Bigfoot Encounters.com
Southern Iowa
 
I live in Minnesota now but I was born and raised in southern Iowa in well-known bigfoot territory: Ottumwa, Bloomfield and Lockridge.

There have been many sightings in these areas. The local papers used to carry stories occasionally and the archives should be a treasure trove of information for researchers. I have some knowledge of two sightings in particular.

The following is a sighting as told to me by Dick Hopkins, an old friend:

Dick's son, as I recall his name is David, saw this Bigfoot when he was around 10 or 12. This would have been approximately 25 years ago. The area south of Bloomfield, Iowa is rough clay hills with lots of brush, mixed oak timber in the hills and maple/cottonwood timber in the many creek bottoms. Multiflora roses were introduced to make living fences, they naturalized and spread out and some areas are pretty near impenetrable. Farm fields tend to be 5 to 10 acres with an occasional 20 or even 50 acres of plowable ground.

These are separated by brushy ravines and creeks. The area used to be heavy to 40 and 60-acre family farms.

They kept a few milk cows, chickens and hogs, sold milk and cream and eggs. It is mostly beef country now with pastures running to hundreds of acres.

Many old farmsteads have been abandoned as cattlemen buy up neighboring farms.

The Hopkins lived in the last house on a dead end road. David was out on his bike and was coming home at dusk. The road was a roller coaster of small hills and dips. David topped a small rise and saw a Bigfoot standing in the middle of the road.

He laid his bike down to stop in time. They looked at each other for a moment then the Bigfoot jumped the fence and ran off through the cornfield.

David grabbed his bike, found that the chain was off, and pushed it home. He arrived out of breath and somewhat panicked as might be expected. When he calmed down he told of the classic dark hairy upright beast with a pronounced hump. His parents tried to convince him that he had seen a buffalo, (there were buffalo on a nearby farm).

He would not be persuaded but stuck firmly to his story. To my knowledge, this sighting was not widely reported.

Larry Hagedon
Posted BFL - Thursday, April 19, 2001 7:55 AM


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