WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:11.320 In November of nineteen eighty three, my dad and his 2 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.560 friend John decided they wanted both our families to spend 3 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:19.160 Thanksgiving together in the mountains. I was fifteen years old 4 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:22.600 that year. My two brothers were thirteen and eleven, and 5 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.719 my sister was only three. The other family, i'll call 6 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:31.000 them the Smiths, had four boys, ages fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, 7 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:35.679 and eleven. We had rented two cabins, one for each 8 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.240 family in Mentone, Alabama, and we all drove up from 9 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:44.000 Birmingham the evening before Thanksgiving Day. I think we're in 10 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.359 a state park, but I don't really know for sure. 11 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:50.479 The next day we all gathered at the family's cabin 12 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.719 to cook and hang out together. I remember the sound 13 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:58.119 of football games, so somebody must have had a radio. 14 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:02.039 The cabins didn't have TV. The dads were smoking a 15 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:04.640 turkey and a goose and some other stuff outside and 16 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:08.640 a smoker they'd brought with them. We ate our Thanksgiving 17 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.879 meal around four thirty as the sun was beginning to set. 18 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:15.079 The meal lasted a few hours, followed by a few 19 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.680 more hours of conversation. I think there might have been 20 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:23.680 more football on the radio. Eight o'clock we began hearing 21 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:28.079 a very loud howl or scream combination just outside the 22 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:32.159 back of the cabin. It had simultaneous high and low 23 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:36.400 pitches and tones within the same screen. It's not a 24 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:40.000 sound of human vocal core could recreate. Not that any 25 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:42.439 of us thought this could be a human, and the 26 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:46.439 boys all concluded that it was a bear. I knew 27 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:49.560 what bear sounded like from my elementary school days of 28 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:54.400 watching after school specials and TV shows like Shazam Shazam. 29 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.480 That guy ran into a bearer mountain lion almost every episode, 30 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:03.799 soll I also knew what mountain lions sounded like. It 31 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:07.599 must be hurt, I said, that's not what bears usually 32 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.680 sound like. Well, what else could it be, one of 33 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:14.840 the Smith boys asked. We all discussed that it didn't 34 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.960 sound feline or canine. There were no cougars in Alabama 35 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.719 at that time, and since then the Florida panther has 36 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:27.080 migrated north into Alabama, but probably not that far north. 37 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.560 So the only possible feline might have been a bobcat, 38 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:34.120 and their mating calls are pretty loud, but not as 39 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:38.719 loud as this thing was. Codies can also make loud sounds, 40 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:42.919 but this didn't sound like a codey at all. There 41 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:47.240 are no wolves in Alabama. Alabama black bears are really small, 42 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:50.199 one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds, and this 43 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:54.800 sound was massive. Bears in the Florida Panhandle are much 44 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:58.599 bigger five to six hundred pounds than Alabama bears, so 45 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:01.840 I would guess bears and South Alabama may be bigger 46 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:05.120 than bears in North Alabama, but at least back then, 47 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.319 North Alabama bears as far as I know, or small. 48 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.159 I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure even the 49 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:16.120 largest grizzly couldn't have sounded as big as this thing did. 50 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:21.560 It definitely sounded masculine, even during the high pitched parts 51 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:26.240 of the scream. It never sounded feminine at all. Some 52 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:29.319 people have described bigfoot screams as sounded like a woman 53 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:33.120 being murdered. This one never sounded like a woman. It 54 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:37.479 was extremely powerful, and I think I remember feeling of vibration, 55 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.800 but my memory could be faulty since this was so 56 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.840 long ago, and also I'm just now realizing what this 57 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:48.960 thing most likely was thirty seven years after the fact, 58 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:51.800 and it's all coming back to me in bits and pieces. 