| Bigfoot
Encounters "Constant Sasquatch watch held in Honobia" |
By Ron Jackson for The Oklahoman
HONOBIA, OKLAHOMA --- The stories are as alluring as the Kiamichi Mountains from which they spring. Gigantic footprints embedded in the soil. Unfamiliar moans and shrills emanating from the forest. Hairy, ape-like creatures darting
Such accounts are told by seasoned woodsmen, reared on a lifetime of stalking wild game in the mountain ranges that surround their homes.
Most, but not all, are reluctant to share their experiences. No one wants to be ridiculed for relating the unexplained things they have
So, few admit they have encountered Bigfoot.
And yet stories of close encounters with this legendary creature keep tumbling into the mountain hideaway of Honobia like a never
"There is something out there," said Harold Yates, a Honobia resident who retired last week after 30 years with the state
Yates hears the stories frequently from neighbors who trust he won't laugh at their accounts. Yates would never think of laughing. He is
One day Yates was cutting planks on his saw, listening to the piercing sound of wood colliding with a saw blade. He says that's
On another occasion, in the stillness of night, Yates heard large rocks being slammed into the river below his cabin. The crashing
"I don't know what could have made those sounds," said the soft-spoken Yates, 51. "That's the trouble. I don't know anything that
Logger Randall Wright, 43, tells of tracks he saw in the woods: "They were 15¼ inches long, 7 inches wide - with five toes."
"I know Bigfoot is out there," said Wright, born and raised in Honobia. Whispering, Wright adds with a devilish grin, "And if I see
Wright is serious. He carries a loaded rifle in his truck at all times.
Yates is left with speculation and wonder. He is far from alone in a valley where Bigfoot sightings and strange experiences also have
The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, which maintains a national database of purported sightings, has collected 58 such
Honobia sits on the Le Flore-Pushmataha county line - literally.
"On one side of the street is Pushmataha County," explained Honobia's Post Master Karen Pierce, 41. "Cross the street and you're
Honobia's beauty is matched only by its remoteness. Residents, some of whom received electricity for the first time in 1952, drive 16
A trip to a grocery store could be anywhere from 55 to 70 miles, depending on which direction one travels. If they drive east on
"There's only one thing wrong with Honobia," said Garland Cogburn, a Honobia resident who lives on Little River. "We're just so far from
Honobia is nestled in the heart of the Honobia Creek Wildlife Management Area, which includes 130,000 acres of commercial
Resources, LLC. - and is managed by the State Wildlife Conservation Department in a unique partnership.
The vastness of the forest is mindboggling; remote enough for a man to wander into and disappear forever. Or, as some would claim,
A Bigfoot shooting? Honobia's stature as Bigfoot territory grew in January 2000 when a
Humphreys' encounter was documented by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, which sent investigators to interview Humphreys and set up a surveillance at his home. Investigators learned the shooting culminated two years of alleged terror by "at least one Bigfoot," which had been prowling his property at night.
The avid Honobia hunter said the creature was stealing deer meat from an outbuilding freezer. As time passed, the creature became
"Tim and his family were genuinely terrified by this Bigfoot," said Wright, the logger. "And I have no reason not to believe him ... He
"He had just had enough."
Humphreys told investigators he shined a light into the face of a charging Bigfoot and fired his assault rifle at the massive creature
Soon, similar sounds were coming from other nearby creatures.
"Tim told me they were talking to each other in all kinds of grunts and gibberish," Wright said. "Tim said he was afraid to run in there
"A logger told Tim later he was driving down the road with his truck when he saw two of these creatures carrying a third one across the
The logger, like much of the physical evidence from that night, disappeared.
A heavy rain the next day washed away any traces of blood, and Bigfoot investigators found nothing more than a mutilated deer in
Neighbors tell conflicting stories about the family's whereabouts.
"Tim just grew tired of people laughing and he quit talking," said Charla Wright, Randall's wife. "I know this: Tim's wife was
Television media crews and print journalists soon began appearing in Honobia, leaving a legacy of their own with campy or playful reports
"People will make fun of you," Yates explained. "I know I'll never go on camera again."
A legacy of encounters
Charlene Cusher, a Choctaw from nearby Watson, remembered hearing one such story from her grandparents. They spoke of a little boy who
"When they found the boy he was fine," said Cusher, 54. "He said 'that thing' took care of him, referring to the creature ... As
Fellow Choctaw Billy Ludlow of Honobia became a staunch believer in Bigfoot 54 years ago at age 11 when he encountered a gigantic,
"I looked up and saw this large, hairy animal stand up on two legs like a man," said Ludlow, 65. "I'd guess it to be 9 or 10 feet tall
The proof? Proof of Bigfoot's existence in these mountains - or at least proof of an unknown animal - might be on the way or it might be exaggeration.
Ludlow hunter Odell Rose recently collected a fistful of fine, woolly brown hair on a tree he couldn't match to any known animals
"Odell and I have lived up here for 25 years," said LaVelle Rose, 53. "We used to ride mules and horses all over these mountains, and
"But he's never seen any hair like this before. He'd like to know what it is."
- --- For Bigfoot Encounters by Dave Yellowhair, Anadarko, OK August 7, 2005 Back to What's New? Back to Newspaper & Magazine Articles Home/Main Portions of this website are reprinted and sometimes edited to fit the standards |