A Possible Bigfoot Capture in Mexico?

I came across an article in the 23 Jan. 1907 issue of the Telegraph-Republican newspaper titled “Hairy Wild Man Is Captured in Mexico. As usual, I am immediately drawn to all stories about wild men, and in reading through it, found a few morsels that suggest this may have been another encounter with what we call a Bigfoot today.

A couple of points that I want to draw attention to in this piece is the suggestion that it may have been a human gone demented for one, and the location of his capture in Mexico for two. Frequently we will hear stories of wild men that turn out to be simply men who had gone wild in response to some catastrophic event, usually the rejection of some women. However, there are some where these stories cannot be corroborated, and the details of these stories compel me to give great consideration that the events may actually be depicting encounters with that race of people we call Bigfoot today.

This one in particular suggests the being had no language, at raw food, utilized no fire, and was covered with long shaggy hair, superseding the need for covering of any kind. Many of the wild men caught in the past had at least some kind of covering, if not against the weather, then for modesty’s sake. These stories I place in the pile of wild human class encounters.

The other interesting this is the location of capture, which was in the state of San Luis Potosi, which is located in south central Mexico. An area of little renown, poor in value as well as culture, I find it interesting in that this area is just a few hundred miles from the state of Sinaloa, which is where the famous Julia Pastrana was discovered. Ms Pastrana was exhibited in Europe as a wild woman exhibit. She too was covered in hair. There are some  other details, but we will look at that story some other time.

The point of the potential connection is that this wild man may well have been related to Pastrana. A few hundred miles was a long distance in the 1800’s, but it is still possible for related families to be separated by such a distance as people moved to find a better life elsewhere. Ms Pastrana was found as a slave at a moderate Mexican farm, and her actual parentage was unknown. Supposedly, as the story goes, she was found wandering in the desert by her owners.

However, as usual, I will simply share the story here and let you come to your own conclusion in the truth of this story of the maybe Mexico Bigfoot encounter.

HAIRY WILD MAN IS CAPTURED IN MEXICO

Eats Only Raw Meat and VegetablesAnd Possesses Low Order Of Intelligence.

San Antonio, Tex.^__ A wild man, such as has not been seen before, has recently been captured in Mexico.  A miner who recently arrived from Xilitla, a small village in the southern part of the state of San Luis Potosi, tells of the capture alive of a most remarkable creature.
   The wild man is now detained in Husteen, and will be transferred to some museum if his life is preserved. He is about six feet tall, vigorous, covered with long hair, and has blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. He eats raw meat and uncooked vegetables, but will not touch cooked food. He has no apparent language, but seems to possess intelligence above that of dumb brutes.
   Travelers in the remote mountains of El Apio a month ago saw the wild man and gave chase on horseback. The creature was run to earth in a natural cave in a hillside. There he was overpowered only after a fierce fight.
   There was no furniture in the cave nor any appearance of there ever having been a fire. Bones and portions of roots and fruits were scattered about the place, which presented the appearance of having been inhabited by the wild man for many months.
   There was a fragment of calico in the cave, which may have been a part of a garment. The wild man wore no clothing at all, being well covered with shaggy hair.
  After the people of the valley below were informed of the capture, they related the disappearance of a young woman from the settlement a year ago. Some of the captors thought there might be some connection between the rag found in the cave and the disappearance  referred to.
   Some persons advance the theory that the Wildman is really a human being, who has become demented, and from long exposure and rough living reverted to animal methods, even to the long hair.
   No signs can be found of any other specimen of the sort, although there is considerable unexplored territory that might cover a few more of his kind without discovery.

On The Bigfoot Trail

Let's face the facts here, Bigfooters bear the brunt of much humor from the world today. But there is good reason for that. A large part of that reason is because we run away from the "scientific" aspect of this field of interest. Because we (at large) refuse to accept the procedural demands of the scientific community, our discoveries and theories rest within the world of fantasy and science fiction.

If we are to change the perception we have created of ourselves we need to learn a few things about the realities behind scientific research. One of those realities is that there actually is a difference between a fact and supposition. What is a fact? A fact is something that can be demonstrated, and repeated with the same results. Supposition is an idea, and while it may be a valid idea, it is not supported by fact.

