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INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL

Mysterious Entities of the Pacific Northwest, Part I

ankind’s imagination has al- I spoke on “Mysterious Entities of pictorial chart, “Alien Timeline” shown ways been excited by the pos- the Pacific Northwest,” which I specially in the September/October 1997 Msibilities of unknown regions. researched for the cruise, and—as .) Thus, a seemingly limitless universe opportunity presented itself—I was also The earliest record of potential invites speculation about extraterrestri- able to do a bit of on-site investigating Sasquatch footprints is dated 1811 als; the world’s largely unexplored relating to that topic as we occasionally when David Thompson, a trader and oceans and seas, even deep lakes, put into port. Here is an overview of explorer, was seeking the mouth of the prompt thoughts of leviathans; simi- what I found. Columbia River. Crossing the Rockies larly, vast wilderness areas of the globe at what is today Jasper, Alberta, he came Sasquatch spark belief in other strange creatures, upon a mysterious track in the snow. It including various man-beasts; and The area our cruise skirted is part of the measured fourteen inches long by eight belief in the great, imagined “Other Pacific Northwest, an area loosely en- inches wide and was characterized by Side” leads to tales of such entities as compassing northern California, Wash- four toes with short claw marks, a and spirits. ington state, Oregon, British Columbia, deeply impressed ball of the foot, and an In mid-2006, I was aboard a Center and southern Alaska. It contains some of indistinct heel imprint (Green 1978, for Inquiry cruise that traveled north the most extensive forests in North 35–37; Hunter 1993, 16–17). Some from Seattle, Washington, along the America which, some claim, is home to modern Sasquatch enthusiasts have sug- coastal reaches of British Columbia the fabled Sasquatch (although sightings gested it was the legendary man-beast, and southern Alaska. As part of our exist in other states and countries). but primate expert John Napier of the floating conference on “Planetary The name “Sasquatch” is often said to Smithsonian Institution was not so sure. Ethics”—featuring an address on that be Native American; actually it was Napier observed (1973, 74) that crucial topic by CFI chairman Paul coined by a Canadian schoolteacher J.W. Thompson’s description was “an inade- Kurtz—we visited Glacier Bay and Burns, in the 1920s. Her Native Coast quate basis for any far-reaching conclu- were treated to lectures on global Salish informants had different names sions.” He argued that the print could warming and the melting of the for various unknown hairy giants, the well have been that of a bear (whose world’s glaciers by Mark Bowen, British Columbian version being known small inner toe may not have left a author of Thin Ice (2005). Among as sokqueatl or soss-q’tal. Burns wanted to mark); Thompson himself thought it other speakers, Barbara Forrest cri- invent a single term for all of the alleged likely “the track of a large old grizzled tiqued recent attacks on the teaching creatures (Coleman and Clark 1999, bear” (qtd. in Hunter 1993, 17). of evolution. 215; Alley 2003, 9). This began a process Contrastingly, in 1847, a very differ- of homogenization that helped turn var- ent type of wild man was reported. Joe Nickell is a former private detective ious imaginative wild-man concepts into Artist Paul Kane was in Washington, in and author of numerous investigative an increasingly uniform type, as we shall sight of Mount St. Helens volcano, books, including Crime Science and Real- see. (I have been investigating this which, the Indians asserted, was “inhab- Life X-Files. His Web site is at www.joe process for many years, just as I did for ited by a race of beings of a different nickell.com. extraterrestrials which culminated in my species, who are cannibals, and whom

