The legend of Bigfoot is alive in this museum that had exhibits of Bigfoot foot casts, hair, and sightings many of which came from the nearby southern Oregon, northern California area. Some casts were from Dr. Jeff Meldrum from Utah State University. Another room contained shirts, books, magnets, socks, literally everything Bigfoot. Outside was a nine-foot-tall Bigfoot statue and behind the museum is Yeti’s Ice Cream & Treats featuring Oregon’s own Umpqua brand ice cream. I talked to the manager who related several Bigfoot sightings that took place along the Smith River just south of Cave Junction.
This is where the UFO phenomena began. That’s right, back on June 24, 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying by Mount Rainier on his way to Yakima, Washington. His trip was delayed one hour as he flew in search of a marine transport plane that reportedly crashed near or around the southwest side of the mountain. A “mirror bright” flash reflected on his airplane, and he saw a fleet of nine peculiar looking objects flying north at supersonic speed at about 9,500 feet. Every few seconds two or three of the objects would change course or dip. The sun would then reflect brightly off these objects. Mr. Arnold described the objects as being flat or crescent appearing like saucers skipping on water. Newspaper men began calling them “flying saucers”. Below is a photo of Mr. Arnold and his original report and drawing of the UFO’s.
Hiking the mountain foothills and trails it made me think of what Arnold saw 69 years ago. There have been UFO sightings reported in recent years but the past two days and nights it was so foggy at the campground so I could not see the night skies and clouds.
On day three it was sunny as we left Mount Rainier and drove east. We saw a large bigfoot statue at a gas station in Morton reminding us that we were in “Squatch” country. Hundreds of bigfoot sightings have been reported over the years not only in this tri-county area but throughout the state.
Through the years I’ve run on the trail under this bridge in at least three 5K Runs without knowing the dark history of the bridge area. The Stillwater River Recreational Bike Trail runs parallel to the river and curves under the bridge. The old steel trestle bridge was replaced by a more modern span at the end of World War I.
Bessie Little’s dead, bloated body was found floating in the river by the bridge on September 2, 1886. She was age 23, unmarried and pregnant with two small bullet holes in her head. After investigation her boyfriend Arthur Frantz was found guilty of the crime.
A man fishing the Stillwater River on August 29, 1907, near the bridge reeled in a revolver that was used in the murder of Bessie Little in 1896. The Ridge Avenue Bridge was often coined the “Bessie Little Bridge”.
The bridge is reportedly haunted by the ghost of Bessie Little. People have seen a female apparition gliding across the bridge only to vanish. Some drivers at night have slammed on their brakes as a woman was standing in the road on the bridge. Sometimes screams or gunshots are heard. Is her spirit still there due to the betrayal of her boyfriend.
Since the first reported sighting in 1889, 109 reports of large-sized objects have been received with most describing a 20- to 40-foot-long eel or serpent creature with black steel eyes. Some witnesses have described humps, or fins, and some smooth skin. That first sighting 133 years ago, was by Capt. James Kerr and 100 passengers aboard the lake steamboat U.S. Grant. As the long, large creature approached the boat, one frightened passenger pulled out a rifle and shot at it.
We stayed at the Polson KOA campground where I relaxed and had beautiful views of the lake. In the small town I noticed lake creature murals and statues and even The Cove Deli & Pizza had a pizza named after it. At lakeside I saw no unusual water disturbances. The lake itself is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, 27 miles long, a maximum width of 15 miles and 370 feet at its deepest point. With an average depth of 164 feet, hypothetically, it could be a possible habitat to breed a large eel like creature. The lake is one of the cleanest in the world and is home to bull and cutthroat trout, whitefish, perch, and sturgeon. Considered a living dinosaur and one of the largest fish in the world, a sturgeon 6 to 11 feet in length with a bony lumpy back, and capable of living 50 to 60 years, could this be the misidentification that many witnesses have seen? So, is this a Montana sea monster or urban legend?
