WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.320 Listening to your channel has given me the courage to 2 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.599 get this off of my chest. It happened in two 3 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:16.519 thousand and three. I was living in a small town 4 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.199 in the central Piedmont of North Carolina. There was a 5 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.839 modest brick home and a somewhat secluded area and a 6 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:28.760 heavily wooded part of Iredale County. My nearest neighbor was 7 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:32.000 two hundred yards away through a small patch of pine trees. 8 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:37.759 Aside from two corn fields directly across the road, everywhere 9 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:42.479 else was a mess of older hardwood trees. White tailed 10 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.840 deer were abundant the most every evening they would come 11 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.799 and eat at the edge of the fields. I made 12 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:50.799 it a habit to sit on my porch and watch 13 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:55.039 the deer before dark whenever I could. Twice I remember 14 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:58.560 seeing them getting spooked and scramble across the field after 15 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:02.320 hearing an extremely loud sound that I can only describe 16 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:07.120 as part moan and part scream. At the time, I 17 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.599 wondered if the Mountain lions were in this part of 18 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.200 the country. My neighbor was a few years older than me. 19 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.760 He lived in a beautiful one hundred year old Victorian 20 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:21.879 style farmhouse that was situated on fifteen acres adjacent to 21 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:26.439 my land. His name was James. He was ex military, 22 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:31.560 having been discharged in nineteen ninety nine. We were pretty 23 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:34.920 good friends. When he was away, I'd take care of 24 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:38.359 his animals and property, and he'd return the favor. When 25 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.439 I had to leave town for work. One Saturday afternoon, 26 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.640 James called and asked if I wanted to do some 27 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.359 shooting with my new air rifle. Of course, I replied, 28 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.959 it was early October and the squirrel season was coming up. 29 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.840 It was five o'clock that Saturday evening when I walked 30 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.120 over to his house. James had an old barn that 31 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:02.920 sat across the road and approximately seventy yards from his porch. 32 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.799 He hung an old cast iron frying pan from a 33 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:10.360 tree that overhung a four wheeler trail beside the barn 34 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.840 that we normally used for twenty two rifles, but we 35 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.080 thought it might be fun to use it with the 36 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:20.120 air rifle. We dialed in the scope and took turns 37 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.319 shooting at the frying pan. It proved to be an 38 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.840 easy task to make it ring pretty loud with each shot. 39 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:30.560 I had just made it ding three times in a 40 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:33.439 row and had the rifle in my lap. When we 41 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.800 heard it ding again, well, James looked at me and 42 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.599 I looked back at him. We were at a loss. 43 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:44.199 It dinged two more times and stopped. James took the 44 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.240 rifle and fired twice, and made it ding twice and 45 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:52.000 sat it in his lap. The pan dinged two more times. 46 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:55.719 James looked over at the pan in the fading light 47 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:00.400 and said, someone's messing with us. He went inside came 48 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.680 back with a huge battery powered spotlight. He said, let's 49 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:07.159 go find out who it is. We crossed the road 50 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:09.639 and walked over to where the frying pan was hanging 51 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:12.319 at the start of the trail. He shined the light 52 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.439 into the edge of the woods, but we didn't see 53 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:18.479 anything at all. Who's there, he yelled into the darkness. 54 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:22.800 Limbs crunched twenty yards to the right of the trail. 55 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:25.960 James swung the light toward the sound, and we both 56 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.800 saw eyes shine that was impossibly large. They were a 57 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.199 good seven feet from the ground. It was then that 58 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:38.000 we heard no. We actually felt a low, menacing growl 59 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.719 that vibrated through my chest. It was like a jake 60 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:46.199 break on an eighteen wheeler, rattling my insides. We looked 61 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:48.800 at each other and decided we needed the safety of 62 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:53.000 his porch. The next day, James went over to the 63 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.280 frying pan and found several smooth rocks on the ground 64 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.840 beneath our target. They had to have come from the creek, 65 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:02.759 but the creek was a quarter mile into the woods. 