The legend of Bigfoot

Bigfoot

He sprints quietly through the forest while a misty fog slips silently between the towering trees and curls among the rocks of the Appalachian Mountains. His bare feet make little noise as he leaps easily over gullies and skillfully climbs up the rock face. The fog shrouds his movement. When he reaches the crest of a hill, he cups his hands around his mouth and begins a low rumbling growl that crescendos into a desolate howl that reverberates through the woods. He listens for the heartbeat of the mountains — a resounding thump, thump, thump — and gives a brief yelp in reply.

The legendary Appalachian Mountains were formed more than 400 million years ago. They were once taller than Mount Everest and more rugged than the Rocky Mountains. Just like the misty fog that swirls around the mountain and curls through its forests, the Appalachians abound with myths and mysterious happenings, eerie noises, caves and springs that can appear and disappear, and glimpses of a strange creature moving through the trees.

In the 1800s, settlers began reporting sightings and sporadic encounters with a large, hairy, ape-like creature who lived on the mountain. They found large footprints in the soft mud that were 2 ft. long and 8 in. wide, so they named him Bigfoot. The European Wild Man, a Bigfoot type creature, can be found in literature as early as 200 BC. Tales of Bigfoot are also plentiful in Native American oral histories.

Daniel Boone liked to tell the story of his encounter with the Ozark Howler. The Ozark Howler (suspected to be a close relative of Bigfoot) is known for its eerie howls and glowing red eyes. It has the appearance of a large shaggy bear and can shape-shift. Its frightful roar can be heard clear across the mountain. Boone also told fascinated listeners about hunting a bear one day, and how the bear chased him up a tree. He reached through the bear and grabbed his tail and pulled the bear inside out. Remember, Boone spent a lot of time alone in the woods and he had a lot to tall tales to tell.

It was inevitable that Hollywood would answer Bigfoot’s call. In 1976, Bigfoot appeared in an episode of the TV show “Six Million Dollar Man.” The show was about an astronaut, Steve Austin (played by Lee Majors) who was injured in a NASA crash and is rebuilt with bionic implants. He becomes the Bionic Man with superhuman strength, speed, and vision. When two geologist friends of his go missing while placing earthquake sensors in the woods, the only clue is a giant footprint. Austin tracks Bigfoot down and they get into a huge fight and Austin grabs Bigfoot by the arm (I don’t know why he didn’t grab his big foot). Austin wrenches Bigfoot’s arm, and it comes off, and the Bionic Man discovers that Bigfoot is really a bionic robot from another planet.

Strangely enough, it was also in 1976 that the FBI began to maintain a file on Bigfoot. The FBI even analyzed some hairs that supposedly came from Bigfoot. Their tests determined the hairs were from a deer (of course).

Today, the woods are full of campers who stay up all night and holler while thumping frantically on trees. Whether you call it Bigfoot, Sasquatch, or Yeti, this large, hairy, ape-like man exists in every corner of the world. He is described as a shy, quiet, creature who enjoys howling, thumping trees, and throwing rocks at campers – and he doesn’t like having his picture taken.