27 Responses to “New Info: Bigfoot Attack, Bluff Creek, 1958”

1. Danno responds: April 7th, 2007 at 12:53 pm

   Great story.

   If this were true it’s not hard to determine the reaction of the timber industry to a group of unacknowledged animals preventing them from harvesting their product? They would of had to have buried the bodies somewhere.

2. dogu4 responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:03 pm

   Being a voracious reader of this sort of thing, I had read about it and had seen it referrenced but never read a letter about the incident itself, so even though this is second hand, it does bolster some of the earliest stories I’d read long ago AND it further explains Mr Wallace’s reason to show that these prints were hoaxes as that would ease the fears of the loggers and others who might have felt they’d disturbed something better left to itself. Thanks for sharing it with us.

3. Ceroill responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

   I don’t pretend to be as much of an authority on such things as some here are, but would this qualify as the largest reported number of bigfoots (bigfeet?) in one encounter?

4. mystery_man responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

   Ceroill- I’m not sure if it is the most Bigfoot ever reported at one time or not, but that certainly is a lot of very PO’ed Bigfoot.

   What I wonder about when I read this report is what it could tell us about possible Bigfoot social dynamics. I find myself asking all sorts of questions. Were all these in one social group? Did they all happen to live in the same area? Did they mobilize over distances to come together and cooperate in this fashion and if so, by what means did they achieve this? Is this a normal behavioral pattern for them to aggressively gang up in this way against an enemy or threat or was it an isolated incident? If this account is authentic, then it offers clues to Bigfoot behavior that is interesting to speculate about.

5. Ceroill responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:37 pm

   mystery_man, I agree, it’s fascinating. Other questions that instantly spring to mind are: Were they all males? It could be that in the heat of the moment, from that distance, details could have been missed. Also, what exactly were they so irate about? Territorial encroachment in general? Presence of the machines, something so completely unfamiliar? Of course there’s no way to know any of this now.

6. sasdave responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pm

   Yea… Some where I remember reading about some logging equipment and barrels being tossed about. The info regarding that amount of BF was not included. Editting and not putting the full story out has its’ benefits to those that fear the truth. As unbelievable as it may be. Of all the personal experiances told to me, was the sighting of 3 possible sasquatchs which were seen together. Long live the sasquatch and all their bigfoot friends.

7. Bob Michaels responds: April 7th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

   Hell, enough for a Bigfoot Football team. Go Bigfoot

8. Rillo777 responds: April 7th, 2007 at 3:07 pm

   RE Bob Michaels:
   If they did have a team I wonder what their mascot would be?
   As to the story: sounds very interesting! I know there is a precedence for bigfoot throwing tires and logs in a story I read in one of Loren’s books.
   If this is true I certainly would have to re-think my opinion that bigfoot is a solitary, rather non-social creature.

   Consider also what a dozen bigfoot would have done to relatively smaller loggers if they had attacked hand to hand! And I imagine loggers aren’t exactly puny!

   I’m intrigued that the attack centered on the equipment and fuel drums to run it. Does this show a certain amount of casual association? Did they realize that the tractors, trucks and fuel were essential to the logging operation or were these items just big and commanded the bigfoot’s attention? Lots of interesting questions here, if the story is true.

9. enjoyment responds: April 7th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

   10-12? So there where possibly 12 set of tracks going through Bluff Creek during the heyday of bigfoot research? Then how come we have only found what 2-3 sets of verified tracks?

10. springheeledjack responds: April 7th, 2007 at 10:58 pm

    I remember reading about this account too–and again, as others have said–facts may indeed have been changed…or at least omitted in order to keep the regular populace from panicking…very interesting indeed and just one more hurdle for the cryptozoologist to overcome, if real evidence is supressed in order to protect private interests.

    It was an interesting account, and as all of you point out, the fact that there were 10-12 implies some sort of social dynamics and group/family behavior evident.

    One of my big questions then is: was that an isolated grouping of BF’s? If they do live in groups, then how come so often do sightings occur where there is just one of them sighted? Is it a hunter/gathering type grouping with perhaps lone hunters out gathering food for a group?