59 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:58.360 The howl growl screams continued for an hour, with only 60 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.800 seconds between each out burst. It sounded like the animal 61 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.240 must be just outside the back of the cabin, up 62 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.000 under the back deck, which was about a story and 63 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.879 a half off the ground. The cabin sat on a 64 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.960 slope so that the front door was almost leveled with 65 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.079 the road, but the back of the cabin was high 66 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:20.079 off the ground, with terrains sloping down toward a creek 67 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:25.040 that ran behind it. The area was densely wooded, with 68 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:29.399 total privacy between the cabins, which were positioned ten yards 69 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.399 from each other, and at the end of the road 70 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.560 a city blocked Down the hill from our cabin was 71 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.560 a camping area where there were a few tents set up. 72 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.079 I mentioned that I was worried whatever was screaming could 73 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.560 be a danger to the campers in the tents. All 74 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.360 the boys were saying, oh, they'll be fine. It was 75 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.319 like this, how a growl scream thing was a normal 76 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:56.600 occurrence for campers, nothing to worry about. There was a 77 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.399 lot of want to be testosterone in that cabin. I 78 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.839 must admit the thought of it being a bigfoot would 79 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.279 never have occurred to me or any of us at 80 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.120 that time, I had only ever heard of Bigfoot living 81 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:14.839 in the Pacific Northwest. I had seen the Patterson Gimlin film, 82 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.680 but had never seen or heard of the Legend of 83 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.959 Boggy Creek movie that came out in nineteen seventy two, 84 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:23.759 since I would have been only three years old at 85 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:27.160 the time of its release, and nobody I knew ever 86 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:32.000 talked about Bigfoot until just a few months ago. I 87 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:35.639 had never heard any Bigfoot stories from Alabama, so the 88 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:40.279 possibility of Bigfoot never crossed our minds. The only thing 89 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:43.120 that came close to making any sense to us was 90 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:47.759 that it must have been a bear. We also heard 91 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:51.720 wood knocks throughout the hour of hal growl, screaming, but 92 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:55.240 we didn't connect those sounds with the animal. Why would 93 00:05:55.319 --> 00:06:00.560 we and our repertoire of vast knowledge only and would 94 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.680 hit two pieces of wood together. We assumed the campers 95 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:08.040 were building a fire or something, but that didn't make 96 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:11.160 sense either, because the wood knocks were far too loud 97 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:14.720 and far too close to be anything any campers a 98 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.120 block away could have been doing. Nothing was adding up, 99 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:21.600 and my brain was all over the place trying to 100 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.839 get a grasp of any of it. I don't recall 101 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:29.040 any whoops or whistling. But who knows, maybe my brain 102 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.839 just refused to calculate any more variables than it just 103 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:38.120 couldn't process. At ten pm, the Smiths were ready to 104 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.360 go back to their cabin. We hadn't heard the howl 105 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.240 grouse scream for an hour, and no one seemed concerned 106 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.360 about going outside, so I assumed it must be safe, 107 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:53.279 or all the adults would be worried. We said goodnight 108 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:57.439 and invited them to come back for leftovers tomorrow. My 109 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.040 dad walked outside with them as they left, and I 110 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.279 watched as they walked to their cabin. I guess whatever 111 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.959 was out there was either gone or just didn't let 112 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.120 his presence known, as the sixth of them walked back 113 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.480 through the woods rather than along the road. The next morning, 114 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.639 I slept in and when I woke, nobody was in 115 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:22.839 the cabin, so I took that opportunity to enjoy being alone. 116 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:25.240 I stayed in bed and I read for a while, 117 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:28.079 and then I got up and I ate some leftovers. 118 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:30.879 I figured i'd go for a walk after I ate, 119 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.800 I left a note on the kitchen counter that I 120 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.079 was going for a height, and I went out the 121 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.360 back door and down the stairs off the deck, and 122 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.839 then down the hill to a path along the creek. 123 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.920 I didn't think about the screaming animal from the night before. 