66 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.800 I'm thinking sasquatch like to take target practice too. I 67 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.680 lived there until twenty and fourteen, and only once after 68 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.040 the frying pan incident do I remember hearing a strange, 69 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:19.839 laughing type howl one night. I'm sure I'm not the 70 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.800 only one in North Carolina who has heard these creatures. 71 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:26.160 After all these years, I thought I would have been 72 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.600 able to forget about it, but that bone shaking growl 73 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:33.519 is something I guess I'll never forget. I feel better 74 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.319 for having told it, and thanks for letting me get 75 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:42.199 it off my chest. I do a lot of driving 76 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:44.480 with my job, and I have two brothers that are 77 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.879 truck drivers. When I found your channels, I told my 78 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:50.839 brothers and we all subscribe. Well, thank you very much. 79 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:54.519 I really appreciate that the story I'm about to tell 80 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.160 you I have kept secret for thirty years. I've never 81 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:02.399 shared this with anyone. It's always troubled me, and you'll 82 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:07.639 see wine never told anyone. I'm in my mid fifties now, 83 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.959 But when I was nineteen years old, I lived in 84 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:14.000 the mountains of North Carolina. I hunted on public land, 85 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:15.920 and I had a place I liked to go that 86 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.680 was so hard to get to that I've never seen 87 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:22.560 anyone else up there. It was several miles from the 88 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:25.240 closest parking area, and you had to climb up the 89 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.160 side of a ridge to get there. The first time 90 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.639 I went there, the squirrels would hang down from the 91 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:35.240 tree limbs, just curious as to what I was. I 92 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.439 don't think they had ever seen a human before. Once 93 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.040 at the top, there's a leveled off place where a 94 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:45.079 huge oak tree grew and you could see clearly for 95 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.680 one hundred yards before it got thick with laurel bushes. Again, 96 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.560 I was up there on a Saturday and I found 97 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.360 where an old, hollowed out oak had broken off five 98 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:59.360 feet above the ground. One side had a huge crack 99 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.199 running down to the ground. And I got inside and 100 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.040 even hunkered down, and I could see the open area clearly. 101 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.040 It was a perfect blind and I was standing in 102 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:13.160 this blind watching for deer when I heard a commotion 103 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.079 coming from the other side of the ridge north of me. 104 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.120 I squatted down and I watched through the big crack. 105 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.040 A small dough came over the ridge toward me, but 106 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.319 I knew immediately something was wrong with her because she 107 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:32.920 was dragging her back legs. My first thought was that 108 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.920 she'd been shot by another hunter and crippled. And then 109 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.000 I heard something else coming across the ridge, and it 110 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.199 was not being quiet at all, and I couldn't believe 111 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:48.240 what I was seeing. A reddish colored si squatch five 112 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:52.560 to six feet tall came across the ridge. I'd never 113 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:55.000 seen one of these, and although I was only nineteen 114 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:58.120 at the time, I had spent an amazing amount of 115 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.800 time in the woods. I'd even camped up here with 116 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:06.000 no fire or tent. Ever, I had friends who had sightings, 117 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.360 but I never believed them. I thought they had just 118 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:14.279 misinterpreted what they had seen. But here one was right 119 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:18.920 in front of me and only sixty yards away. The 120 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:22.160 deer was trying to drag herself away, but the squatch 121 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.519 would grab her and drag her away's back and then 122 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:28.240 let her go again. Every time it would grab her, 123 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:30.480 she let out. I guess you would call it a 124 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.519 sort of a scream. It was hard to watch. Then 125 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.160 the squatch put its foot right on the doe's head, 126 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.399 and then it looked up into the sky and started laughing. 127 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.319 Now I know this sounds crazy, but that's what it 128 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:48.600 was doing. It was laughing. And then it let go 129 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:51.439 of the dough and when she got so far away, 130 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:55.399 it dragged her back. And this went on for twenty minutes. 