Bigfoot Encounters Mrs. Sasquatch Filmed in Color? |
By Tony Eberts |
The Province, published in British Columbia dated October 25, 1967 five days after the filming of the Patterson creature in Bluff Creek, California Despite suggestions that many people have been known to go hairy in California, or that the film star may be only a hippie that went too far, amateur photographer Roger Patterson, 34, is convinced he has finally proved existence of wild, furry mountain giants. Don Abbott, an anthropologist with the provincial museum in Victoria, said Tuesday he has some evidence to support the film, -plaster casts of huge footprints found in the same California region in September. Like everyone connected with the provincial museum, I started out completely skeptical; I just laughed at the idea. But now I'm not sure at all. If the idea of Sasquatches weren't so fantastic I'd be prepared to believe it now." Rene Dahinden, another Sasquatch enthusiast of Vancouver and Lumby, has made a plaster cast of what he claims was a giant Sasquatch footprint in Northern California. Contacted at his home in Yakima, Washington, Roger Patterson told The Province the story of his epic film-making trip: "About 1:30 in the afternoon, as we rounded a bend in the road, we saw the creature. My horse reared, and then fell as I tried to control it. But I got the camera out and yelled to Bob to cover me with his rifle while I tried for pictures. The thing was across the creek beside the road, about 50 yards away. I ran down to the creek and got on a high sandbar to film it. It was obviously a female, for although it was covered with hair you could see it had large breasts. It stood about six feet tall, maybe more, and was very broad. We figured the weight at somewhere between 350 and 400 pounds. She stood there for maybe half a minute and then started walking away, still upright. She crossed the creek, got back on the logging road up ahead and moved out of sight." "Bob started to follow on his horse, but I called him back. The tracks we'd seen earlier indicated she was part of a family group, and that could be dangerous. I was shaking quite a bit, so the film isn't too steady, but it shows the thing clearly. I've believed they existed for a long time, just from talking to many eye-witnesses. Now there's no doubt at all." Patterson, who said he makes his living devising farm machinery improvements, hopes to get up a full-scale Sasquatch safari soon, with a view to capturing one of the creatures. It isn't a new idea for B.C., where various such expeditions have been attempted with a notable lack of success. But Patterson is pinning his hopes on the tangible evidence of 16-millimetre movie film, in color. "If the film convinces the experts at UBC Thursday night," he said, "there'll be no stopping me." There have been scores of Sasquatch reports and sightings in B.C. over the years, with most of the tales emanating from the Harrison Lake area. John Green of Harrison, a B.C. a newspaper editor, said he had already seen the film. "It's definitely a film of a Sasquatch," he said. "I don't believe it can possibly be a fake." Green said he has seen many Sasquatch footprints in Northern California and the Harrison area, up to 17 inches long. "Anyone who has had a good look at these prints doesn't go away believing there is nothing to it," he said. Green added that scientists have been reluctant to investigate the subject for fear of their reputations. "We have succeeded in deluding ourselves that these creatures don't exist." The Province is published in Vancouver, British Columbia.Tony Eberts wrote for The Province as an outdoor field editor for 20 or more years and his column was titled "The Great Outdoors."
This article was made available to Bigfoot Encounters by Eberts long time fishing pal Ken Kristian.
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