124 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:50.000 I'm sure my mind was too blown to think. So 125 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:54.480 off I went alone and unarmed, dody doo doody doo, 126 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:58.639 walking along, not a care in the world, men, tone 127 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:02.120 in the fall is beautiful. How could there be any 128 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:07.759 danger here? I saw no wildlife of any kind, not 129 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.000 even fish jumping or birds flying. I didn't hear any 130 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.959 animal sounds or birds singing. It was weirdly quiet, but 131 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.680 it didn't occur to me to be scared or weirded 132 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:21.920 out by that. I was just glad I didn't run 133 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:26.240 into any snakes. I walked along the creek for about 134 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:29.279 an hour, thinking i'd run into members of my family 135 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:33.960 or the Smith family, but I never did. I walked 136 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.440 back and stopped by the Smith's cabin to see if 137 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:39.159 they were all there, but I only found the four 138 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:42.759 Smith boys sitting around the radio listening to a football game. 139 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.200 I walked up to the road to the general store 140 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.720 at the top of the hill to see if I 141 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.759 could find my mother and Missus Smith, but they weren't 142 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.840 there either, and there were no other options for where 143 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:56.200 they could be, so I bought a coke and I 144 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.240 went back to my family's cabin to eat more leftovers. 145 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.919 The two moms and my little sister came in while 146 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.360 I was making a sandwich, and they joined me for 147 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.399 a late lunch. For some reason, we didn't talk about 148 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:14.159 the howl grouse screams. We had all just put it 149 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:17.639 out of our minds. After we ate, the moms went 150 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:20.559 to the smith's cabin and they left my sister with me. 151 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:24.879 She and I decided to walk up to the store 152 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:28.399 and get something sweet. It was after four o'clock at 153 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:32.559 this point. Twilight was just beginning, but still light enough 154 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.639 that I wasn't concerned about getting too dark before we 155 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.480 could get back to the cabin. The general store was 156 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.200 only half a city block up the road from the cabin, 157 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.519 and I held my sister's hand as we walked slowly 158 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:50.200 up to the store. The woods on either side of 159 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.720 the dirt road were thick enough that it was really 160 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:55.399 dark in the woods, but the road was not at 161 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:59.559 all dark yet. About halfway to the store, I noticed 162 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.000 on the side the road, just inside the woodline, there 163 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.600 was a dark animal three feet high sitting very still 164 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:11.159 and watching us. At the point I noticed it, we 165 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:13.759 were almost parallel with it on the road and less 166 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.320 than ten feet away. My brain processed what I saw 167 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.519 as a bear sitting there in the dark, because that's 168 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:25.399 what we all decided it had to be. After all 169 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:29.159 that logical analysis the night before, I just went into 170 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:33.080 full blown cognitive dissonance and had accepted that it was 171 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.759 a bear. But recently it occurred to me that I 172 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.919 didn't see a snout on its face or ears on 173 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.080 the top of its head. I remember knees like a 174 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:47.960 biped would have squatting down. A sitting bear would not 175 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:52.559 have bent knees out front. Also, bears don't sit perfectly 176 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:57.519 still for long periods of time. At the very least, 177 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:00.480 his head would have moved. This thing had to have 178 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:04.200 been watching us perfectly still for at least ten minutes 179 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.960 before I saw it, because I had not seen or 180 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.639 heard any movement at any time during our walk. And 181 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:13.279 if you've ever walked with a three year old, you 182 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:18.679 know we were walking very slow. Thinking it was a bear, 183 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.000 I calmly and slowly picked up my sister and walked 184 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.240 as fast as I could without running. I didn't want 185 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:30.720 it to chase us, and it didn't, thank God. I 186 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.840 don't remember a smell. That's the only thing that makes 187 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.440 me question whether it was a bigfoot, But I don't 188 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.399 know what else it could have been. I know the 189 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.120 shape of what I saw was not a bear, and 190 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.879 what I remember could only have been a hairy man 191 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:50.919 squatting down by a tree. When we got to the store, 192 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.080 I was winded and panicky, but I didn't want my 193 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.320 sister to know there was anything wrong, so I carried 194 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.320 on normally. I let her pick out what she wanted 195 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.480 to eat, and I got us eat something to drink 196 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.039 in a candy bar for myself, and after paying, I 197 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.600 looked for a place to sit inside the store. I 198 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.840 planned to just stay there forever. I was not walking 199 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:19.120 back to that cabin, no way, after trying to entertain 200 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.679 a three year old for a while. After we finished 201 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:25.039 our snacks and drinks, I was thinking about buying us 202 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.759 a second round. When the moms and one of my 203 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:31.559 brothers walked into the store. I told them that I 204 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.720 saw a bearl on the side of the road and 205 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.000 that I was too scared to walk back. They said 206 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.840 they hadn't seen anything, and there was nothing to worry about. 