, just minimize your presence in the woods. It goes right 347 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,599 back to normal within about fifteen or twenty minutes, and you get to see 348 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:11,119 what happens when you're not there. It's an amazing thing. Listen and look 349 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,519 and smell, and you get to see all the things that ninety nine percent 350 00:28:15,559 --> 00:28:21,079 of the people on this planet do not get to see. So I don't 351 00:28:21,079 --> 00:28:23,200 know why I got off in that, but it kind of I know some 352 00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:30,680 of these forestry guys and these timber cruisers and people that work for timber companies, 353 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,400 and they know the woods. They know what's natural, they know what's 354 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:38,039 not. They're very observant, and they can tell you right away that's kind 355 00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:41,400 of weird over there, and this is what happened here, and this is 356 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,759 what happened here. Anyway, it's just an interesting it's an interesting topic. 357 00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:48,400 I've always thought was fascinating. But me, I'm a people watcher, and 358 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,119 I notice what people say and do and why they say and do what they 359 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:56,359 do, and it's always been really interesting to me. Thank you to the 360 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,559 writer for sending this. I really appreciate it, and I believe the story 361 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:00,559 one hundred percent believe this story.