Tom Shirley
04-17-2008, 01:11 AM
Part 1
Bigfoot Encounters of B.J. Thompson, of Apache Junction, Arizona, as reported to W.G.Wheatcroft, Ph.D., Anthropologist, and Bigfoot researcher. The events herein described by B.J. happened in March, 1992 and separately, during Elk Hunting Season in October, 1994.
First Bigfoot Experience--
These events happened in the Blue Mountains of the state of Washington. The nearest city was Walla Walla. Pop Summerland was a friend of mine. He is now deceased. Pop was a grandson of Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Indian tribe, famous in the 1800s. Pop was an expert hunting guide. Once, he showed me photographs of giant footprints in the woods. They looked human to me. What I mean is that one footprint was in front of the other, like humans walk. Right away, I guessed that they were Bigfoot footprints. Pop did not overly explain things; he let you learn for yourself. At that time, although I had only known Pop for two days, he decided to take me into the Blue Mountains with him; he told me that he had never before taken a White man into the mountains for the purpose of seeing the Bigfoot.
Here’s what happened: We took a horse trailer with us, with two horses inside. When we got to the right area, according to him, we then saddled the horses and went in further, on horseback. Pop was very experienced. We rode on horseback for five hours. It was wilderness. We rode for maybe six miles. Then we stopped. We tethered the horses. We had arrived at a flattened-out area where there was a simple sleeping lean-to. On a tree at this campsite, there were hoists for pulling a deer or elk up onto the tree for skinning purposes. We dumped our gear and got a fire going. Then we began hiking on foot for about 1 1/2 hours. There was snow on the ground at this time of year. We started seeing Bigfoot tracks in the 3 inches of snow. The tracks were 18 inches long. We also saw some thick deposits of grey-colored Bigfoot hairs stuck to the bushes along the pathway. At the end of our hike of about an hour and a half, we entered a clearing about 40 feet in diameter. Pop took four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of his bag and put them on wax paper in the middle of the clearing, as an offering. He then swept some snow off of the rocks, and we sat in the shade there to wait. We sat quietly for about 45 minutes. Then we could hear rustling sounds in the pine trees and bushes. Then suddenly, two Bigfoot came out of the trees across from us, walking 8 feet into the clearing in front of us. One of the Bigfoot was 9 feet tall, and the other was 8 feet tall. Their fur or hair was grayish brown. They were very hairy, but surprisingly, they had human-looking faces. They had wider mouths and somewhat flatter noses than humans have. Their cheeks were clear of hair. Above their eyebrow ridges, these Bigfoot had a low hairline. Their heads were dome-shaped. The two Bigfoot just stood there for about 10 minutes, staring at us, while we were staring at them. No words were spoken. I had the feeling that they would have stayed longer, if I (a new person) had not been there. But Pop did not say this to me. Who knows? I had a feeling, myself, that they knew of our presence well before we got to the clearing. Pop felt that the Bigfoots were humans of some kind! He was, perhaps, actually more friendly towards the Bigfoots than he was towards Whites! This was kind of an American Indian thing with him. He felt that the Bigfoots were American Indian blood beings.
After about 10 minutes of standing in the middle of the clearing, the Bigfoots backed up, and then disappeared behind the trees. Then we also left. I assumed that they would come soon, to retrieve the sandwiches that we left in the clearing for them. The shorter Bigfoot seemed younger to me. Initially, when they first arrived, the shorter one made a move as if he was going to come get the sandwiches. But the bigger, seemingly older Bigfoot made a grunting noise, at which point the younger Bigfoot stopped advancing towards the sandwiches. Then, as I said, they both just stood there looking at us. Their arms are long, so that their hands were at the level of their knees. They also had long legs, and really massive shoulders. When they backed up into the trees, Pop also got up, and touched my shoulder. Then we turned and left the way we came. On the way hiking to this clearing, we had avoided stepping on the Bigfoot footprints, but on the way back we weren't so careful, because we had no plaster of Paris with us, so we couldn’t make footprint-casts.