131 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.720 The more I watched this, the more angry I got. 132 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:05.879 This beast was torturing this deer, and he was enjoying it. 133 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.319 I decided that I'd had enough, and I decided to 134 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:12.720 shoot the deer, and if this thing came after me, 135 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:16.959 I would put it down as well. And I pulled 136 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.519 my rifle up and it put its foot on the 137 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:23.680 doe's head and it started laughing again. I don't know 138 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.639 what happened in my thought process, but when I pulled 139 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.800 the trigger, it was at the squatch, not the deer. 140 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.320 I put around in its left die and it dropped instantly. 141 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.559 My honest first thought was, damn, it was a good shot. 142 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:46.039 My second thought was I need to reload. I slid 143 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.600 another round in my seven bag and then I heard 144 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.840 a freight train coming from the same ridge that the 145 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:56.320 dough and squatch had come from. Topping the ridge was 146 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:01.360 a huge, nine foot tall monster. She was huge and 147 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:05.639 solid black. She stood only for a second before seeing 148 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:09.799 what had to be her child. She jumped over to 149 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:12.559 the younger one, and she knelt down, and she pushed 150 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:15.279 the smaller one and made a kind of cooing noise, 151 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.000 and then she made a blood curdling roar. Right then 152 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.679 the dough tried to get up again. She was on 153 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.039 it in a second, and she picked up the dough 154 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.559 and started beating her against a nearby tree, like someone 155 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:33.440 beating out a rug. I could barely breathe, and I 156 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:38.000 sunk lower and lower where I was. This thing was 157 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:42.679 throwing a tantrum like no other. She finished with a 158 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.600 doe who was in no way still alive, and started 159 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.080 ripping up three to six inch saplings and breaking them 160 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:54.720 like toothpicks. After twenty minutes of running back and forth, 161 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:57.600 she started to wear down, and she went back to 162 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:01.039 the smaller one and laid down beside it, and then 163 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.720 started what I can only describe is crying. And it's 164 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:08.919 one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed. Her moaning 165 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.320 will haunt me for the rest of my life. She 166 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:14.799 picked up her child and went back over the ridge, 167 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:19.399 howling with sadness, and as her wails of pain gradually 168 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.200 faded off in the distance, I got up and I 169 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.840 left the area. I've never been so scared in my 170 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:30.679 life since then, and I've never been back to that area, 171 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:35.120 but I do still hunt. I've never shared this because 172 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.399 I'm ashamed of what I did. I'm certainly not excusing 173 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.759 my actions, but anyone in my shoes could have done 174 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:46.200 the same thing. I'm not saying they would have, but 175 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.679 they could have. Well that's all I have to say. 176 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:52.639 Thanks for reading my story. Keep up the great work. 177 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.960 We really love the Steve Lilly stories. And he's saying 178 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:05.039 he signs the email. In nineteen seventy four, my family 179 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:09.320 had an experience with Bigfoot near Marango Caves in Indiana. 180 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.480 I was only four years old then. I don't remember 181 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.799 everything about the event, but the family has talked about 182 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:20.600 it for years. We lived on her road with all 183 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.200 our family, and there were several houses lying down this road, 184 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.240 and we were all kin. My aunt Chloe lived alone 185 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:32.440 across the road from us. Her husband had died years earlier, 186 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.919 and at almost ninety years old, she did pretty good 187 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.480 for herself. She was a tough old country girl who 188 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.480 was never afraid to work. She would put in a 189 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:47.480 nice garden every year all by herself. Sometimes she needed help, 190 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.720 and my family was always there when she needed us. 191 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.840 Late one night, we heard a gunshot from her yard. 192 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.240 My father ran across to see what was going on. 193 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:03.279 On the back porch was Aunt Chloe, with smoke rolling 194 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.519 out of the shotgun barrel. Aunt Chloe, what are you 195 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.639 shooting at It's a big hairy man was out here 196 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.960 eating mightamatis. I never saw so much hair on a man. 197 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.799 We lived a way out in the country, and with 198 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:21.480 our area being inhabited by family, we never saw anyone 199 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:26.039 out there who didn't belong or wasn't family. A stranger 200 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.919 in one of our yards required us to see who 201 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.320 