Sasquatch Smackdown: Tara Hauki vs Jon-Erik Beckjord
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 2nd, 2007
It’s stuff like this that gives hominology a bad name.
I don’t especially like to report on scandals and personal disagreements. However, there seems to be something happening on the fringes of Bigfootry that might boil over into public media exposure, jail time or a court confrontation. Therefore, I should at least give you a chance to know it’s occurring, mention highlights of both sides of the story, and then you can decide to read more about it or not.
It involves Tara Hauki (above) of Happy Camp, California, and Jon-Erik Beckjord (pictured below) of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ms. Hauki has had a history of believing Tom Biscardi was going to assist her in her quest for Bigfoot, and she found she was disappointed, to put it mildly, after her time with him.
More recently, Ms. Hauki placed her trust in Mr. Beckjord, and that seems to have turned out with negative results.
Okay, she was warned by several people about both men, but some people just won’t listen without seeing for themselves.
Now Ms. Hauki is claiming during during September 2007, she was physically assaulted by Jon-Erik Beckjord. It has become an online war since then. She has written: “That particular situation is not over until he goes to jail. I am going to make sure of it.”
Her side of the story, as revealed in her published online journals and more, is here.
Intriguingly, some of it is about her saying, through almost a Charlie Manson suggestive fog, she was strongly encouraged to read Beckjord’s copy of Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp.
But more to the point, she says, it is about graphic violence. Ms. Hauki wrote:
September 17, monday, morning
It’s hard to write or see. My face is burning from the pepper spray, or mace Jon-Erik just sprayed in it.
I just caught him rifling through my bag as I walked back into camp from leaving to go get the police, or out of here, or just plain away from him. I’m going to leave the mace on my face as physical evidence because he is recording our conversation. He just informed me that he has been recording us and he is lying about the things he has been doing to me so far, saying he has’nt (sic) done it so it will record that way, i.e. he hit me with a flashlight in the head last night at the campfire and w/o my knowledge at that point kept denying it as I was yelling at him to get away from me. [snip]
We have been arguing over whether or not it is ethical to make money off of a bigfoot picture. I do not believe it is. He does. He shoved me too! He is definitely a big huge FREAK!!!
[snip]
I am screaming at him, anything to keep him away! [snip] I AM SCARED!!!
[snip]
My face is starting to burn very badly now, but I won’t remove the mace because of his verbal threats and physical abuse.
September 17, (cont)
When I attempted to go through the side door to get some food, he came up behind me, grabbed me… and threw me down.
I am adding here that unlike the compliment EB has given me on his website, I am not 5’10”, 200 lbs. I am 5’5″, 225. He is 6’2″ or 6’3″, 300 plus. It was’nt (sic) very hard for him to swing me around and knock me down.
[snip]
My face is starting to swell. Luckily he missed my eyes. He got across my forehead and down my right side… including my ear. My lips are starting to burn now. I saw the can as he held it up and knocked it up, thank god.[snip]Tara Hauki
Also fellow Happy Camp resident Linda Martin has come to her defense, posting Ms. Hauki’s photograph (above top) on her bigfootsightings.org blog and discussing the matter.
Meanwhile, Mr. Beckjord, apparently having recovered from his cancer, has countered with various postings about the incidents. Intriguingly, some of it is about Ms. Hauki throwing six of Mr. Beckjord’s books in a creek.
But more to the point, he says, it’s about her yelling at him nonstop for six hours.
It all seems to be heating up, with Ms. Hauki getting ready to attempt to throw Jon-Erik Beckjord in jail, and his countering with this:
Update: Now she calls me an “Internet Predator”. This is absurd. Those men want sex from young girls. Hauki is 50, looks 60, and you couldn’t pay me to have sex with her. Claims to be 45, but really is 50, claims to have been forced to walk (hike) out 15 miles when the real distance to the paved road is 3 miles, claims I repeatedly hit her when in fact she hit me with a shovel, claims her journal is accurate when it is just a litany of lies, claims to be a maniac, and this is actually true – manic-depressive psychosis – Bi-polar. [snip] Amador Co Sheriff’s Dept checked on her address in Happy Camp, and Happy Camp Sheriff’s Dep. reports “Multiple contacts with this subject”. The Horrid,Harridan Hag of Happy Camp. eb.
