Bigfoot Encounters of B.J. Thompson, of Apache Junction, Arizona, as reported to W.G.Wheatcroft, Ph.D., Anthropologist, and Bigfoot researcher. The events herein described by B.J. happened in March, 1992 and separately, during Elk Hunting Season in July, 1994.
First Bigfoot Experience--
These events happened in the Blue Mountains of the state of Washington. The nearest city was Walla Walla. Pop Summerland was a friend of mine. He is now deceased. Pop was a grandson of Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Indian tribe, famous in the 1800s. Pop was an expert hunting guide. Once, he showed me photographs of giant footprints in the woods. They looked human to me. What I mean is that one footprint was in front of the other, like humans walk. Right away, I guessed that they were Bigfoot footprints. Pop did not overly explain things; he let you learn for yourself. At that time, although I had only known Pop for two days, he decided to take me into the Blue Mountains with him; he told me that he had never before taken a White man into the mountains for the purpose of seeing the Bigfoot.
Here’s what happened: We took a horse trailer with us, with two horses inside. When we got to the right area, according to him, we then saddled the horses and went in further, on horseback. Pop was very experienced. We rode on horseback for five hours. It was wilderness. We rode for maybe six miles. Then we stopped. We tethered the horses. We had arrived at a flattened-out area where there was a simple sleeping lean-to. On a tree at this campsite, there were hoists for pulling a deer or elk up onto the tree for skinning purposes. We dumped our gear and got a fire going. Then we began hiking on foot for about 1 1/2 hours. There was snow on the ground at this time of year. We started seeing Bigfoot tracks in the 3 inches of snow. The tracks were 18 inches long. We also saw some thick deposits of grey-colored Bigfoot hairs stuck to the bushes along the pathway. At the end of our hike of about an hour and a half, we entered a clearing about 40 feet in diameter. Pop took four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of his bag and put them on wax paper in the middle of the clearing, as an offering. He then swept some snow off of the rocks, and we sat in the shade there to wait. We sat quietly for about 45 minutes. Then we could hear rustling sounds in the pine trees and bushes. Then suddenly, two Bigfoot came out of the trees across from us, walking 8 feet into the clearing in front of us. One of the Bigfoot was 9 feet tall, and the other was 8 feet tall. Their fur or hair was grayish brown. They were very hairy, but surprisingly, they had human-looking faces. They had wider mouths and somewhat flatter noses than humans have. Their cheeks were clear of hair. Above their eyebrow ridges, these Bigfoot had a low hairline. Their heads were dome-shaped. The two Bigfoot just stood there for about 10 minutes, staring at us, while we were staring at them. No words were spoken. I had the feeling that they would have stayed longer, if I (a new person) had not been there. But Pop did not say this to me. Who knows? I had a feeling, myself, that they knew of our presence well before we got to the clearing. Pop felt that the Bigfoots were humans of some kind! He was, perhaps, actually more friendly towards the Bigfoots than he was towards Whites! This was kind of an American Indian thing with him. He felt that the Bigfoots were American Indian blood beings.
After about 10 minutes of standing in the middle of the clearing, the Bigfoots backed up, and then disappeared behind the trees. Then we also left. I assumed that they would come soon, to retrieve the sandwiches that we left in the clearing for them. The shorter Bigfoot seemed younger to me. Initially, when they first arrived, the shorter one made a move as if he was going to come get the sandwiches. But the bigger, seemingly older Bigfoot made a grunting noise, at which point the younger Bigfoot stopped advancing towards the sandwiches. Then, as I said, they both just stood there looking at us. Their arms are long, so that their hands were at the level of their knees. They also had long legs, and really massive shoulders. When they backed up into the trees, Pop also got up, and touched my shoulder. Then we turned and left the way we came. On the way hiking to this clearing, we had avoided stepping on the Bigfoot footprints, but on the way back we weren't so careful, because we had no plaster of Paris with us, so we couldn’t make footprint-casts.
We had hiked in just to see the Bigfoot, so after riding our horses back to the horse trailer, we put them into the trailer and left the area.
Second Bigfoot Experience--
In July of 1994, I again hooked up with Pop Summerland. He asked me to help him, because he was taking a hunting party of six men to hunt elk up in the same forests of the Blue Mountains of Washington State. He was such a good hunting guide that he guaranteed that each paying hunter in the party would be able to shoot an elk! He asked me to help out; I was to look after the camp, do the cooking, and so forth. We all assembled together. There were six paying hunters. Pop provided everything except the guns and ammunition as part of his package deal. We pulled two, four-horse trailers-- for a total of 8 horses. When we arrived at the hunting area where the lean-to was located that I described before, at first, all of the hunters wanted to go off in two, 3-man parties, on horseback. The lean-to was about 15 feet long, and about 2 feet tall in the back. But by the time we had arrived there, the first day, there was no time to start hunting. So, the first night after our arrival, the men cleaned their guns and we cooked some grub. I also corralled the horses.
