INTRODUCTION

Under Construction
Latest Update: April 10, 2002

The phenomena did not recognize any state boundaries.  Reports came from everywhere. It seemed as if hairy monsters, phantom felines and winged creatures were running amuck. Some phenomenalists believed it was the beginning of a new American folklore, while others professed a biological connection.

There was a certain degree of "noise" associated with many reports, probably due to the coverage from a mainstream press that either ridiculed or romanticized them. To further complicate the situation, some of the high profile cases turned out to be admitted hoaxes. Others had a high probability of fraud.

Bear in mind that it is reports that I collect and investigate, not the creatures themselves. There is no hard physical evidence (other than footprints) to substantiate their existence. However, there is plenty of credible eyewitness testimony. Therefore, one must realize that there was something unusual occurring - a phenomena. These types of reports continue to this day.

Deciding on a format for presenting this material was an issue of some concern. I have decided on a listing format rather than a full length article. In this respect, I can pitch more subject matter while conserving web space. I am not much on pondering theories and such anyway. Allowing the readers to use their own critical thinking may help establish some kind of answer to the phenomena. Any comments can be addressed through email.

The following listing will take time to complete. Some of the reports will be incomplete. There will be many additions. If I have forgotten anything worth mentioning, please send it along. I will require that the appropriate sources (with dates)and credits be applied with any incident.

There are some dupilicate reports are are mentioned on other pages of my web site so I'll make a link that will lead you into that particular report.

I will initiate the listing by using information from The Anomaly Research Bulletin #8 1978; Dave Fideler; Editor. In some instances, I will use newspaper clippings and correspondence from other researchers.

I am also grateful to Mark A. Hall, Tom Adams, Brent Raynes, Loren Coleman, Lou Farrish  and David Fideler who continued to send me newspaper articles in 1977-78.

Disclaimer: I cannot completely verify the reports that are just briefly mentioned until that actual documentation comes my way.  The majority are from newspaper accounts and if any researcher wishes to clarify something,send me an email

January 17:
Natchez, Mississippi - Several residents see a large, hairy creature that left tracks, broke limbs and growled at a dog.

NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP)  The police are investigating report of a "hugh, hairy creature" that reportedly was sighted by
several Natchez residents.

Those who reported the sighting to police Monday night said the "almost human" creature growled at a dog and fled when a
patrol car approached.

The police said they found large footprints, broken tree limbs and other evidence that something was in the area.

Three occupants of one house said they looked out and saw "a huge, hairy creature, well over six feet tall, and dark, barefoot
and naked." They said the creature walked with a limp.

Source: Arkansas Gazette; Thursday, Jan. 20, 1977
Credit Lou Farish

February 14:

Brookhaven, Mississippi - Several boys find 15-inch footprints in a wooded area. It is reported that wolves and monkeys have been seen in the vicinity.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information Service)

February 19:
Noble County, Ohio-Two sisters observe strange creature while driving their car around 5 A.M.

Credit: Don Keating and Marc DeWerth

March 2:
Warsaw, Indiana - Two 9-year-olds find a trail of 18-inch footprints.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information Service)

March 4,5,8:
Nelson Township, Ohio - Multiple witnesses report a large, hairy creature prowling about. Many tracks discovered. Personally investigated by the Mark Swift and the late Jim Rastetter.
(Bigfoot: Tales of Unexplained Creatures; Page Research Library)

March 15:
Gibsonton, Florida - Trailer park residents report menacing from a large gorilla. A container for a King Kong costume is found nearby.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information service)

March 17:
Alliance, Ohio - Activity continues in Northeastern Ohio. Jim Rastetter investigates incident of a women who claims to have seen a huge, hairy creature near a road.
(Bigfoot: Tales of Unexplained Creatures)

April 12:
Eatonville, Washington -  A series of large footprints are discovered. They are over 19-inches long and spaced about 8-feet, 7-inch strides. residents believe they were left by some large creature weighing about 300 pounds.
(Seattle Post-Intelligence; April 12 Cr. Tom Adams)

April 12,13:
Ohio County, Indiana - Large creature attacks couple's car on consecutive nights.
(Cincinnati Post; April 15. Investigated by Ron Schaffner)

May 1:
Dinwiddle County, Virginia - 16-inch footprints are discovered.
(Roanoke, Virginia World News; May 3)

May 7:
Hollis, New Hampshire - Big hairy monster shakes truch in the middle of the night. the witnesses are terrified and call local law enforcement.

Lowell Man Flees Hollis After Sighting 'Monster'
From the Nashua Telegraph May 10, 1977

Police here are awaiting the return of a Lowell, Mass. man, identified only as Mr. St. Louis, after he reported seeing a 10-foot-tall hairy monster
Saturday night at the Hollis Flea Market.

Chief Paul Bosquet said the man came into police headquarters at about 10:30 Saturday and reported the strange incident.

St. Louis told the dispatcher that he, his wife and two sons were sleeping in their pickup truck on the flea market grounds, when they were awakened by the shaking of their truck. The man said he looked out and saw what he described as a 10-foot-tall hairy animal with "human-like" features, shaking the truck.

The Lowell man quickly started his truck and sped off to the police station where he reported the incident. Police went to the scene, but could find no evidence of the animal. Bosquet said the area in which the truck was parked was covered with pine needles, and no foot prints could be found.