    OR was that an isolated situation, and perhaps the BF’s are solitary except for possible mating periods when they come together at some designated place?

    If they are higher order in intelligence (as I would almost certainly expect), I would guess they would be more inclined to groups, but I am not an expert on primates.

11. Double Naught Spy responds: April 7th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Lots of good questions here, indeed. Interesting story, too.

    I am only familiar with Ray Wallace’s antics from reading about them here, recently. I must say, though, that something about his behavior just doesn’t add up. What could his motive be for faking footprints if by doing so he frightened his own employees away? I think we may be looking at an important piece of the puzzle right here. It’s very easy to picture the people of the local media, even in ‘58, well, knowing what was good for them.

12. The_Carrot responds: April 8th, 2007 at 8:22 am

    It sounds too spectacular; surely one of the loggers would have spoken up by now?

    I’m not saying this story is false, but I’d sure like to see a second source for it before I go speculating about it reveals about Sasquatch and group dynamics

13. Pentastar responds: April 8th, 2007 at 9:19 am

    Just like the_carrot I would like to hear from the people who was there.

    I have read stories about things being thrown around as well but if this incident is true it is by far more interesting.

    If this is true then there was a reason for the bigfoots to gathter, create a mess at the site and to stay until the workers returned. Obviously their intention was to scare the people away.

    I have just scratched on the surface of this subject but I find the social pattern and the intentions behind it is far beyond what animals normally do.
    For example, one of the major differences between humans and animals is our ability to “think ahead” and plan e.g we can take certain action to achieve a goal. I´m not sure about our cousins the great apes but I can´t recall I have read about any kind of behaviour like this from them.

    It takes a lot of brain capacity to plan this very action. First of all they have to have social skills. Then to make everyone know what they are gonna do and participate in the action takes a form of communication (speech, signs etc). And to make a plan that has a goal it takes a lot of brain work. They have to be able to compute possibilities and then find a solution to prevent the possibility they don´t want happening. This kind of operational thinking doesn´t develope in human children until the age of 10-11 (according to Vygotskij and other “great thinkers” ). I might push it a bit but it seems to me that this action is “smarter” than what 7 years old children can think of.

    If it actually is so then we have a very sharp brain out there.

14. dogu4 responds: April 8th, 2007 at 9:21 am

    Springheel: Higher order intelligence is not necessariy a sign of intelligence, though it’s no surprise that we humans associate the two.

    DoubleNaught: According to one story, Wallace’s very profitable clearcutting operation shut down when workers, local northern californios (Hoopa tribal guys) discovered their logging-show all messed up and finding giant footprints all over, and if this recent revelation holds any water, a group of a dozen howling BF. Wallace, thinking that if he could “prove” that the tracks were the result of a practical joker, the workers would return. He wasn’t trying to convince the world that BF existed, but rather he was trying to convince his workers that their lives weren’t in anymore danger than regular.

15. mystery_man responds: April 8th, 2007 at 11:29 am

    Pentastar- As a matter of fact, I hate to burst the human bubble, but we are not the only creatures that think ahead. The ability to plan ahead has been documented in several primates and even in some types of birds. For some animals, it is not clear just how much high intelligence plays a role in this, but the capacity to plan ahead is present nonetheless, perhaps it is a useful survival trait. There was an interesting recent study involving a type of jay that showed they were able to save up certain food items regardless of hunger so that they would have food to eat on a day when they were given none. Chimpanzees even show the ability to form alliances with each other and this is indicative of very advanced planning. Studies are showing that fewer and fewer traits that we once thought of as solely the realm of humans are unique to us after all.

16. fuzzy responds: April 8th, 2007 at 11:39 am

    Reactionary activities like equipment damage and missle launching seem more like a hormone-driven primate defense reflex than a planned assault, to me.

    But then, where did all these normally solitary bigfoot (of whichever gender) come from - did the local animals put out some sort of alarm vibe or long-distance howl, did they bring it up at a casual gathering down by the river, did they send runners, or was the loggers invasion so intrusive that the whole Bigfoot clan found out, and “just had to do something”?

