WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.720 I started coon hunting with hounds about twenty five years ago. 2 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.279 I used to hunt in a lot of places I 3 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.760 had never been to during the daylight. I used to 4 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.879 hunt by myself, but sometimes I would ride four wheelers 5 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.519 with a couple of old men who couldn't get around 6 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:27.160 too good anymore. Occasionally I would have to leave them 7 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.440 and walk to the dogs if we couldn't get the 8 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:34.079 four wheelers to the tree. On this particular night, the 9 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:37.679 dogs treed in an area we didn't usually wind up in. 10 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.840 We don't have vast tracks of wilderness down here, but 11 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.880 this place is about two miles from any road, though 12 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:48.439 the railroad tracks do run through it. At the time 13 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:51.520 this happened, logging had just started, so most of this 14 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:55.159 area was still covered in big hardwood timber that's all 15 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.600 gone now. Me and the old boys went to get 16 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:01.960 the dogs, and in the process I got us turned around. 17 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.159 It was summertime and most of the slews were almost dry. 18 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:10.159 They were just heavy and thick mud. I found one 19 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.560 that was heading in the directions that I wanted to go, 20 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.560 so I took it. Almost immediately. I noticed a set 21 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.920 of large barefoot tracks that had been made not too 22 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.760 long ago. Sunk deep into the ground. I can't say 23 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.200 one hundred percent for sure that Bigfoot made them, but 24 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:31.719 who would be walking barefoot in a cottonmouth infested river bottom. 25 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.120 After a little while, I knew where I was, and 26 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:38.040 I stayed in the old slow bed. We followed the 27 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.480 tracks right up to the gas line that ran through 28 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:44.680 the bottoms, which is about seventy five yards wide. The 29 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.519 tracks didn't lead into the gas line, which told me 30 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.560 that whatever had made them had left the slow bed 31 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.439 and stayed in the woods. When we made it back 32 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:56.319 to the truck, I asked one of the old boys 33 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.920 what he thought of the tracks. He said, it was 34 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.200 just some dope d during around. I said the hell 35 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.760 it was, They replied, now, don't you go start bogger 36 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:10.159 hunting on me. Well, I never mentioned it again. I 37 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.360 still hunt and trap in that area, and I haven't 38 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.680 seen anything else. But I've been hunting a few times 39 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:19.319 when what I'll describe is a feeling of dread would 40 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.919 come over me. Both times I tailed it out of 41 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.400 there and I left. So I don't know if it 42 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.879 was my imagination or what. I have some friends who 43 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.159 used to hunt some hardwood over by the river. One 44 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:35.719 day one of them asked me if I'd ever heard 45 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:39.800 crows call after dark. I said I hadn't ever heard that. 46 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:43.639 He said every time they turned their dogs loose, when 47 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.360 they would strike and start working in a track, the 48 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:50.439 crows would start calling back and forth, pitch black dark. 49 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:55.439 Here in Arkansas, timber is a big deal. I can 50 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:58.159 tell you lots of coon hunters have had encounters, but 51 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.080 none of them would ever admit to it. I've known 52 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.680 guys who refuse to go coon hunting alone. They'll never 53 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.560 say why, but I have a good idea why they 54 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:14.000 don't go. This is a horned house story, and it's 55 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.680 pretty good. My mother's family has had a farm for 56 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:21.840 over two hundred years. In the original will, it states 57 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.759 that the property can be added to, but it cannot 58 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:28.639 be sold. It has passed from family member to family 59 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:33.479 member and can only go to those in my mother's bloodline. 