 Mt. Saint Helens Bone Pile A Conversation with Mitchel TownsendMitchel Townsend is a pioneer in the Sasquatch research field. In 2017, he published his book Bigfoot is Solved, Hybrid Hominin: Scientifically Proving the Existance of Bigfoot with Forensic Dental Impression Research, where he documented the research undertaken on the recovered forensic dental impression evidence of Sasquatch. Mitchel isn’t someone you would typically think of as a scientific researcher, his background is a combination of study in the areas of education, leadership and psychology. He’s got a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and was completing a doctoral degree. His interest in Sasquatch started out as a kid when he had an overwhelming feeling of fear while out in the woods. Since adulthood, he’s had what he describes as “unexplained occurrences” around a place called Deadman’s Lake and became interested in seeing what he could contribute to the community. Sasquatch as a ScienceSasquatch is a controversial scientific field (touted as non-scientific by many) but when Mitchel starts to conduct research, he thinks it’s important to take yourself out of the science to create an objective landscape. Writing a scientific paper on a subject related to Sasquatch is quite the feat, but Mitchel was determined to publish the studies of his findings in a way that the scientific community would understand. So, he set out to do just that. Coming from a background in institutional research, Mitchel designed a framework to analyze the existence of Sasquatch in a scientific way. After familiarizing himself with what already existed in the field—though admittedly, scientific forensic dental impression research is a new field—then build off that. Mitchel believes that one of the big reasons that the study into Sasquatch has not gone that far is because there’s a discord between the researchers and the mainstream scientific community. He says that the only real way to get the scientific community to take research into the existence of Sasquatch seriously is by “going to their house, using their rules and their language.” At the time of his interview with Chuck, Mitchel’s paper was still going through the peer review process—a process that each new scientific paper has to go through before it’s published.
Hearing More About Mitchel’s ResearchMitchel’s academic journey into the world of Sasquatch goes beyond simply what he wrote his paper, he’s actually taught three different college-level classes on the cryptid. With titles like CSI: Sasquatch and Bigfoot Solved, it’s a wonder why more college graduates are not more well-versed in Sasquatch. Mitchel joined Chuck on the Sasquatch Syndicate podcast to share tales of his academic pursuits and research. Grab yourself something to drink (you can use our Sasquatch bottle opener to assist you) and tune in to Chuck’s conversation with Mitchel in the Holiday Special 2017 - Mitchel Townsend episode. Take a listen to the episode and let us know what you think in the comments below! BELIEVE By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.
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 Snakes seem to be a food source The Serpent KingRoy is a small town in Pierce County, Washington. A half hour away from Tacoma on the 507, you’ll find it nestled in dense forests, surrounded by feeder creeks and muck lake. It’s current population sits at just over 800, but at the time when Dawayne and his family were frequenting the area, it would have been smaller, circa 400. Now, Dawayne never lived in Roy himself, he’s from Kent. But in the mid-70s when he was just a kid, he often visited a friend that moved to the area. On one such occasion, Dawayne came face to face with what he can only describe as Sasquatch. Spotting a SasquatchDawayne’s friend wasn’t home when he arrived with his mom, so he wandered to the end of the drive where there was a pond. While he was playing in the pond a snake swam up to him. A few moments later there was a splash and a second snake came slithering through the water. Another few moments, a splash, then another slithering creature. Being a boy of eight or nine, Dawayne was ecstatic. He ran back to the house to retrieve a can from his mom so he could catch them. It wasn’t that long later when his friend arrived home. Dawayne’s can was full and the two poked around a bit before dumping the snakes out and wandering off. It was that night when Dawayne and his friend were running out the back door and down the stairs of the deck, out of the corner of his eye he caught a quick glimpse of two red lights a distance away by the creek. Up and down the stairs again, and out of the corner his eyes the red lights were back. Dawayne stopped, pausing to look at the red lights. They appeared to be swaying slightly in the dark night, resting by a tree across the creek about 100 feet away from him. He could hear a low rumble coming from the direction of the lights and Dawayne started to wander towards the fence. Moment’s later his friend joined him. He wanted to know what he was looking at. As the two boys wandered within 50 feet of the creature in the distance and their eyes adjusted to the light, they could make out the outline of a larger creature with glowing red eyes. Was it a bear or a cow? No, his friend assured him. It couldn’t be. One more loud rumble from the creature was all it took for Dawayne’s friend to bolt towards the house. While he