WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:09.480 After his service as an army scout and guide during the Civil and Indian Wars, 2 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:14.720 my great grandfather migrated to what is now Red Lodge, Montana, where 3 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:20.679 he was one of Montana's pioneering cattle ranchers. My father and grandfather were born 4 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:24.559 and raised in Red Lodge, which sits at the foot of the Beartooth Mountain 5 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:28.879 Range, where both men developed in avid love for the mountains in the wilderness. 6 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:34.000 I was born in Butte, Montana, and I was raised in Missoula, 7 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:37.920 where my parents passed on their love of the outdoors to my three brothers 8 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:42.240 and I. Family was the most important thing to my parents, and it 9 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:47.719 showed in the lifestyle that they provided us. Everyone should be so lucky as 10 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:53.159 to have experienced the childhood that I enjoyed. Dad had his own business and 11 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:59.399 reserved weekends for family time. My earliest memories are of the weekend spent camping 12 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.079 at one of the many lakes within an hour or two of Missoula. When 13 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.519 I was a teenager, Mom and Dad bought some land on a lake in 14 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:11.359 the Swan Valley where we built the cabin, and from that day forward, 15 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:17.280 every weekend year round from Friday until Sunday evening we spent at the cabin, 16 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:22.840 enjoining the lake and exploring the surrounding mountains in the forest. Lily, what 17 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:27.480 did you barking at, Lily? That's my little Junkyard dog pug. She's 18 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:33.280 a she'll bite your leg off. Get them, Lily, get them go. 19 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:34.640 Get that guy, go get it, Go bite his leg off. 20 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:42.040 I'm sorry. I made my first trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the 21 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:47.599 summer of my fourteenth year, and what an incredible adventure that was. My 22 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:52.000 point is here is that I'm quite familiar with the flora and fauna of western 23 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:57.200 Montana. My first exposure to Sasquatch was when my parents took me and my 24 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:02.359 brothers to see the Patterson fit as he was touring it around in the Northwest. 25 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.800 I remember leaving there with this strange feeling of wonder. I don't remember 26 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:15.199 the family ever discussing the film or Sasquatch afterward, and soon it was relegated 27 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:21.159 to the deepest recesses of my mind. In nineteen seventy five, I married 28 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:24.919 a city girl from the suburbs of Chicago. We met while she was living 29 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:30.319 with her aunt in Missoula and attending the local college. That girl took to 30 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:36.479 the outdoor lifestyle like she had been doing it her whole life. Shortly after 31 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:38.680 our wedding, we made a trip to the local sporting goods store and bought 32 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:45.800 the camping equipment we needed to enjoy what quickly became one of our favorite pastimes. 33 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:50.800 For our first outing together as newlyweds, I decided I wanted to camp 34 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:54.879 somewhere new, so we headed for the Swan Valley with no particular destination in 35 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:00.280 mind. Now keep in mind that the Swan Valley is the third largest intact 36 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:07.199 ecosystem in the lower forty eight States. Fifteen minutes north of Seely Lake, 37 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.120 I noticed the sign pointing the way to a lake I was not familiar with. 38 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.840 I was going too fast to make the turn, so I continued on 39 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:19.759 until I found a safe place to turn around, and I returned to the 40 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.159 road. If you could call it that, it was a little more than 41 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:29.159 two tracks wandering off through the forest in the direction the sign pointed. Although 42 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:32.039 Highway eighty three runs the full length of the Swan Valley, at the time, 43 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:38.680 north of Seely Lake was quite sparsely populated and could be a lonely drive, 44 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:43.879 particularly at night. I followed the winding tracks leading to the lake that 45 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:49.199 turned out to be only about a quarter mile from the highway. Although being 46 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:53.319 serviced by Highway eighty three, this area was and remains to this day, 47 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:58.719 quite remote. I approached the lake and we were presented with the perfect camp 48 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:04.080 site. Stretching out before us was a pristine mountain meadow nestled alongside a brush 49 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:09.960 lined mountain lake. It was quite obvious the area got very little use, 50 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:15.199 as there weren't even the remains of a camp fire anywhere. We pitched our 51 00:04:15.279 --> 00:04:21.399 camp and Sasquatch was the furthest thing from our minds. We set up our 52 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:26.240 tent and we organized