have there been any reports of bigfoot/sasquatch from colonial/pre colonial times? from french or british observers? i remember reading an account of a spanish expedition to a place called devils mountain in california sometime in the 1700s where they supposedly "did battle" with a hairy form that made "diving motions" or something to that effect......




does anyone have any accounts from the 1500s-1800???

I recall a story, probably from MonsterQuest, where a group had gone hunting and a BF entered their camp and busted things up a bit, killed a person or two and they shot it. The survivors left and didnt go back for bodies.



http://home.clara.net/rfthomas/cb/1818.html


State by State Sightings

Chronological List of Bigfoot Sightings 1818 - 1900

1818 - 1900 | 1901 - 1950 | 1951 - 1960 | 1961 - 1964 | 1965 - 1967
1968 - 1969 | 1970 - 1972 | 1973 - 1975 | 1976 - 1977 | 1978 - 1980

Date Location Witness Incident


Early 1800s Mt Katahdin area, ME Trapper named Cluey Saw Bigfoot near camp at night, and again next day; possibly fictional.

6 Sept. 1818 Ellisburgh, NY 'Gentleman' Saw hairy 'animal' which ran away.

c.1834 St Francis, Poinsett & Greene Counties, AR Sportsmen & hunters 'Wild man' seen over many years.

1830s Bridgewater, PA Man picking berries Small Bigfoot ran off when chased.

Summer 1838 Silver Lake Township, PA 16-year-old boy Frightened by seeing small black-haired Bigfoot.

Late 1830s Around Fish Lake, IN - 'Wild child' seen near and swimming in lake.

13 May 1849 S-W of Eagle (later Eagletown), OK One-Eye Bascomb Hunter-trapper saw 'strange critter' in swamps; description fits Bigfoot.

c.1850 Mt St Helens, WA Rocque Ducheney Bigfoot beckoned to witness, who turned and ran.

Mar. 1851 Greene County, AR Mr. Hamilton Gigantic 'wild man' pursued cattle.

2 Jan. 1855 Waldoboro', ME J.W. McHenri 18-in hairy manlike creature captured.

1856 AR-LA border - 'Wild man' dragged man from horse and bit and scratched him before riding off on horse.

1850s Mt Shasta area, CA Gold prospector Saw Bigfoot smash sluiceway against tree.

Mid-19th century Nr Wisdom River in the Bitterroot Mtns, ID-MT border Hunter named Bauman Something, thought from footprints to be Bigfoot, haunted hunters' camp and eventually killed one.

1864 Fraser River canyon, BC Alexander Caulfield Anderson Fur trader and party attacked by 'hairy humanoids' which threw rocks at them.

After 1865 Saline County, AR - 7-ft 'wild man' captured.

Sept. 1869 Area of East Davenport & Gilbert, IA Huntsman Saw ugly, sandy-haired 'wild boy' eating fish in river.

Autumn 1869 Orestimba Creek area, CA Hunter Watched Bigfoot swinging lighted sticks from his fire.

1860s Northern NV A large party Pursuers saw 'the object' carrying a club and a rabbit; bloodhounds refused to chase.

1860s Arcadia Valley, Crawford County, KS Many 'Wild man or animal' seen around houses; unsuccessfully.

Sept. 1870 Orias Timbers (Orestimba) Creek, CA F.J. Hildreth & Samuel de Groot Two hunters saw 'gorillas'.

1870 Crow Canyon nr Mt Diablo, CA - 'Wild man' seen but evaded capture; 13-in tracks.

1871 Harrison River area of BC Amerindian woman Kidnapped by Bigfoot.

Feb. 1876 10 miles E of Warner's Ranch, CA Turner Helm Prospector saw and spoke to Bigfoot, which did not reply.

1878 TN - 'Wild Man of the Woods' reportedly captured; 6 ft 5 in tall, large eyes, 'fish scales' on the body. Exhibited in Louisville, KY.

Oct. 1879 Nr Williamstown, VT Two young huntsmen Red-haired Bigfoot chased witnesses after being shot at.

Early 1880s Nr Happy Camp, Siskiyou County, CA Jack Dover Hunter saw 7-ft 'wild man' picking berries or shoots.

1882 Owens Valley, CA Several, including John Clarke, Paul Myrtengreen & Jack Ferral Many reports of large, shaggy beast roaming the foothills of Round Valley. Clarke came upon it asleep and tried to lasso
it, but it ran off yelling. Myrtengreen fainted when he saw it coming towards him. Ferral hunted it and on 25 March came upon it feeding. He fired five bullets into it, but it came for him. His horse broke two legs in its mad escape and Ferral was bruised.