We had hiked in just to see the Bigfoot, so after riding our horses back to the horse trailer, we put them into the trailer and left the area.
Second Bigfoot Experience--
In October of 1994, I again hooked up with Pop Summerland. He asked me to help him, because he was taking a hunting party of six men to hunt elk up in the same forests of the Blue Mountains of Washington State. He was such a good hunting guide that he guaranteed that each paying hunter in the party would be able to shoot an elk! He asked me to help out; I was to look after the camp, do the cooking, and so forth. We all assembled together. There were six paying hunters. Pop provided everything except the guns and ammunition as part of his package deal. We pulled two, four-horse trailers-- for a total of 8 horses. When we arrived at the hunting area where the lean-to was located that I described before, at first, all of the hunters wanted to go off in two, 3-man parties, on horseback. The lean-to was about 15 feet long, and about 2 feet tall in the back. But by the time we had arrived there, the first day, there was no time to start hunting. So, the first night after our arrival, the men cleaned their guns and we cooked some grub. I also corralled the horses.
Elk Hunting, Day 1: On the first day of hunting, we left at 5:30 a.m.; all eight of us on foot, because if we took the horses, it would scare the elk we were hunting. This is what Pop said. As a guide, I went with three of the hunters, and Pop went separately with the other three men. Pop had made one dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That first day, out of the six hunters, three of the men shot one elk each, that day. I tell you Pop was really good; that’s why he guaranteed that each hunter would shoot an elk on the hunting trip! These three elk were not too big, but satisfactory. Out in the forest, we field-dressed them, (this involved de-gutting them, and so forth, and quartering them) and we hiked back to camp to get the horses to use them as pack horses, and loaded the meat and hides on the horses. Deep in the forest, Pop left 12 sandwiches on a log. When we returned that night, we cooked and ate some steaks from the elk. Elk meat is better than venison! The field-dressing of the elk was crude, just enough to get the game meat back to camp.
Bigfoot Encounters of B.J. Thompson, of Apache Junction, Arizona, as reported to W.G.Wheatcroft, Ph.D., Anthropologist, and Bigfoot researcher. The events herein described by B.J. happened in March, 1992 and separately, during Elk Hunting Season in October, 1994.
First Bigfoot Experience--
These events happened in the Blue Mountains of the state of Washington. The nearest city was Walla Walla. Pop Summerland was a friend of mine. He is now deceased. Pop was a grandson of Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Indian tribe, famous in the 1800s. Pop was an expert hunting guide. Once, he showed me photographs of giant footprints in the woods. They looked human to me. What I mean is that one footprint was in front of the other, like humans walk. Right away, I guessed that they were Bigfoot footprints. Pop did not overly explain things; he let you learn for yourself. At that time, although I had only known Pop for two days, he decided to take me into the Blue Mountains with him; he told me that he had never before taken a White man into the mountains for the purpose of seeing the Bigfoot.