St. Louis was scheduled to set up an area in the flea market Sunday. Bosquet said, but he did not return on that day, and left a trailer at the site. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The Hollis chief said the animal may have been a bear that came out of nearby woods in search of food from a nearby rubbish container.

Credit: Craig Heinselman

by DAVE SHELTON
Staff Writer

Wantage, N.J. ? The police say it probably was a hungry bear that terrorized a family last week on Wolfpit Road, but members of that family who were less than 25 feet away from it say "it was something else".

They say "it' was seven feet tall, covered with hair, had a beard and mustache and walked on its hind feet.

Barbara Sites, the mother of six children, said she heard no commotion last Tuesday night. When she went out the next morning to let the dairy herd into pasture, the cows seemed reluctant and she heard a sound in the distance that she described as "like a woman screaming while she was being killed."

As she walked around the barn, she found a solid, wooden garage door torn from its heavy hinges. Inside, she said she
found six of the family's pet rabbits dead or dying of horrible wounds.

Two rabbits were missing, she said. The other's heads or legs were torn from their bodies. None appeared to have been used
for food. For the amount of killing and mutilation, Richard Sites said, there was little evidence of blood.

"There were hardly any marks on two of them," Sites said. "They just looked like someone squeezed them to death."

On Thursday night, Mrs. Sites said the nervous family heard the dog barking at approximately 9:30 p.m. Looking out a window of the large old farmhouse, Mrs. Sites said she and her 16?year? old daughter saw something standing alongside the road near where the rabbits were penned.

Sites, with several relatives and friends, ran from the house and saw at first "a big shadow ? his head was high as the
eaves. When my daughter screamed, it took off," Sites pointed to an apple orchard he said bounds on a huge swamp. The nearest neighbor in that direction, he said, was more than a mile away.

On Friday night, the Sites were waiting for their strange visitor. Several members of the family positioned themselves in
the farmyard, armed with shotguns and rifles.

At about the same time as the night before, "it" appeared silently at the same place under a mercury?vapor lamp which
lights up the farmyard.

"At first all I saw were these two red eyes staring at me from over there," Sites said, pointing to a decaying chicken
coop. He and others with him "opened up" on the thing, firing more than 30 rounds. The weapons, he said, included a .410
shotgun, a 12?gauge shotgun and two .22 caliber rifles.

The "monster" ran into the coop, then emerged from a window at the opposite end, Sites said. "He had his hands up in the air
and I fired again. I thought he was coming at me."

The beast then escaped through the apple orchard.

The Sites' were originally reluctant to discuss the events. They said they didn't want their farm overrun with curiosity
seekers.

Rumors of the episode eventually leaked among their friends. The Sites said they finally decided to talk to reporters because
"the State Police aren't doing anything about it. We're scared."

 Mrs. Sites said that last week she had her children stay with her mother in Sussex, but they have returned home now.

Three state troopers have filed separate reports on the Sites' incident, according to Sgt. Stanley Dutkus in Hainesville.
He said they have concluded that the incident involved a marauding bear.

 An official of the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained (SITU) in Columbia said he will look into the report.
Marty Wolf said there have been no recent reports of "sightings" of Bigfoot in the Sussex County area.

Source: New Jersey Herald; Newton, N.J.; Tuesday, May 17, 1977
 

AUTHORITIES CALL WANTAGE BEAST
'AN UNIDENTIFIED WOODS ANIMAL'

By DAVE SHELTON
Staff Writer

Wantage AP- State Police and the N.J. Division of Fish and Game released a joint statement yesterday, saying they have
concluded that whatever killed eight rabbits on a farm here last week was "an unidentified woods animal," and that it may have been a wild dog.

Bears, however now reportedly have been seen in the vicinity of the farm owned by Richard Sites on Wolfpit Road. Police
originally said it probably was a bear that clawed its way into Sites' garage, killed the rabbits which had been kept in cages,
and terrified the family for a week.

Sites and three others say they fired at a tall, hairy monster with glowing, red eyes. He said his farm was not visited
by a bear or smaller animal.

State Police Sgt. Ernest Seremi said yesterday that patrols have been checking the area of the Sites farm for a week, but
have been unable to identify any animal capable of the attack.

"It has been tentatively determined", he said, "that the perpetrator is some type of woods animal, possibly a raccoon or
wild dog, with little likelihood of it being a bear."

A man who said he lives nearby the Siteses said his son spotted two bear cubs in a field near the Sites farm at
approximately 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Wildlife Manager Russell Spinks of the Division of Fish and Game, said yesterday that his department has learned that during the past few weeks residents of the Wolfpit Road area have reported a bear rummaging in a nearby garbage pit.

 At the request of State Police, Preston Haney of the Division of Fish and Game has set up "live traps" in hopes of
catching whatever animal is foraging near the Sites farm.

Also, Spinks said, Wantage Dog Warden Timothy Ryan has been advised that a wild German Shepherd has been seen near the Sites farm.

Two groups of volunteers, the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained and Vestigia, are probing the Sites farm for
evidence of "Bigfoot", an alleged man?like creature said to have been spotted in that county, but never proven to exist.

Source: The New Jersey Herald; Newton, N.J.; Friday, May 20, 1977

German Township, Pennsylvania; family witnesses large creature with reddish-brown hair.