60 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.599 The house was built in eighteen sixty. It's a brick 61 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:40.520 structure and it has three stories. Through the front door 62 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.560 is a large entry way in an oak stairway, and 63 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.400 past that as a long haul with rooms on each 64 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:50.120 side and a kitchen at the end. The second floor 65 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.639 is full of bedrooms and The third floor used to 66 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:57.280 be an old ballroom. Every room has a fireplace, though 67 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:02.199 over the years, as electricity and farnesses and plumbing were installed, 68 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:06.800 they'd been blocked off with decorative iron plates. There's a 69 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.759 wrap around porch and a large summer kitchen on the 70 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:15.280 back of the house. Six spirits still call this beautiful 71 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.079 historical house home, and with the exception of two of them, 72 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.399 they are all relatives. Of the two that are not. 73 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.199 One was a wagon accident survivor and brought to the 74 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.439 house where he died, and the other was a visitor 75 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.319 who had suddenly dropped dead from what was suspected to 76 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.680 be a heart attack. One of the spirits in this 77 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:40.279 house is my maternal grandfather, and although Grandpa chewed tobacco, 78 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:44.079 he did not like smoking. He especially disliked it when 79 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:48.279 women smoked. He was old fashioned that way. My mother, 80 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.839 who used to smoke even as an adult, would never 81 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:53.240 smoke in front of him, and never did until the 82 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:57.319 day he died in this house. After he passed away, 83 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.879 she decided to keep the place rather than pass a 84 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.879 along to another relative. Since she and my dad did 85 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:07.000 not have any sons, it was mostly me and my mother, 86 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:09.759 My dad and a couple of hired hands who worked 87 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.360 it and kept it in shape. My sisters were not 88 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.240 interested in staying at the house and could not wait 89 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:20.319 until they could leave and move to town. Two thousand 90 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.959 and five, my dad passed away. My oldest sister decided 91 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:26.319 to take mom to her house for a few days, 92 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.600 and my two younger sisters were all staying with friends, 93 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.399 so that left me alone. Now, I've never been afraid 94 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:36.199 to stay there by myself, even to this day, but 95 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.680 I decided to call some friends to come and maybe 96 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.879 play cards and watch movies with me. That night, four 97 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.680 of us were sitting around the kitchen table, and at 98 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.759 that time we all smoked. We were playing cards, talking 99 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:53.319 and smoking when suddenly the cigarette was slapped out of 100 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.079 my hand by something unseen. Not a second later, across 101 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.199 the table, my friend's cigarette went flying from her hand too, 102 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:05.800 and an ashtray flew off the table. My friends were 103 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.720 completely stunned, and the look on their faces was one 104 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.519 of horror. I jumped up, picked up cigarettes, and I 105 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.600 put them in the sink, while my friend screamed and 106 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:19.680 ran out the door. My friend, who had her cigarette 107 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.839 slapped away, had a red mark on her cheek. She 108 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:26.160 said that she felt the hand slap her. She was 109 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:30.000 in hysterics. I got her to calm down and told 110 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:32.199 her that we could play cards in the summer kitchen, 111 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.800 but they wanted nothing to do with that, and they 112 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.360 got in their cars and left. I walked back into 113 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:43.240 the house and said, loudie, thanks like grandpa. I swear 114 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:46.680 I heard him laughing. And to this day, no one 115 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.639 has smoked in this house since. And when those same 116 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.319 friends stopped by, it's only during the daytime, and they 117 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:00.319 refused to come inside. My wife and I started spending 118 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.720 the weekends with her father after her mother passed away. 119 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.040 My wife had told me in the past that she 120 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.279 had experiences with bigfoot on her parents' property, but I 121 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.160 told her that she was full of it. But the 122 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:16.800 more time we spent there, the more I started talking 123 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.040 to the locals, and it was apparently common knowledge that 124 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:23.160 a family of bigfoot was living in the woods, and 125 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:27.079 it was a hush hush subject. At night, I sit 126 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:29.639 outside on the back porch and listened to the sounds 127 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:33.079 of the woods. Between the frogs and the toads and 128 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.560 crickets and other wildlife, it's pretty noisy. I noticed that 129 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:40.279 every night around nine thirty, I hear what sounds like 130 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:43.480 a drum roll on the trees, followed by a series 131 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:47.800 of tree knockings that comes in threes. As soon as 132 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:51.800 the knocking comes, the wildlife goes quiet. It's too quiet. 