June or July 1884 20 miles from Yale, BC - Hairy 'half man, half beast', nicknamed Jacko, 4 ft 7 in tall and weighing 127 lb, captured.

1885 Cascade Mtns nr Lebanon, OR Mr. Fitzgerald & others Hunters saw hairy 'man' eating deer flesh.

c.1880s Horseshoe Bend area of Bear Creek, AL Jade Davis Fisherman watched by Bigfoot which jumped into creek when noticed.

Oct. 1891 Nr the Tittabawassee River, MI George W. Frost & W.W. Vivian 7-ft Bigfoot killed bulldog with one blow.

1892 Anaconda, MT 'a wild-eyed individual' Saw hairy 'varmint' in the mountains.

Autumn 1893 Rockaway Beach, Long Island, NY Several, including 'Red' McDowell & George Farrell Large 'wild man' frightened local people.

Jan. 1894 Nr Dover, NJ Bertha Heatig, Lizzie Guscott, Katie Griffin, Mike Dean, Bill Dean, William Mullen & others Bearded 6-ft 'wild man' with club seen in woods.

May 1894 Deep Creek, KY Jack Agee, Joseph Ewalt, Eph Boston, Tom Boston, James Boston Man-beast which raided farms was tracked to cave.

Aug 1895 Colebrook, CT Riley W. Smith Bigfoot ran out of bushes, yelling as witness picked berries.

Aug. 1895 Delamere County, NY Peter Thomas 'Wild man' seized traveller's horse, killed it and dragged it away.

Late April 1897 Nr Sailor, IN Adam Gardner & Ed Swinehart Two farmers saw Bigfoot run into woods.

Late April 1897 Nr Stout, OH Several 'Wild man' seen in woods on several occasions.

26 May 1897 Nr Rome, OH Charles Lukins & Bob Forner Struggled with curly-haired Bigfoot which escaped.

Summer 1897 Nr Tulelake, CA An Indian Bigfoot took fish offered by witness.

1899 Headwaters of South Sixes River, OR Prospectors named Robbins & Benson Saw 6½-ft, yellow-furred 'devil' push camp gear off cliff; ran away when shot at.

Late 1800s Nr Moncton, New Brunswick - 'Squatty, hair-covered creature with long arms' seen on edge of woods several times.

1900 E of Thomas Bay, AK 3 prospectors Hairy creatures, 'neither men nor monkeys,' smaller than men, seen.

1900 Sixes River area, OR William Page & Johnnie McCulloch Miners saw 9-ft hairy 'animal-man' drinking at stream.

c.1900 Kildeer Mtns, ND People in sleigh Saw large gorilla-like animal which first ran towards them, then ran off through snow leaving huge manlike tracks.


Data from "Chronological List of Bigfoot Sightings (1818-1980)",

The Bigfoot Casebook (Janet & Colin Bord, 1982, New York: Granada Publishing)

There is an article from the 1700's (very early 1800's? I think it was earlier than that though) about a wild man sighting by a couple men in Vermont--I can't locate it just now. If I remember correctly, what they described was a man-like beast with hair all over that they observed at decently close range. It didn't seem like a hyped story--nothing extraordinary, besides the beast itself--so it's always seemed somewhat believable to me.

I have an old file with old accounts. I imagine you can find online sources, but I don't have them at hand.

Assuming there are BF and have been for centuries, I'd think, lacking current technology, communications (esp previously to the printing press and newspapers) and considering the harsh difficulties of day-to-day survival that we take for granted, any seen would be very unlikely to be logged by those in the frontier. They had too many other concerns and priorities. Even if poorer rugged pioneers had paper and something to write with in those days in rural areas, I doubt many would do any more than just mention the event to others, if anyone at all, and with no records, most encounters experienced wouldn't endure for long. They'd die with the witness and the few he/she may have told.
This makes sense to me as to why there appear to be many more encounters in the last century or so. These few "antiques" that have eventually been divulged, if true, likely represent who-knows-how-manyfold more for each one discovered.

Well said.

My stepfathers family lived in southern MO. In the hills. They have a tale about my grandparents seeing huge red eyes peering at them over the tops of a row of grapevines one night. This would have to make the owner of the eyes at least 8' tall. There was also a history of vocalizations across the "holler" where the road was carved out between two steep hills that peaked about 1\2 mile apart. When I was young I visited there. On the property where they lived the uphill grade was not too steep, and went from farmland to woodlands in the distance of some 40 acres. Across the road was very thick, very steep and you just didnt go over there for any reason.

They didnt have a camera, they just saw and heard it and handed down the stories.


