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Washington has always been a hotbed of Bigfoot sightings. Records and databases list hundreds of Bigfoot sightings in the Evergreen State over the years, so it’s tricky choosing something suitably epic. In my mind, the clear winner is the famed sightings in Bossburg, Washington from 1969 and 1970.
Starting on November 24th, residents found a multitude of tracks crisscrossing the countryside near the Columbia River. One foot appeared to be deformed, so it was dubbed Slew Foot. The tracks caused a sensation that attracted experts and enthusiasts from near and far, including Roger Patterson – famed cameraman of the Patterson Film that kicked off the modern Bigfoot phenomenon. Patterson, a pair of zoologists, a local tracker, a Himalayan explorer, a wealthy financier and others became embroiled in a story filled with action, intrigue and hanging slabs of meat meant to entice the mystery hominid. It didn’t work. The fruit basket didn’t work either.
The visitors bid against each other – literally – to learn the location of multiple Bigfoot - including a Bigfoot who was captive, a dead Bigfoot carcass in a cave and a Bigfoot someone claimed they had at home in their freezer. Lines were drawn and competing camps tracked each other, sometimes from the air in a helicopter. Trucks and snowmobiles were rented so the hunters could keep tabs on each other. Every team suspected the others knew something they didn’t.
It ends, predictably, with no Bigfoot, several bank accounts greatly reduced and some very unconvincing, grainy home movie. Appropriately, that footage was presented to a skeptical TV audience in 1972 on the show You Asked For It. I’m sure the trappers and guides who made a fortune back in Bossburg couldn’t agree more.
Starting on November 24th, residents found a multitude of tracks crisscrossing the countryside near the Columbia River. One foot appeared to be deformed, so it was dubbed Slew Foot. The tracks caused a sensation that attracted experts and enthusiasts from near and far, including Roger Patterson – famed cameraman of the Patterson Film that kicked off the modern Bigfoot phenomenon. Patterson, a pair of zoologists, a local tracker, a Himalayan explorer, a wealthy financier and others became embroiled in a story filled with action, intrigue and hanging slabs of meat meant to entice the mystery hominid. It didn’t work. The fruit basket didn’t work either.
The visitors bid against each other – literally – to learn the location of multiple Bigfoot - including a Bigfoot who was captive, a dead Bigfoot carcass in a cave and a Bigfoot someone claimed they had at home in their freezer. Lines were drawn and competing camps tracked each other, sometimes from the air in a helicopter. Trucks and snowmobiles were rented so the hunters could keep tabs on each other. Every team suspected the others knew something they didn’t.
It ends, predictably, with no Bigfoot, several bank accounts greatly reduced and some very unconvincing, grainy home movie. Appropriately, that footage was presented to a skeptical TV audience in 1972 on the show You Asked For It. I’m sure the trappers and guides who made a fortune back in Bossburg couldn’t agree more.
CK