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they hold in great dread.” Called of nine-by-seventeen-inch feet. A friend (Bord and Bord 1982, 80). Roger “skoocooms” or “evil genii,” however, of Mullens, Bill Lambert, had then Patterson, a longtime enthusiast they appear to have been seen as super- strapped them onto his own feet and who had frequently “discovered” the natural rather than natural beings. In tromped about the area where the berry creature’s tracks, encountered a man- any case, Kane did not refer to them as pickers’ cars were parked (Dennett beast as he and a sidekick rode at Bluff ape-like (Hunter 1993, 17–18). 1982). Since then, more realistic foot- Creek. It spooked the men’s horses but The supposed capture of Sasquatch prints have appeared, curiously follow- as his mount fell, Patterson claimed, he was reported in the Victoria, British ing extensive published descriptions of jumped clear, grabbed a movie camera Columbia, Daily Colonist on July 4, 1884. what genuine Sasquatch/Bigfoot should from his saddlebag, and filmed the crea- Railway men had allegedly captured a be like. So has other evidence. ture as it strode away with a seemingly hairy “half-man, half beast,” only four- The 1950s were a watershed in exaggerated stride, “as if,” wrote Daniel feet-seven-inches tall and weighing 127 Sasquatch’s history. In 1951 the foot- Cohen (1982, 17), “a bad actor were pounds. Dubbed “Jacko,” it was allegedly print of a yeti or “abominable snowman” trying to simulate a monster’s walk.” being kept in an area jail, but was to be from the Himalayas was photographed Patterson’s creature had hairy, pendu- taken to London to be exhibited. by explorer Eric Shipton and received lous breasts, a detail many thought so Although some have suggested Jacko considerable media attention—in Cali- convincing that it argued against the could have been an escapee from a tour- fornia and elsewhere across the United film being a hoax. Actually, Patterson ing circus menagerie, it seems more States and even the world. had previously made a drawing of just likely he never existed. He was never In 1955, one William Roe claimed to such a supposed female creature which heard from again, except that a later have observed a female Sasquatch for a appeared in his book, published the year newspaper article—in the July 9, 1884, few minutes at close range. Two years before (Patterson 1966, 111). Mainland Guardian—indicated the later Albert Ostman swore that, some Although early in the next millen- story had been a hoax, apparently per- thirty-three years earlier, in 1924, he nium a Patterson acquaintance, Bob petrated by a reporter for the Daily had been prospecting alone near the Heironimus, confessed he had been the Colonist (Stein 1993, 246–247). Toba Inlet, British Columbia, when he man in the ape suit (Long 2004), some Certainly, hoaxes characterized many was abducted—carried off in his sleep- skeptics as well as die-hard monster Sasquatch reports throughout the next ing bag—by a male Sasquatch. Ostman enthusiasts refused to believe him. century. A case from 1924 may be one claimed he was held captive by a family Meanwhile, hoaxes and questionable of them. A man named Fred Beck and of the creatures, whom he described in reports aside, the fact remains that no several fellow prospectors claimed to detail, but escaped after almost a week. credible capture of Sasquatch/Bigfoot has have shot at several “mountain gorillas” However, analysis of his story demon- ever been recorded, nor has anyone ever in a canyon near Kelso, Washington. strated that it was more likely the result recovered a carcass or even partial skele- They insisted that that night the crea- of imagination than of recollection ton in the Pacific Northwest or else- tures bombarded their cabin with rocks (Daegling 2004, 31–32, 67–69). where. Insists Cohen (1982, 9), “Surely and beat upon the door and roof. At In 1958, Sasquatch was rechristened the creatures die.” Ah, well, but the leg- daybreak the attack had ceased and after making several visits to a road-con- end still seems impervious to destruction. giant footprints were found around the struction site at Bluff Creek in remote cabin (Bord and Bord 1982, 41–42). northern California. The tracks were Cadborosaurus However, rumors have since persisted discovered by Gerald Crew, a photo of That there are—if not actual “sea ser- that pranksters living in the vicinity had whom, holding up a cast of a giant foot- pents”—great denizens of the deep, no planted the footprints and thrown the print, was picked up by a wire service one can dispute. Among them are the rocks (Daegling 2004, 59–70). and circulated across the country. As a giant manta ray (frequently twenty feet Another case took place in 1930, result, “Bigfoot” (whose name first across), the whale shark (sixty or more near Mount St. Helens. Some people appeared with the Crew photo in the feet long), and still other great crea- who had been picking berries returned Humboldt Times on October 5, 1958) tures—including the giant squid and to their cars to discover huge, manlike began to proliferate. Decades later, after the blue whale (Welfare and Fairley tracks circling the area. Excitedly, they the death of the Bluff Creek road con- 1980, 68, 71–72). reported the tracks to nearby forest tractor, Ray