wasn’t scared before, as soon as his buddy took off he followed shortly after. They ran through the house trying to get someone to listen to them. There was something in the yard. But no one was interested in their shenanigans. Sent back out to the deck, the boys were met with two frightened horses that typically wandered the acre behind the house up on the deck, cowering against the house. But the creature itself was gone. And the boys were left with nothing but what he describes as a thick wall of something you’d smell at a dump that dissipated moments later. Looking backDawayne thinks back on that day, wondering about those snakes. Why were there so many? Why were they splashing into the water? He wonders to himself if snakes are a delicacy to the Sasquatch. Was his new smelly friend trying to hand him a snack? He keeps going back to that moment and wondering what it was all about. But you know what I do know about snakes? They often retreat to the water when they’re frightened because they’re excellent swimmers. Dawayne’s story is compelling to say the least and you can listen to it in his own words on the podcast: The Serpent King BELIEVE
By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  The Legend of Boggy Creek A Monster of a Tale: The Legend of Boggy CreekThe recently remastered 1972 tale, The Legend of Boggy Creek hit the ‘net last year and I thought I’d take a little look-see and what the buzz was all about. One-part creature feature, one-part docudrama, this film tells the story of the Fouke Monster, a creature of Arkansas folklore that largely resembles Sasquatch. But this is not a horror film, it’s a retelling of a local legend. What is a docudrama?Before you rush out to watch The Legend of Boggy Creek, I think it’s important to fully grasp what a docudrama is. This film is quick to point out that it’s a true story, and as with all docudramas, an element of that holds up. But that’s not the case entirely. By definition, docudrama films are a “dramatic reconstruction of a real event or person” (HuffPost). Their goal is to retell the story of a character place or event as close to the real thing as possible. But there's a catch. Docudramas are fictionalized reconstructions of real events. That means that there is still a cast and crew, a script and, most importantly, creative license taken by the filmmakers. The Fouke Monster of ArkansasFouke, located in Miller County in the southwest corner of Arkansas, is a town of almost 900 people today, but in the 1970s it would have been closer to a population of less than 600. A quintessential county-looking town, Fouke features forested bogs and a fairly flat landscape. This quaint little town was thrust into the spotlight in the 1970s when The Legend of Boggy Creek was originally released. Detailing the existence of the hairy, ape-like creature called the Fouke Monster, a true local legend. The Fouke Arkansas Monster was a local legend before the film was released in 1972. Similar to Sasquatch, sightings of this creature date back to the 1940s and it’s said to be seven feet tall with three-toed feet, smelly and covered in reddish-brown hair. At one point there was even a $10,000 reward for Fouke Monster photos. But with the filming of The Legend of Boggy Creek movie in full swing in the early ‘70s, sightings of the local creature increased. It started when a local farmer found footprints that were too large to be from a human on the edge of his soybean farm in June of 1971. Then there was a car full of residents that saw the elusive creature run across the highway in front of them. A hunter that spotted it while she was out looking for deer. And a local resident even said he moved his family into the safety of town after a particularly terrifying encounter. The Legend of Boggy Creek features staged interviews and reenactments of some of the older residents of the Fouke area and their encounters with the Sasquatch-like creature. Including the story of the monster picking up a local farmer’s 200 lbs hog and carting him off. But in 1986, years after the ‘70s hype of the Fouke Monster was at its height, a story by AP was printed that surmised the whole thing was a hoax. Sightings have been down in years, with the local police sharing that they no longer keep a file on the creature. Even Former Fouke Mayor James D. Larey said that he didn’t think anyone actually believed the creature ever existed. And while he suspected that the tracks were faked, he thought it was neat that the story brought so much interest to the small town. Checking out the FilmBefore you kick your heels up and turn on the film, you might want to crack a beer because you’re going to be in for a long run (did I mention you can use our super fashionable bottle opener to do so). While the story behind the picture is interesting, the film itself features long, drawn-out landscape scenes (there’s over five minutes of music and nature shots before the story even begins). And, if I’m being completely honest, it’s kind of like watching 90 minutes of Unsolved Mysteries reenactments. I can say safely that I’m not putting The Legend of Boggy Creek in my top 10 favorite films, but I would definitely watch a full-blown creature-feature horror on the Fouke Arkansas Boggy Creek Monster. Visit Boggy CreekWant to see more, join our All Access area as Chuck visits Fouke Arkansas and Monster Mart and follows up the adventure with the November 2017 Podcast with Lyle Blackburn.