Most of what we see and hear about the world of Bigfoot research is mere supposition. There are a lot of theories thrown about as fact, but there is no supporting evidence to support and prove these theories. Therefore, when we present these unsupported claims as fact, the scientific community simply chuckles at us and carries on with their own work of trying to find facts that support the suppositions they wish to present as fact.

An observation here is that more often than not, belief in unsupported suppositions presented as fact is equated with religious belief. This is a correct observation. Belief in something that cannot be proven by empirical evidence is supported by faith, and faith alone. But it is unfortunate that so many people take belief in unsupported theories and accept them as fact.

Take the issues between the creationist and evolutionist belief systems. Neither one is necessarily supported by what we call empirical evidence, but many consider creationism an unsupported belief, and evolution as a fact. This of course is not true, and can be demonstrated by the "fact" that evolutionism is actually supported not by empirical evidence, but pure supposition. Evolutionists claim that we descended from the apes, or with the apes or many other sub-ideas that try to prove that humans evolved from a lower form of life, but where is the proof of that claim?

There really is no demonstrable proof aside from suggestive manipulation of the fossil record. No one saw mankind develop from a lessor form of creature, and so the claim is unable to be demonstrable. No one can demonstrate the claim by showing that it can be repeated with the same results. Belief in evolution is a faith, not a scientific fact. A demonstrable fact is that, for example, if you tip a glass full of water over ten times, the water will respond to gravity by falling to the floor. Gravity is a fact.

And so, to get to the point of todays video, if we want to begin the transition of Bigfoot research from a fantasy game to a realistic research endeavor, we need to start following the regimen that scientists cling to. We need to learn to support our claims with demonstrable and repeatable evidence.

On the Bigfoot Trail shares some evidence that suggests that maybe there is some reality behind these assemblages of trees and such that we call Bigfoot stick structure and sign. I have observed in three separate locations repeated structure forms that, when plotted on a map, indicate that these structure could very well serve to act as trail markers. A sort of Bigfoot road sign.

The se structures include V shapes, bends, teepees and II type structures. In the example I share here, a bend signals the start of a trail diversion. If we were to walk in a straight line from this tree bend, we come to a V shaped structure made by two trees being pushed over and propped by other trees.

Continuing on in a straight line from that V, we come to a three legged teepee structure. Two legs are close together, the third extends further out, sort of like an extend arrow if viewed from above. By diverting from the straight line at the same angle as this single leg is propped at, you can go in a straight line to a second V shaped structure. The one in this video was destroyed over the winter by storms, but you can see it by going back to some of my earlier research videos.

By going straight through this V, you come to a natural growth where two trees grow close together to look like this II, or a sort of door frame. These two trees grow on the edge of a steep stream bank. Across the streambed, which has little water in it but is always quite muddy, lies a log anchored in place by sticks. You can scramble down the bank, and walk along the log to the opposite bank without leaving footprints in the mud. The trail clearly continues on from that point.

There is more in the video, but the bottom line here is that by following this trail instead of the well worn and groomed trail in a public area, one can avoid being seen from a ridgeline in plain sight of the highway and some houses, as well as avoiding having to jump across a cut through a bank that is some thirty or so feet across. This cut is more canyon like and cannot be navigated without leaving clear evidence of having been there.

This still does not provide valid proof of Bigfoot, so I present this as a mere supposition. This could be just a random sequence of events, but what I find most intriguing about this supposition is that I have also seen structure laid out in similar fashion in two other locations. Enjoy the video and keep on Squatching!

A Pennsylvania Bigfoot Encounter?

My research into the phenomenon we call Bigfoot today has brought to light a good many stories and articles of what used to be called :wild men." Most of these occasions were most likely simply human beings living apart from normal society, but every now and again I come across a story where the description  isn't so clear as to what it was, and then there are some that plainly do not fit the normal human description.