207 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.279 Take note that by this time it was completely dark outside, 208 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:49.559 and of course they didn't see anything. But I felt 209 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.639 safety in numbers, so my sister and I walked back 210 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.960 with them, and I just didn't think about it. The 211 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.639 Smiths came over for dinner that night, and when we 212 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:05.159 finished off our Thanksgiving leftovers again at eight pm, we 213 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.399 heard the same screams for an hour, just like the 214 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:12.879 night before, and again nobody seemed very concerned about it. 215 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.600 I told the boys I'd seen a bear earlier and 216 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.360 it was only three feet tall and it was sitting down. 217 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:23.720 No big deal. But I stayed inside the cabin with 218 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:27.080 my sister all the next day and until we left 219 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:35.440 on Sunday morning. After that, we never went back to mentone. 220 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:38.720 I take special interest in the stories here in Mississippi. 221 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.840 I was born and raised down here on the coast 222 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.600 near Pascagoula, and now I live on five acres here 223 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:48.919 in Moss Pointe, Mississippi, in an area known as Helena, 224 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.360 which is out in the country. I've been an outdoorsman 225 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:55.480 all my life. I'm fifty seven years old and I've 226 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.840 been in the woods since i was a child. My 227 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:02.600 grandfather had a camp up at Creole Byu, deep in 228 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:06.039 the Pasca Goula Swamp, just off the Pasca Goula River. 229 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:11.240 It's only accessible by boat. After his retirement from the 230 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.480 US Navy, we would spend many nights at his camp, 231 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.919 hunting and fishing and just enjoying life. And there wasn't 232 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:21.559 hardly a weekend that went by that I wasn't with him. 233 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:25.000 I remember one Saturday morning getting up and going out 234 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:27.879 of the cabin and setting down by Popaul by the 235 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.080 fire that he already had going around five am, and 236 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:36.240 he was drinking coffee. He was being unusually quiet. When 237 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.879 I asked what our plans were for the day, he replied, 238 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:43.279 sh listen. Boy. Off in the distance, I could hear 239 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:47.639 what sounded like people talking in a foreign voice. It 240 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.639 was pitch black, dark, and it was very still, and 241 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.720 a light fog hung close to the ground. No other 242 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.240 sounds or the usual owls, bugs or frogs could be 243 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.639 heard at all. Only the faint chatter is the only 244 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:04.759 way I know to explain it. Of voices down in 245 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.639 the swamp behind his camp. We sat and listened for 246 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.519 I guess about another five minutes when I whispered, what 247 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:15.440 is that Papa, he whispered back to me, it's just 248 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:20.159 them old harpies arguing over breakfast. The hair stood up 249 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.320 on the back of my neck and I got instant 250 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.559 chicken skin when he said that. But I thought me, 251 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.200 being only twelve years old at the time, I had 252 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.240 often heard him talking about the harpies that lived behind 253 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.200 his camp, but I only thought that he was joking 254 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:37.480 with me, as he always did. But this time, when 255 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:40.120 he said that, he was very serious and didn't crack 256 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.480 a smile, I knew he was serious. I can still 257 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:46.879 see his face in the glow of that campfire, and 258 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.799 hear those voices in my head to this day. I wish, 259 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.000 to this day I would have asked him more about 260 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.639 the things that lived behind the camp and if he 261 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.600 had ever seen them. After he passed away, my father 262 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.440 sould the camp, and since then many other people have 263 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:05.879 purchased property up there and built more camps, so it's 264 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:09.679 not nearly as secluded as it used to be. I 265 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:12.720 still occasionally will ride by there in my boat, and 266 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:15.279 the property has all grown over and the camp has 267 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.159 fallen in. Apparently nobody ever used the camp or has 268 