Brownsville (Pa.) Telegraph Sat. May 21, 1977

Bigfoot in the News Again

Bigfoot is back in the news again.

Another reported sighting of the half-human animal has taken place in the Fayette county area.

A Footedale couple and their three children experienced several frightening moments Sunday night when they confronted the creature along a dark, rural road in German Twp. About 9:30.

The family members, who wish to remain anonymous, where returning from the McClellantown area when the incident occurred.

The animal, described by the wife, was a large creature with shaggy hair, walking upright in a slumped over position.

She said it was reddish brown color. “When I first saw it I thought it might be a deer, but it was no deer, “she said.

She added, “Its hair was shaggy, not smooth like a deer, and it had to be at least six feet tall.”

The husband said the creature was standing upright at the edge of the narrow road with its back to the occupants of the car.

“We were rounding a bend in the road when we suddenly saw a large, animal-like object about six-feet or so tall, with reddish brown hair,” he said.

When the headlights of the car shone over the creature, it quickly jumped from sight over an embankment along the roadway.

The husband said it was a drop from 35 to 40 feet and that it led to an open, plowed field.

The three children in the car reacted differently to the Big Foot sighting.

The mother said the 11-year-old daughter threw her ice cream down, locked the doors of the car and then hit the floor.

The youngest child aged 7 just sat there.

The 14-year-old son returned to the scene returned to the scene of the sighting later that night with his father after the remainder of the family was dropped off at home.

The son and the father used flashlights to inspect the area. They discovered some broken branches and a fence post was pushed over. But no footprints were discovered.
The family returned the next day during the daylight to check the area once again.

The wife said the grass and weeds were pushed down in a certain area. She added, “I could tell something was down there.”

According to Joan Jeffers, co-director of the Pennsylvania Center of UFO research, this was the first Big Foot sighting Fayette County this year.

Last year, one sighting was reported in Smock, Franklin Twp. And another occurred at Republic.

Jeffers reported two sightings took place in McKean County recently and one also at Clearfield County during February.

Numerous sightings of Big Foot have taken place since 1967 across the country and in Canada.

The Footedale family has now been added to the list of believers.

“Before this happened I never believed in anything like this, “the wife remarked.

Credit: Chad Arment

May 15:
Mission, British Columbia - A Canadian bus driver hoaxes his riders by having a friend dress up in a monkey costume.
(Oklahoma City Times; May 16, Victoria Times, May 24; san Antonio Evening News; credit Tom Adams, 1977 Wrap-up of Creature Encounters; Hoaxes and Reality; Ron Schaffner; Unusual News, January 1978

May 18:
Eaton, Ohio - Two teenagers tell deputies that they saw a white creature that smelled like rotten meat.
(Eaton Star Herald; May 25; Investigated by Ron Schaffner)

June 14:
Silver City, Montana - Two campers encounter three bigfoot-like creatures reportedly 10 feet tall.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information center)

July 14,15:
Uniontown, Pennsylvania - A 20-year-old drafting student sees a large, hairy creature near his home. Continued activity in this region since 1973.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch information Center)

July 14:
Key Largo, Florida - Reports of a "skunk ape" approaching homes. More activity in the area will continue.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information center)

July 18:
Salina, Kansas - A women observes a gorilla-like animal in her back yard. A number of large 3-toed footprints are discovered.
(Salina, Kansas Journal July 20; Kansas City Star; July 21
Credit: Steve Hicks)
Newspaper article: Kansas City Star, July 21, 1977

July 21,22:
Key Largo, Florida - Activity continues - Two men see a "monster" in a field and a women sees glowing eyes eight foot above ground and in nearby bushes. Her husband attempts to photograph the eyes. Couple move out of the area in August.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information center)

August 5:
Stilwell, Oklahoma - A 15-year-old reported to authorities that he was mauled by a 9-foot hairy creature with glowing red eyes. He later admits that the report was a hoax.
(San Antonio News, August 11; Oklahoma City Oklahoman and Times, August 27; credit Tom Adams; 1977 Creature Wrap-up; Hoaxes and Reality; Ron Schaffner; Unusual News, January, 1978)

August 9:
Anderson and Elmwood, Indiana - Women sees an 8-10-foot creature while driving between the two towns.
(Bigfoot/Sasquatch Information center)

August 12:
Dutch Mills, Arkansas - "claw marks" are found near farm. two suspicious looking prints are found. The case is considered a probable hoax.
(Oklahoma Democrat-Journal, August 18; credit Tom Adams.

August 14:
Lauaca, Arkansas - Stories circulating of a "monster" that stalks the local lover's lane. The creature is reported to be about 6-feet tall and hits the hoods of automobiles.. Strange noises are heard. tracks are found indicating the possibility of 6 toes.
(Ft. Smith, Arkansas Southwest Times Record; credit: Tom Adams)

August 20:
Monarch, Montana - Three campers are charged by a 15-foot-tall creature.
(Great Falls, Montana Tribune, August 29; credit Tom Adams

August 22:
Cuberant Basin, Utah - Eight people observe a 10-foot-tall Bigfoot-like creature. The creature was in view for about four minutes and was seen at a distance of 800-1,000 yards. Footprints were discovered and a rabbit was found physically mutilated along the trail.

Two North Ogden men and six young companions said today they  watched a "gorilla-like" creature in the High Uintah Mountains
that matched reports of 'Big Foot."