Elk Hunting, Day 1: On the first day of hunting, we left at 5:30 a.m.; all eight of us on foot, because if we took the horses, it would scare the elk we were hunting. This is what Pop said. As a guide, I went with three of the hunters, and Pop went separately with the other three men. Pop had made one dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That first day, out of the six hunters, three of the men shot one elk each, that day. I tell you Pop was really good; that’s why he guaranteed that each hunter would shoot an elk on the hunting trip! These three elk were not too big, but satisfactory. Out in the forest, we field-dressed them, (this involved de-gutting them, and so forth, and quartering them) and we hiked back to camp to get the horses to use them as pack horses, and loaded the meat and hides on the horses. Deep in the forest, Pop left 12 sandwiches on a log. When we returned that night, we cooked and ate some steaks from the elk. Elk meat is better than venison! The field-dressing of the elk was crude, just enough to get the game meat back to camp.
Elk Hunting, Day 2: On the second day of hunting, the three men who had each killed an elk the day before, did not go with us, because the rule was: one elk per person, as a condition of the group-hunting license. That is, one tag for one elk. On the second day, one man was sick, and he decided to stay in the camp. Therefore, four of us went hunting—two hunters and two guides, on foot, carrying guns. One of the two hunters shot an elk that day. Out in the forest, we noticed that the sandwiches were gone from the log where Pop had left them the day before, including the wax paper. Pop then left another 6 butter and jelly sandwiches on the same log. We field-dressed the elk that had been killed that day, went to get the horses, and then packed the meat back. As we were returning to our camp, we spotted some giant tracks of a huge bull elk. This was only about one-half mile from our camp.
Let me make a note about field dressing: this involves cutting the animal into quarters, or halves in certain cases, then removing the tongue and liver, and keeping the hide. All the meat is wrapped in burlap, and brought by horseback to the camp, where each of the men put their meat on ice, in various coolers we had with us. Therefore, at the end of the second day, three of the hunters left with four elk cut up into meat, preserved on ice in the coolers, because they had killed their legal limit. One of the hunters decided to stay in the camp, so now there were three hunters and two guides.
Elk Hunting, Day 3: On the third day of actual hunting (the 4th day of our trip, though), we left to go hunting at dawn, at about 5 a.m., right after breakfast. The hunters who had not shot an elk wanted to bag that large bull whose big tracks we had seen the day before. The man who had been sick the day before, also still needed to bag an elk. Right as we left camp, at only about 150 yards from the camp, a 500 pound elk stepped out of the bushes and the man who had been sick pulled his rifle, and shot it. The two hunters then field-dressed the elk and loaded it on the horses that they retrieved from the nearby camp. They took it the short way to their truck to put on ice.
So now, this left only one hunter and us two guides to continue the hunt. We wanted to track and to shoot that giant bull elk! So, we continued the hunt on foot. Pop had about 20 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with him. Every hundred yards or so, Pop would put two or three of these sandwiches on a rock, or log, while we were tracking the footprints of the big elk. We traveled about 4 miles from Camp at that time. Then I spotted the giant bull elk. It was really huge; probably 1400 pounds! The remaining hunter shot and killed it. It was so heavy that the three of us couldn’t even turn it over! We had our skinning knives with us. So we merely de-gutted it on the spot. It was too far to drag the carcass back to camp. So we decided to walk back, and the next day to get the horses, and then drag it behind the horses. But while we were talking, the hunter reconsidered. He decided he wanted to have this specimen mounted, which mount would include the head, rack of antlers, and shoulders. So after some discussion, we decided to leave the giant elk right there, and to deal with it in the morning. Pop then placed the rest of his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches right next to the giant elk. We walked back to camp. I cooked dinner for us. The hunter who had shot the big elk was so excited with his trophy that he ran back to camp by himself. On our way back to the camp, Pop and I were talking. We noticed that the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we had left here and there, along the trail had been taken. While we were hiking, I could see some Bigfoot stalking us, but staying well hidden. I could just see parts of them lurking in the bushes. They were quite stealthy. At the camp, the two hunters were drinking and celebrating. They were very happy.