Here’s what happened: We took a horse trailer with us, with two horses inside. When we got to the right area, according to him, we then saddled the horses and went in further, on horseback. Pop was very experienced. We rode on horseback for five hours. It was wilderness. We rode for maybe six miles. Then we stopped. We tethered the horses. We had arrived at a flattened-out area where there was a simple sleeping lean-to. On a tree at this campsite, there were hoists for pulling a deer or elk up onto the tree for skinning purposes. We dumped our gear and got a fire going. Then we began hiking on foot for about 1 1/2 hours. There was snow on the ground at this time of year. We started seeing Bigfoot tracks in the 3 inches of snow. The tracks were 18 inches long. We also saw some thick deposits of grey-colored Bigfoot hairs stuck to the bushes along the pathway. At the end of our hike of about an hour and a half, we entered a clearing about 40 feet in diameter. Pop took four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of his bag and put them on wax paper in the middle of the clearing, as an offering. He then swept some snow off of the rocks, and we sat in the shade there to wait. We sat quietly for about 45 minutes. Then we could hear rustling sounds in the pine trees and bushes. Then suddenly, two Bigfoot came out of the trees across from us, walking 8 feet into the clearing in front of us. One of the Bigfoot was 9 feet tall, and the other was 8 feet tall. Their fur or hair was grayish brown. They were very hairy, but surprisingly, they had human-looking faces. They had wider mouths and somewhat flatter noses than humans have. Their cheeks were clear of hair. Above their eyebrow ridges, these Bigfoot had a low hairline. Their heads were dome-shaped. The two Bigfoot just stood there for about 10 minutes, staring at us, while we were staring at them. No words were spoken. I had the feeling that they would have stayed longer, if I (a new person) had not been there. But Pop did not say this to me. Who knows? I had a feeling, myself, that they knew of our presence well before we got to the clearing. Pop felt that the Bigfoots were humans of some kind! He was, perhaps, actually more friendly towards the Bigfoots than he was towards Whites! This was kind of an American Indian thing with him. He felt that the Bigfoots were American Indian blood beings.
After about 10 minutes of standing in the middle of the clearing, the Bigfoots backed up, and then disappeared behind the trees. Then we also left. I assumed that they would come soon, to retrieve the sandwiches that we left in the clearing for them. The shorter Bigfoot seemed younger to me. Initially, when they first arrived, the shorter one made a move as if he was going to come get the sandwiches. But the bigger, seemingly older Bigfoot made a grunting noise, at which point the younger Bigfoot stopped advancing towards the sandwiches. Then, as I said, they both just stood there looking at us. Their arms are long, so that their hands were at the level of their knees. They also had long legs, and really massive shoulders. When they backed up into the trees, Pop also got up, and touched my shoulder. Then we turned and left the way we came. On the way hiking to this clearing, we had avoided stepping on the Bigfoot footprints, but on the way back we weren't so careful, because we had no plaster of Paris with us, so we couldn’t make footprint-casts.
We had hiked in just to see the Bigfoot, so after riding our horses back to the horse trailer, we put them into the trailer and left the area.
Second Bigfoot Experience--
In October of 1994, I again hooked up with Pop Summerland. He asked me to help him, because he was taking a hunting party of six men to hunt elk up in the same forests of the Blue Mountains of Washington State. He was such a good hunting guide that he guaranteed that each paying hunter in the party would be able to shoot an elk! He asked me to help out; I was to look after the camp, do the cooking, and so forth. We all assembled together. There were six paying hunters. Pop provided everything except the guns and ammunition as part of his package deal. We pulled two, four-horse trailers-- for a total of 8 horses. When we arrived at the hunting area where the lean-to was located that I described before, at first, all of the hunters wanted to go off in two, 3-man parties, on horseback. The lean-to was about 15 feet long, and about 2 feet tall in the back. But by the time we had arrived there, the first day, there was no time to start hunting. So, the first night after our arrival, the men cleaned their guns and we cooked some grub. I also corralled the horses.
Elk Hunting, Day 1: On the first day of hunting, we left at 5:30 a.m.; all eight of us on foot, because if we took the horses, it would scare the elk we were hunting. This is what Pop said. As a guide, I went with three of the hunters, and Pop went separately with the other three men. Pop had made one dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That first day, out of the six hunters, three of the men shot one elk each, that day. I tell you Pop was really good; that’s why he guaranteed that each hunter would shoot an elk on the hunting trip! These three elk were not too big, but satisfactory. Out in the forest, we field-dressed them, (this involved de-gutting them, and so forth, and quartering them) and we hiked back to camp to get the horses to use them as pack horses, and loaded the meat and hides on the horses. Deep in the forest, Pop left 12 sandwiches on a log. When we returned that night, we cooked and ate some steaks from the elk. Elk meat is better than venison! The field-dressing of the elk was crude, just enough to get the game meat back to camp.