Have you heard of a large hairy monster that lives in the woods and walks upright like a human? In some parts of Canada, it is called “Bigfoot” because of the large bare footprints it leaves in the mud. In British Columbia, it is “Sasquatch”, as the Salish natives call it, which means “hairy man” or “wild man”.
The Sasquatch has been described as having long arms and legs, with big hands and feet. It is over two metres tall. Some people claim to have photos of the monster, but they were usually shot from a distance and are often hard to make out.
These stories and sightings have been around for many years. Some people propose that the monsters are descendents of huge ape-like creatures from China, and that they crossed the Bering Strait around the same time that the first native people came. The Sasquatch could only survive by hiding in the day and coming out at night. As the land became developed, the Sasquatch was pushed into even more remote areas.
In other parts of the world, sightings were reported and footprints were found in the mud. On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin travelled on horses looking for the Bigfoot in the Bluff Creek Riverbed in Northern California. Although they hoped to run into a Bigfoot, they did not expect to actually see one. Suddenly, the horses reared, bucking Patterson off. He then saw a large, hair-covered body by the river. Quickly, he grabbed his 16 mm camera and with only minutes left on his film, Patterson filmed as the creature stood up and began to walk away. He claimed to have the only film evidence ever gathered of a live Sasquatch. The film is shaky in the beginning, but becomes stabler toward the end when the creature can be seen and identified. In 2005, the Sasquatch again made news because a piece of hair from the creature was found, but unfortunately, scientists found out that the hair was from a bison.