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hey everyone gm this is definetly a very informative new thread about bigfoot. thanks bill

Here's one from 1782. There weren't that many newspapers that have survived for them to be digitized, at least what I've found online. I'm sure there are MANY more local stories out there trapped in the world of microfiche.

http://www.bigfootforums.com/index.php?showtopic=5705

tirademan

(not sure if this was the VT story you're referring to)

I have often wondered about sightings in the 1860-1865 period. I have not been able to find any, but I would think that had to been a few.

In haste: threads "North vs South or West vs East" (General Discussion, last post 13th Oct. 2007); and "Civil War BF reports" (Sightings & Encounters, last post 27th Oct. 2007). The seemingly most impressive bit of content in these: alleged encounters with "something" which would seem to fit the BF bill, before and after the battle of Chickamauga.

Some of Daniel Boone's historical accounts mention a "Yahoo'. A hunter supposedly spent a winter with a female one back in the mid-1700's. )(However D Boone did hava a copy of Gullivers Travels with him).

I know that they called it the Woolie Booger in the south. There were a lot of them stories on the internet a few years ago, but I can not find them now.

I agree that most older stories on BF are simply handed down orally. As recently as my grandparents, there were no fancy technological gadgets such as GPS and video cameras. Strange occurences were told from generation to generation and I heard a lot of strange stories, including ghost stories when I was a kid. My grandparents were simple farmers who didn't even get indoor plumbing until the early 1960s, so a widely accepted form of entertainment was to tell stories. I have heard of some tales that would probably qualify as a BF story, but after being told for many years, being stretched out
quite a bit, and after the effects of some corn liquor, I see them mainly as entertainment. I will add that I do believe that there are grains of truth that gave rise to these stories, therefore, there are parts of the woods near our old home place that I will not venture by myself, regardless of day or night.

Ooh, ooh...details, details!!!

Thanks! I had forgotten about the threads mentioned.


By the way, the correct name for the conflict is either War For Southern Independence or War Of Northern Aggression.

If you believe they exist, then you must assume the were around in colonial America and well before. Since colonial America was pretty much restricted to the east coast, an argument can be made that they may not have been as numerous as the west coast. Assuming they came from asia, across the land bridge -- a relative or off shoot of
Gigantipithicus.

Mojo....

We also have several early colonial reports of Yowie sightings here in Australia.

An article from the Brisbane Courier 1886

"A report has been recieved at Albury from the Victorian Upper Murray that a wild man, perfectly nude, and covered with long hair, has been seen in the ranges near Koetong. A search party, in company with mounted troopers, is searching the locality"

Reported in The Argus Oct 25 1849, a party allegedly fired at a large creature that was "in appearance half man-half baboon"

Many more have been reported in the Book "The Yowie, in search of Australia's Bigfoot"

So as time went on from 1600 or so BF learned quickly to stay away from the "new predator" in the woods. Now some 400 years later he's so good at it people think he can shape shift or summon UFO's. If he is real and walking in the woods today there then had to be a breeding population here 400 years ago.

This could be a fascinating subject for discussion particularly if it helped to clarify our ideas of just what the actual ecological condition of "colonial america"was back then. I doubt it was anything much like how most people imagine it to have been.
I'm sure many of us have watched the recent science channel program about what it would be like if people left the earth all of a sudden. Consider that following the initial contact with Europeans, something very similar did in fact happen in the Americas as epidemic after epidemic swept entire cultures away leaving the forest uninhabited for decades and longer. The earliest first hand accounts of what we call New England and DeSoto's chronicle of his expedition from Florida through Georgia, Tennessee to Texas in 1539 reveal a hugely different landscape than the one described by Audubon 250 years later. The popular and common notion that before Europeans arrived the eastern forests were wild and mostly vacant fit well with our concepts of manifest destiny, as if Native Americans were just another kind of wild-life, in balance with the ecosystem but archaelogy has not stood still since those early concepts were integrated into our nation's foundational myth, and what science is revealing is pretty amazing.
I'd recommend anyone to read Charles C. Mann's book "1491".
If what modern archaeology is saying is even close to the truth, it suggests that right now the forests of the east are in the process of reverting to natural states not seen in a long long time as more and more people leave the little towns and villages that used to exist in the forests and moving to population centers. Wildlife is no longer hunted commercially and populations of once vanishing species, like canadian and snow geese, are back. Whitetail deep populations are expanding...and following them will be the predators...and one day the chestnut trees might be able to re-establish their remarkable position in their old range.
To quote Luck Jack Aubrey from Master and Commander, "What fascinating modern times we live in".