Linda Martin’s blog says she finds no arrest record for Ms. Hauki in Happy Camp.
Certainly, there are two sides to every story, but one thing is clear about this one: There are no happy campers in this tale of these two.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Don’t like fringe stuff. Who is lying? Well, I don’t know.
Thanx for the heads-up.
Unfortunately, there will always be oddballs scurrying around the fringes of phenomena research, confusing the issues, cluttering the data with empty gossip, then slinking off into obscurity, only to reappear in some other venue, eager to waste more unsuspecting victims’ time.
Intriguing, indeed, that this energy vampire should emerge this time at Hallowe’en!
Researchers and habituators beware, there are thugs, trespassers and much worse out there, who will lie to your face and do anything for the prize. A word to the wise. JMHO
LOL. Something must be in that mountain water. Mr. Beckjord has an agenda made obvious by his site that asks for money on every other line. Does this guy have a day job?
Well, she should file a charge against this guy if she feels she was really attacked. Let the police do their job and perhaps we will be rid of this person. And maybe not, the law works in funny ways sometimes.
I am going to put all my bigfoot related items on my desk away. It’s been a long week with the Jacob photos and if this hits the news… 🙁
interesting new article, wow a sasquatch smackdown between 2 people very interesting i guess. bill green
I meant to comment on this several hours ago but got off track while getting my kids ready for school. Anyway, I decided to follow the links of this story everywhere they went. I learned something by doing so. There are some really crazy people that are trying to pass themselves off as something they are not. Not a very flattering off-shoot of the cryptozoological field. I think that it may not be wise to bring attention to their rantings and ravings on this site. National media attention to stories like this would not be good for more serious pursuits in this area. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the forum.
I don’t know how to react on this article.
I feel apathy.
I better move out from my suburban home into a Sasquatch home.
Humans can be so nasty (speaking the truth or telling a lie) that I think Mr. Squatch would be a better companion.
If this is true it’s horrible and if it’s a lie it is horrible as well.
This situation is a lose/lose situation.
We humans tend to think that wherever we seek to escape, the realities of human nature will not find us. The world of Cryptozoology is no different than any other because it is made up of PEOPLE. There are the good, honest investigators who, in the main, are decent folks; and then, there are those who are-shall we simply say-not. This “he said-she said” stuff is a sure indication that yeah, we ARE all still in Kansas.
Well gee, this is a big shocker…
(she said sarcastically)
I’ve yet to hear an interview or read an article about Beckjord, where he fails to present himself as a childish, egomaniacal jerk. My guess is that anyone who would choose to spend more than a brief moment with this guy, has issues of their own and is looking for trouble.
I had said I wouldn’t comment on this story when I saw it a while back, but I guess I lied.
These two seem to deserve each other. First there is Tara who keeps taking up with people of ill repute. A quick internet search should have told her everything she needed to know about Beckjord. After Biscardi you would think she would be more careful. Not entirely her fault if what she says is true, but it could have easily been prevented.
Anything I would say about Beckjord would only be a repeat of what has already been said. His reputation proceeds him.
looks like a couple of wackos to me.
I commented on this story on my Frame 352 blog. I found it interesting in a wacky kind of way but didn’t think it through, not fully realizing messy-ugly it could be. It’s an interesting event (as always, I find the humans involved in Bigfoot and paranormal stuff as interesting as the events themselves) and that’s all I was thinking of when I posted it. Moving on…
This should be on the Jerry Springer show not CRYPTOMUNDO!! “CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG”
Yep, a little internet research on the guy would have saved a lot of grief. I had an opinion of Beckjord, this just kicked it down a couple more notches.
The public already thinks sasquatchers are nuts, and now this.
If I were the judge in this case, I would probably be tempted to throw the both of them in the slammer.