BELIEVE By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate, Inc.  Frazier Valley Area is Beautiful Sasquatch SightingsCanada is no stranger to Sasquatch sightings, especially in the western province of British Columbia which is covered in beautiful mountains and picturesque lakes. But the highest concentration of Sasquatch sightings in the province happens to be in the Fraser Valley Area. The Frazier Valley consists of a Valley between Hope and Chillawack in British Columbia and is about a 3.5 Hour Drive from Seattle, WA and 2 hours from Vancouver, BC. The Fraser Valley Area varies in definition depending on where you’re from. Locals from BC refer to it as the area along the Fraser River downstream from the southwestern town of Hope. But those not from the area often speak of the entire basin including Fraser Canyon. For the purposes of this post though, let’s hangout with the locals. Frazier Valley 1930'sSightings of Sasquatch in this area are said to date back over 200 years. But if you ask indigenous tribes, you’re likely to hear about stories of these creatures passed down from ancestors long gone. An article said to be from July 29, 1934, speaks of the Sasquatch being a “tribal legend among the Chehalis Indians and those of the Skwah Reservation” that have been carried down by “oral recording covering three generations.” While this article is a bit hard to read, it shares that members of the Chehalis tribes “have seen in the springtime every fourth year the light of a great fire on one of the highest peaks in the Chehalis Range.” It “burns for four nights, rising in a very high, thin column.” The article further speculates that this fire-burning tradition marks a “return to a certain place of worship at some ancient shrine” for Sasquatch or might instead be a way for them to communicate with others in the basin. It seems like the early 1930s were ripe for Bigfoot sightings in the Fraser Valley Area. Francis Dickie, the author of the article, shares that sightings of the mysterious “hairy men” were becoming more frequent. Sometime that year Tom Cedar from the Skwah Reservation by Harrison was trout fishing in his canoe on Morris Creek when he was seemingly attacked by a Sasquatch. He was “near a rocky-terraced bank” when a large rock was thrown into the water near his canoe. When he looked up “he saw with amazement a huge hair man above him just as he threw another rock.” Cedar, not exactly thrilled to stick around and see what would happen next, paddled as quickly as he could up the creek. But that wasn’t the first recorded Sasquatch sighting in the area, twenty years earlier Peter Williams, also of the Chehalis tribe, was near the foot of a mountain about a mile from the reserve when he saw a “man between six and seven feet tall, covered with hair” rise from beneath the underbrush. He ran through the underbrush and was amazed (and terrified) when the creature chased after him across the pond and all the way back to his home where he grunted and growled until deciding to leave. The next year, Paul Williams, also of the Chehalis again came across these creatures and was close enough to distinguish that they were different genders. Other reports in this article describe these creatures chasing off fishermen to retrieve the fish they’ve caught, staring at them from afar and lurking around in the mountainous area. However, a witness named Charley Victor did describe a more favorable encounter with one of these giant beasts. He saw a “huge man looking down upon” him as he was bathing in a mountain lake. He even tried to speak to the creature whose “big eyes looked very kind” but didn’t get a chance before he ran off. The debate described in the article is the same one we have in modern day times. While sightings are reported we have a lack of physical or scientific evidence of these creatures, it seems too many to be a coincidence. So, are they real? Bigfoot BC SightingsThe 1930s wasn’t the first or last time that Sasquatch was reported lurking around in the Fraser Valley Area. The town of Hope, BC, seems to be a hot spot where Sasquatch-like creatures have been spotted in 1957 and 1997. In the earlier encounter a truck driver saw a large creature jump over a fence and run towards the Fraser River. In the latter, Wayne Oliver caught one on video (unfortunately I couldn’t find the footage). The Sasquatch Sightings Mapper has eight sightings marked on their map which include both eyewitness sightings, historical mentions (including those mentioned in the 1934 article above) and other strange occurrences that could be attributed to these creatures—most of which include strange noises. But Bigfoot sightings in BC have been reported not only in the Fraser Valley Area, but also in Whistler and Tofino. Sasquatch in the Fraser Valley AreaIf you’re headed to the Fraser Valley Area to spot Sasquatch, you’d be best to wander the beautiful banks of the Fraser River. While you’re walking along, you might want to take a glance up at the tallest peak where you might find a tall smoke signal to indicate that something else is lurking in those woods.