This famous June 1876 battlefield where Northern Plains Indians, fighting to preserve their ancestral way of life, massacred over 220 7th US Cavalry soldiers including Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. With this type of tragic death, it is no surprise that park employees and visitors have reported paranormal occurrences at the battlefield. Reports of seeing ghosts of Indian warriors & cavalry soldiers, hearing unexplained voices, battle sounds, bugles or war hoops.
At the nearby Stone House, now used as a national park office, staff claimed to have seen a ghost with no head or legs, have heard footsteps and seen doorknobs turn by themselves. I could not enter Stone House due to Covid restrictions, but I talked to Ranger Steve Adelson as he related his personal experiences including seeing and following a short distance the apparition of a cavalry soldier. Next to Stone House is the Custer National Cemetery, final resting place of 5,000 early Indian War soldiers, scouts, military families, and more recent veterans.
After interviewing the ranger, I began my investigation at Custers Last Stand Hill. The hill was where 41 calvary men shot their horses for breastworks to make their final stand. Custer and his brother Tom were two of the casualties. Menacing dark storm clouds formed above as if the spirits of the soldiers and Indians were telling me to postpone my investigation.
Hiking down past Deep Ravine Trail and over Greasy Grass Ridge I heard gunshots below. In the distance down in the prairie valley on this side of the Little Bighorn River there was a house among the few trees. I stood and watched for five minutes but saw no one outside moving or shooting. There was eerie silence as the wind totally stopped even though the clouds above looked sinister. Looking south about a mile was where, in 1876, approximately 7,000 Indians (1,500 were warriors) had made their encampment. So, who had made the gunshots? Had I heard gunfire from the past?
Back in the car we drove through the entire park viewing the remaining battlefield areas. I took many photos just before the storm hit. The park was closing anyway and as we drove back past the park entrance a park ranger locked the gate behind us. It reminded me of what area Crow Agency Indians called the park rangers locking the gates at night – “Ghost Herders”.
The former home of French diplomat and entrepreneur Marquis de Mores and his wife Medora. Marquis founded the town and named it after his wife. He came to establish a new kind of cattle operation. The slaughterhouse was built in the town he founded. Today, all that remains of the De Mores packing plant ruins at chimney park is the clay brick slaughterhouse chimney.
The house, built in 1883 as a hunting lodge and summer home for family and guests still stands. It has 26 rooms on its two stories and retains the European luxury of original furnishings, family artifacts and the ghost of Medora. The apparition of a female is seen in all parts of the house, and sometimes the impression of a body on Medora’s side of the bed. Tour guides and visitors report cold spots are often felt, and the sound of a person laughing is heard. Townsfolk report that lights come on when no one is in the house. I could not gain entrance on the two days we were at nearby Teddy Roosevelt National Park, but I walked around the exterior of the building and took photos and did one EVP. This house looks spooky sitting up on the hill all by itself.
This small western looking desert shop, a former old bank building, is haunted by a ghost of a woman who comes out only on or near her birthday. The problem is, no one knows who the woman is nor when her birthday is. Staff I spoke to have not seen the ghost, but sometimes the old broken clock will start on its own, objects may move by themselves, and that the depot is unnaturally cold even in summer. I took photos and did an EVP but obtained no evidence. With no other stories out there about the female ghost, is this just a Medora urban legend? Certainly, sounds like it, but it was worth stopping at as I enjoyed a chocolate milkshake and Rosie had a delicious ice cream sundae.
Formerly known as the Eaton Lodge, this Victorian manor house bed and breakfast is located on Eaton Street just off Duval Street in the heart of “Old Town” Key West. On the National Registry of Historic Homes, this house built in 1886 has 14 unique rooms and a private tropical garden. The B&B is haunted by Dr. William Warren (Photo#1), his wife Genevieve and former patients. Dr. Warren purchased the house in 1913 from the original owner and set up waiting rooms and surgery for his medical practice. B&B guests claim that they have heard the footsteps of the doctor pacing the hallway at night worrying about his patients. Others have heard a typewriter as the doctor often stayed up very late typing his medical reports. Other guests have seen the apparition of a man and woman holding hands and walking through the courtyard garden. Warren is also heard in the Eaton Room, which served back then as the doctor’s morgue.
