I always thought it was an interesting concept that the primitive Sasquatch found rock-throwing the means by which it could in some small way, communicate with the civilized world. But is this a behavior in communication?

There are instances where rocks don't seem to be deliberately thrown at passers-by but seem to be lobbed precisely to land in and around trail walkers. It's hard to say if this is to get attention or if it is a low-dose level of aggression used to rid people from an area where they are not wanted.

Certainly there are written bow-hunter testimonials where Sasquatches have been seen taking down deer with rocks aimed precisely to do that particular task; it is quite effective. There is another account where a Sasquatch in eastern Ontario side-armed a projectile, believed to be a rock, at a fleeing snow shoe rabbit and nailed it on the third leap and a story I was told recently where ‘something' lobbed or pushed a 400 lb boulder down the mountainside at a terrified passer-by who didn't take kindly to the message.

There is no doubt in my mind that the proficiency they have in rock placement is a learned skill; a behavior perhaps taught to male Sasquatches undoubtedly becoming a means by which they take down hoofed animals, game birds and geese in flight. Moreover, we must not overlook the accounts in opportunism where they have been reported stealing fish catches, running off with a stringer of mallard ducks and other incidents where they help themselves to fruit in orchards and other seasonal fruits and vegetables.

A reader framed a thought this way: “Think of this: A good baseball pitcher can throw a fastball at well over 90 MPH (a few can throw one over 100 MPH). That is enough force to cause serious injury or even death to any human being at close range without the protection of a helmet. Granted, throwing a ball at this velocity is a feat that only a very select few and physically gifted humans can do. Now imagine and apply this talent to a Sasquatch. I don't think it is unreasonable to assume that an average sized Sasquatch could easily throw a stone at that speed to stun a deer enough to make it easier to capture it and take it down (assuming that Sasquatch actually eat any meat and hunt in the first place).”

When I started this project it was to search the various database networks for only those reports that talked about the Sasquatch and the art of throwing things; there were many instances. But in the process, I noted other known behaviors that piqued my interest and I hope will stir yours.

The following out-takes are mentioned here, not verified by me but hopefully by those who listed them on websites, in books or in conversations with me. A surprising number of behaviors have been reported, most of them with little fanfare; let's look at some of them.

According to Betty Sanders Garner's research, the early Chehalis Indians of Harrison Lake area believed the creatures called ‘sasquatch' in their language were descendants of two bands of giants who were almost exterminated in a raging battle many years ago. Those that remained alive from that battle are said to inhabit remote mountain caves near the top of Morris Mountain. Witnesses relate stories of Sasquatch kidnapping Indian maidens, stealing fish from housewives larders, hurling rocks at prospectors and killing deer with clubs. (Garner) The Sasquatch was and still is, part of the First Nation culture in the lower Frazer River Valley in British Columbia and isn't it interesting that she mentions once again this business about Sasquatches using clubs? We don't hear reports of club use much anymore, why is that?

We have in our history, the story of Alexander Caulfield Anderson, a well-known explorer and an executive of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was doing a 'survey' of the newly opened territory and in the process sought a feasible trade route for his company. It is an old story to those of you who have been around in research awhile. Anderson reported hairy humanoids hurling rocks down upon him and his surveying party from more than one slope in 1864. (Sanderson) So this rock-throwing business is nothing new if we take time to consider this 146 year old entry.

There was reportedly a Sixes Wildman in and around Coos County, Oregon who from the early 1800's into 1900 was written up as a hairy, mean, rock-throwing monster that harassed miners and gold prospectors near Myrtle Point and Thompson Flat. The creature was also termed the “Thompson Flat Monster.” Many accounts are filed in the historical society and published in the Lane County Leader in Cottage Grove Oregon; one dated April 7, 1904 called it the “Sixes Wildman.” 