I am not one to usually be at a loss for words, but I think in this case I think all I can say is- Oh brother. Sigh.
maybe tara is the ufo driving, inter-dimensional jumping, vortex portal traveling, shapeshifting, mind controlling, skin walking, bigfoot and beckjord finally got what he was looking for by the tail and didn’t know what to do.
i can most assuredly say tara is not the first nor will she be the last to want to take the business end of a shovel to the side of beckjord’s head. he is the most annoying and infuriating person i thankfully have never had the unfortunate chance to meet.
all i can say is violence is not the answer. i would also offer up that these two are acting like they are in love with each other and don’t quite know how to advance or stomach the proposition. much like the toddler who kicks those he likes as he is not mature enough to reconcile his feelings.
i suggest some premarital counseling and anger management. they do seem made for each other don’t they? she likes the fringe lunatic of the field type and he likes anyone who can stomach him.
I met EB several times a few years ago when he had his “store-front museum” in San Francisco’s North Beach area which I’d pass while walking to and from work. I never got the idea that he was dangerous but couldnt mistake the feeling that he would be highly defensive and suspicious of any criticism or any line of questioning that might lead to that. It wasn’t really worth criticizing since it was so obviously the result of a highly active imagination and a deep desire to have others see the same way. I took from it what I could, and a few funny stories, and left it at that…another wacky, zany big brain in an area rich with ’em. I would have to wonder about anyone’s social sensibilities, like Ms H’s, if they couldn’t see the potential for strong disagreement there, but then again birds of a feather…
From reading Tara’s detailed recounting, it appears like EB was looking for some new female companionship, after his alcoholic girlfriend did not take EB’s (Trip Leader From Hell) tactful suggestions very well, who then left with most of the food, equipment and camping gear. EB then refused to feed Tara, as per his promise to lure Tara onto the trip. (Not unlike MM’s promising to pay Bob Gimlin gas money, for him to join BFRO trips, in order to give equal time to the BFRO.) EB also apparently gave Tara a necklace of unknown authenticity, as payment for something unspecified. EB then apparently had second thoughts about the gift and took certain liberties with Tara’s purse in order to retrieve that gift. Tara supposedly tossed the necklace into the drink, along with EB’s field library. If Tara can just get passed the pepper spray in the face and EB’s psychotic behavior, it sounds like a match made in heaven and for a bigfoot TV reality show. And Biscardi thinks that he has no competition in the Bigfoot reality show business. How little does he know…. It is probably about time for Biscardi to file suit on EB, in order to keep EB from marketing this fiasco to the networks. Not unlike Biscardi threatening to file suit on a Swiss film maker, to keep a highly competitive Bigfoot movie off of the market.
Between EB, Biscardi and MM, I see an on-going soap opera in the making, that never ends, has nothing but villans and foul language, and has no happy ending where all three walk contentedly into the sunset, side by side. The production of which ultimately destroys what little credibility Bigfoot researchers had somehow scrounged together to date.
So where do I sign up for EB’s expedition next year? To get that on film has got to be worth millions, to the forest products industry.
Enough Beckardi, already!
Well if this is true. I don’t care what she did. This guy need’s his butt kicked. One thing I can’t stand is a man that will strike a woman. No matter what she did. Even if she was being physical. He should of just hopped in his rig and left. Any man that strikes a woman is a wuss and need’s his butt kicked.
EB has been a loose cannon for too long.
Battling any dragon he can find to scrap some money from it.
He should be locked up for enumerous errors and invasions over the last 10 years or longer.
To the dungeon with him
Good riddance.
Having read the information about Beckjord assaulting Ms. Hauki with mace has motivated me to write about this person (Beckjord) for the first time in many years….
I’m sorry to say that I had a brief dating relationship with Erik Beckjord years ago. At that time, he was on his best behavior trying to impress me in his pursuit of me. Even though he was trying to be “good”, here is what I observed of him.