Jay Barker of 1350 E. 2600 N., who has hunted big game  animals for years in the area, said the creature was estimated at
being 10 feet tall.

He said it was covered with a white mantle of hair over its  shoulders and half-way down its huge body.

The lower portion of the creature was dark colored, said Mr. Barker who said after it spotted his party it ambled off on its
hind legs.

 HIKES TO RIDGE

Mr. Barker and his two sons Brent, 12, and Danny, 6, had  hiked to the top of the ridge between Pass Lake and Cuberant
Basin at the head of Weber River drainage.

They reached the top of the ridge at noon Monday and made  contact with Larry Beeson of 1311 E. 2600 N., and his three sons,
Scott, 14, Michael, 11, David, 5, and Paul Carling, 14, of 1284 E. 2500 N.

About that time, they looked down upon a small alpine lake  about one half mile below them and saw the creature standing on
its edge.

CREATURE TURNS

At first, Mr. Barker thought he was looking at an elk. Then the creature turned to look up at the party after a couple of the
boys had knocked rocks loose that rolled.

"What are we looking at?" said an amazed Mr. Beeson as the creature turned and walked off on its hind legs.

Mr. Barker said the distance was too far to get a good look  at the creature's face, but he said it moved through scattered
trees, turning its head back to look at them from time to time.

FOUR MINUTES

He said they watched it for some four minutes while it covered about one half mile through the scattered trees and then
disappeared into heavy timber.

Startled and almost dumbfounded, the group stared. "That   thing is standing on two legs," said one member of the amazed
party as they looked.

Mr. Barker said the party went down to where they had seen the creature after it disappeared. They found "paw-like" imprints
in the earth, but the ground was too hard and dry to leave a  clear imprint.

He said the paw mark was "huge" and resembled that made by a  palm and toes. The party followed the path of the creature to the
timber and found other scruff marks on the rocks and in the dry  ground and grass.

HEAVY TIMBER

Mr. Barker said the group thought better about following the hairy creature into the heavy timber.

Excited and unable to sleep, Mr. Barker said he and his boys  were too tired after their experience to make the return trip of
over six miles back to their camper near Pass Lake.

They spent Monday night huddled about a campfire at Fish  Lake near where the creature had been seen and came out Tuesday.

Mr. Barker estimated the elevation of the small lake where the creature was seen at about 12,000 feet. It was above the
timber line.

SHEEP SCARED

He also said a sheepherder in the Gold Hills area below, Arlo Fawcett of Roy, reported he has been unable to get his sheep to stay in the area where the creature was seen.

Mr. Fawcett reportedly said he would take his sheep into the area to graze, and they would beat him back to camp, apparently
filled with fear.

The herder also said its the first summer this has happened. Its also the first summer that he has failed to see or hear
coyotes in the area.

Utah wildlife officials, informed of the incident, said they will ride into the area on horses to check the area.

FITS GRIZZLY

Jerry Dahlberg, conservation officer, northern region, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, when informed of the creature,
said the description fits a grizzly bear "to a T," all except walking upright for such a long distance.

Officer Dahlberg says he plans a horseback trip into the area over the Labor Day weekend.

 Mr. Beeson said when they reached the area where the hairy creature was seen, they found the carcass of a rabbit that had
been completely "skinned as by a human" and partially eaten.

Source: Ogden, Utah; Standard-Examiner; Thursday, August 25, 1977

September/October/November:
Little Eagle, South Dakota - Dozens of reports regarding a large hairy biped begin to trickle in from this small town.

NORTHERN SOUTH DAKOTANS SEARCH FOR MONSTER

Copyright 1977
Sioux Falls Argus-Leader

By TOM HASNER
Argus-Leader Staff Writer

LITTLE EAGLE, S.D. - Numerous sightings of the McLaughlin Monster, a "Big Foot"-like creature, have been reported in the
McLaughlin area of north central South Dakota, the Argus-Leader has learned.

The most recent report of the tall, hairy creature came Wednesday night east of Little Eagle, a small village about 10
miles south of McLaughlin and about 25 miles northwest of Mobridge.

In addition, there have been reports of footprints 16 to 18 inches long and 8 inches wide in the area. The prints, according
to area residents, appear to have been made by a creature with a stride of 6 to 8 feet.

The Argus-Leader Thursday afternoon chartered an airplane to  fly a team of reporters and photographers to the area to
investigate the reports.

"We are uncertain at this point what is actually happening in the McLaughlin area," said Larry Fuller, Argus-Leader managing
editor.

"We are, however, convinced that there is sufficient  evidence of a monster-like creature to merit a further
investigation."

 Art Eifenbraun, office manager of the McLaughlin Messenger  newspaper, said there have been a half-dozen possible sightings
of the monster. He said most of the sightings have been at night.

The descriptions match those of the elusive fact-or-fiction  Big Foot creature whose usual habitat is the mountainous forests
of the northwestern United States.

Eifenbraun described the creature as being about seven to  eight feet tall, very hairy, with long arms and an offensive
odor.

That general description, including the mention of a foul  odor, has become something of a standard for Big Foot sightings
throughout the western U.S.

Gary Alexander, owner of the Little Eagle Trading Post, is  one of several area men who have hunted Big Foot from horseback.