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.960 rebuilt on the property. I have recently listened to recordings 269 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:28.480 of what seems to be sisquatch conversations, and the recordings 270 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.159 I have listened to sound very similar to what we 271 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.960 were hearing that morning at my grandfather's camp years ago. 272 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.879 At present, I go camping once every month rain or shines, 273 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.559 lead or snow deep in the DeSoto National Forest, but 274 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:46.320 I have yet to hear anything like that ever. Again, 275 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.240 do you have any reports of sightings or sounds from 276 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:54.559 DeSoto Forest? I camp all over the National Forest from 277 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:56.960 south end up to the north end for the last 278 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.000 two years, and I found no sounds of a big 279 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:06.079 foot anywhere. I was a young boy when this encounter 280 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:09.319 took place, but I still think about it. It was 281 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:14.240 late spring, I was seven years old. My father decided 282 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:17.240 to take me to our favorite camping area in an 283 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.599 isolated spot deep in the mountains of Trinity County, California. 284 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.160 The campground has since burned in a forest fire and 285 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:31.240 is no longer in use. Deep in the backwoods forest, 286 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:35.480 there was a small prairie. Grouse prairie, as it was called, 287 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:39.319 was an enchanting place. You had to travel up an 288 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.400 old service road and through logging roads to get there. 289 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:46.039 A small creek came down the mountain and cut through 290 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.119 the prairie, and we had camped there many times and 291 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.680 we were familiar with it. We arrived a little after 292 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:56.599 ten am and began to set up our camp. Our 293 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:01.279 dog came along on these camping trips, was big, thick bodied, 294 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.599 black lab and the dog began making his rounds and 295 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.640 scouting the campground and sniffing everything in sight. He was 296 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:14.160 doing what dogs do. Once camp was up and after lunch, 297 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.519 we went on a quick trek through the woods. Everything 298 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.279 was fine for the first couple of hours until something 299 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:25.920 changed in the air. The birds went quiet, the dog 300 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:31.119 became uneasy. We were still aways from the prairie area, 301 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.200 but we trudged ahead, and a bit further down the trail, 302 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:38.200 the air began to feel heavy and smoky. Our dog 303 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.839 started growling. It wasn't until we made it into the 304 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:45.680 prairie that the heavy feeling in the air became a 305 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:49.640 feeling of being watched. And in the middle of that prairie, 306 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.599 even though I felt creeped out, I stopped and I 307 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:57.480 began taking it all in. It was beautiful. I scanned 308 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.039 the edges of the woods and in one area I 309 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:04.000 saw a shadow of a large person hiding behind a tree. 310 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:08.039 Now yelled out to the person. That got my father's attention, 311 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:10.559 and he turned to see who I was calling to, 312 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.279 but by then the shadow was gone. Then we heard 313 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:19.079 it running and tearing through the trees. I thought that 314 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:22.119 was unusual that something would make that kind of noise 315 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.240 going through the woods. The dog's hackles went up and 316 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:29.519 he pranced around the area, sniffing and growling, but the 317 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:34.640 rest of the afternoon was uneventful. The next day things 318 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.880 were calm. My dad and I did some target practice 319 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.720 in the morning, and then we went on another hike, 320 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:45.440 sticking closer to camp this time. We returned around five 321 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:50.319 pm and began making supper. While we ate, we could 322 00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:53.640 hear crickets and other critters in the distance. It was 323 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.640 calm and it was pleasant. It was the perfect place 324 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:00.279 to be in that moment. But like a lights which 325 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.240 being flipped, the sounds of the woods went silent. I 326 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.480 could hear the blood even flowing through my ear drums. 327 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:12.119 It was so quiet. I watched Smoky Low crawl like 328 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.279 a bird dog, creeping up on a covey of birds 329 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.880 over to a thicket of brush by the creek. He 330 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.960 looked like a razorback pig, with all that hair standing 331 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.440 up on his back. He stopped just short of where 332 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.400 the thicket began, and he remained motionless and growling and shaking. 