BELIEVE By Tae Haahr, Research Writer - Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Scott Wolter - Host America Unearthed America Unearthed - Tracking BigfootAs a forensic geologist, Scott Wolter has the unique opportunity to explore unexplained archeological mysteries and unearth some of the Earth’s forgotten treasures. His adventures and investigations around the globe are covered by History Channel’s (H2) America Unearthed. While he’s been a geologist for his entire career, his expertise in unearthing mysteries really started when he was asked to determine the date of the inscription on the Kensington Runestone—originally discovered in Minnesota in 1898. This discovery allowed him to champion the new science of Archaeo Petrography which is a process that dates man-made inscriptions on stones. Today he uses that science to explore ancient artifacts and objects to see if we can learn new things about the past. Like a high-tech version of Indiana Jones, Scott's adventures have taken him all around the world in search of answers for some of the most captivating mysteries. He’s searched for history’s heavy-hitters such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and even our good friend Sasquatch. Scott considers himself a Sasquatch skeptic. When he started working on America Unearthed, he told his producers that there were two things he wasn’t interested in searching for: Aliens and Sasquatch. And while he hasn’t searched for aliens yet, Sasquatch is a different story. American Unearthed aired “Global Bigfoot Hunt” during their third season, episode four if you’re interested, which included exploring Sasquatch sighting stories in Minnesota and California before making the trek across the ocean to Nepal. He wasn’t impressed when his producers dropped the topic in his lap, but there was a trip to Nepal included—and really, who could pass that up. So, he packed his bag and started out in search of Sasquatch. Scott still can’t confirm the existence of the creature. But he was one of the first people lucky enough to experience the Yeti Scalp of Khumjung in Nepal. He also had a chance to speak with witnesses who shared their encounters with him. On this months episode, Chuck and Scott speak to their college football days, and share some interesting conversation about Giants, Sasquatch and Scott's journey to the Himalayan Mountains. Scott joined the Sasquatch Syndicate podcast for the America Unearthed H2 episode to share some of his travel stories, experiences and what the global hunt for Sasquatch is really like. So, grab your favorite cup of coffee (we’re betting it’s got a Sasquatch on it) and tune in to live vicariously through this modern day Indianan Jones. BELIEVE By Tae Haahr, Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Quantum Bigfoot - Ron Morehead Quantum Bigfoot: An Interview with Ron MoreheadRon Morehead is the author of not one, but two different books that talk about his Sasquatch experiences and research. The first, Voices in the Wilderness: A True Story, shares the story of initial encounter with mysterious creatures in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. His latest, The Quantum Bigfoot, was released in 2017 and talks about the interaction between science and spirituality when it comes to studying these creatures. Ron’s experience isn’t limited to his books though. He’s been researching Sasquatch, and more specifically the sounds he heard in the Sierra Nevada Mountains that are attributed to Sasquatch, for over 40 years. It all started in 1971, when he and five other hunters started recording the Sierra Tapes. Sierra Nevada Mountains, 1971Ron was part of a hunting group that would trek into a remote spot in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When two hunters were up at their cabin alone, they heard what they described as aggressive sounds by the stove inside their remote and very inaccessible shelter. Then, they came across a huge five-toed footprint that was certainly not from a bear. After hearing of the story five of the six hunters in Ron’s group, including him, started to head back to the spot on a regular basis with tape recorders. They were hoping to catch the sounds on tape or maybe even get lucky enough to spot the creatures and capture them on camera. For years the group went up there just to record them, hoping to lay eyes on the noisey troublemakers in the wood. “We really underestimated what they were at the time,” Ron shared. They thought they were simply just animals making a racket. Evaluating the Sierra TapesWhen an investigative journalist was brought up the the Sierra Nevada Mountains with Ron and his team of hunters to experience the sounds for himself, he shared with the group how important the recordings were. Something utterly unreal was happening and the tapes needed some credibility. So, the sounds on the tapes were studied by a professor at the University of Wyoming who ensured that they hadn’t been altered or manipulated in any way and confirmed that they hadn’t. But even that bit of street cred didn’t mean that the tapes weren’t a hotly debated topic. Ron has tried to get more people with official clout to listen to the tapes and share their opinion, but the academic fish aren’t biting much. But in 2008, a crypto linguist got their hands on the tapes and determined that there was a complex language being spoken by the creatures. Which, while it doesn’t “prove” anything satisfactorily to the general population, does confirm suspicions of what’s on the tapes in Ron’s mind. Hearing Ron's StoryThere is a lot more to Ron’s story than simply the capture or authentication of the Sierra Tapes. And while you can read about it in his books, you can also check out the Ron Morehead episode of the Sasquatch Syndicate podcast.