"Just so nobody thinks its a hoax, we found  tracks 5 1/2 miles east of Little Eagle in such a remote area no one would ever go there," Alexander said. "There wasn't a human footprint around."

"One of the guys wears a size 13 boot," he said. "He stepped  beside the footprint and hardly made an imprint at all. I guess
he (the man) weighs about 240 pounds."

The Big Foot prints left an impression as much as 2 1/2 inches deep.

"He (Big Foot) sure has scared some people around here,"  said Ralph Taken Alive, of Little Eagle, another Big Foot hunter.

Taken Alive said the latest sighting occurred Wednesday night just a mile east of Little Eagle.

"Some people drove into a yard and saw him with their headlights," he said. "He was standing near some pigs and chickens they had penned up. They almost ran into him."

"With the fresh tracks, we may go looking for him again tonight," he said.

Eifenbraun said that, to his knowledge, a report of an Indian man suffered a heart attack after being surprised by the
animal is untrue.

"As far as I know, nobody has been injured," he said. "There  have also been stories going around of people finding animals
which have been killed, but we don't have any proof of any of them," he said.

Eifenbraun called the investigation "just a local thing that  we've got going on."

An official from the Corson County Sheriff's Office in  McIntosh said that office is not conducting an official investigation of the sightings although it has received reports that the creature has been seen killing cattle and roaming the Little Eagle area.

An investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, N.D., where similar sightings have been reported. Berdel
Veo, who is heading that investigation, was not available for comment.

Source: Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Argus-Leader;
Thursday, September 29, 1977
 

SUSQATCH GETTING MUCH PUBLICITY

 There is a sign on South Dakota Highway 63 which says "Little Eagle, S.D., Pow-Wow Country USA." perhaps part of the sign should be changed to "Susquatch Country, USA."

Little Eagle has been in the news since two weeks ago when a big creature was reportedly sighted and the McLaughlin Messenger-
Corson County News reporter took pictures of tracks along the Grand River.

The Daily Argus-Leader at Sioux Falls devoted half of their front page to Susquatch and Little Eagle early last week and then
sent two reporters and a photographer by plane from Sioux Falls to check the story.

The McLaughlin Messenger office and the Little Eagle Trading Post have been besieged by phone calls from news media all over
the nation. Friday a man from Oregon who claimed to have photographed a Susquatch and who has produced a documentary TV
film on the Susquatch affair held a lengthy conversation with Gary Alexander, owner of the Little Eagle Store, and said all of
the accounts from Little Eagle were about the same as those of people who claimed to have seen the big creatures in Oregon.

Calls also came from the United Press, Associated Press and New York Times.

Wednesday night Nancy Chasing Hawk, Esther Thunder Shield and Myron Fast Horse at Little Eagle said they heard "screaming and growling" in the wooded area east of the rodeo grounds along a creek. They drove along the woods in a pickup and said the lights of the pickup picked up something in the dark with "big, green, shiny eyes."

A plaster of Paris cast of a Bigfoot track was taken about 9 miles east of LaPlant. The creature was seen by Melvin Garreaux, Cheyenne River Tribal Councilman. Standing Rock Officer Verdell Veo and his son Jeff, 15, searched in the area and found the tracks in a washout. The foot is about two feet long.

Source: McLaughlin, South Dakota; Messenger;
Thursday, October 6, 1977

McLAUGHLIN MONSTER APPARENTLY IN HIDING

By TOM HASNER
Argus-Leader Staff Writer

LITTLE EAGLE, S.D. - After a rash of reported sightings on Thursday, the McLaughlin monster apparently has gone into hiding
once again.

Three incidents of monster sightings on that day brought on  the most intensive hunt since the creature was first sighted nearly two months ago.

As late as Sunday afternoon, the search had uncovered more giant footprints but nothing more substantial. Some monster
hunters are fearful the increased activity may have driven the
creature deeper into hiding.

"It will probably be a week before we see him again," said Gary Alexander, owner of the Little Eagle Trading Post, the unofficial assembly point for anyone planning a search.

The high-pitched shrieks that have been reported nearly every night of the previous week have not been heard since Wednesday. There have been no reports of howling dogs or of 'strange acting' livestock.

The first reported sighting on Thursday was later disavowed by the man who supposedly saw the monster a mile southwest of Little Eagle. However, two other sightings, including one multiple sighting, appeared to me more credible.

Three persons reported seeing the monster shortly after
noon.

Cecelia Thunder Shield said she and Dan Uses Arrow, both about 60, were picking mushrooms in a wooded area just southeast
of Little Eagle at the time of that sighting. The two had picked two pails of mushrooms and were sitting on the ground resting
when the creature appeared out of the trees 25 yards from Mrs. Thunder Shield.

"He was walking slumped over. At first I thought he was an old man," she said.

She described the creature as being tall with gray, shinning hair and a black face.

Uses Arrow, who was resting nearby, saw the monster ambling away a few minutes later. He said from his vantage point, he
could only see the creature from above the waist and could not see his face.

The two ran to a residence a quarter mile away shouting, "He's coming, he's coming."

Their shouts brought Albert Dog, also about 60, out of his residence in time to see the creature slip back into the woods a
quarter mile away.

Dog said the animal walked slouched over with long arms dangling nearly to his ankles. he attempted to follow the monster
but was unable to maintain visual contact through the dense river brush.

