There Was A Sasquatch Next Door? Yes... hundreds tell of encounters involving this creature who many have dismissed believing, however, more and smarter people, skeptics, and credible witnesses are scratching their heads, thinking perhaps there is definitely something out there. But what? 

In the Chinook Observer’s Damian Mulinix, on one of his first professional assignments, he went looking for bigfoot in the hills above State Route, with Eric Fremstadt of Astoria.

"As I got through the first grouping of trees, I could make out a figure on the edge of the hill, tall, standing next to enormous hemlock. Fremstadt approached fearlessly; I accelerated my pace. As I progressed closer, I could see the creature was not moving. Was he frightened by my intrepid guide? Was he communicating with him? Was he ... made of plywood?

My heart sank as I approached and saw it was true. The beast that I had jeopardized my life from certain death, on the side of a hill, on a logging road, was made of wood and old brown carpet.

”Somebody stole his mask,” said Fremstadt. “His face was an old gorilla mask.”

It was then that I found out how my guide was such an authority on this particular bigfoot — because he is the one who created him.

Fremstadt, at the insistence of some of his friends, built the nine-and-a-half foot tall sculpture, two summers ago. He scouted out the location well — driving by the field on his way to work, at the Naselle Youth Camp. 

Once put together, Fremstadt trekked up the hill — twice, because he had to bring it up in two pieces — and connected it to a tree on the edge of a cliff, above a landslide, overlooking the Hwy.

The “monster's” eyes were created from red reverberators, and its “fur” was some old carpet Fremstadt got from a friend, who was renovating a house.

Fremstadt informed me that his bigfoot was a big hit with many of his friends and associates, remarking that several of them had made the trek up the hill to “meet” the beast. One time this even resulted in some females taking photographs with the monster in their birthday suits — for research purposes, I’m sure.

Bigfoot in our backyard:

Although Fremstadt’s art project was a creation meant to amuse rather than convince, there are many other eyewitness accounts from our region telling of real, and very serious encounters with the Pacific Northwest’s legendary man-ape. It’s easy to dismiss these as bear sightings or the vocalizations of cougars, but it’s oftentimes evident, that these hundreds of stories are supported by a genuine belief in bigfoot. And these days, the reports are piling up substantially. 

More and more people - even the most skeptic of debunkers, have shaken their heads in disbelief, with little answers explaining what it was they truly encountered. 

The Chinook Observer’s editor, recalls a sober and serious neighbor in the old Columbia River fishing village of Altoona; reporting of a terrifying evening, when she and her friends believed they were being spied on, by a monster above them, in the deeply shadowed ancient forest. A descendant of the Chinook Tribe, she had no uncertainty, that what they heard was a Sasquatch.

There are many more-recent accounts around Washington and Oregon. Even in populated and heavily logged coastal areas of Pacific, Wahkiakum, and Clatsop counties, an online database managed by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (B.F.R.O.) has reported from the past decade, including one from Klipsan Beach. 

B.F.R.O. Investigator Scott Taylor, posted a lengthy account, excerpted here:

The witness stated that they have had numerous and regular interactions. There are four that they see regularly.

There is a younger male, fairly thin build, who they interact with most often. This Sasquatch has long hair on its head, shorter on the body, a mixture of brown, red, and black hair, and an ape-like nose. The facial skin is very dark.

He said that there is also a very large male, mixed colors of hair brown, and gray-white, long on the head, shorter on the body. He has a human-like nose. 

One time they were able to observe it next to an object of known dimensions. Later, they went out and measured the height and width of the shoulders, concerning the object. This individual was comparatively measured at nine feet tall, and five feet across the shoulders. …

The female is a shyer animal. They have only seen her silhouette. Her voice is different than males. She is reported to smell very good, while the males smell bad. This, however, does not surprise me. 