Hunting Trip, Day 4-- Our Surprise: On the fourth day we got up real early, maybe 4 a.m., to make breakfast. It was still dark. By the time we had made breakfast, it was just dawn. Our task was to saddle up the four horses, to return to where we left the giant bull elk, to field-dress it, and then bring the butchered meat back to camp. But when I went over to the horses, right there near where the horses were tied up, was the giant bull elk lying on its back! Boy was I surprised! Nearby, I saw some large-sized Bigfoot tracks. I was mystified, but happy. Pop smiled when I showed him the bull elk and the tracks. Obviously the Bigfoot had retrieved the huge carcass for us during the night. We waited for the sun to come up and searched the area to see if there were any other Bigfoot tracks nearby. Further out, we did see somewhat smaller Bigfoot tracks, which we presumed had been left by companions of the larger Bigfoot. I want to point out that there were no drag marks. This means that (probably two) Bigfoot had carried this giant elk carcass at least 4 miles to our camp during the night! This was amazing to me!
An hour later, Pop and I woke up the hunter who had killed that big bull elk the day before. We told him that his elk was right there, near the horses, but we would have to pull it up onto the tree, with the block and tackle Pop had fixed to the tree, in order to dress and quarter the elk, and remove the meat. We did not tell either of the hunters that Bigfoots had transported it, because this was something between Pop and me. And, we had not told any of the hunters that Bigfoot even lived there. Pop said fairly strongly that we should not tell the hunters about the Bigfoot. As to the sandwiches Pop left out in the forest on logs and rocks, we had explained to the hunters that we were leaving the food for the birds and wild creatures, as well as to mark our trail. That had all been reasonable to everyone hunting, the days before.
So the hunters dressed, and quartered the giant elk. They butchered it in such a way so that the antlers, neck, and head could be stuffed and mounted by a taxidermist. After this, they put all the meat on ice. It was a really heavy load of meat! The hunters were thrilled. Since they had each gotten an elk, as guaranteed by Pop, like the other hunters, they now left to go home. Pop and I were there for an extra night. There was a table there at the hunting camp, to eat on, near the lean-to. We set out bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and apples on the table, as an offering gift to the Bigfoots. We had hoped to see them come and get the food at night, but we fell asleep.
Hunting Trip, Day 5-- Departure: Early the fifth morning (actually the sixth day we were out, since we had driven the first day), all the fruit and sandwiches were gone. Obviously, the Bigfoots had come in the night and taken our offerings. Pop insisted that we scratch out the Bigfoot footprints nearby, and by the horses, so no one else would know that there were Bigfoot living in the area, in case hikers might come across Pop’s hunting camp. So we dragged some branches over the Bigfoot footprints. Pop felt strongly he should protect their territorial rights. He had a lot of respect for the Bigfoot. He thought of them as a special kind of people.
We cleaned the camp, put the horses in the horse trailers, and left the camp in good order. This was Pop’s camp. He depended on it for part of his living. He was really good at what he did. He is deceased now; and I remember him as a good man!
A few days later, we heard that the hunter who had shot the giant bull elk got 1000 pounds of meat from the animal, not counting the head, or the weight of the bones! This means that the Bigfoots had probably carried at least 1300 pounds of elk for us, for over 4 miles, as a return favor for us giving them the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!
Back in Walla Walla, Washington, I asked Pop if he had actually left the sandwiches for the Bigfoot and not for the birds and animals as he had explained to the hunters. I hadn't directly asked him this before. Pop then told me about an experience that he once had after leaving sandwiches for the Bigfoot. Apparently when hunting alone, he killed and then field-dressed a large elk. Because of weight considerations, he was only able to take one-half of the butchered elk with him, on his own horse. The other half of the dressed elk, he left right there in the forest. It was also a rough area of forest and rocks, to ride in by horseback. Surprisingly, the next morning, he discovered that the other half of the dressed elk which he had left in the remote forest, had been delivered to him during the night, by the Bigfoot, near to where he was sleeping! So with this prior experience in mind, he figured that on this trip, by again making an offering-of-sandwiches, he might get some help from these forest beings. Pop told me: “I knew that the Bigfoots were following us in the forest, and watching us all the time. They stay real well hidden; but I saw them. For several days this was happening. I knew it, but I didn’t say anything; I definitely did not want the hunters to know. Not at all! So, I was just hoping for any help the Bigfoot could give us with getting the elk back to our camp, if in fact we needed their help. And as it happened, we did need help! And they came through for me!”
This is what happened, just like I have said.