The Sasquatch Story

     I grew up an Oregonian. I was born in Albany and raised in The Dalles. The Mysterious Sasquatch has been part of Native American and Caucasian folklore for hundreds of years. The Legend has always captured my imagination.  In the early 70’s Peter Byrne set up a research area and opened a Bigfoot museum near the famed Spooky’s Pizza at the west end of The Dalles. There the Bigfoot legend grew for me. He was always willing to show us kids around and talk with us. 

      Peter set up shop there because the 70’s seemed to be a high point for Bigfoot sightings. Most of the sightings occurred just west of The Dalles, one included a sighting by hundreds of people on a train.  I lived near the same area west of The Dalles in Chenoweth. I had many strange occurrences down by Chenoweth Creek.. Rocks being pounded together, rocks thrown and just a quiet, hair stands up on the back of your neck, spookiness. Many of these incidents seemed unimportant till I read more Bigfoot reports on the internet. Websites for eye witnesses sharing their experiences. Years later, while gaffing the movie “Wild”, I ran into a neighbor who lived close to us near the creek. She told me of an actual sighting by her while riding her horse.  The creature ran swiftly up the hill on 2 legs hide behind a 6’ boulder and peeked over the top making it about 6’6” to 7’ tall. 

       My most memorable encounter was at a lake in a very remote part of British Columbia. It was a cool, mostly sunny day. The lake was oval shaped and one side was clear-cut. There we parked and launched the boat, which was there for anyone to use. I was around 10 yrs old, fishing with my Dad and brother. We heard some calls and screams in the trees. They were faint, birdlike.  After hearing these distant noises for 5-10 minutes a powerful, unnatural, vibrate your gut scream pierced the air with authoritative purpose.  Fishing rods flying and mouths agape and eyes wide open we all looked at each other in shock not knowing what to do. I said the only words that came to mind, “It’s Bigfoot”.  We rowed back to shore away from the area of the scream, threw the gear into the ol’ 69 Chevy station wagon family truckster and hi-tailed it... about a ¼ mile down the road where my dad parked and proceeded to make bigfoot calls, or so he thought. My bother and I were petrified. I, on the front seat floor up behind the dash as far as I could go and my younger brother on the back seat floor hidden by the gear. The screams were all around us. Due to my young age, the duration of time eluded me but this experience has been etched in my memory for 42 years. 

      80-90% of people who have a Bigfoot have experiences and do not report them.  If you have had one or many Sasquatch stories I would love to hear them on set.