333 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.119 Something was in there. Dogs don't do that for the 334 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:37.279 hell of it. There was an odor now present about 335 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:40.359 the area that made me want a gag, and my 336 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:43.200 father stood up and armed himself with a pistol he 337 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:48.319 carried in his vest. Smokey burst off into the brush, 338 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.279 growling and huffing. That scared me more than anything. It 339 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.039 let me know there was something in there. Dad moved 340 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.279 to the brush thicket with his pistol in position. He 341 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.680 was almost when Smokey yelped and whimpered off in the brush, 342 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:07.400 and then a weird roar I had never heard followed. 343 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:12.240 I will never forget that sound. Smokey was hurt, and 344 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:15.039 I doubted I would see him again. But what the 345 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:17.880 hell was he fighting? Was it a bear? Maybe a 346 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:23.079 big cat? Finally the dog burst from the brush in midair, 347 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.680 and it sailed several feet before hitting the ground, and 348 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.599 it rolled and tried to right itself, but Smokey couldn't 349 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.119 get up. Dad snatched me up by the collar and 350 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.640 he dragged me backwards to the truck. The tailgate was 351 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:38.880 down and the topper lid was open, and he threw 352 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.519 me in there, all the while calling to the dog 353 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:43.880 that had finally gotten on its feet and was limping 354 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.880 toward us. Dad stood between the truck and Smoky and 355 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.000 began firing into the brush until his pistol was empty. 356 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.680 Smokey had made it to Dad by then, and by 357 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:57.039 the collar. Dad drug Smoky and threw him in the 358 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.799 bed of the truck with me, and then he ran 359 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.160 to the cab and came back with a shotgun, and 360 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:06.359 he fired three more shots into the brush. He was 361 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:09.799 now out of shells, and Dad slammed the truck bed 362 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:13.359 shut and then sprinted to the cab. I heard the 363 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:16.160 truck start, and then I felt the truck lurch forward 364 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.079 and watch gravel slung out behind us, and we took 365 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.079 off out of the campground, leaving all of our stuff there. 366 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.200 There was a stretch of road we needed to traverse 367 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:28.440 before climbing a hill that would take us out of 368 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.200 the area, and it gave me time to watch out 369 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:34.519 the back to see this thing step out into the clear. 370 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:39.079 I could not believe it. There was a creature, taller 371 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.759 than any man I know, and it stood motionless, arms 372 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:47.400 to its sides, and it watched as we left. I 373 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:50.039 didn't know what it was back then, but I do now. 374 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.599 It was covered hair and had thick arms and legs. 375 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.400 Now I think my jaw hung open for an hour. 376 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:01.559 It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. Just 377 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:03.839 when the truck was about to take me out of 378 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:07.079 that field of view, I watched it turn and walk 379 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.039 away from the camp and into the creek, and then 380 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:14.680 there was nothing but dust swirling behind the truck. We 381 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.880 drove for thirty minutes, and finally my father stopped and 382 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.160 came back to check on us. Smoky lay there beside me, panting. 383 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.039 He was hurt. There was no way to know how bad. 384 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.359 To my surprise, Dad said that we would be staying 385 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:32.920 right there for the night. He wasn't going to leave 386 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.240 all that gear in the woods. It had value, he said, 387 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.279 and we would sleep here and then go back and 388 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:42.240 get our stuff the next day. We were five hours 389 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:45.599 from home here, so I guess it made sense. And 390 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.000 I spent that night curled up with my dog in 391 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:50.880 the front seat of that truck. While Dad never slept. 392 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:54.960 His pistol now reloaded in his lap and was ready 393 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:59.640 for use if we had any further trouble. The next morning, 394 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.480 I let Smoky out the door, and I was thrilled 395 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.200 to see that he was walking and sniffing the area 396 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.400 and peeing all over the place. It appeared that he 397 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.559 would make it. Other than him moving a bit slower 398 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:16.480 than usual, he was going to be okay. Thirty minutes 399 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:20.079 later we arrived at the camp site. Once again, we 400 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:24.119 sat in the truck and watched from a distance. Our 401 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.759