Ron joins Chuck and shares his experiences capturing the sounds of Sasquatch in the remote mountains, the journey and experience of getting official ears on the tapes and researching the mysterious wood-lurking creature. It’s a pretty enthralling episode that you won’t want to miss. So grab yourself a coffee (obviously in your favorite Sasquatch mug), kick back and listen to Ron share his story. So what is your opinion of the Sierra Sounds and Tapes? Please let us know in the comments below, or email us. We'd love to hear from you. BELIEVE By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Colorado Sightings Where to begin in the Rocky MountainsColorado is no stranger to Sasquatch sightings. There have been 100+ recorded sightings over the years—and the list just keeps on growing. This many sightings shouldn’t surprise anyone considering the state has 24.4-million acres of forest, much of that untravelled by humans, for Sasquatch to lurk unseen. Not only that but there are the famous Rocky Mountains and more than 4,000 bodies of water, it’s practically a paradise. Elevations range from high mountain peaks to low river bottoms, and that range contributes to the diversity of habitats found here: coniferous forests, subalpine meadows, grasslands, sagebrush and thousands of miles of streams and rivers. ... The headwaters for the continent's major river systems are also found here. Ecological SustainmentThe ecology of the Rocky Mountains is diverse due to the effects of a variety of environmental factors. The Rocky Mountains are the major mountain range in western North America, running from the far north of British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the southwestern United States, climbing from the Great Plains at or below 1,800 feet (550 m) to peaks of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine and boreal habitats of the Northern Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, the coniferous forests of Montana and Idaho, the wetlands and prairie where the Rockies meet the plains, a different mix of conifers on the Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming and in the high Rockies of Colorado and New Mexico, and finally the alpine tundra of the highest elevations Animal HabitatThe Rocky Mountain habitats are home to a great deal of wildlife from herbivores, such as elk, moose, mule deer, mountain goat and bighorn sheep, to predators like cougar, Canada lynx, bobcat, black bear, grizzly bear, gray wolf, coyote, fox, and wolverine, along with a great variety of small mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians, numerous bird species, and tens of thousands of species of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and soil organisms. As the saying goes, if you can support a Moose, or a Bear you can support a Sasquatch. Migration TheoriesFor the longest time, theories abound of Sasquatch navigating thousands of miles each winter but in recent years evidence suggests a more elevational migration such as a grizzly bear. That being said if you believe that Sasquatch migrated from Asia to North America and traversed the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Colorado, you may be onto something. How do you think Sasquatch arrived in Colorado undetected?
Please let us know in the thoughts below, or email us. We'd love to hear from you? BELIEVE By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Florida Everglades and Swamps Florida's SasquatchIt seems like every state has their own Sasquatch-esque folklore and Florida is no exception. Legends of the Florida Skunk Ape have been around for hundreds of years, dating back to the area's indigenous groups description of the “esti capcaki” which roughly describes the tall man and protector of the forest. The Florida Skunk Ape goes by a number of different names, including particularly charming monikers such as the swamp ape, stink ape and swamp cabbage man. As well as a few more on-point descriptors like Florida's Sasquatch, swamp Squatch and Myakka Skunk Ape. This creature is described as being somewhere around seven feet tall and weighing over 300 lbs (some accounts clock them at as much as 450 lbs). It’s said that these creatures roam in packs, though notably all eye witness accounts I found were single-being sightings. And despite their rank smell—described as something between a skunk and roadkill—they’re mostly described as being peaceful. Skunk Ape SightingsThe Florida Skunk Ape is touted as a relative of Sasquatch that resides most likely in the Everglades. Sightings of this creature are comparably more frequent to some of the other areas Sasquatch is known to roam, and it even managed to make a cameo on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Many sightings over the year have been reported. Local area resident and the man behind the skunk ape research center, Dave Shealy, has spent most of his life searching for these mysterious beings and has reportedly come across them on several occasions, including when he was just 10 years old hunting deer with his brother. They have been spotted by tourists and locals alike, including when tour operator John Vickers and five of his passengers saw what looked to be a Florida Sasquatch-like creature run across the road. Local real estate agent Jan Brock and fire chief Vince Doerr even saw one of these creatures scurrying across the same road a mere few hours apart. In fact, the scariest photos that I’ve ever seen of any Sasquatch-like creature are allegedly Skunk Ape pictures that were taken in 2000 by an area resident who reported that the creature was swiping apples from her back deck over the period of three nights. While she called the police, the mystery thief was gone when they arrived every time. So she caught him red-handed (or red-eyed?) in a terrifying photo. But criminal behavior isn’t the only thing that’s gotten this creature caught on camera. In fact, the Florida Skunk Ape seems to be more photogenic than some of the other Sasquatch-like creatures, having been caught on camera several times including by Vince Doerr in 1997 and Dave Shealy in 1998. Tracker and surveyor TL Riggs also managed to get his hands on what he said is evidence of the Skunk Ape which includes both a footprint that estimates the creatures weight is 300lbs or more. As well as a possible hair sample that DNA testing came back as inconclusive—though it is important to note that analysis with a microscope confirmed that the hair was not synthetic like would be a costume nor is it from a bear, gorilla, chimpanzee, skink, dog or cat. Then finally, and perhaps most convincing of all, there’s also Dave Shealy’s famous Florida Skunk Ape video filmed in 2000. Are Skunk Apes Real?It is important to note that as with most Sasquatch investigations, evidence related to the Skunk Ape is based most predominantly on eyewitness testimony. Because of that the National Park Service says the testimony is too weak to take seriously at this point. But, as someone much smarter than me said some years ago “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” and something appears to be lurking out in the Florida Everglades. The real question is, what is it?
