Lurking in the woods and mountains of America lies one of the most controversial topics amongst scientist. A possible missing link in the evolution chain of human beings and apes, alluding society, as well as existence for some. The existence of Sasquatch, or otherwise known as Bigfoot, has become a huge phenomenon within American culture starting in the 1960’s and escalating into the 21st century, with shows on animal planet such as Finding Bigfoot. Although it’s a new thing stories of Sasquatch and Sasquatch citing’s have been seen around the globe. From the Himalayas to the forests in Norway, he has been seen.
The stories trickle back in history to Native American tribes such as the Iroquois, Shoshone, and Shawnee to name a few. Sasquatch goes deep into the culture of many groups of people and the same signs of Sasquatch life has been found across the globe as well. The legend of Sasquatch has spread far and wide and through the ages of time. Through the history of people Sasquatch was there in their lore. Lurking in the woods scaring the people, part man part beast. The word Sasquatch is a word of Salish origin a Native American tribe located in southwestern Canada, and it translates to Big Foot in English.
For obvious reason why Bigfoot is called Bigfoot it’s because its foot prints are transparent to that of a human, with the exception of the size almost twice the size of that of your average man. It is because of this reason so many people believe that Sasquatch is a myth. It is so easy to create a hoax based off of the identity of the foot and, therefore many of the plaster casts found are claimed to be hoaxed by cryptozoologist. These cryptozoologist search for animals who’s existence isn’t determined, such as Bigfoot, the Lochness Monster etc.
Although Henry S. Sharp isn’t a cryptozoologist he pent years living amongst and studying the native people of the Northwest Territory the Chipewyan. Between the years of 1968 and 1983 Sharp had learned many things of the culture, including the creature they call the Bushman. In Sharp’s book The transformation of Bigfoot: Maleness, power, and belief among the Chipewyan, he reveals folklore of the Bushman, where parents would tell their children if they perform actions of misconduct to their tribe and their family, “the Bushman at night will take you away into the wild outside of camp while you’re asleep and will never be seen again. (Sharp). This is one opular tale told, but the Chipewyan also believe that loud knocks and trees breaking and deep growls at night is the Bushman stalking the camp, in addition to eye witness accounts of Chipewyans. Typically the people who advocate for the existence of Bigfoot are back woods people.
However, in Theodore Roosevelt’s The Wilderness Hunter it reveals that a Great War hero of the Spanish-American war as one of the rough riders and future president of the United States advocates the story of a friend of the existence of Bigfoot. he knew well the stories told by the Indian medicine men in their winter camps, of the Snowwalkers, nd the specters, and the formless evil beings that haunt the forest depths, and dog and waylay the lonely wanderer who after nightfall passes through the regions where they lurk; and it may be that when overcome by the horror of the fate that befell his friend, and when oppressed by the awful dread of the unknown, he grew to attribute, both at the time and still more in remembrance, weird and elfin traits to what was merely some abnormally wicked and cunning wild beast; but whether this was so or not, no man can say… (Roosevelt) Roosevelt was telling the story of Bauman, who was a hunter in Idaho.
The Native Americans of the area have again like the Chipewyan have told folklore about the Sasquatch, in their case he’s called Snowwalker, just as the Chipewyan calls him Bushman. In Roosevelt’s story because the beast was shot at during a hunting trip that provoked him to attack Bauman’s camp ravaging all of their supplies and while this altercation was happening the snowalker got his friend and killed him.
This event was recorded in the late 19th century and the Chipewyans’s reign began to crumble as American’s began to reach their homeland due to the manifest destiny in the 1830’s. More modern evidence of Bigfoot was caught on the Patterson ideo of the creature (the most famous video of Bigfoot) in 1969, which really started the American fascination of the existence of the creature. Again from 2015 that’s 46 years since the video was filmed.
Now if you were to turn on Animal Planet you’d see the show Finding Bigfoot, Discovery Channel they show Mountain Monster’s. The mascot for Jack Lynx’s Beef Jerky is Sasquatch, and Slogan is “Messing with Sasquatch”. Even in the world of sports, in 1979 “Bigfoot” was introduced as the first original monster truck and since several other trucks have taken its name and is just iconic in the world of monster trucks as Grave Digger.
America’s fascination with the creature has exploded to go search for the creature to investigate to the point where people built a fake Sasquatch in order to attract people. In Kelly Roth’s Charise Mericle Harper’s Super Sasquatch Showdown Morgan and Lewis, who are sons of a family who owns a hotel gets an idea to “borrow” their neighbors mechanical Sasquatch in order to attempt to draw in more customers (Roth). Although the book is a children’s book there’re key points that still ring true.
Sasquatch sightings will attract more people to a particular site, much as a ghost and aunted houses that are actually haunted such as Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. In fact the publishing of that book shows that Sasquatch is trending in the 21st century and will continue to exist in American culture until Sasquatch’s existence is proven or disproven. Sasquatch has obviously become the next big thing in the United States, however Bigfoot is seen global under different names that you might know.
Perhaps the Yeti, or the Abominable Snowman? These creatures have been known to be seen in Asia, especially around the Himalayas. In Nick Redfern’s The Bigfoot Book: The Encyclopedia of Sasquatch, Yeti, and Cryptid Primates, it houses many stories and eyewitness accounts of Sasquatch outside of the United States. Scientist believes that when the Bering Strait was a land bridge many animals migrated from Europe and Asia, across the bridge and down spreading across the two continents of North and South America (Talty).
People shortly followed the herds since they were living in the Paleolithic age in a hunting and gathering society, and this is how Native Americans got to the Americas. Cryptozoologist believe that Sasquatch much like the people followed the herds since they were the main source of food and hat’s how Sasquatch made it to the Americas along with everything else. Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Bushman, Snowwalker, Abominable Snowman, Yeti, Skunk Ape, missing link in evolution, hoax.
He is called many names, and no matter where you live, whether it be in New York, where there’s Bigfoot stories, Florida where the Skunk Apes lurks in the Everglades, California where Patterson caught Sasquatch on film that evidently spark the controversy and interest of the American people. In Canada feeling the stalking eyes of the Bushman. Or in Europe and Asia fearing the mountain passes for the Yeti lives there. Whether you’re Martha nd George living in modern day Virginia, future President of the United States of America Theodore Roosevelt, or a member of a Native American tribe before the white man came.
If you’re from The Americas, Europe, or Asia you’ve heard stories of Sasquatch, no matter where and who he has always been in the history of cultures, either as folklore in order to get your children to behave before the Bushman comes and takes you away, or putting makeup on Sasquatch, while he sleeps to promote a brand of beef jerky even if Sasquatch doesn’t exist his identity has a permanent place in not just one ethnic culture, but for the culture of the human race.