One such story comes from the Carroll Herald newspaper of June 16, 1909. Bylined from Westfield PA, on the 11th of that same month, it describes an encounter two men had with a rather peculiar beast at a woodlot on the property belonging to one of the men.

Charles Decker, the property owner, and another man named Horace Mays came within about thirty rods, or about 500 feet from the creature. According to the story, the two men at first thought the creature was bear, but the identification was discarded as the creature raised it arms to a limb on a tree, and pulled itself up into it. A few minutes later, the beast lowered itself from the tree and walked off on two legs, just like a human would.

Waiting a short while to make sure the beast was gone, the two men went over to the tree, and found large footprints that resembles a bears track. The earth was soft, so there was no trouble reading the spoor, especially since the men would be familiar with the animals of the area.

While the men were not certain as to what it was they saw, local opinion was that it may have been a gorilla. However, there are some problems with this assumption in that there were no records of any escaped menagerie animals of the ape sort. The usual wrecked circus train excuse was offered, but there were no validated reports of any circus train wrecks in the area.

This leaves us with supposition in the matter, but I would say that considering the men's report, it is quite probable that this was another historic Bigfoot encounter. But that's just my opinion. Remember, we cannot go back in time and interview these men so we are left with simply the newspaper article with which to study.

What do you think?

Until next time on Bigfoot Tales, thanks for the visit and happy Squatching!

LIfe Cycle of the Bigfoot Legend

Does Bigfoot Exist?

First posted on my Wordpress blog on March 5, 2014          

Recently, there has been an uptick in the numbers of people calling foul play in the greater Bigfoot community. Why is that, some of us tend to wonder. Then there’s other folks who really don’t give a rat’s ass about it, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their stage time. And there in a nutshell is the biggest impediment to finding the answer to the question of whether there really is a creature we call Bigfoot. Stage time.

For those of you who have been following me for a while, and actually paying attention, my interest in the Bigfoot phenomenon extends to the folklore behind this so-called urban myth, not just to the modern day vagueness of the current slew of reported sightings and encounters. In my book Sasquatch; searching for the answer, I delve into the chronology of some of the phenomenon that have dotted the folklore of many nations since the beginning of written history, with special emphasis on the sea serpents bracing the early to mid nineteenth century literature. It turns out that Maine in particular, or to be more precise, Casco Bay, has quite a little history of that particular creature.

My findings of the time period mentioned is that the phenomenon of the sea serpent has much the same chronological history of the Bigfoot phenomenon we are enjoying today. in short, the life cycle of the creature ebbed and flowed in much the same way as the life cycle of this current crypto-zoological  entity seems to be ebbing and flowing today. Stories of monsters an mysteries have always been present through the ages, and many of these stories keep resurfacing every so often with surprising regularity, and their life cycle follows the same pattern, century after century.
In short, the chronological histories of these creatures goes like this:

• A myth, legend, or fairy tale from a prior generation is revived, often by someone claiming to see the creature.
• The story is laughed at, and the believers are ridiculed.
• Other people show an interest, and the numbers of people involved in this creatures study or research increase.
• The believers move from the category of being lunatic fringe to “maybe there is something there.”
• Some people see the trend and decide to take advantage of an opportunity to gain easy money and reputation.
• The belief that this creatures existence becomes more widespread, involving a much wider audience.
• Aficionados and sideline believers become more intensely involved with searching for the answer, and subsequently divide into groups or categories of varied levels of belief or acceptance of the creature. These categories range from the outright skeptic to the adoring believers with an almost religious fascination to the creatures existence.
• The scientific community becomes involved, and disputes arise over the facts of this creatures existence.
• Further splits arise amongst those following the creature, resulting in diametrically opposed factions, one side only interested in empirical evidence, the other insisting they have presented the evidence but nobody believes them.
• Interest begins to wane, and the people interested in earning  the fame and fortune of this creature opportunity formulate new ways of stirring up interest.
• It finally dawns on most of the believers that there really is nothing to see here and move on to another interest, usually a different mythology.
• Interest simmers, kept barely alive by a faithful few until another generation comes along and renews the cycle of the mythological creature in its many forms.