Wallace, Wallace’s family While there are numerous early rangers, but for more than half a century told the press that he had faked the accounts of great “sea serpents,” often the tracks remained a mystery. Then in 1958 tracks, and they even produced described as having multiple humps, it is 1982 Rant Mullens, a retired logger who pairs of carved feet that matched the usually difficult to theorize about what had been working for the Forest Service Bluff Creek tracks (Daegling 2004, 29, was actually seen. In one instance it may at the time of the tracks appeared, con- 73; Coleman and Clark 1999, 39). have been quite ordinary creatures viewed fessed that he had been involved in fak- Another watershed came in October at a distance, or in another simply the ing the giant footprints. As a prank, he 1967 with “one of the most momentous product of an overworked imagination or had carved from a piece of wood a pair events in the annals of Bigfoot hunting” even a deliberate tall tale. The lack of

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photographs is one problem, the absence Other sightings soon followed, one Whereas one fellow eyewitness thought of a single authenticated remnant another. on November 29, all made newsworthy it a whale or seal, Graff thought it There are apparently such remains, by interest in reports and photos of the resembled Ogopogo—actually a pur- such as the carcass of one that washed newly “discovered” . ported Pacific Northwest lake monster ashore in Scotland in 1808 (known as the Just as “Nessie” made frequent appear- (Nickell 2006)—stating, “The feeling Stronsa Beast) and another caught in a ances in her northern Scotland home, when you see one is incredible; your Japanese fishing net on April 25, 1977 “Caddy” became a claimed resident of mind goes into overdrive trying to clas- (Welfare and Fairley 1980, 81; Shuker the bay, and by 1950 some five hundred sify what your eyes see and the moment 1996, 210–211). Both of those turned witnesses claimed to have sighted the you realize that it isn’t classifiable is awe- out to be the rotting carcasses of basking creature (Colombo 1988, 379–380). some!” All we can really conclude from sharks. According to Arthur C. Clarke’s I can attest that Cadboro Bay is pic- Graff’s account is that viewers were Mysterious World: “The dead basking turesque, even at night, but I suspect there unsure of what they saw. shark decays in the most deceiving man- is no Cadborosaurus. The many reports I got a good idea of just how difficult ner. First the jaws, which are attached by and accounts, I learned, “differed in it can be to know exactly what you are only a small piece of flesh, drop off leav- details” (Colombo 1988, 380)—an indi- seeing, when on board our cruise ship in ing what looks like a small skull and thin cation that there may have been various Glacier Bay’s Tarr Inlet, I had a creature serpentlike neck. Then as only the upper creatures swimming in the waters off sighting and soon thereafter spoke to a half of the tail fin carries the spine, the Victoria. As I learned in investigating lake U.S. Park Service ranger about it. She lower half rots away leaving the lower fins monsters (Radford and Nickell 2006, told me it was probably just what I sus- which look like legs.” As this source con- 117–118), multiple creatures—such as pected—a sea otter—having actually cludes, “Time after time this monsterlike otters swimming in a line—can easily be seen otters at that place and time herself relic has been the cause of a sea serpent mistaken for a single one appearing to (Cahill 2006). ‘flap’” (Welfare and Fairley 1980, 81). have multiple coils or humps. Two days later, while we were Indeed, in the case of the creature Indeed, that may explain one such docked at Sitka, Alaska, I went out on a hauled up by Japanese fishermen (off Caddy sighting, at Roberts Creek, a com- three-hour search—called Sea Otter & the coast of New Zealand), tissue analy- munity overlooking the Strait of Georgia Wildlife Quest—aboard the double- ses were conducted by Tokyo University (between Vancouver Island and the decked excursion boat, St. Eugene. In biochemist Dr. Shigeru Kimora. These British Columbia mainland). It was addition to “Whale Rock”—a forma- revealed the presence of the protein elas- made in 1932 by local novelist Hubert tion located just under water with todin, found only in sharks (Shuker Evans (1892–1986) who saw “a series of waves breaking on it that is often mis- 1996, 210). Other such “globsters” (as bumps breaking the water, all in dark sil- taken for a whale—I saw a variety of decomposed sea monsters are dubbed) houette, and circled