133 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:55.360 I've heard howling and screaming, and one night, right on 134 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:57.519 the other side of the tree line, I heard a 135 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:03.759 whooping sound and multiple other strains vocalizations. I became curious 136 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.360 about this because I always listened to your stories. I 137 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:10.800 wanted to see a bigfoot. So one weekend, my friend 138 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:13.319 Richie and I decided to go camping and see what 139 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.959 we could find. And as soon as we got into 140 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:20.639 the woods, we noticed tree brakes wooden structures, which excited us. 141 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:25.360 We set up our camp and decided to explore. We 142 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.800 followed the directions that the tree breaks pointed to, and 143 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.639 it led us deep into the woods, farther than I 144 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:36.039 had ever been. Eventually we came across the fallen tree 145 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:39.200 with a bundle of jagged stems that were about two 146 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:42.639 foot long. They were all equal in length, and they 147 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.879 were lying neatly pointing to the left. There were no 148 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.679 people out there, so who would put the stems there? 149 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:53.320 We went in the direction they pointed, and we ended 150 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:55.960 up in a ravine with a stream running through it. 151 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.639 The next sign we found was a big X. Now 152 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.039 I don't know what this means, but that's where we 153 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:07.879 found the tracks. They were almost human, measuring thirteen inches. 154 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.639 And as soon as we found the tracks, we started 155 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.559 hearing crunching in the earth and the branches breaking. We 156 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.840 didn't see what was making the sound, but it sounded big. 157 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.080 We picked up our pace, chopping through the thick vegetation 158 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.600 with our machetes, and eventually we found our camp and 159 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:29.639 everything was good, but we felt like we were being watched. 160 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.519 Forty yards away, we noticed something crouched down in the 161 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.120 bushes and it was watching us, and we pretended not 162 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.440 to notice it. Nighttime came and we heard walking in 163 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:44.519 the woods around the perimeter of our camp from four 164 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:48.320 different positions, and then we heard a loud whoop followed 165 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.919 by a tree knock. It was too close for comfort. 166 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:55.159 I turned on my night vision binoculars and I scanned 167 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.279 the area and I noticed something was peaking around a 168 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.799 tree at me. It would look and hide, and then 169 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.559 look and hide. This went on for an hour and 170 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:09.039 then it was gone all night. We heard by Peter 171 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.720 footsteps all around our camp. As you can guess, we 172 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.960 didn't sleep that night, and when the sun came up, 173 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.840 everything was normal again, and we got even more curious. 174 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:22.759 We went to the tree where the thing had been 175 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.720 watching us and found footprints just like the ones we 176 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:29.000 saw the day before. There was a little hole where 177 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:31.440 it looked like it was digging for some reason, but 178 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.759 we didn't know why. We jumped into our hammocks when 179 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:39.360 it got dark, and we waited, and once again, footsteps 180 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.399 were all around our camp. And then I heard a 181 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.559 rabbit scream. I thought maybe an owl had gotten it, 182 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:49.159 so I shrugged it off. And then around three thirty am, 183 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.840 I heard footsteps in the camp and then I heard 184 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:55.200 the sound of someone urinating. It was the longest pea 185 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:00.799 I'd ever heard. Richie, is that you? I whispered no reply, 186 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:03.679 so I asked a little louder, and I heard him 187 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.440 move into his sleeping bag. He was silent and frozen 188 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:10.919 in fear. I turned my night vision on to see 189 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:14.039 what scared him, and I couldn't believe my eyes. There 190 00:11:14.039 --> 00:11:16.799 were five of them right there in our camp, less 191 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.840 than twenty feet away from us. A female was lying 192 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.360 on the ground eating the giant millipedes that infested the 193 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.879 woods there, and the smaller one was crouched down next 194 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.679 to her, And on the hill were three big males, 195 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.480 one of whom was holding a rabbit by its head. 196 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.159 One of the males saw me looking at them and 197 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.879 made a come on motion with his arm, as if 198 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.320 he was rushing the female to leave. I turned around 199 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.600 in my hammock, and I hoped that they would not 200 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.720 kill us. They hung around the camp until sun came up. 201 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.240 I stayed in fear all night. Richie crapped on himself. 