In Cottage Grove, Oregon, The Lane County Leader News described the creature as “a reality, something after the fashion of a gorilla and unlike anything else either in appearance or action. It can outrun and out jump anything else that has ever been known and not only that, but the seven foot tall creature could throw rocks with wonderful force and great accuracy. It had broad hands and feet and his body was covered by copious amounts of hair. In short, he looks like the very devil.” (Stanton) Over time, it appears the State of Oregon is not without its stories of Sasquatch aggression.

One would have to agree that these first examples are nothing short of Sasquatch aggression; certainly I see nothing in these reports to suggest any other motivation for their manner of conduct... 

What we can take from these older reports is that this rock-throwing phenomenon is nothing new to this field of research; it's old hat and a ritual Sasquatches evidently find as a useful means with which to create havoc and induce fear in surveyors, loggers, miners, campers & backpackers, and why not? The strategy works for the sasquatch and frankly it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't outright enjoy the reactions they get from us…how entertaining can we be?

Two brothers while out deer hunting near the Mad River in Trinity County, California began feeling uncomfortable. One of them wrote, "...about five minutes after feeling uncomfortable, a large rock, probably weighing in the neighborhood of 30 pounds was hurled by something with hands into the creek below me making a huge crashing sound. The creek bed was only about twenty yards from me, scaring the living you-no-what out of me, then complete silence, we left"

Most sightings having to do with rock throwing are uneventful, but that same year an angler enjoying fishing the spring run-off, related a situation he had while fishing a low area of the Klamath River, not far from a nearby forest service road. Lester Sanderson was fly-fishing and busy casting when a large rock came “flying out of nowhere,” landing eight to ten feet in front of him, close enough that he heard the incoming sound. He said it displaced an enormous amount of water. Disturbed, Mr. Sanderson eased down the river to the spot and could see that the size of the rock was more a borderline sized boulder; he estimated it to be nearly 80 pounds, he could hardly lift the thing. He looked all around and saw nothing but noticed a putrid smell in the air. Sanderson said after some thought as to what could lob something that large into the river, he decided to leave the area. The Sasquatch wins again!

In August 2001, yet another fishing tale came to me from Bill Meszaros; he shared this account of rock throwing along the Salmon River in Idaho:  "A couple of good friends were bringing out...um…illegal plants from the rough and mountainous terrain along the Salmon River in Idaho. It was about two in the morning; they were paddling out by moonlight. Suddenly there were splashes ahead of them and to the left. They looked towards shore for the source of these splashes and saw a large manlike figure shadowing their canoe, hurling what they thought were large boulders at them. They paddled on. Upon reaching the point where their two other pals were to pick them up, they found them both fast asleep on the shore and really groggy upon being awakened. The two paddlers thought these guys were playing a trick. It was not the case. (Mezaros)

Fisherman seem to be a common target among the Sasquatches. In Wabash County, Indiana in 1979 there was this notation from story-teller Larry Battson's repertoire: "As they listened they could hear it moving from the camp and down through the woods to the edge of the river.  Then they could hear the sound of rocks being thrown from the river towards them; the rocks whistled through the tree branches and landed very close to their tent.  Both men clambered from the tent and stood in the center of the camp back to back. Then they heard the sound of whatever it was heading back to their camp. It began circling the camp just far away enough they could not get a good look at it until it moved close towards them. They were not prepared for what they saw. It was at least 8 feet tall, black in color and walked with a speed they could not believe.” (Battson)

Other behaviors by sasquatches have been noted in addition to rock throwing. One such story came from Colorado bow hunter and long time friend, Keith Foster, one of early day researchers. Foster wrote, "The Musings of a Bow Hunter" on the Bowsite in 2004. Here is Keith's relevant out-take: "Two motorcycle riders reported seeing a Sasquatch above a timberline while riding east of Silverton, Colorado. They were speeding along and evidently got between it and the cover of the forest below. They reported that it evidently felt threatened because it started screaming at them and hurling large rocks down on them. One of them was almost hit with the first throw; they left of course.”  Good show and again the Sasquatch wins with the ole rock throwing technique!