our gear, and then we were relaxed by the lake, 53 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.600 drinking in the clear mountain air laced with the scent of wildflowers that dotted 54 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:35.319 our little slice of heaven. For me, being in the deep forest is 55 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:41.920 a truly spiritual experience. It's times like that when one can feel how connected 56 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:46.680 our natural world is. Dinner time came and we prepared a meal of fresh 57 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:51.160 lake trout that we had caught earlier that afternoon, and after dinner we were 58 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:56.519 climbed by the fire until the sun disappeared behind the mountain, a night descended 59 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:01.199 on our little meadow hide away. After retiring to our tent for the night, 60 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:06.399 we both fell fast asleep. Sometime later that night, I was awakened 61 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:12.360 by the most blood curdling scream I've ever heard. I have to admit I 62 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:15.079 was more than a little disturbed as I lay there, wondering what on earth 63 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:19.800 could make such a sound. Anyone that has spent much time in the back 64 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:25.600 country knows that a loud sound in the distance in a heavily wooded area is 65 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.639 kind of a muffled echo. Well, this was not the case with this 66 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.120 scream. It was the loudest, highest pitch scream one could imagine, and 67 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:38.920 there was no muffled echo. Whatever it was had to be quite close. 68 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.639 There were a couple of more screams, and then there was silence. As 69 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.800 I lay nervously pondering what on earth critter could make such a noise, it 70 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.160 dawned on me just how quiet things had become. And I have to say 71 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:57.560 that I'm not sure if the seeming quiet was because of the noise whatever had 72 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.240 made it. And it lent a new dimension into the night that made the 73 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:05.680 normal night sound seem insignificant, or if it was actually as quiet as it 74 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:13.279 seemed. And then the wood knocking started, and again I found myself wondering 75 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:17.120 what on earth could be making that sound. Sounded like two baseball bats being 76 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.240 knocked together with great force. There were a couple of more knocks, and 77 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:28.800 then once again silence, or at least it seemed so. I lay there 78 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:33.120 trying to cipher just what woodland creature would make these incredible sounds. And through 79 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.160 all this my wife didn't stir in the least. I'm not sure if she 80 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:42.240 heard what I had heard or not, but she gave no indication that she 81 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:46.240 was awakened. I wasn't about to disturb her. I was more than a 82 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.040 little shook up by the whole experience, but after a few minutes I concluded 83 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:55.240 it was just some forest creature that I was not familiar with, and I 84 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:00.120 settled myself down and was soon fast asleep. I ever spoke to anyone, 85 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.319 including my wife, about that experience until a couple of years ago, and 86 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:10.800 had completely forgotten about that night altogether. About that time, I had started 87 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:15.000 watching videos and researching sisquatch. I found the topic quite interesting, and the 88 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:20.920 various stories fascinating. One evening, I was watching a video about sisquatch when 89 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:27.120 they played what they claimed were sidequatch vocalizations, and the memories of that night 90 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:32.800 came flooding back. What I was hearing being played sounded almost exactly like what 91 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:39.000 I had heard forty seven years ago. They also played wood knocking, just 92 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:45.240 like what I had also experienced that night all those years ago. After realizing 93 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:48.279 that what I had heard was quite possibly a sisquatch, I had the most 94 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:55.279 awful, unsettling feeling in my gut, and it didn't subside for three days. 95 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:00.439 After two years now, I've watching videos and listening to the stories, 96 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.519 and researching sasquatch. I've come to the conclusion that sisquatch, like all Western 97 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:11.639 Montana predators, can be dangerous, but are rarely a threat to humans. 98 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:16.680 One of the most curious conclusions I have come to is they seem to have 99 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.079 a sense of humor and enjoy messing with humans, as demonstrated by the harmless 100 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:26.079 act of throwing pine cones and small stones near campers as they gather around a 101 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:33.159 campfire at night. As I recall other unusual experiences I've had in other remote 102 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:39.919 locations of Western Montana. I can't help but wonder if I've had more encounters 103 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.440 than just that one night in the summer of nineteen seventy five.