If you decided to take up the torch on your own Skunk Ape hunt, make sure to swing by the Skunk Ape Headquarters located at the Trails Campground where you might just be able to hear the legend of the swamp ape by Dave Shealy himself. BELIEVE By Tae Haahr, Research Writer - Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  The Nahanni Valley The Nahanni ValleyFollowing the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890’s, brothers Willie and Frank McLeod set out to chase their dreams of gold and fortune during the early 1900’s. They chose the obscure South Nahanni River Valley which had been tried as a short cut to the ardous overland route from Edmonton to Dawson’s Creek and the nearby gold fields. Earlier western explorers who had passed through the area reported a tropical valley free of snow due to the local hot springs. Stories also came from the hunters and trappers returning from the Nahanni with large prehistoric bones, tusks and pelts from mammals thought to be long extinct. While the allure of prospecting in the valley was understandable, little did the siblings know they would end up a decade too late and two heads short to collect their riches. The Mcleod brothers skeletons were discovered intact by others several years after they embarked on their journey, but their heads were no where to be found. The Nahnni Headless Valley owes it’s sinister name not only to the McLeod brothers, but also to the numerous other prospectors and fur trappers who over the next half century, would end up missing entirely or be found in similar states of headless demise by future explorers. None of these cases has ever been solved. Today the Headless Valley is part of the Nahanni National Park Preserve in the remote southwestern corner of the Northwest Territories near the borders of the Yukon and British Columbia provinces. The national park was established in 1972 and was recently voted one of the “7 wonders of Canada”. It was is also one of the original twelve UNESCO World Heritage Sites designated in 1978 along with the likes of Niagara Falls and Yellowstone National Park. To emphasize the remoteness of the the park, Nahanni NPP receives 800-1000 visitors per year while Yellowstone averages over 4 million visitors. The South Nahanni River is the centerpiece of the park as it carves deep gorges and canyons on its path through the layered sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Mackenzie Mountain Range. The park is renowned for it’s white water rafting, climbing and hiking despite its extreme remote location. The animals feared to roam the Nahanni Valley included the Waheela or “bear dog”, a ferocious animal thought to have gone extinct 5 million years ago. The large hairy men encountered by the Dene and western explorers were known locally as Nakani. Nakani is thought to reside in the numerous limestone caves present throughout the Nahanni River valley. The large creature is nocturnal and known to kidnap those that venture into the valley, often beheading and devouring their victims. Entering the park today is generally done via float plane as the entire park is roadless, however it can be also be entered via an arduous overland hike from the Yukon side to the west. The remote location of the park may explain why the mysteries of the McLeod brothers and the other explorers that came up missing or dead have never been solved. The area was originally inhabited by the Dene and Naha indigenous people. The Dene inhabited the lowland areas around the Mackenzie River and traditionally avoided the South Nahanni River valley due to the frequent raids by the Naha tribe who lived in the mountainous areas above the valley. The Gate – South Nahanni River The Dene also stayed out of the valley because they believed it was cursed, and they feared the large prehistoric animals and giant hairy men thought to reside within the forested canyons. The historical reports and sightings of these large prehistoric mammals and Gigantopithecus-sized hominids roaming the remote wilderness of Northern Canada in many ways, does not seem far-fetched. The South Nahanni River Valley would have have been on the initial migration pathways for species crossing the land bridge at the Bering Strait. The Nahanni National Park and it's extreme isolated location may have allowed these prehistoric species to thrive well after the ancient mammals had gone extinct in other, more populated areas. If finding new species or rediscovering those thought to be extinct is a step too far in today’s populated world, we can use the discovery of the Korowai people as an example of success. The Korowai people lived in isolation in the jungles of Papau Indonesia without contact with the western world until 1974. Prior to that, it is believed they did not know other humans existed outside of their community. So for your next adventure, perhaps you wish to plan a trip to the Nahanni Headless Valley??. With only 1000 visitors per year, the area may be on of the last, best places on earth to discover Nakani/Sasquatch and perhaps see creatures from prehistoric times.
BELIEVE By Kevin Weberling, Research Writer - Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  RHI Research The Search for Sasquatch and other WildmenThe objective of the RHI is to promote research and provide a refereed venue for the dissemination of scholarly peer-reviewed papers exploring and evaluating the possible existence and nature of relict hominoid species around the world.