Quite a few other bow and black powder hunters have heard those loud odd screams that are unmistakably out of place and abnormal for Colorado, but we just can't say for sure it is a Sasquatch making the noises we heard. Foster went on to pen this:

“There are only a few cases where something killed a hunter and left tracks at the scene that might have been Sasquatch tracks. I have never investigated any attacks personally, so have no idea as to any merit of the few incidents. Most encounters where a Sasquatch has been aggressive were false charges similar to the way a gorilla bluff-charges. A chase, and that's it. A Sasquatch could easily catch a man, so they evidently don't want to come into physical contact for the most part. Rock throwing is very common however. If large rocks start plopping down around you in the wilds, you might want to investigate the source. Maybe I spent too much time in the woods and slipped into some alter realm where furry monsters that leave outsized human tracks and make horrible noises really do exist. If some thing starts throwing huge rocks at me from some hidden location there some day, I will not run away from it but rather take off running toward it to see just what the hell it is. If it kills me, I hope a crime scene investigation is done thoroughly. For now though, I have quit collecting Sasquatch evidence and just wait for it to come to me while I am out there fishing a timberline lake or bow hunting some herd bull or timberline buck.” (Foster)

The art of throwing things isn't a behavior confined to North America, a Tibetan Llama recorded this manner of conduct was well known to them. I pulled this from the database:

     The “nyalmo,” according to Tibetan Lama named “Punyabayra” gave the name of
     this rare but immense creature; he also maintains that the Tibetan people have
     always known of its existence.  The Lama's description of the other types, the Rimi
     (dzu teh of Nepal) and the rackshi bompo (the meh-teh) correspond nicely to the
     Nepalese descriptions of a yeti-like creature. These creatures live in the Barun
     Khola Valley where they are said to be both well tempered and numerous yet
     still elusive and nocturnal. They are not aggressive, but they are often blamed
     for the offenses of a marauding much shorter yeti. The yeti is more ape-like than
     the manish nyalmo and is found only in the Himalayas and China. According to
     this same Tibetan Lama, the three species: rimi is approximately 2.5 meters tall
     (8.2 feet); nyalmo is approximately 4.5 meters tall (14.763 feet tall) and
     rakshi-bompo is 1.5 meters tall (4.921 feet tall and reportedly has a tail).
     Despite differences in size, the three species have one general resemblance:
     black or russet-red hair, sometimes reported as gray; all of them reportedly smell
     terrible and each one has exceedingly strong physical attributes. Yak herders often
     observe the creatures; they report the creatures regardless of size, have the
     capability to launch rocks with ease, skill and remarkable accuracy. 
Their caves and ground dwellings contain bones and sharpened rock or wooden tools,
some fashioned as clubs, lances or arrows. (Punyabayra)

More throwing Short shorts…
Then from Cullman County, Alabama, in 2006 campers reportedly encountered a strong smelling "Black Thing" that threw 6 rocks at the campers. (Hairworks216)

And isn't it interesting that rocks are not always the missile of choice?

In April of 1966 in the Trinity Alps north of Weaverville, California five campers saw a Bigfoot several times saying it watched them and threw rubbish bins around and also took food left for it. The story was told to Officer Ken Coon by Nick Campbell noted on p 38 of John Green's "The Sasquatch File."

In 1997, the late John Millard, rancher from Montana related an instance where pine cones were thrown at them as they sat around a campfire in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. In another instance, a couple necking by a secluded pond were surprised when something hurled a beer bottle at them. 

In Giles County Tennessee a shocked farmer watched as a Bigfoot killed his calf by throwing it to the ground. (Worley) There are other stories of Sasquatches throwing dogs up against trees to stop their barking and heel nipping…and yet another testimony from a rancher in AZ who found his hunting dog 14 feet up a pinión pine tree.