it was, and people sure didn't walk around our gardens 202 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:37.519 at night picking and eating vegetables. My father looked around 203 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.519 and the garden had been trampled. Some of the tomato 204 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:45.200 plants looked bare of fruit. Aunt Chloe wasn't lying or 205 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:50.440 imagining this. Something had been there. My father and my 206 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.600 uncle Red told Aunt Chloe to get inside and lock 207 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.639 the door. Then they took off in the woods behind 208 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.639 the house looking for this man. They found a path 209 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:04.120 where the man had apparently traveled. It looked like an 210 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:08.799 elephant had torn a path behind Aunt Chloe's house. Limbs 211 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.720 were broken up as high as seven feet, but they 212 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.279 never found the man. The night finally settled down and 213 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.519 everyone went back to sleep, but they were on alert 214 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:23.320 for a few days. The topic of discussion was about 215 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.960 the hairy man Aunt Chloe had shot, but as far 216 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.879 as I know, an event like this never happened again. 217 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:36.159 After this, my father watched and read anything in everything 218 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:40.559 to do with Bigfoot or other cryptids. I don't remember 219 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.159 a time when he was not interested in the subject. 220 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:48.159 That one event captured my father's imagination for the rest 221 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.320 of his life. And you know, that's how it goes. 222 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.639 I mean, we've got a couple of stories just in 223 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.159 this podcast where people are they see these things and 224 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:02.200 they're consumed. This man didn't even see it. He just 225 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:05.000 knew that his aunt had shot at one and it 226 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.720 still consumed him, and he read about it for the 227 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:12.080 rest of his life. It fascinates me how these experiences 228 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.600 really captivate people and set them on a road of 229 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:19.559 almost obsession to learn and read about these things. It's 230 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.720 amazing to me. That's one thing that I've really gathered 231 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.279 through the three years that I've put these stories together. 232 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:28.720 When that dog gets on this trail, it won't get 233 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:36.000 off of it, if you know what I mean. In 234 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:39.399 the nineteen sixties, the Texas county I was born and 235 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.720 raised in covered five hundred square miles. We had one 236 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:47.679 school for the entire county, and all twelve grades were 237 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:52.799 tached buildings connected by the cafeteria. At that time, all 238 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.720 of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex had a population of 239 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.519 one point five million people. The same area now has 240 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:06.120 seven point six million people as of twenty eighteen, and 241 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:11.320 now I'm thinking it's probably over ten million. Fort Worth 242 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:14.039 was the closest large town to us, and it was 243 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:17.360 a full day trip. Only once or twice a year 244 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.240 would we make that trip. We didn't have indoor plumbing 245 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.360 or running water, and that's how it was for ranchers 246 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:28.480 in rural Texas. We lived on a section of land 247 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:32.000 that had been in my family since the Texas Revolutionary 248 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.519 War when it was deeded to my family for participation 249 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:41.200 in that war. We owned one square mile of land. 250 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:47.080 September of nineteen sixty five was unusually wet. Our property 251 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.360 bordered the Brazos River and there were several runs in 252 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.639 creeks that had been flooded for many weeks. It was 253 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.519 impossible for me to meet up with my closest friend 254 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:00.360 that lived nearly a mile away across the past in 255 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.960 the wooded creek ravines. So one day I finished my 256 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:06.919 chores when I got home from school, and I saddled 257 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.559 up my horse to meet up with Eric in an 258 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:14.159 open area between our properties. It was a lowland area 259 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.440 and it flooded with only modest runoff from the rain. 260 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.879 It was fenced off to keep our livestock from getting 261 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:24.960 into and sinking in the mud. Yes, cows are that stupid. 262 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.720 I saddled up and was headed to see Eric. When 263 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:31.799 I reached their usual meeting point and he wasn't there. 