202 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:58.759 I'm going to go back again and offer them some 203 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.600 food to see if they're peace or not. I know 204 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.279 I'm taking a chance in doing this, but I'm a 205 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:08.840 thrill seeker. I served six years in the seventh Special Forces, 206 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:12.360 in three and a half years in Afghanistan. I've never 207 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.720 felt the sensation I felt in those woods, not even 208 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:20.200 in a firefight. I have to go back, oh man. 209 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.600 I think it's a pretty good conclusion that they're not 210 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.240 They're not aggressive or violent. They were right there besides you, 211 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.080 and they didn't do anything to you. I hear you. 212 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:32.919 If you want to go back, go back. If You're 213 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:36.120 a thrill seeker and adrenaline junkie, and if that was 214 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:41.720 more excitement than an actual firefight and combat, dude, you 215 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.399 have a high threshold for excitement. But I thought this 216 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:49.559 was a great story. And I know it may sound strange, 217 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.799 but there are you know, there's only about twenty percent 218 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:55.320 of the stories I get where people actually see them 219 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:59.159 have an encounter, a visual encounter. It's like they're within 220 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:03.639 eyesight and they can see. So's It's very interesting. It's 221 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:06.519 a unique story, and I appreciate the writer for sending it. 222 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:12.840 This story was told to me in a smoky little 223 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:17.440 bar in Nashville, Tennessee, by an old man. His name 224 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.480 was Samuel, and he appreciated the beer that I bought him. 225 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:23.840 I could tell by his old, worn hat and tattered 226 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:28.320 flannel shirt scuffed up shoes that he was barely getting by. 227 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:31.799 I left him sitting at the bar and found a 228 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.720 table in the back. I was hungry and I wanted 229 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.559 to get something to eat, maybe a burger, since there 230 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:40.120 weren't a lot of choices in that type of place. 231 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.519 The waitress soon came over to take my order. She 232 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.559 was a portly but pleasant woman with a great smile. 233 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.879 Before I ordered, I asked her what the story was 234 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.559 on the old gent sitting at the bar. She told 235 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.720 me that Samuel was a once a month regular, coming 236 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:59.960 in a few days after he had gotten a Social 237 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.919 Security check and had paid his bills. She explained that 238 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.080 he lived in a rooming house up the road a 239 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:09.639 piece and didn't have a pot to piss in. When 240 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.559 Samuel came in each month, he would only order one 241 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.480 beer and snack on the free peanuts if they were 242 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:19.559 out on the bar. Ill ordered some burgers and fries 243 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.720 and another beer. Now she was turning to walk away, 244 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.120 I asked her to get Samuel whatever he wanted to 245 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:29.200 eat and another beer. She smiled and then turned and 246 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.879 went to the bar, where she talked softly to the 247 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:35.000 old man. After she left to go to the kitchen, 248 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.639 Samuel got off his stool and walked back to my 249 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:41.000 table to thank me again. I told him it was 250 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:44.360 no problem, and I asked him to join me. He 251 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:47.919 nodded and smiled. I noticed that he had a sparkle 252 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:52.000 in his eyes, unlike most his age. My guess was 253 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.440 that he was as hungry as I was, because we 254 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.399 both sat eating in silence. After whard. We sipped on 255 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:00.759 our beers, and I told him that my name was 256 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.919 Jim and that I was from Louisville. I had just 257 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:08.840 returned from Florida after working six months on hurricane damaged houses. 