A couple from Forks, Washington went for a sunset stroll early one evening after a large family dinner in the year 1950 and returned to tell the family they were pelted with gravel from a dirt road area in the Olympics. They described their terror as two huge black shaggy-haired, hideous creatures walked out onto the road way in front of them and began heaving hands full of small pebble-like gravel in their direction. Stunned, neither one of them remembers how they got back to their 1948 Plymouth woody station wagon but they related the terror they felt being chased by these strange beings. (Mike Dardanos)

In October 1958, road building contractor Ray Wallace found human-like droppings the size of those a 1200-pound horse would leave; and Wilbur Wallace, Ray's brother found an unopened full, 55 gallon oil drum carried to the edge of the road and thrown down the hill. He also found a 20 foot length of 18" culvert carried some distance away and a 700 pound tire & wheel for a "carry all" which had been rolled for a quarter mile and hurled into a ravine. (Filbey) 

In July 1963 Dave Blake found Bigfoot footprints where a barrel of diesel fuel was thrown off the side of the road in the road construction region of Bluff Creek, California. In August of that same year, Bigfoot tracks approximately 15 inches long are found at Bluff Creek logging operations, with boxes of spikes thrown around and stick of dynamite bitten into. (Filbey)

Rocks apparently are not always the projectile of choice; history tells us they'll throw just about anything available to them. Is this a behavior displayed in anger and frustration?

There remains an old story out of 1967 Willow Creek, California, Mike Gordon; while sleeping in his Dodge van at Gray's Falls Campground woke up at around midnight because a Bigfoot was kicking his tires and rocking his van violently. Mike could see the Bigfoot's hairy chest, chin and hand through the van's windows. The 8-foot Bigfoot continued to harass the van for 2 hours, until finally Mike blew the car's horn, then it stopped. The late Fred Bradshaw also told a story about “trailer rocking” in Piece County, Washington State near Ft. Lewis.

I think these few examples cited give us an insight into the Sasquatch's ability to throw things with fierce determination and do it seemingly with some semblance of aggression; but there is one case where it appears the Sasquatches only wanted to coax humans out of a cabin. This is, of course, the televised 2007 incident on MonsterQuest where rocks were being thrown on a cabin's metal roof in the Snelgrove Lake, Ontario incident, 250 miles north of the USA/Canadian border observed by Dr.'s Curt Nelson and Jeff Meldrum. The rock tossing more or less stopped when they went outside to see what was throwing the rocks. 

There exists a campground named Broken Mirror Campground; named so because of a "log throwing" incident that also occurred in 2007 that broke off the rear-view mirror of a parked Van in Arizona's high Mogollon Rim Country.

There are other behaviors to consider, bluff charging for example…

Bluff charging…
Back in the mid 1990's, I had the pleasure of working with former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Tom Akren and his wife, Marie. He had an interesting story about a silver miner who made his camp (Glengowan) in the Matzatzal Mountains in Gila County, Arizona. His story is a lengthy one and dates back seventy-eighty years or more when mining silver was a successful venture in and around the Tonto National Forest. The behavior I noted for this purpose stemmed from an incident that occurred on the trail going up and out of a steep canyon ravine in route to the Globe Stage Coach Line to Phoenix, which came through only once a month.  The miner had packed his team of 9 mules with ore and was single-filing his mule team up and out of this steep canyon on a very narrow trail. Suddenly 2 sasquatches jumped in front of his mule team coming face to face with the startled miner. The Sasquatches, Akren reported, stood their ground on the trail waving their arms and wouldn't move. In the first story I heard him tell, the male Sasquatch waved his arms violently in what appeared to be a bluff charge stamping his foot forward several times on the ground and wouldn't let the mules go any further. (Akren)

There must have been a reason for this peculiar behavior, but whatever it was, escapes me unless it was for the amusement of the Sasquatches or the protection of others, perhaps young Sasquatches ahead on the trail unseen by the miner. This bluff charging is echoed in other stories told by hikers who talk about Bigfoot-like beings jumping out on a trail blocking their only route.  