From Dr. Jeff Meldrum, “I am occasionally surprised by how many people, even some seasoned researchers are unaware of, or simply have not availed themselves of the Relict Hominoid Inquiry (RHI) found at https://www.isu.edu/rhi/. The journal just completed its seventh year. We finished out the latest volume with an English translation of an abridgment of a book by Rinchen, a noteworthy Mongolian researcher. This provides for the first time for anglophones an important insight into the nature of the Almas, possibly a relict neanderthaloid, prior to the popularization of Sasquatch. I encourage everyone serious about the effort to consider this question through a scientific lens, to explore the accumulating contributions within this journal — novel research papers, incisive book reviews, synthetic essays, informative news items and thoughtful editorials.” Have your own opinion or lens you wish to share, please let us know in the comments below or email us. We'd love to hear from you. BELIEVE By Chanelle Elaine CMO, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Teeth and Mandibles were found in a Cave The Largest Ape that ever LivedThe discovery of the world’s largest ape ever, the Gigantopithecus, was an accident. In 1935, Ralph von Koenigswald, a young German paleontologist, was scouring apothecaries in Hong Kong looking for “Dragon’s teeth” when he ended up coming across an ape molar. But he knew this wasn’t any ordinary ape molar. By 1939, von Koenigswald had only found three more teeth, despite the fact that he’d sifted through thousands. He was still severely lacking in evidence. But in the 1950s, fragments of three giant jawbones along with thousands of teeth matching von Koeniswald’s discovery were found in Liucheng cave in China. Then 30 years later in the ‘80s a Chinese team found over a dozen more teeth in a Langgupo cave. What was Gigantopithecus?While we know they existed because we’ve found Gigantopithecus fossils and teeth, we don’t know much about the creature beyond that. It’s believed that the closest living relative of the Gigantopithecus Blacki is the orangutan. These creatures are said to have lived between 2-million and 100,000 years ago in the early-to-middle Pleistocene age, mostly in southern China. Fossils indicate that the Gigantopithecus height was somewhere around 10 feet or 3 meters tall. and, as a massive ape, its weight was 1,100 lbs or 270 kg which fits the physical nature of what we know as Sasquatch and paints a pretty good hypothesis. What did Gigantopithecus eat?There is some discrepancy regarding what they ate or even how much they ate?. Some speculate that they could have been carnivorous while others say grass-fed. The isotopic composition of the enamel on some of the teeth suggests that they were forest dwellers that stuck to a mostly vegetarian diet—but locations that fossils have been found suggest that it could largely depend on where they lived. The Gigantopithecus that lived in southern China would have most certainly been on forest-covered ground. But those roaming the areas of present-day Thailand would have had access to some forest but found themselves mostly in open desert in the Savanna lending to the hypothesis that it had no choice but to migrate to the temperate rain forests of Northern Asia and across the Pacific Northwest for rich vegetation. Regardless of what they ate, we do know that they had unusually bad teeth and overall poor dental health. A fourth jawbone was found that suggested that the Gigantopithecus would lose a few teeth throughout their lifetime and some speculate it was due to brittleness of the hardened vegetation as a result of a drought that occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago. If true, then it only makes sense that the creature would need to find lush vegetation, and travel north to Russia and Siberia, and further across the land bridge to the Rainforests of North America. But perhaps Gigantopithecus didn't make it that far after all? Extinct or Alive? An Extinct Species Discovered Alive Is Gigantopithecus Extinct or Alive?, and what do we know? Over 50% of the world's land mass is completely untouched by human feet, and new discoveries are made all the time? Look no further than the show Extinct or Alive hosted by Forest Galante. While researchers like Forest are NOT Cryptozoologists, that doesn't mean that they lack the interest, it just hasn't been concrete enough to investigate, but perhaps that can change in the future. Homo Erectus Hunted?If Gigantopithecus is extinct, some scientists believe that homo erectus could possibly have had something to do with it. Had they been competing for resources or hunting them, they could have contributed with the large creature’s demise. That said, Russel Ciochan a paleo-anthropologist from the University of Iowa said that while the two species would have been on the Earth at the same time—some 1.7-million years ago—early humans were much more likely to live and hunt in grasslands than the desert or forest, therefore its most likely that they never lived together, simply at the same time. It’s curious that despite the Gigantopithecus size, we’ve been unable to find so little evidence of these creatures. But because they occupied subtropical Asia, any viable DNA is typically too degraded from the warm, humid weather to be of any use. Not to mention that most viable DNA that scientists work with come from remains that are fewer than 10,000 years old. The HypothesisFor those in the Scientific, and Flesh and Blood Camp, perhaps Sasquatch is North America's great ape like the late Dr. Krantz hypothesized. But, if Gigantopithecus could have crossed the land bridge from Asia to North America on it's quest for food, and if it still persists in the rain forests of the Pacific Northwest primarily undiscovered. Then the next question is how many specimens would need to have made it to continue to persist. This is a great discussion that the guys had with Dr. Todd Disotell on our Building the Citizen Scientist series.