264 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:36.080 That was not altogether unusual, due to our chores taking 265 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:40.799 longer some days than others. Three gates and forty five 266 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.559 minutes later, I arrived at his house, where he was 267 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.559 finishing up work on a tractor with his father. It 268 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:50.279 was also about that time that his mother rang the 269 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:53.240 dinner bell for them to come and eat. I was 270 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:56.279 invited to join them, as was the custom, and we 271 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.600 washed up and took a seat at the table. While 272 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.639 we were eating, the rain started again, and I knew 273 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.160 my ride home would be a wet one. Yet it 274 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:09.759 was nothing I had not done. Before I finished eating, 275 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.599 and I thanked missus Emma for my dinner, and I 276 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:15.039 asked to be excused to make my way back home. 277 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:19.000 I was asked to spend the night or Eric's father 278 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.319 would give me a ride home. I could pick up 279 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.799 my horse from the barn the next day. They said, well, 280 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.799 I was pondering what I wanted to do, and I 281 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.599 remembered that I had not removed the saddle from Ivan, 282 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:34.640 my horse. Eric and his father walked with me out 283 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.960 to the barn, and the rain had quit and the 284 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:41.240 sky was clear and a full moon shone overhead. I 285 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.079 could cut my travel time in half if I went 286 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:47.359 straight through the ravines. It was a straight line from 287 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:50.960 where I was to our house. I told Eric's father 288 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.279 that I would take the north Pass and that would 289 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:55.839 take me two hours. And I told Eric that I 290 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:00.079 would see him at school the next day. Ivan and 291 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:02.880 I took off at a full gallop across the pasture 292 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:06.519 nearest the bar, and reached the first gate in no time. 293 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:12.319 After closing the gate, I turned south. I reached the 294 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.839 south end of the pasture, and I turned east where 295 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.319 I came to a fence line. There's a cut in 296 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.839 the fence that Eric and I used all the time. 297 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.680 The bright moonlight was blocked by the trees, but still 298 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.279 I knew my way, and my worry was how much 299 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.680 runoff there had been from the rain. I knew the 300 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.920 first creek crossing would be the hardest. The banks were 301 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.319 soft and usually hard for a horse to climb, but 302 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.720 the second crossing would be easier. The creek bottom was 303 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.440 rock and gravel there. When I got to the first 304 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.920 creek crossing, I was surprised it had not topped its banks. 305 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:53.039 It looked easier than I had anticipated. Ivan and I 306 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.799 made our way upstream to a point just below a 307 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.119 bend in the creek, where it got shallow, and Ivan 308 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.839 knew the route. He waded in without hesitation. On other 309 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.599 crossings in the past, the water was never up to 310 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.640 his girth strap, but this time it was now. I 311 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.000 pulled my feet from the stirrups and I gave him 312 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.480 his head. He knew where he was going, and after 313 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:20.039 crossing that creek, the barn was only a quarter mile away. 314 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:23.799 We arrived at the second creek crossing that was fifty 315 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.559 yards from the fence that would lead me to the barn. 316 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:29.920 The creek bank on the west side where I was 317 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:32.680 entering was low but a bit rocky, and Ivan would 318 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.880 sometimes place his hoof two or more times before he 319 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:37.880 was happy with his footing, and then he would take 320 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.640 the next step. We had a full creek in fifteen 321 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.200 yards to reach the other bank, and beyond that there 322 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.759 were mesquite trees that lined the banks, and it made 323 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:53.559 the last fifty yards completely dark. We made it to 324 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.160 the bank and I gave Ivan his head again and 325 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:58.400 he picked up speed to climb out of the river. 326 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.000 It was muscle memory for him because we had crossed 327 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.400 there many times. With my head down and leaning into 328 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:10.119 his climb, Ivan leveled out and trotted toward the trees. 329 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.519 We entered that last stretch under the darkness of the trees. 