Ape Canyon Re-Visited

Ape Canyon Trailhead

Mt. St Helens

It was a warm July evening in 1924 in a cabin on Mount St. Helens where four gold miners were taking a rest after what one could presume was a hard day’s work, when a number of hair creatures started attacking.

As one of the earliest violent suspected-Sasquatch encounters, the story is somewhat muddled from the good ol’ fashioned game of history telephone—where four miners turn into five, and two hairy ape-like creatures turn into twenty monsters. Regardless of the minute details, the story as we can best tell goes a little something like this:

The miners—Fred Beck, John Peterson, Gabe Lefever, Marion Smith, also accompanied by Smith’s son—were some 12 miles from Spirit Lake in Washington when they encountered a group of Sasquatch-sounding creatures.

They said they were walking erect like humans, but impossibly hairy with long, black hair draped down their bodies, pointy ears that stuck out from their heads and four short, stubby toes on each foot.

These were not the shy, timid creatures that we hear about in Sasquatch stories today. No, these 400-odd lbs creatures were out for blood. Only, it sounds like they didn’t fire the first shot.

While heading back to their cabin, the group encountered these creatures. And startled, Fred fired three shots, wounding the creature and causing him to topple off of a cliff.
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That was a gigantic mistake.

The Attack at the Cabin in the Woods

Later that night, the men were resting in their cabin when they were startled by the loud thud of stones hitting the outside walls. The giant creatures were back to take revenge for their friend’s death.

The men heard the sounds of not only rocks, but of big 400 lbs bodies being thrown against the cabin walls. The creatures managed to tear a whole in the roof and rocks came raining down on the men.

Fred was hit by a rock, which he said knocked him unconscious for a while. But luckily all of the men survived. Hours later the sun started to rise, and the attack came to an end.

The group of creatures scurried off into the daylight leaving the men wondering what exactly it was that they experienced. With the coast clear, the men split from the cabin, presumably never to return again.

This wasn’t the first report of ape-like creatures in the area. But the prospector’s stories received such wide media attention that the United States Forest Service decided to investigate.

Rangers found nothing at the site of the alleged Sasquatch death at the bottom of the cliff. But at the cabin they found evidence of large rocks that were presumably tossed, along with a large 14-inch footprint.

But they remained unconvinced. They believed that the evidence was planted by the tail-spinning prospector’s themselves. Nonetheless, Sasquatch enthusiasts along with many members of the public today remain convinced that Ape Canyon is, or at least was, home to a group of these mysterious creatures.

While we wouldn’t recommend heading out to hunt them down yourselves because they seem particularly vengeful, if you do happen out to Mount St. Helens to do some Sasquatch spotting we recommend that you wear one of our very fashionable Sasquatch hoodies to show them that you’re on their side.

We’re not actually sure if our plan works, but what do you think?

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.