Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is a mythical creature said to inhabit forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is typically described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid.
There have been numerous sightings of Bigfoot over the years, with the first reported sighting occurring in 1811 by members of the Kwakiutl tribe in British Columbia. Since then, there have been hundreds of reported sightings of the creature, with some even claiming to have photographic or video evidence of its existence.
One famous Bigfoot sighting occurred in 1967, when two men, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, claimed to have filmed a Bigfoot creature while on a horseback ride in northern California. The footage, known as the “Patterson-Gimlin” film, is considered by many to be the most compelling evidence of Bigfoot’s existence.
Despite the numerous sightings and alleged evidence, Bigfoot remains a controversial and elusive figure. Many experts believe that the sightings are simply misidentified animals or hoaxes, and there is no concrete evidence to prove the existence of Bigfoot.
Overall, the sightings of Bigfoot continue to fuel the debate and fascination surrounding this mysterious creature.
Timeline of Potential Sightings
Bigfoot Pictographs
The Bigfoot Family Pictographs
Tule River Indian Reservation in Central California, petroglyphs created by a tribe of Yokuts at a site called Painted Rock are alleged by some to depict a group of Bigfoot called “the Family”. Painted Rock is located on the Tule River Indian Reservation, above Porterville, in the Sierra Nevada foothills of central California.
Victoria, Canada
As early as 1884, the British Colonist newspaper in Victoria, Canada published an account of a “gorilla type” creature captured in the area. Other accounts, largely decried as hoaxes, followed, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia(opens in new tab). Sasquatch book author John Green compiled a list of 1,340 sightings through the 19th and 20th centuries. But the modern Bigfoot or Sasquatch myth gained new life in the late 1950s.
The Bigfoot Prank that Started it all. Bluff Creek, California
In 1958, the Humboldt Times, a local newspaper in Northern California, published a story about the discovery of giant, mysterious footprints near Bluff Creek, California. In the story, they referred to the creature that made them as “Bigfoot”, according to Smithsonian Magazine(opens in new tab). Bigfoot curiosity grew rapidly during the second half of the 20th century, after an article in True magazine(opens in new tab), published in December 1959, described the 1958 discovery.
The footprints near Bluff Creek were a prank by a man called Ray Wallace, his children revealed after his death in 2002, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Patterson–Gimlin film
The most famous Bigfoot video is a short film taken in 1967 by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, known as the “Patterson–Gimlin film,” or “Patterson film.” Shot in Bluff Creek, the video shows what appears to be a large and hairy bipedal ape, or Bigfoot, striding through a clearing.