So perhaps Gigantopithecus is really the “original Sasquatch” due to its presumed shaggy hair, 3-metre tall stature with a weight of almost 600 lbs and bipedal movements. It certainly fits the bill.... But the lack of DNA evidence for Gigantopithecus and Sasquatch means that we aren’t able to confirm or deny their relationship to each other. However, over time we're slowly but surely getting to know Gigantopithecus, but without further evidence or more advanced scientific evidence, we’ll just have to wait and see. So what is your theory on Gigantopithecus? Do you believe its Extinct or Alive? Let me know in the comments section below. BELIEVE By Tae Haahr, Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc.  Sasquatch Variants The Colors of SasquatchWe currently lack widely-accepted scientific evidence of Sasquatch’s existence and our information regarding the colors of Sasquatch including hair, skin, and eye are backed by eyewitness accounts only. Which means that we aren’t 100% sure what the colors of Sasquatch skin, hair and eyes really are. If you’re a true crime podcast aficionado like yours truly, you probably know that eyewitness evidence is the most unreliable type you can get your hands on. But since most reports of Sasquatch sightings tell of a similar appearance, we have gathered a decent amount of information about what we suspect they look like. Skin ColorWhen it comes to determining Sasquatch skin color, reports vary. Considering the massive amounts of hair that witnesses describe, it should be no surprise that gaging the color of the skin underneath can be a bit of a challenge. Especially if you’re viewing it from a distance as most sightings are reported. That said, based on what witnesses have said Sasquatch skin is most likely a shade of deep brown or black, grey, or, in some cases, even a sunburned red. The palms and soles of their feet tend to be a lighter shade than the rest of the body, and some have also reported an oily-looking black nose. While this describes the majority of the Sasquatch sightings that have been reported, some witnesses have also seen albino Sasquatches. Instead of a dark tone, they are said to have pink colored skin. Hair ColorWhen you’re not hearing about Sasquatch's horrendous odor, one of the most popular topics up for discussion is the massive amounts of hair that they are seen with. And we mean hair. While scientifically speaking the components that make up hair and fur are said to be virtually indistinguishable, the major difference between the two is the growth speed. Hair grows at a much slower rate than fur, which likely explains why your dog sheds at a much higher volume than you. Most sightings report that Sasquatch hair is dark brown, black or has a reddish tinge. But, like most humans, you’ll find variations of different tones and patches in Sasquatch hair. There have also been reports of white or grey-haired creatures. Much like human adults, it’s suspected that elder members of the Sasquatch species can have graying hair. But it’s not believed that Sasquatch hair changes from child to adulthood. Sasquatch hair is also often described as being dirty, matted and unkempt but some have reported that it appears glossy, clean and shiny hair. Some even share that females tend to have cleaner more cared-for locks than males do. We should mention that sometime in 1976, the FBI did conduct a suspected Sasquatch hair analysis that was found by searcher Peter Byrne. However, the FBI concluded that the Sasquatch hair DNA sent in actually came from the deer family. While this is always frustrating to researchers, you have to ask yourself, without a baseline sample of a species yet to be known and potentially NOT a variant of any other known species, what are the possibilities that a sample could be correctly identified in the first place.? But just like any other creature we know they come in various colors, and of course various skin tones. However, one thing that is unique to many reports is a commonality not known to many species in Glowing Eyes. Eye ColorThe other big topic of discussion on their appearance is their supposedly glowing Sasquatch eyes. Often reported as shining amber, blue, green, but most often red, which could leave witnesses with an uneasy feeling. While we have no confirmations on whether or not Sasquatch eyes do, in fact, glow, we shouldn’t be surprised if they do. Many animals have what is called a tapetum lucidum behind their retinas. Tapetum lucidum is essentially a mirror-like membrane that helps them to see in the dark, which as we all know humans cannot—though we do have components in our eyes that allow us to see in low light. These mirror-like structures reflect lights like camera flashes, which is why your cat has creepy soul-penetrating eyes in every photo. From the sightings that have been reported we can most likely conclude that the colors of Sasquatch, like so many other species out there, vary. You might encounter a black-haired, reddish-skinned Sasquatch in Colorado, a brown-haired, black skinned Sasquatch in Ohio and grey-haired, black-skinned in Louisiana.
So how many variations are there? Well like us humans perhaps quite a few, take a peak at our FACES compilation and you'll get the picture - literally..... BELIEVE By Tae Haahr Research Writer, Sasquatch Syndicate Inc. |
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