Shane and I took photos and EVP’s in the Garden Room, Veranda Room and at the courtyard (Photo#3). Shane sat where another investigator was touched by an unseen presence two nights before. We did not obtain any evidence, but it was a fun investigation.
Fort East Martello Museum is a Civil War Fort on the east side of Key West with many exhibits, ghost stories and one famous exhibit of Robert the Doll. The stuffed toy is 40 inches tall and belonged to a boy named Robert “Gene” Otto. Gene grew up in Key West in a family of doctors, but he chose to become an artist. As an adult Gene called his house the “Artist’s House”. Shane and I took photos of the Artists House (photo #2) during a ghost tour. Gene was strange and after his marriage to Anne, Gene still talked to the doll. Gene would paint in the attic and Robert always sat in the attic with him, often placed to look out the only window. Many times, neighbors swore that the creepy doll moved its head and was looking at them. Gene eventually died, Anne moved away, and the house was rented to tenants. Anne was disgusted with the doll, and Robert remained in the attic. Renovation contractors and tenants who encountered the doll after Gene’s death reported strange happenings including the doll giggling, it’s head, body or legs changing positions, and moving across the room to a different location all on its own. On the second floor they heard movement and a child’s laughter as if someone was walking across the attic. In 1994, the doll was donated to the Fort Museum where it remains today.
During the museum tour we took photos of the scary doll which was enclosed in a glass case. A sign warned patrons not to shake the glass or say something negative to the doll. The doll’s face has deteriorated after 120 years so that it looks somewhat like a burn victim (Photo#4) The display next to the doll had dozens of letters from patrons from across the USA saying that when they visited the museum, they did say something negative or mocked the doll and felt that they were cursed as calamities of some sort happened to all of these people. Although I do not believe in curses, the doll and the display are very eerie looking. The museum also has great historical, war and other displays. Shane stands beside (Photo#5) an old horse-drawn hearse display.
Bishopville is the home of the famous Lizard Man, sightings of a reptilian humanoid which began in 1988 and continued through 2008. This cryptozoology case is unique as citizens in Bishopville and a small settlement named Brownstown, just a few miles west located along Scape Ore Swamp, reported sightings of a six to seven foot tall creature resembling a lizard that walked/ran on two legs. Other resident reports included physical damage to cars and an actual attack. The national media picked up on the sightings including Good Morning America doing a live broadcast from Brownstown and Dan Rather CBS Evening News interviewing the sheriff in Bishopville.
Rosie and I drove toward Bishopville past the dense Scape Ore Swamp which was damp, muddy, spongy ground with tall, thin pine and cypress trees, fat rotting tree trunks and the constant sound of insects. Slogs, which is the shallow, murky, mossy water, was everywhere. Bishopville (population 3,300) was a small, quaint southern town home of the South Carolina Cotton Museum. The museum displayed several 1988 newspaper articles and two Lizard Man footprint casts (Photo#1, #2 & #3) showing three long toes on the foot. The footprint in Photo#2 seems to be a fake as experts claim it is too perfect. In addition, if the animals/creatures that are bipedal have a smaller rear pd on the sole of the foot. This cast shows both front and back pads are large. Experts said the footprint in Photo#3 seemed to be more realistic of bipedal animals. The museum store sold Lizard Man t-shirts (Photo#4) and a book about the sightings and investigation. This book, “The True Story of the Lizard Man” by Lyle Blackburn is an excellent read. We talked to museum staff about the sightings and town/county history which was one of the state’s leaders in cotton production.
We drove a mile and ate lunch at the Harry & Harry Too Restaurant and enjoyed the themed “Lizard Man Sandwich” a delicious burger (Photo#6) with onions and cheese plus French fries. The interior of the restaurant/bar had dozens of original newspaper articles and photos (Photo#8 & #9). You couldn’t miss outside, the large sign (Photo#5) promoting the iconic local cryptid, the Lizard Man. I hope to return again someday and hike around the swamp area.