with ripples.” He creatures that under the right condi- turn out to be whales, oarfish, or other told a friend: “Sea lions. They run in a tions could simulate a sea serpent. They scientifically known creatures (see line like that sometimes.” But as they included a humpback whale, a group of Radford 2006). watched, the profile of a head emerged playful sea otters, and harbor seals bask- Despite such a bleak state of affairs, which the two men estimated was ing on a little island. These mammals an alleged sea serpent is said to appear extended some six feet out of the water and others, including sea lions, repre- from time to time in Cadboro Bay, on (Colombo 1988, 369–370). However, sent much more likely candidates for the southeast coast of British Columbia’s the creature or creatures were apparently Caddy than some imagined, hitherto Victoria Island. It was first reported on some distance away and could have been unknown, leviathan. October 8, 1933, by a barrister, Major misperceived. The story was half a cen- W.H. Langley. He was sailing in his tury old when told and related by a rather (Part II will discuss aliens and ghosts.) sloop Dorothy about 1:30 P.M., where- obvious romantic who gushed, “It just upon he spied a creature “nearly eighty put the hair up on the back of your neck” Acknowledgments feet long and as wide as the average (Colombo 1988, 370). In addition to individuals mentioned in automobile.” Langley said it was green- Another reported Caddy sighting the text, I appreciate the assistance of those who helped make the Alaskan cruise a suc- ish brown and had a serrated body, (so-called, although actually occurring cess, notably Toni Van Pelt and Pat “every bit as big as a whale but entirely in the San Juan Islands chain) illustrates Beauchamp. I am also grateful to Susan different from a whale in many a similar viewing problem. Terry Graff Fitzgerald and Jeff Brown of KTOO-FM, respects.” His sighting was reported in (2006, 3) reported seeing, in 1997, Juneau. Also, CFI Libraries Director the Victoria Times by reporter Archie “what looked like three seals in a row Timothy Binga once again provided valu- able research assistance. Willis, and a newspaperman from the not thirty feet offshore,” but then “real- rival Victoria Daily Colonist, Richard L. ized there was only a head on the first Pocock, dubbed it “Cadborosaurus” one and the second and third were MYSTERIOUS ENTITIES OF THE (after its habitat, Cadboro Bay, and the undulating humps moving up and PACIFIC NORTHWEST, PART I Latin word for “lizard,” saurus). down.” I would add, “or so it seemed.” Continued on page 60

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BOOK REVIEW

Susskind ascribes religious belief in large also left me kind of cold. What matters MYSTERIOUS ENTITIES OF THE part to fear of death but, unlike Atran, is not how many “computations” the PACIFIC NORTHWEST, PART I argues briefly that it may be selected for. universe is making but, in Mark Perakh’s Continued from page 22 Susskind’s is one of the weakest essays in terms, whether it can produce a mean- the book, in part, because he documents ingful message. Lloyd’s chapter never- References almost nothing he claims. Susskind con- theless had a nice section on William Alley, J. Robert. 2003. Raincoast Sasquatch. Surry, cludes, however, with the wise advice to Dembski’s misuse of the no-free-lunch B.C.: Hancock House. write off the “benighted zealots who theorems. Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. 1982. The Bigfoot Casebook. Harrisburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books. would prefer that intellectual history Theoretical physicist Lisa Randall Cahill, Adrianna. 2006. Interview by Joe Nickell, had ended in the fifteenth century” and takes a very conventional look at evolu- May 30. try to convince the majority. tion but discusses problems with termi- Cohen, Daniel. 1982. The Encyclopedia of Monsters. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. Steven Pinker’s essay complements nology, for example, the use of the word Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark. 1999. Atran’s in a way, by showing that reli- theory by scientists as opposed to layper- A to Z. New York: Fireside. gion need not hijack morality, and fur- sons. Stuart Kauffman discusses Colombo, John Robert. 1988. Mysterious Canada. Toronto: Doubleday Canada ther, that morality is not inconsistent preadaptations (exaptations) and the Limited. with evolution and may well have a bio- impossibility of predicting the path of Daegling, David J. 2004. Bigfoot Exposed: An logical origin. evolution to argue unconvincingly Anthropologist Examines America’s Enduring Legend. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Paleontologist Scott Sampson’s essay, against both reductionism and ID cre- Press. “Evoliteracy,” gratuitously blames ationism; he further states incorrectly Dennett, Michael. 1982. Bigfoot jokester reveals reductionism for some of the ailments of that ID creationism predicts that in no punchline—finally. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 13:3 (Spring), 266–267. education and recommends that we case will an intermediate form be found. Graff, Terry. 2006. Quoted in “Eyewitness comes structure the science curriculum around The rest of the essay pleads for a mar- forward with possible Caddy report,” ecology and evolution. Psychologist riage between natural selection and self- BCSCC Quarterly No. 60 (publ. of British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, Marc Hauser decries blurring the organization, Kauffman’s specialty, but winter, 3). boundaries between science and reli- does not clearly relate to ID creationism. Green, John. 1978. Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us. gion, and argues for adding new courses Finally, in an especially weak chapter, Saanichton, B.C.: Hancock House. Hunter, Don, with René Dahinden. 1993. or new material on the history of a spe- Nicholas Humphrey writes about the Sasquatch/Bigfoot: The Search for North cific science and on the relation between evolution of consciousness, noting that America’s Incredible Creature. Toronto: that science and society. Both essays consciousness seems otherworldly and McClelland & Stewart. Kane, Paul. 1847. Journal entry for March 26, offer good recommendations that are asking why ID creationists have not quoted in Hunter 1993, 17–18. unlikely to be implemented. seized on consciousness with a Paley-like Long, Greg. 2004. The Making of Bigfoot. Buffalo, Tim White’s essay on human evolu- analogy. I thought that his chapter in N.Y.: . Napier, John. 1973. Bigfoot: The Yeti and tion and Neil Shubin’s essay on the tran- particular suffered from a lack of docu- Sasquatch—Myth and Reality. New York: E.P. sition from water to land suffered from mentation and did not find it convinc- Dutton & Co. far too much personal narrative. Biolo- ing, possibly because neither Humphrey Nickell, Joe. 1997. Extraterrestrial iconography. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 21:5 (September/ gist Shubin makes the interesting point nor I have the foggiest idea what con- October), 18–19. that existing fish have many adaptations sciousness is. ———. 2006. The Ogopogo expedition. In that might enable their descendants to The book concludes with an excerpt Radford and Nickell 2006, 111–120. Patterson, Roger. 1966. Do Abominable Snowmen live on land; tetrapods are interesting from Judge John Jones’s decision in the of America Really Exist? Yakima, Washington: only because they succeeded. Presum- Kitzmiller case. If I wanted to be unkind, Franklin Press. ably, if they had not, another form I might deduce that the book’s major Radford, Benjamin, and Joe Nickell. 2006. Lake would have. purpose was to appear while the buzz Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World’s Most Elusive Creatures. Lexington, Kentucky: Lee Smolin, in “Darwinism All the from Kitzmiller was still audible. The University Press of Kentucky. Way Down,” to some extent plays into book is both good and original, but a lot Radford, Benjamin. 2006. Please pass the globster. the hands of the creationists by asking of it is not devoted to ID creationism SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 30:4 (July/Aug.), 25. Shuker, Karl P.N. 1996. The Unexplained: An why the universe is improbably friendly nor even to evolutionary biology or Illustrated Guide to the World’s Natural and to life. Who says it is? His answer to the descent with modification. It is a hodge- Mysteries. North Dighton, Mass.: question depends on his plausible but podge with no real structure and no real JG Press. Stein, Gordon, ed. 1993. Encyclopedia of Hoaxes. unproven multiverse theory and the point: a good beginning in Coyne’s Detroit: Gale Research. application of natural selection to the chapter but then no coherent body and Thompson, David. 1811. Daily journal, quoted in individual universes in the multiverse. no conclusion. Read it, but do not Hunter 1993, 16–17. Welfare, Simon, and John Fairley. 1980. Arthur C. And quantum engineer Seth Lloyd’s expect it to be a serious blow against ID Clarke’s Mysterious World. New York: A & W article on the universe as a computer creationism. ! Visual Library. !

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