Bigfoot Encounters


RAMBLER TO THE TIMES … Ray Crowe, Bigfooter
 By Vance Orchard - As published 9-8-05 in The Times of Waitsburg, Washington

There are a couple of pluses for my living in Forest Grove, Oregon for the summer months. One is certainly the Bigfoot tracker, Ray Crowe, of nearby Hillsboro, who publishes a monthly (except November and December) newsletter relating sightings and other Bigfoot-related matters. 

Crowe will be remembered by local Bigfoot people for the time he and his wife, the late Leatha Crowe, stopped in and visited with us at one of the weekly Bigfoot sessions at the Blue Mountain Mall. The Crowes were at the time doing some Northwest  Bigfoot research and made an overnight stop here at a time when the creature was getting a lot of attention. 

I have renewed the friendship struck up from that first meeting in Walla Walla and we have had a couple of lunch meetings in Hillsboro. Another Bigfoot tracker, one who is out in the woods a lot as he seeks to pin down this elusive being, is Joe Beelart of West Linn, Oregon.  Beelart is no stranger to many Bigfoot buffs across the U.S., since he takes an active interest in the subject by way of the Bigfoot Yahoo forum on the Internet.  

Crowe’s observations about the Bigfoot matter coincide with much of what I have concluded following many years of local research. One point sure is that of “why no bodies?” 

We agree that if something dies in the woods, a lot of other somethings out there consume the evidence in short time. The devouring somethings include most everything alive, from insects to other animals. 

But, Crowe also holds the viewpoint that if a Bigfoot dies, others pack off the body. I’m not a bit sure of that one, but I do recall the late Paul Freeman having said he saw  “one or two others” when he had his 1982 and later sightings. So, that  being the case, one could certainly believe  other Bigfoots likely would be near by and come carry off their deceased relative.  

Crowe gives all comers a shot at the printed page when they bring forth their stories of sightings, he says.  “I give ‘em all a fair shake.”   Crowe became interested in the Bigfoot story in 1991 when he was running a used book store in Portland. A friend told him of the Indians’ having long time belief in the creature’s presence. And, like so many others, Crowe was at first dubious. Finding tracks, hair and broken tree limbs on his first search pretty well started him on the road to being convinced something’s out there in the woods. 

Crowe  maintains a scientific approach in his dealings. He doesn’t have a college degree but  has studied the Missoula floods which saw melting glaciers in the north sweep through all of eastern Washington thence down to the Willamette and up it. He has presided over the prestigious Geological Society of the Oregon Country and heads up currently the International Bigfoot Society.  

Another Crowe theory with which I completely agree is that Bigfoot is a nocturnal creature … living for the most part in the dark of night, although occasionally spotted in daylight hours.  Which reminds me, many of those reported sightings are in my two books, “Bigfoot  of the Blues” and “The Walla Walla Bigfoot,” available at Earthlight Books, 321 E. Main, or at the Ft. Walla Walla Museum gift shop. 

Reports of Bigfoot sightings are springing up all over the eastern U.S. and Crowe is giving these reports a lot of space in his “The Track Record” newsletter. If interested in subscribing to here is Crowe’s address:  225 NE 30th Hillsboro, OR 97124. His email: RayCrowe@Verizon.net 

Subscribing to the “Track Record” will surely keep one well posted on  the Bigfoot matter. 

While on the subject of Bigfoot, I am reminded of my recent book-signing stint at Fort Walla Walla Museum, where the two Bigfoot books named above plus a couple others, were the focal point. I had an opportunity to discuss books and the region with several people, making it an enjoyable afternoon. One who took up most time was a man who was an outspoken skeptic of the whole Bigfoot matter and went on at length, although I believe I refuted most, of not all, of his skeptical assertions. 

Addressing this skepticism in most adroit fashion, was the following excerpt from a discussion in the Bigfoot Yahoo forum on the internet. The writer was Chris Louden of Ardmore, Louisiana. 

“If these animals are out there, and I believe they are, they are obviously very intelligent. They have learned to adapt and stay away from humans. 

“If they have observed humans for any amount of time, they realize that we (humans) are a pretty destructive bunch. Likely the first time they encountered mankind, people were ripping up trees and tearing up ground to build something. 

“They may feel their very existence is in jeopardy. We tend to steamroll our way through wilderness areas in the name of “progress” and leave housing developments, strip malls, and whatever other ugly boxes we can come up with.”

Written by the late Vance Orchard and mailed here Friday, September 09, 2005 8:56 PM


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