There is another case of trail-blocking behavior that occurred in the 1942 story told by Polish work-camp escapee Slavomir Rawicz; a behavior he observed for 2 hours. He was a wonderfully honest man whom I had the pleasure of knowing in his later years. He shared his heart, his story and his sketches with me; you can review it here:  http://www.bigfootencounters.com/reviews/slavomir_rawicz.htm 

I've always felt that the Rawicz story had great merit considering it's timing and the drawing he did amazingly had the likeness of a north American Sasquatch even though he saw two of them in the tiny Himalayan country of Sikkim. http://www.bigfootencounters.com/reviews/slavomir.htm The resemblance of the 1942 Rawicz subject to the Patterson film subject is incredible, including the well-developed gluteus maximus muscles and pronounced high-set buttocks yet Rawicz sketched these two life forms 25 years before anything was known about PNW bigfoot. 

Rawicz's story is one of those that seemingly fell through the cracks; its importance little known. Researchers should familiarize themselves with it and the similarities between the life form Rawicz sketched in 1942 and the North American Sasquatch, amazing likenesses…  

Trail Blocking or is this herding?
I hesitate to call this next story bluff-charging – to me it is more like herding or for lack of a better word, trail blocking behavior; but I'll relate the story and you'll judge it, I'm sure; it's a great story and true.

This story was told to senior investigator from Oregon Cliff Olson by the Estacada Police Chief's son Robin as he sat in the dining room doing homework. Young Les told his dad Bob what had happened to him and his friends up the Clackamas River. This all came down some years before the 1967 Patterson Film was taken. It was a time when the Mt Hood National Forest was logging big time, which caused a great deal of Bigfoot activity due to the disturbance.

Les K. was Public Work's foreman for Estacada, Oregon. This particular Saturday he planned to take his kid fishing on the North Fork of the Clackamas River above Estacada; they loaded up and headed out. He didn't want to hike up stream to his favorite fishing area so he chose to drive up Ladee Road and hike a trail to the canyon breaks and then down slope to the North Fork and spend the day fishing.

They drove to where they could take a trail to the breaks and headed toward the canyon, they parked about 1/3rd of a mile from the lip of the canyon and then down slope another 1/2 mile or so to the stream. They hiked through the heavy timber almost to the breaks where they saw the timber thinning they knew there were almost there.

Suddenly a very large male Sasquatch stepped out onto the trail just in front of them and just stood there glaring at them. The appearance of the creature and its huge size sent the kids into hysterics; they had been in the lead on the trail and just that quick they were behind their Dad, screaming and hollering and tugging on his clothes scarred to death.  The creature just stood there as Les struggled with himself and his kids to gain some composure and head them back up the trail.

As they were about to head back up the trail to the car the creature started walking toward them adding to their need to vacate the area. The children wouldn't head out by themselves; instead they just clustered near their Dad slowing their progress on the trail. The Sasquatch advanced on them to the point that Les in his fright and concern using the only tool he had - a 7 ft. fly pole - shaking the tip of the rod in the creature's chest as he walked backwards up the trail. He continued this until the creature stopped, which was just a few feet from their pickup truck. The creature stood there as they clambered into the truck and left.

Regarding the IMAX film where the bear is chasing a caribou herd, why would a bigfoot chase a herd of caribou as seen in that video when they are said to be as proficient with stone placement as reports in the database show? Caribou follow the tundra where there is no shelter or cover for bigfoot...it would be uncharacteristic for a BF to follow caribou herds...

With special thanks to all those who contributed to this effort so far,
-especially Roger Knights, Cliff Olson, Keith Foster, Sarah Foote, Anna Jahns & Mike Dardanos...

© Bobbie Short... Fall, 2009...

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