Bigfoot

So, Bigfoot. Is he real? Today we find out what we do know about this mysterious seven-foot Chewbacca. 

If you thought this legend was only where you live, you were wrong. It is all over the place under all kinds of names. Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Witigo, Wendigo, Rugaru......etc. He apparently has magical powers or is a messenger of warning, according to various Native American tribes. 1800 and 1900 settlers would find huge footprints and there are even some grainy photos of our hairy friend. The real question is this; is there any proof? Whole organizations study Bigfoot's legend. 

Our modern concept of Bigfoot can be traced to a news story in the Humboldt Times in 1958. A report of large footprints was run in the paper just because it might be a fun story. To Andrew Genzoli's surprise, the article had traction that continues even today. Writers picked it up and included it in novels and fiction. You can thank Genzoli for all those Bigfoot documentaries you watched while in quarantine. Bigfoot has been portrayed as both a monster and a misunderstood creature. 

Proof?

We all know that the hazy photos of a creature that could be Bigfoot are out there in droves. Editing is also cheap these days. Film and photo can both be edited to look like proof of Sasquatch. The film that claims to be proof, shot in 1967, is the Patterson-Gimlin film. It shows a creature on hindlegs going across a clearing, looking at the camera, and continuing on into the woods. The people who shot the film claim all of that was real and not faked. The footage also looks terrible in quality.

Tribal history in the United States seems to support the idea that he - or even she - does exist. While some love the creature and others don't, they still documented or told oral histories including our Bigfoot creature. Unfortunately, he is a scapegoat for strange happenings. While this can be dismissed by some, newspaper sections devoted to stories and sightings of bear-men, monkey-men, and wild-men can't quite be discounted. 

Fun story, if you take potshots at "ape creatures" they will fight back, or so a group of prospectors in 1924 claimed. At first, they said it was an attack, then admitted that they had shot at this group. Stories like these were generally regarded as unreliable because witnesses were a little bit odd to begin with. Whiskey can generate many grand hallucinations, so no one really knows what happened for real. Also, you have to understand that "Bigfoot" was a term for large, angry grizzly bears that were attacking people and eating farm animals. 1958 was when the term became what we know it to be. 

Science

If he or she exists - a big if, but bear with me - it is thought to be in the hominoid family and to have crossed the bearing strait and evolved all by itself. Grover Krantz, a scientist often ridiculed for his belief in Bigfoot, decided that his colleagues would not believe him and he would lose credibility unless he produced a body. Krantz was known to walk through the woods with a shotgun. This did not help his career. Others, after his death, picked up his mantel and we now have whole groups doing research, but not finding conclusive proof that can make it credible. Scientists say a primate may be undiscovered, but they can't truly say "I have proof". 

What makes it even harder to find evidence is the technology that has faked sightings and the pranks that have been pulled. The countless hoaxes are making it hard to prove he does exist, should he actually live and breathe on earth. It's like trying to find a shark, while ten divers with fins for every one shark swim in the water. You lose credibility with every mistake you make, too, so it is a bit of a losing battle. The amateur Bigfoot-researching kids that run around in the woods are not making it easy to find proof, should there be any. 

Pictures:

News 5 Channel

Outside Magazine

Stadri Emblems

Sources:

 https://mil.wa.gov/the-legend-of-bigfoot

https://www.history.com/news/bigfoot-legend-newspaper

https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a23622082/bigfoot-history/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-so-many-people-still-believe-in-bigfoot-180970045/