At about 5 p.m., Thursday, the monster was seen about two miles north of the Thunder Shield sightings.

Phoebe Little Dog, 58, of Little Eagle, was driving home from McLaughlin, was driving home from McLaughlin when her attention was drawn to running cattle in a pasture just north of Little Eagle.

As she drove past the pasture, she saw a creature walking behind the cattle about 200 yards from her car. She said it walked stiff-legged, was much larger than a man and appeared to be dark brown.

"I only saw it for a moment and then it went out of sight behind a hill," she said. "I turned the car around and went back
but it was gone."

For Mrs. Little Dog, it was the second sighting of the monster. She claims to have seen the creature in the same area about sunrise one morning a week ago. At the time of that sighting, she had just left her home and was driving to work when the monster appeared out of a grove of trees.

"At first I thought he was a big tree," she said, "but then I saw him walking."

The monster disappeared into a ravine and was not see again.

"They say I have Big Foot fever," said Mrs. Little Dog referring to her two sightings.

Big Foot fever is a disease which is spreading rapidly in Little Eagle. Where once only a few men searched the river, hunting parties in recent days have numbered a dozen or more. Offers of help also have begun coming in. Sam Holland, 31, a Mobridge veterinarian has offered to search for the creature in an airplane with a tranquilizer gun.

"I'm not opinionated either way, but I like to fly," said Holland when asked if his offer indicated a belief in the monster. He said he would wait for a sighting before making his aerial search.

"When he (Alexander) calls, I'll go have a look," Holland said.

Other area residents feel the hunters' chances may improve with changing seasons.

"When we get some snow on the ground, we'll be able to get back in the river land with snowmobiles, too," said Duane Moser, 35, owner of the TNT Motel in McLaughlin. "Or in the spring the river will be high enough so we'll be able to look for him in a boat," he added.

Moser said he has not yet had an opportunity to go on a monster search but he might go the next time fresh tracks are
found.

Source: Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Argus-Leader
         Sunday, October 16, 1977

TWO BIGFOOTS SIGHTED NEAR LITTLE EAGLE

Two Big Foots were sighted near Little Eagle late Saturday night. Who knows when there may be the patter of Little Feet in
the area?

Bureau of Indian Affairs policeman Verdell Veo, Bobby Gates and Ireland and Veo's son Jeff were parked on Elkhorn Butte
northeast of Little Eagle shortly before midnight. They were in two vehicles, the Veos being a distance from the other officers.
They were playing a tape recording of what is supposed to be the screams of a Sasquatch made in Oregon.

Veo sighted a big creature near the bottom of the butte and moved in to get a better look, leaving Jeff in the vehicle. In a few minutes Jeff and the others saw a second big creature higher up on the butte apparently watching Veo and the other creature.

Verdell Veo said the other Susquatch or whatever it was move at great speed "as fast as an antelope" as it ran up and down the
butte. He said it moved much faster than a saddle horse.

There was suspicion there might be more than on Big Foot in the area after one was seen by Virgil and Ardyce Taken Alive and a younger sister along the Grand River. Ardyce said they were driving along the river in a pickup and were not looking for a Big Foot when the younger sister said she saw something on the opposite bank of the river. The creature was sunning himself and when the pickup stopped he got up and ambled off. Taken Alive's description of the thing they saw indicated it was not as big as the ones previously seen. They said it had almost no neck and appeared to have a black face. It was apparently not frightened.

Tuesday night of last week Mrs. Hannah Shooting Bear said she saw something looking in the window of her daughter's mobil
home which is parked near the Shooting Bear home northwest of Little Eagle. She went to warn the people in the trailer and her
husband went to call the police. By the time the police arrived there was nothing to be seen of the Big Foot or whatever was
looking in the window.

Planes flew in the Little Eagle area Sunday and nothing unusual was seen. Riders on horses have also been going up and
down the river.

National publicity is focused on the Little Eagle community and the Big Foot. Newsweek magazine devoted most of a page to the
story, along with gary Alexander holding a plaster cast of the foot. KFYR-TV at Bismarck, N. D. did a documentary Saturday. A
reporter from Dallas, Texas radio station is in the area this week doing a story.

A 24-hour watch is being maintained at Little Eagle. Searchers have tried starting campfires and having somebody watch
from a distance to see if anything approaches. They have reported hearing sounds in the brush but nothing has been seen. They have
also tried to lure Susquatch by hanging sacks of what they hope is Susquatch bait in trees.

Veo has now seen the Big Foot twice.

Source: McLaughlin, South Dakota; Messenger,
Thursday, November 3, 1977

October 1:
Apoka, Florida - An unusual bipedal creature tries to break down door and enter a building according to a security officer.
(Apoka, Florida Chief, October 7)

October 2:
Belleview, Florida - A 22-year-old welder is attacked by a 6-foot tall smelly creature while hitch hiking.
(Orlando, Florida Sentinel, October 5; credit Tom Adams)

LURKING BIGFOOT TRICK OR THREAT?

Halloween is still three weeks away but strange creatures are already being seen around Central Florida this week.

A 22-year-old hitchhiker reported sighting the legendary Bigfoot, saying the beast was tall, dark and stinky. It lurked in
the darkness in a lightly forested area off U.S. 441 half a mile south of Belleview, he said.