Bigfoot is not a new phenomenon. We are now in the waning stages of this current generations interest of what we call Bigfoot. Prior to this, in the early 1900′s, there was the commotion over what were called “ape-men.” In the mid 1800′s there was a flurry of activity over the “wild-man of the woods.” Before that it was the “wild-man of the mountains.”

Even before that, there were other names and vague descriptions, but in the end, we have always come to the same conclusion that this mythological creature walks like a man on two feet, is covered with hair, cannot speak as we do, hides in the darkness of the forest, and sometimes is even a cannibal. For thousands of years there has always been, as Linnaeus called him, a Sylvestri hominie, or wild-man.

So, to get back to the question, does Bigfoot exist, I believe I can say with absolute certainty that yes indeed, Bigfoot does exist. Do I have proof? Not one shred, but that doesn’t really matter in the long run, because like religion, existence of this creature depends more upon faith than it does facts. There is something out there in the dark forests of the world that leaves tracks, drops piles of scat, cries in the night and creates lovely artwork with interwoven piles of sticks.

Most of the time, we can easily find an alternate attribution to the reasons these things exist, but every now and then, we come across something that makes us truly ponder the possibilities. Bigfoot does indeed exist, even if it is only in the resources of our mind, and it exists for very simple reasons.
For one thing, throughout the ages mankind has always had something to fear. There are lots of things for us to fear, but for the most part, what we fear most is the unseen. The forms that lurk in the shadows of our mind. And because we haven’t the courage to confront those shadows, we also need a hero to battle those fears. Every so often, we come across a mythology that accomplishes these two things all at once.

The wild-man of the woods, Bigfoot as we call him today, is indeed a creature that lurks in the forests of our minds, and at the same time becomes the hero we need to overcome those fears of the unknown.

Happy Squatching!

The Butte Bigfoot Exhibition

While I have titled this a Bigfoot exhibition, it was back then labeled as a "wild man" exhibition, as the term "Bigfoot" did not exist until the late 1950's time frame. Nor was it referred to as a wild ape or monkey display as at the time, the trend to label these wild men as ape-like creature still had not gained momentum. It really wasn't until Fred Becks encounter with the wild men in 1924 that the reference to the simian world took hold.

For thousands of years, wild men were always simply that; wild men. For the most part they were covered in hair, wore no clothing, and lived beyond the grip of normal society, mostly hidden in the backwoods and jungles of the world. So, when we are researching the history of this phenomenon, we are required to forget the monstorized version of this creature and look for other names. This is where research gets tricky. Mostly because not all wild men were of the sort we call Bigfoot today. And even then, the ones that do come close to a Bigfoot description were still not of the common monster(by today's terms) variety.

I'm really not certain as to the exact time frame that Bigfoot developed into the monster we consider him to be today, only that it seems to have followed the popular entertainment trends over the last 100 years or so. As the literature and theatrical presentations of this creature became more and more garish, more beastly and evil, our perception of what this creature is has likewise changed. The end result has been, of course, that instead of looking for what was once simply a wild man of the woods, we are now looking for a monstrous beast that can be over a dozen feet tall, and possesses magical abilities.

We'll continue with that thought in another blog post, but today I want to share the story of this exhibition that took place in Butte Montana back in 1895. It is an interesting story, and turns out to be true, although not quite as exciting as originally presented in the first reference I read regarding this creature.

The story, from an autobiography by James Wardner, of Wardner Idaho fame describes the exhibited subject thusly:

This creature was short, well built, and his body was covered with hair of the length and shade of a black bear's. The hair of his head was in clusters and mats as big as your hand, lying plastered on his head and dangling on his neck...he had eyebrows fully four inches long, sticking nearly straight out, behind which glistened as bright a pair of round, quick, glittering brown eyes as were ever seen in ape or chimpanzee.

 

 

Certainly sounds like it fits the Bigfoot bill, although the height was a little lacking. But maybe it was a younger Bigfoot, not fully all grown up? Was this story a hoax, was it a real Bigfoot, was it just a wild man? Follow along on the video and find the answers as Bigfoot Tales shares the story of the Butte Bigfoot Exhibition...