He is extremely egotistical, vain, childish, and very manipulative. He is pushy and a bully. He has no respect for people and their boundaries. He zeros in on people with vulnerability because he feels that these are the people that he can control. He is an alcoholic. First comment through the door, “Do you have any booze?’. He drank throughout our dates from beginning to end. (I don’t drink).
His body is like that of a fat white blubbery beached whale. I don’t think he ever took a hike in his life. His bluster and bullying are trying to overcompensate for his physical malformation – he has a tiny penis.
He also feels that he’s the insignificant failure of his notable family. I believe there is a doctor of medicine in his family. He told me that the only way that he can make any impact in this world and in history is to discover something that no one has discovered before. He has latched on to Bigfoot. He’s not in it for science. Real scientific study is too much work. He’s in it for fame. If he can’t achieve that with a credible scientific discovery or real scientific legwork – he will gain fame with outrageousness and bluster.
The guy is a totally maladjusted person who needs extensive therapy. He’s nuts folks. He is putting all of the world on and we’re all supposed to be tuned into the Erik Beckjord Show. He’s a master manipulator.
All his threats of suing people are laughable. The guy has a lot of time on his hands and a computer keyboard – that’s it. The guy has no money – none. He drives these ramshackled cars that are aged heaps of decay ready to fall apart. No sane lawyer would ever take a case from him. He lived in a shack of an apartment near an industrialized section near the freeway of Berkeley way back when. Really pitiful place. I doubt if he can ever find a job and actually keep it if it had anything to do with being sober and getting along harmoniously with people and society. He simply can’t.
So the only way this guy can make it in the world is to cause as much chaos as he can to glean as many hits of his name on the internet. It’s a drug for him. It’s insane to entertain the idea of having him as a guest on any media venue. Hey guys, just say “no”.
The only way this guy should be given any notice is if he ever walks out of the woods hand in hand with an actual Bigfoot and drives the beast down to the nearest police station as proof. Not going to happen. In the meantime, ignore Beckjord. He’s a nut case. I know. I was there.
If you try to block communication with this guy, he comes up with a dozen new email addresses in an attempt to keep harassing you. He’s like a pit bull who once he takes a bite, digs in his fangs and won’t let go.
Also for Ms. Hauki’s benefit: Beckjord always carried mace way back then – saying that it was in case any large dogs attacked his dog. Beckjord also has a fear of any run ins with police (who he can’t manipulate), which might explain why he took off when she said she called the authorities.
The guy is mentally ill and should be ignored.
I know Tara personally and I have had professional dealings with Jon-Eric. I have always considered Tara as a friend and know her as a neighbor. As a neighbor in a small, close community. If she were as much of a “crazy” person as Jon-Eric attempts to portray, and picked up by the police for it as he suggests, everyone in town would know about it. To my knowledge, Tara has been a good neighbor and friend to most everyone in town and is a respected member of our community.
As far as Jon-Eric, my experience with him has been unusual at best. He used to call me at my place of work often telling me things like…; “….Bigfoot told me…” and “….Bigfoot often wears jeans and T shirts… sometimes leather vests….” and the scariest was when he told me that…; “….if you want to see a Bigfoot…. take lots of women and children into the woods and have sex…..”. In my opinion, he must have taken ‘too much advantage’ of his time in Berkeley during the ’60s when he was in school. Several of us in Happy Camp even threatened him with a restraining order to keep him from coming to our town.
This is my two cents worth and I hope it may put things in perspective for a few people.
Thanks for listening….
JavaBob
Why dosen’t Beckjerk just take his overinflated ego and purportedly underinflated body parts and crawl back under the rock and let the search get back some of the credibility it had before him and Ray Wallace and even Ray Wallace could not stand Jon Erik frequently showing up at his door begging money. In a recent issue of “Saucer Smear” author James Moseley stated that Beckjerk should be pitied. I believe instead that serious bigfoot researchers should be pitied for allowing him to pull his shenanigans as long as he has! Where is a good tub of lard stomping sasquatch when we need one? Enough already from me and the whole subject. Let it die a timely death!