    The loggers reacted predictably, too - since they were Hoopa natives, they knew what the Bigfoot were angry about, and behaved accordingly.

    And so did Management - convince the workers that it was all a ruse, and GET THEM BACK TO WORK! Follow the money, as usual.

    If true, this generates an interesting and acceptable chain of events - to me, anyways. Doesn’t really change anything, tho.

    For me.

17. mystery_man responds: April 8th, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    Well, I am not sure how much hard evidence there is to say with certainty that Bigfoot is a solitary animal. There have been lots of sightings that point to the possibility of family units and groups of individuals. But with this many Bigfoot reported at one time, I just really find myself wondering if that was the case here and trying to figure out what went on here. We just don’t know anything about this creature’s social structures to say for a fact whether they are solitary loners, group oriented creatures like gorillas, or semi solitary creatures. Once again, this incident is a good look into possible Bigfoot social dynamics but unfortunately poses more questions than it potentially answers. Some of the questions being brought up on this thread are very good ones, but I think we should hold off on making any assumptions here just yet.

18. Pentastar responds: April 8th, 2007 at 2:10 pm

    Mystery_man. This is a hard nut to crack. I’m aware of plenty of species that “plan ahead” but I’d say that is rather instincts than intelligence in the form of logical thinking. Higher primates are as smart as children (did some research now). Intelligence should be connected to creativity and voila plenty of squirrels etc don’t appear to be so intelligent.

    In this very case I’d say the bigfoots showed a high level of meta-cognitive thinking. No doubt that Chimps do that as well. There are examples of Chimps gathering up and systematically attacking neighbouring Chimp flocks or hunting monkeys. Obviously they need to have some form of strategical and logical thinking to manage such tasks.

    I guess there is no point in arguing whether higher primates are smart or not.

    There is one thing about bigfoots that I have thought about and find very remarkable. They are said to throw rocks and sticks at people who get to close. Apparently, a good method to scare away humans. But what I find interesting about this is that all reports of throwing projectiles describe a rather precise throwing were no humans have been hit. That give us two scenarios. Either bigfoots aim is seriously bad or they deliberately don’t hit the targets. Let’s assume that it’s scenario two. If bigfoots can throw small projectiles with such good aiming it means they are unique and probably very sharp minded. Other higher primates and even small children totally lack the ability of aiming. And I read a lot about it and it seems that is a skill that humans alone have.

    Well well, better be careful before I claim that bigfoot is a reincarnation of Einstein.

19. Double Naught Spy responds: April 8th, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    dogu4: That’s what I meant. On the face of it, (in the absence of any scenario such as the one described in the above letter) Wallace’s behavior makes no sense. What puzzles me is that the mainstream media misses that, to the extent they pay any attention to the episode at all. Based on a careful reading of the Official Record, one might be forgiven for thinking Wallace was a fool for pulling such a stunt when he was only hurting himself. I don’t think Wallace was a fool at all, and I think there is a lot more to this story than anyone has yet revealed.

    I also don’t think Bigfoot is a big dummy. It seems to me that avoiding capture for the last century or so would require a fair amount of brain power, even some creativity.

20. Bob K. responds: April 9th, 2007 at 12:42 am

    This hearkens back to the famed “Ape Canyon” attack by a number of bigfoot against a group of miners huddled in their cabin in 1924, apparently after a bigfoot had been shot by one of the miners earlier in the day. So a group action of this sort, while rare, is not without precedent.

21. mystery_man responds: April 9th, 2007 at 12:57 am

    Pentastar- Ok, I see what you were getting at. Of course some of that behavior might not be directly linked to high intelligence and some of these behaviors may not involve logical critical thinking as we know it, I was just illustrating that it has been observed in animals to some extent. And yes, there is definately a high level of cognitive ability at work with this Bigfoot scenario. Great apes have continued to suprise with their level of intelligence and recourcefulness as well as ability to think ahead and plan ahead. So if you consider that planning ahead is not a unique human trait and then add to that the fact that many higher primates exhibit advanced social planning and intelligence, then I find it not too hard to believe that Bigfoot could be exhibiting advanced behaviors such as were displayed here. I do find it a very good observation you made about the throwing of rocks and sticks. I never really thought about the point that no humans were hit, so that definately leads to some interesting theories. Again, more questions being posed!

