Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is believed to reside in Americas mountains. They are said to resemble a giant ancient ancestor to man, the Gigantopithecus (Shown above). Gigantopithecus was believed to be over 9 foot tall and weigh well over 600 pounds. Bigfoot, mythical hairy human-like beings are said to appear especially at night, and are reflected in the folktales of many cultures, including those of Native American Tribes. They are said to be within 7 to 8 feet tall. Most accounts portray them as having reddish-brown hair, but black and silvery-grey has also been reported. Bigfoot is also said to have a piercing scream and foul order. Eyewitnesses frequently have claimed the beast has red or glowing eyes (Milligan 1990).
The start date of Bigfoot legends is a source of contention between skeptics and enthusiasts. Those who believe claim that Bigfoot has been around for millions of years and can be traced back through old newspaper stories and Native American oral histories. However, research carried out by Joshua Blu Buhs in 2011 places the birth date of Bigfoot legends much closer, into the late summer/early fall of 1958. A group of loggers in Northern California began to spread tales of a strange creature that haunted their camps. The creature was said to have tossed their equipment, stole their food, and left huge tracks in the soil. From there, the stories spread to a local newspaper The Eureka Times, and was quickly picked up by widespread media (Blu Buhs 2011). Indeed, a Bigfoot had been born.
The lore cycle of Bigfoot truly took shape in the late 19th century. Bigfoot has been known across both space and time, sometimes accepted as real. sometimes as fantasy, but often blurring lines between what is human and what is animalistic. However, In the 1800's, the image of Bigfoot underwent huge changes in America. The upper elite no longer believed in it's existence. Theories like that of Charles Darwin placed Bigfoot in the past with cavemen and Neanderthals. Psychologists quickly came to believe that Bigfoot was just a psychological construct the uncivilized monster lurking somewhere in everyone's brain. The stories of Bigfoot evolved to straddle the line between fact and fiction, as well as, liberty and danger (Blu Buhs 2011).
Bigfoot stories began to appear in the realm of children's media in the 1970's with the author Marian Place. Place wrote four children's Bigfoot stories, making way for dozens more juvenile novels to be written by 1983. Bigfoot quickly crossed from page to screen, appearing in cartoons like Scooby Doo, before appearing in his own show Bigfoot and Wildboy in 1977 (Blu Buhs 2011) This also paved the way for board games, lunch boxes, and action figures. Bigfoot was transformed during this era from a beast of legend into a fairy tale character similar to an ogre or giant by Adult producers.
The latest legends of Bigfoot have taken on a much more paranormal spin. Researchers like Clark and Coleman started to believe as early as 1978 that Bigfoot was a sort of phantasm created by a paranormal experience. Others have claimed to see Bigfoot near areas thought to be haunted, or in coincidence with glowing lights thought to be spirits or U.F.O's (Milligan 1990). Native tribes in Alaska believe in a Bigfoot they have named Nantinaq who is neither truly physical nor spiritual and has abilities that straddle both worlds. They believe him to be a nature spirit and guardian or the forest around Portlock, Alaska. The tribes have even blaimed this Bigfoot for chasing them off their ancestral village at Portlock. This latest rendition of the legends and oral stories also seeks to explain just why no physical remains have ever been found of Bigfoot save for thermal signatures, unidentified hair samples, and footprints. We will explore the physical evidence compiled in our next section, the reality.
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