"I've got some information about Bigfoot," the tremulous voice on the telephone said. "I think I just saw it."

Monday morning a security guard for an Apopka nursery told police a 10-foot-tall hairy animal with a chestful of reddish-gray fur and small ears attacked him, ripping off the terrified guard's shirt.

Donnie Hall, 27, said he fired several gunshots at the creature in vain.

The Bigfoot sighter  a Belleview welder who didn't want his name known  said the beast was brown and black. "I'm six feet
tall and it was bigger than me. It smelled horrible, like garbage."

Neither of the two creature sightings was substantiated.

A Florida Game and Fresh Water Commission agent who examined tracks at John's Nursery in Apopka said they all appeared to be man-made.

Marion County Sheriff Don Moreland chuckled about the  Bigfoot report. "I've been in law enforcement for 20 years here
and I don't remember any reports of monsters. Flying saucers, yes, but I don't recall any monsters."
 

Source: Orlando, Florida: Sentinel Star;
         Wednesday, October 5, 1977

October 3:
Apoka, Florida - A security guard is allegedly attacked and scratched by a 10-foot tall creature.
(Apoka, Florida Chief, October 7)

October 7:
Marquette, Michigan - An 18-year-old motorist tells police that he ran off the road to avoid hitting a large, hairy creature that appeared on the road.
(Radio Broadcast, October 7; credit Mark A. Hall)

October 24:
Ocala National Forest, Florida - A 67-year-old Baptist minister encounters an 8-foot hairy creature.
(Many sources)

CREATURE SIGHTED

OCALA, Fla. (UPI)  A 67-year-old Baptist minister who says  he hasn't had a drink in 40 years tells how he stood eyeballto
eyeball for 30 seconds with a great, hairy creature in the Ocala National Forest.

The Rev. S. L. Whatley, pastor of the Fort McCoy Baptist Church, said he spotted the thing out of the corner of his eye
while he was cutting wood with a chain saw three weeks ago.

Whatley recalled Monday. "It was standing upright, in the middle of some palmetto bushes, and that sapsucker was at least 7
1/2, maybe 8 feet tall.

The minister said the creature "had dark, lighter?than?black hair on its head and chest, not much on its arms, and none on its
face. It had kind of a flat face, a flat nose, its eyes were sunk in its sockets."

Whatley said he quickly went back to his truck to get an ax  because "me and that creature was going to mix it up," but by the
time he returned from the truck the creature had disappeared.

He hastened to add that he hasn't had a drink in 40 years.

Source: Superior, Wisconsin; Evening Telegram;
         Tuesday, November 15, 1977
 

WAS IT BIGFOOT? PREACHER SAYS STORY NO LIE

By Alyse Lounsberry
Lifestyles Editor

Salt Springs ? The Rev. S. L. Whatley appears to be playing it safe.

Despite becoming the latest celebrity among the nation's Bigfoot enthusiasts, he takes the middle?of?the?road approach to
whatever it was he saw out there in the Ocala National Forest on Oct. 11. It shook him up pretty bad. He'll say that much. But
now, more than a month after the strange mid?day sighting, the Reverend isn't claiming that he saw Bigfoot.

"It was this hairy?like ape animal standing there in the palmetto bushes," recounts Whatley.

"It looked to me to be seven or maybe eight feet tall. It had a dark chocolate colored face, a face that was clear of hair,
and a flat nose. The arms ? I couldn't tell what kind of hands it had ? the arms were down into the palmetto bushes..."

It could have been a female, Whatley says. The breasts were visible above the scruffy palmetto.

But was it Bigfoot?

Whatley isn't saying one way or the other.

He knows he saw something out there in the forest on a clear day that let lots of sunshine pour down through the trees. He was
cutting wood with a chain saw, and had most of his attention riveted to what he was doing.

"I saw this animal pass by the side of the truck out of the corner of my eye and at first I though it was a deer," he
remembers.

He was having trouble with the chain saw. While he was waiting for the equipment to cool down enough to handle it, he
heard guttural sounds coming from the stand of trees across the road. Thinking nothing of the strange set of circumstances, he returned to cutting his wood. But then the saw broke down again, and a disqusted Whatley decided to just pack up and go home.

"And then I turned around and saw it..."

There it was, looming above the scrub, some three or four hundred yards from where he was parked. Whatley confides that he
was mesmerized. He couldn't take his eyes off the odd?looking creature.

He went back to the truck , got in and started it up, then shut off the motor again to get a better look.

"And then I thought, what it attacks me?" And fear started to creep its way up Whatley's spine.
 

"I went back to the truck and got out my ax, and when I came back around it had disappeared..."

Whatley went stalking the creature.

"All I saw was deer tracks," Whatley relates. "I walked up this sand road thinking for sure that I'd see some tracks, but
there weren't any."

Closer to the area where the sighting occurred, Whatley checked closely for signs of such a creature. But to his dismay,
he found that the forest floor was covered over with a cushy  layer of grass and leaves. Spotting tracks with that kind of
ground cover would be virtually impossible.

There he stood, ax dangling from his hands, with no earthly proof that he saw what he saw.

"That's what kept me from telling anybody," Whatley now insists. "That stuff ? that's crazy talk."

Whatley likes to tell people that he believes what he saw  was some sort of gorilla. But there is a note of disbelief in his
voice.

"I don't know what to think it was," he adds a little more realistically.