22. CRH responds: April 9th, 2007 at 9:41 am

    Were they protecting offspring?
    Were they protecting a food source?
    Is there anything unique or special about the specific ecology of that place at that time of year?
    Is there anything in common ecologically-speaking between this place and other locations where such behaviour has been reported?
    Sometimes it’s useful to expand the range of questions revolving around an incident and relate them to the specific time or geography, something that doesn’t seem to happen all that often or at least be reported all that often. Specific plant species in fruit or bloom? Did the anomaly display signs of being well-fed or undernourished (I know that’s extremely hard to tell or even report on with anything approaching accuracy or relevance)? As with all wildlife, these questions are usually addressed and have a bearing on species habitat and behaviour.

23. dogu4 responds: April 9th, 2007 at 10:58 am

    DoubleNaught…Right, I follow ya now. As per the news media covering it; I’m sure nobody here places much hope in that happening…we’re all far to interested in easy news and shocked sensibilities. Not many read the news sources nor the corrections…especially if its got any science or complexity to it.
    As for intelligence…no doubt they’re intelligent enough to avoid us, though my contention is that we’re guilty of way overestimating our own senses trustworthyness and add insult to injury by thinking that they’re somehow super sensitive. Without a doubt humans’ most highly developed sense is our sense of imagination. Too bad we can’t imagine the kind of life-pattern that a BF or Yeti might have accurately enough to be practical. If we could perhaps we could predict where they’d be and be able to document their existence.

24. greywolf responds: April 9th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Firs,t think about number one factor…MONEY, Do I think Wallace made the fakes to get his workers back…Yes..Also BF has had most likely as much time to evolve as we the so called human. Are we really the higher primate? If we have evolved to what we are today from the time man came across the land bridge or the ice flow in the east then why would the BF not have evolved to. He would have to deal with men from cavemen to modern men. I think he would have learned by experience….Who on this site do not believe that any large company or governmental agency would fail to report the facts or make up facts to meet there agends when big bucks are at stake. If BF is still out there the lumber Co.’s and the government really don’t want us to know.

25. snakeyguitarchick responds: April 10th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

    …COOL…

26. Mnynames responds: April 13th, 2007 at 1:07 am

    Since we’re all “what If”-ing here, someone mentioned why there were so few tracks recorded if there were that many BF there. Could it be that a small group found the site and messed with it, while at the same time sending word to others, who then arrived in time to encounter the loggers? I know, I know, total speculation at this point, but if these facts could be established (2-3 BF making tracks, 10-12 BF encountered), then it is suggestive of some sort of communications and group dynamics.

    As always, just food for thought…

27. dogu4 responds: April 13th, 2007 at 10:58 am

    Yeah..the notion of a small band of BF getting together as if to address what would naturally be seen as a threat (and to be truthful, what could be more of a threat to a forest dweller than to see its habitat clearcut?) is intriguing. Or could it just be coincidental to a gathering that might naturally occur for animals instinctively driven to overcome their penchant for solitary existence in order to establish a social relationship with others of its kind (reproductive, territorial or traditional food oriented activity, fish run, or edible plant phenomenon) or maybe a combination of factors. Of course the dominant creatures are more likely to behave in an overt manner and it would seem that tossing steel drums and equipment around might be an expression of that. Brown bears do this by testing each others fitness, famously.

    A jet flight over the Coastal Ranges and Cascades these days would suggest why large groups of BF would be unlikely today. The patchwork of cutbanks, sluice outs, clearcuts and reprod areas reveal a completely fragmented forest and one could presume that those impacts would disrupt the social pathways that might have been existent prior to the wholesale roadbuilding and clearcutting of the 70s and 80s.

Leave your comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

|Top | Content|