330 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.400 Ivan was only a horse length into the darkness, and 331 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.680 he stopped. Had I not been holding onto the saddle horn, 332 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.200 I would have launched over his head. Ivan snorted and 333 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:33.160 shook his head and started moving backwards. It was dark, 334 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:38.240 but I immediately saw what spoke to my horse. In 335 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.519 front of us and slightly to the right was something 336 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:45.319 I had never seen. In the saddle, my head was 337 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.519 over seven feet off the ground, and this head was 338 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:53.559 higher than mine. Fear is not something that comes natural 339 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:55.920 to those of us that grow up in the country, 340 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:58.720 and even at nine, I was doing my best to 341 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:03.079 evaluate my situation. I knew every inch of the ground 342 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.039 that I was traveling and every animal that was there, 343 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:09.079 and I had worked that land with my father from 344 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.359 the time I was big enough to sit on his lap. 345 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.200 Ivan backed up until he felt his left rear hoof 346 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:20.160 slip and he froze in place, still snorting and shaking 347 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:24.799 his head. I was trying to understand what I was seeing, 348 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:28.720 and then a lightning strike lit the area and I 349 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:33.640 could see the eight foot tall creature. The huge head 350 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.200 and the long arms are what imprinted in that fraction 351 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:41.240 of a second of light. I felt fear as the 352 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:44.559 thunder rumbled, and I rained Ivan to the left and 353 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.000 headed north along the west bank with no concern of 354 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.759 my own safety. My mind was still reeling and trying 355 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:55.799 to understand what I had seen. Ivan got us to 356 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:58.400 the fence line where it crossed the creek on his own, 357 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:01.480 and I turned Ivan's out down the fence line to 358 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:04.680 the gate, and I could feel my horse's urgency in 359 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:09.079 fear under me. I didn't go to the barn. I 360 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:11.799 rode right up to the back door that entered the mudroom, 361 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.440 and I didn't bother taking off my boots. I walked 362 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:18.400 into the house where my mother was cleaning up after dinner. 363 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:21.640 That moment she looked at me. She stopped what she 364 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:25.880 was doing, and she said, Dan, what's wrong. My father 365 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.920 was in earshot, and he came into the kitchen within 366 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:33.359 a few seconds. If you are a boy in the South, 367 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.400 there is a mistake that you will make only one time. 368 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:39.880 I do not recall my age when I made that mistake, 369 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.000 but I was no older than five years old, and 370 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:47.079 the only time I ever lied to my father. When 371 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:49.920 I told him the events that I just told you, 372 00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:54.839 he asked me only two questions. One was to repeat 373 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:58.640 what exactly happened when Ivan stopped and started backing up. 374 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:01.640 I told her that he backed up until there was 375 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.759 no safe footing for him, and he continued to snort 376 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.799 and shake his head, even with my hands and the reins. 377 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.400 The second question was are you sure it was not 378 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.440 a man? And I told him that I was sure. 379 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.440 Dad walked towards me and he said, let's go in 380 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.200 the mudroom. He put on his boots and hat, he 381 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:25.519 strapped on his gun belt, and he grabbed a rifle. 382 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:30.880 He handed me the shotgun. Dad checked ivan over and 383 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.759 then he told me to meet him at the barn. 384 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:37.599 When I got there, my father had his horse, Dixie, 385 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.680 saddled and ready to go. And for the first time, 386 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:45.000 I asked, what is that? Dad? He lit a kerosene 387 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:47.519 lantern and he said, Dan, I don't know, but I've 388 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:52.599 heard stories about these things from grandpap Rod. Now grandpap 389 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.799 Rod was my grandfather. He lived till he was one 390 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.880 hundred and seven years old, and he died in nineteen 391 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.480 seventy two. We took a different route to the place. 392 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.000 We were heading through the north gate. I had no fear. 393 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:10.440 I was with my father. He had been a cowboy 394 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.880 all his life and had worked this land with his 395 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.680 father and his grandfather. Dad held the lantern over his 396 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:21.039 head from time to time. The floods early in the 397 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:24.480 month had left to breathe in the treetops and in 398 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:28.160 the light of the lantern, it was a surreal scene. 399 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.160 My father watched the ground in front of Dixie, and 400 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:36.960 then his hand raised and we stopped. My father quietly dismounted, 401 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.640