258 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.759 Samuel told me that he was born and raised in 259 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:15.600 the hills of North Carolina until he was twenty one. 260 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.120 He said that he would love those mountains until his 261 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.519 last breath. The most beautiful wild place on earth, he said. 262 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.240 I had to ask him, if he loved it so much, 263 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:30.240 why he left off to war. Maybe no work there. 264 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.240 His posture changed. He bowed his head slightly and slowly 265 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:38.600 shook it. No. I saw his new demeanor, and I 266 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:41.039 knew I should have left the subject alone, but I 267 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:46.080 didn't ask him why. Samuel laid his hands down on 268 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.799 the table to stop them from shaking. As he began 269 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.200 to speak. He said he had not told anyone the 270 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.159 reason he left, but since he was old now and 271 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.879 I had been kind to him, he would share a 272 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.559 story with me. His words came softly, well thought out. 273 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.440 I could tell that there was something that weighed deeply 274 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:10.240 on his mind, if not also in his heart. His 275 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.440 family had a farm at the bottom of the hollow, 276 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:16.240 about ten miles out of Greenville. There were three kids. 277 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.799 They were all boys who worked alongside mom and pop 278 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:23.919 in the fields and gardens and with the livestock. They 279 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.360 never had a lot, but they didn't know it. They 280 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.399 hardly ever missed church or twice a month visit to 281 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:34.120 their grandparents several ridges over. They hunted and fished and 282 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:38.039 trapped to help put food on the table. Jobs were 283 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.799 scarce back then, so when a neighbor boy from two 284 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:44.080 hollows over told Samuel that an out of town logging 285 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.440 company was hiring, he was all for it. So he 286 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:50.080 told his family of his plans, and he promised to 287 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.320 send money if they hired him. He was hired on 288 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.519 and jumped onto the old flatbed truck with a couple 289 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.240 of other fellas. He was no experienced logger, but he 290 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.519 was good with firearms. One day, the foreman was target 291 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.920 practicing with his twelve gauge double barrel he had. Samuel 292 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.640 tossed short sticks in the air as far as he could, 293 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.000 and then he tried to blow them apart. The foreman 294 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.839 caught Samuel with his head turned slightly snickering, and raised 295 00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:20.839 his voice and asked him if he thought he could 296 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:26.519 do better. The foreman reloaded handed Samuel the gun after 297 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.000 five blown apart sticks. He had had enough of Samuel 298 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:32.240 not missing, and he told him to be at his 299 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:34.799 office in the morning, that he had another job waiting 300 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:39.799 for him, because he was definitely not a logger. It 301 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:42.640 turned out that the new job was as deputy for 302 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:48.119 the company, essentially providing armed security when needed. Samuel was 303 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.559 happy with the new position, but he was also gullible. 304 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.279 He found himself, along with other armed deputies, assisting the 305 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.359 bosses with the removal of folks from the mountains who 306 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.440 refused to move, even though the company held the deeds 307 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:06.279 to their land. Word had a way of soaring through 308 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.640 the ridges and hollows like a swift winged sparrow, and 309 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.559 people quit talking to Samuel. His own family asked him 310 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.960 to not return to the farm. If he saw someone 311 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:18.960 he knew, they would cross to the other side of 312 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:23.480 the road. It was shunning mountain style. Way up in 313 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.640 the mountains. In a very secluded hollow about five miles 314 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:30.559 from his parents lived the Praders. The clan was run 315 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:34.359 by an elderly woman known as Mammy Prader. There were 316 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:39.200 no roads to their cabin only mule trails. People guessed 317 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.359 that there were fourteen or more of them living in 318 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.559 that one big cabin that hardly came down off the 319 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:47.079 mountain except to get things that they could not make 320 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.400 or hunt things like cloth and salt and snuff for 321 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:54.920 old Mammy. The Praders had owned those eighteen hundred acres 322 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.160 since before the Civil War, was uncut forest with trees 323 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:03.279 so tall, some six or seven feet through the trunks. 