The Baptist minister is baffled at the whole experience, but he is also somewhat enchanted at his sudden burst of importance.

He's had quite a bit of notoriety surrounding this would?be Bigfoot sighting. He told some friends around Salt Springs about
the strange encounter, and wouldn't you know that sooner or later somebody would tell somebody else who would eventually call the newspapers.

Whatley's story spread like wildfire across one of the press services, and over several radio stations too.

"I've  had calls from all over the place," Whatley chuckles.

"Some from as far away as Hawaii, Pittsburg, Chicago..." And his voice trails off.

The questions from inquisitive  Bigfoot fans have been fairly foolish, according to the Reverend.

"Somebody from Chicago asked me if it had little antenna like some sorta outer space monster," he says indignantly.

"And somebody else asked me if I drank much. I said well, not for at least 45 years. I've been preachin' for about 40
years..."

"I don't know. I guess I'm amused about it. But just one fact bothers me. Some people have already said I might be lyin'
about what I saw. Well, I'll tell YOU that if I was going to LIE  about something I'd make it something really GOOD."

Whatley says his first impulse after the sighting was to "go  and find the law."

But when there were no tracks, he figured his story would be dismissed as craziness and he decided to just let the matter
drop.

"I figured that huntin' season was just around the corner  and somebody else was bound to see the thing and I'd let them
tell about it."

Meantime, the story of Whatley's mysterious woods encounter just sort of escaped into the newspapers.

"All I can tell you is what I saw," Whatley grins.

Bigfoot or gorilla, Whatley wisely withholds an opinion and just sits back and smiles. He'll enjoy the fame while it lasts.

Source: Ocala, Florida; Star?Banner; Wednesday, November 16

BIG FOOT REPORTED TREADING SOUTH

Big Foot, the mysterious whatyamacallit seems to be on the move in Marion County and in a southerly direction.

A new report, called to the Star?Banner Friday night at  about 9:30 noted he was spotted in an area near Big Scub
Campsites and close to a State Forest Ranger station.

The new report, from a Marion County citizen who wishes to  remain anonymous, called the creature an ape?like animal
weighing about 800 pounds.

"That thing was about eight feet tall," said the repotee " and it seemed to be moving south."

According to the report, a hunter fired six shots at the  creature but missed all six times.

"We are assuming he missed all six shots," said the witness,  "because we found no body or any other indication that the
creature was hit."

The new report places the creature about three miles from the first reported sighting last week by a Fort McCoy minister,
but the latest sighting seems to indicate there may be more than one of the creatures roaming through central Florida.

Source: Ocala, Florida; Star?Banner; Saturday, November 19, 1977

December 12:
Mayberries, Alberta - A couple discover large footprints in the snow. The tracks measured 18 1/2 inches long and 8 inches wide.

DAN TRAFFORD
Medicine Hat (Alberta) News

MANYBERRIES  Who in Manyberries could leave footprints in
the snow measuring 19 inches?

 Or perhaps the question is what?

This strange puzzle is being discussed over coffee in Manyberries homes today and may continue to be a hot topic for
months as residents build a new chapter in a long list of "bigfoot" legends.

Some residents are not certain the trail in the snow next to the CP Rail station is a hoax. And RCMP Thursday were unable to
determine what tale the large footprints might reveal.

Thelma Dunlop, who lives with her husband Vern in the train  station, said she was "frightened" Thursday morning when she
looked from a window and saw "big footprints" in the snow.

"Well. I don't know what they are, but nothing can have feet that big," she told The News later.

Following her discovery, a long morning passed in which  almost all 80 residents of the village visited the railway
station.

With 9 1/2 years experience on the force, RCMP Constable Bruce Best said it is the weirdest thing he has ever encountered.
"I've never even had a weird report," said Best. "I don't know what to think, actually."

Hotel owner Mike Larner was equally puzzled by the  footprints. Puzzled enough to call in the RCMP.

Larner said he spent a restless following the closing of the  hotel tavern because "dogs kept barking and howling the whole
night."

Best, with the Dunlops and Larner, examined the footprints which led from the front of the station along the side of the
building.

Larner noted whatever made the footprints seemed to have  stopped by a window. Larner said a pause was indicated by
footprints spaced by only a few inches at that point.

One imprint, still clearly defined despite the morning mildness, showed a print of five toes and measured 8 inches at
the widest point.

About 3:45 p.m. Best followed the footprints but lost them a  short distance from the station.

"Whatever evidence was there is gone now," said Best after he lost the footprint trail.

Larner said it might be a hoax. "But why near the rail station, why not somewhere more visible?" he asked.

Best said two of the prints, side by side, appeared to be made by a right foot. However, he said, when the snow melted most
of the prints were obliterated.

Vern Dunlop, who has managed the rail station for seven  years said he doesn't think anyone in the village would attempt
such a hoax.

Questioning of village residents by Best Thursday evening revealed nothing more.

Best said he expects to find out more on the footprints in the next few weeks as residents attempt to find answers.

Meanwhile, the mystery of Manyberries' CP rail station prowler, be it six or sixteen feet tall, man or beast, will be
remembered for a long time.

Source: Medicine Hat (Alberta) News; Friday, December 2, 1977

Are we ready for Bigfoot or the Loc Ness Monster?
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New Release
December 21, 1977