The witness is serving them a variety of foods, but they appear to cherish peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. … While I was there, the plate was on the hood, but the sandwiches had been thrown on the ground. These sandwiches were created using white bread. Normally, the witness uses wheat bread. Sasquatches don’t like white bread. …

One evening, the witness was on his front porch, and the younger male was standing in the brush — several feet away. The witness patted his chest and said, “Dad” three times. Then the Sasquatch patted his chest and said, “Guag.” Possibly this could be the name of this Sasquatch. If so, this is a remarkable break-through.

In another report, a man reports of preparing to spend a night in Long Beach in July but then set out walking toward Astoria, with a friend after midnight, when a party turned sour.

“We walked for miles, however, we were relieved just knowing we got out of town, and away from those wicked girls. Whew! So now we have walked to Ilwaco, Washington, and it’s pitch blackout,” according to the witness report. “We were laughing and joking, when suddenly we heard a growl that instantly stood the hairs on our neck, up in a frenzy.”

Reporting on a followup interview, B.F.R.O. investigator Taylor said, “He explained the sound to being ‘otherworldly; like it came from the depths of hell.’ It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. They both stood there frozen for a few seconds, and then they took off running down the road. He said that he was afraid to see what it was. They ran for what seemed like miles.”

Other reports have been made in recent years from Naselle, North County, Deep River, KM Mountain, and Grays River.

The Grays River report, from a hunter whose encounter was in November, is especially detailed:

“The creature we both saw was at least 8 feet tall, perhaps more, had bright red eyes, which kind of glowed in the near dark light conditions that we were in. This creature, which turned in front of me less than a few feet away, was a real hulk, big barrel-chested, massive arms, and shoulders, and the really impressive fact was it never made a sound when it turned to leave, it just seemed to float away. It was very hard to keep calm, but I knew almost as soon as I saw those red eyes what this creature must be. I have hunted and fished this country for years, and have never had anything like this happen before. But I truly wish I could see him again, and may yet.”

The B.F.R.O database has six reports from Pacific County, and two from Wahkiakum, but counties closer to the wildlands of the Olympic and Cascade mountains have many more: in Grays Harbor, including one from November, and from Lewis County, Pierce County, which surrounds Tacoma, has the highest number of reports in Washington. B.F.R.O. counts reports statewide. And they proceed to flood in. 

Clatsop beach visit:

Oregon, with reports, either has fewer Sasquatch or fewer people with excitable imaginations.

However, there is a particularly colorful account from the South Jetty observation tower just south of Cape Disappointment. The witness posted a report concerning an incident, they said occurred sometime in the winter:

It was a particularly stormy day, and the surf was high, crashing over the rocks on the jetty, and pounding the beach. From the viewing tower, I saw a man-like figure, walk down off the grassy area onto the beach.

At first, I did not think too much of this “person” out on the sands. Then I watched as the figure neared the edge of the water. It was waving its arms up and down, facing the surf and the tower. There was another person on the tower with his daughter, and they too saw the figure; we looked at each other with a “what the hell is that” look but said nothing, and continued to watch this figure standing on the beach.

At this point, I noticed a pick-up truck with its lights on, approaching up the beach from the south. Then the scale of the figure struck me; it had to be a good nine-foot-tall or more. The figure hastily turned and moved very fast off the beach before the truck was in range.

It did not run but rather “strode” to the edge of the dunes, then took one or two steps up the embankment, and was gone.

I was all excited and scared of what I had just seen. I decided to go to the nearest parking lot — near where the figure came down on the beach and see if I could get another look at it. As I approached the beach, I became even more afraid, the wind was so powerful, I could hear nothing but the roar of the surf, and the howl of the wind through my coat’s hood. My dog was apprehensive and tarried close to me.

I went to the beach and found where it came down the sandhill, the sand was all torn up from its passage. But when I discovered the hill was high, I really became fearful and decided to return to my car and leave, instead of following the tracks into the grass. 

The vivid picture of a sandy-colored figure — standing near the surf, waving its arms, still stays with me today — nearly thirty years later.