324 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.119 It was the boss's third attempt to evict them. The 325 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:11.559 last two attempts ended with deputies taking fire from all directions, 326 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:14.400 but that day the Boss came with a big crew. 327 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:19.319 They had an ace in the hole. Riding in front 328 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:22.039 on the mule with the deputy was a six year 329 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:26.799 old girl in a plain flower sack dress. Jenny Prater 330 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.519 had been kidnapped from the ant that she was staying 331 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.599 with for a few days, right out of the front yard, 332 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:39.039 and Jenny was Mammy's great grandchild. This bothered Samuel using 333 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.079 a child as leverage, but the company was all that 334 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:45.200 he had then and speaking up about it could cost 335 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.359 him his job. He and his team rode their mules 336 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:52.079 right up to the front porch of the cabin. The 337 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.880 whole family was either sitting on the steps and wooden 338 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:59.359 barrels or stumps. Samuel counted twelve people that he could 339 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.599 see nodding, including Mammy, who sat in a big homemade 340 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:06.759 rocking chair on the front porch. The boss pulled up 341 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:09.200 some papers and waved them in front of the old lady. 342 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.559 He told her this was company land now and that 343 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:15.960 they had to leave. He reached over and rubbed little 344 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:21.519 Jenny's head. She began to cry. Piercing anger shot from 345 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.319 the old lady's eyes. She told the boss that they 346 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:27.079 would leave, but he had to let them pray together 347 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.480 once more. He told her to have at it, but 348 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.279 don't be all damn day, he said. Before they prayed, 349 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.039 he had the deputies collect the prader's guns and put 350 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.640 them in a pile. The odd thing was there was 351 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:45.160 no resistance. Some were even smiling. Some of them helped 352 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:47.680 Mammy off the porch, and all of them stood in 353 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:52.000 a half circle in unison. They tilted their heads back 354 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:55.200 and the most god awful, strange cry came out of 355 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.319 their mouths. It was a high pitched noise made using 356 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:03.319 their tongue. It was almost a fast paced chant, and 357 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.920 as quickly as it started it ended. They all sat down, 358 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:12.200 each of them smiling. Out of nowhere, a pumpkin sized 359 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.119 boulder flew into the boss's mule, and then another crashed 360 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.319 through the tree tops and hit the officer on the 361 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:22.880 far right. Samuel couldn't shoot, couldn't see anything in the 362 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:27.000 dark forest. A mule braid as two large hairy arms 363 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.720 twisted its head and broke its neck. Shots rang out 364 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:35.160 from the bosses and deputies, but to no effect. Huge 365 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:40.160 hairy beasts were everywhere, ripping apart men and mules. Samuel 366 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:42.319 turned to look at his boss and watched as a 367 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.720 hairy ape beast wrapped its hues hands around his neck, 368 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:50.079 squeezing his head. Fell to the ground, and Samuel vomited 369 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:56.240 onto the bloody earth. Samuel's turn came. He saw a 370 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.519 beast reaching for him that stopped in its tracks, growl, 371 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:04.599 and then there were clicking noises. It was coming from 372 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:09.039 Old Mammy. The yard was soaked with blood. Everyone was dead, 373 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.519 man and mule. The family had moved to the porch, 374 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.920 and Samuel counted eleven creatures as they started carrying or 375 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.920 dragging body parts back into the deep woods. Mammy Praterer 376 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.880 stood up and told Samuel that he was a token. 377 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.160 They always had to leave a token. He was to 378 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.759 leave that country and never return or speak of what 379 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:35.519 had happened. Samuel had tears in his eyes by the 380 00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:39.079 time he finished his story. I sat there for a time, 381 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:42.720 silent and nodding. I wasn't sure what to say, but 382 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:46.880 I didn't dare be respectful toward him. After a while, 383 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.000 I thanked him for his company, and I stood up 384 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.759 and shook his hand and left him fifty dollars. I 385 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:56.240 couldn't drive fast enough to get back home to Louisville. 386 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.559 I'm not sure if I believed a story or not, 387 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:02.119 but that night, and for many nights after, I had 388 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.279 nightmares about it.