The Legend of Bigfoot. T. S. Mart
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wild man. While any of these could fall into the previous categories, let’s imagine them as their own entities.
Humanoids have human characteristics. A few eyewitnesses report a traditionally large, hairy figure with a humanlike face, bipedalism, and opposable thumbs. He can think, act, and reason like a human. Possibly smarter than humankind, he keeps himself hidden from society so he can live away from the chaos.
The missing link alludes to the theory of evolution, suggesting apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor over time and that Bigfoot fits somewhere between primates and modern man. Or at some point an apelike creature with compatible DNA once reproduced with a human to create a hominid that may account for one Bigfoot-type reported across the country.
A wild man could live in the woods or mountains undetected, and big feet are not unheard of. Jeison Orlando Rodriguez Hernandez of Venezue la is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest human foot of anyone presently living. At sixteen inches, he wears a size 26 shoe. This is about the average size of a Bigfoot. Considering the thousands of footprints found throughout North America, the wild men would consistently need to have exceptionally large feet if they were the Bigfoot.
Based on the categories above, do you think Bigfoot is an animal, supernatural or paranormal being, or a man-made monstrous figure? Can any person answer this? Not yet, but we can speculate, draw conclusions, and have fun keeping in mind that, for now, Bigfoot still belongs to the kingdom of cryptids.
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WHO’S WHO AMONG BIGFOOT
In his book Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman lists the twenty most likely places to glimpse the hairy bipedal. Of the twenty locations, eight are in the Pacific Northwest, four are in the Deep South, four are in the Midwest, two are in the Northeast, and two are elsewhere. While none of the locations are in the Appalachian South, we chose it as one of our focal areas because reports of encounters and a history rich in Bigfoot legend abound in the southern Appalachian states.
As we profile the various Bigfoot found in different regions, we’ll list the names that appear most often. But since there are so many Bigfoot and names, we left out a few. Also, please keep in mind that eyewitness accounts and evidence found are not always consistent within the same region. We accessed available reports and attempted to profile various Bigfoot with as much accurate and unique detail as possible.
BIGFOOT IN THE NORTHEAST
Similar to the classic Bigfoot in appearance, this type is said to have a more humanlike face. They have less facial hair but more hair over the body. Bigfoot of the Northeast have a history of being aggressive and violent and of eating humans. Daylight sightings are a common occurrence.
THE AGROPELTER
Hair/Fur: short black hair
Height: 3 feet
Body Appearance: slender, wiry body; arms like muscular whips
Facial Features: villainous ash-gray face of an ape
Demeanor: mischievous, evil; hurls branches and pieces of bark at loggers with a perfect and powerful aim
Diet: woodpeckers, hoot owls, and doty wood
Location: lives in hollow conifer trees from Maine to Oregon
Tidbit: A creature of logger history, he was the subject of many prankster stories the loggers would tell to haze the new guys. Babies are said to be born on February 29 and arrive in odd numbers.
BOSTON BAHUMAGOSH
Hair/Fur: light-gray to dark-brown matted fur
Height: up to 10 feet
Weight: 400 pounds
Characteristics: dirty smell
Demeanor: shy
Diet: small wildlife, tubers, and berries
Foot Size: large feet
Location: area surrounding Boston, possibly a wanderer who drifted in from the Berkshires or the Hockomock Swamp
GENOSKWA
Hair/Fur: rock-hard skin. Early legends tell of a humanlike beast that rubbed against trees, covering himself in sap. He then rolled on the ground in stones, sticks, and leaves.
Height: 9 to 11 feet
Weight: 800 to 1100 pounds
Body Appearance: tree-trunk-sized neck and massive shoulders
Facial Features: humanlike
Characteristics: agile and fast, smells of skunk and dead animals
Demeanor: aggressive, with a tendency to throw rocks; known to decapitate victims by twisting off their heads
Diet: cannibal and carnivore
Location: woodlands of the Northeast
Tidbit: In Iroquois folklore, this creature is also known as Ot ne yar heh, or “Stone Giant.” He is said to be a member of a powerful tribe from the wilderness. In pop culture, the Genoskwa appears in the novel Skin Game, by Jim Butcher.
STONEMAN
Hair/Fur: dark or reddish brown
Height: 7 to 9 feet
Body Appearance: similar body type as classic Bigfoot, long arms
Facial Features: less facial hair, humanlike face, round head
Characteristics: heavy breathing
Demeanor: aggressive
Foot Size: distinctive curved five-toed footprint, 15 inches long, 7 inches wide
Vocalization: screams
Location: northern forests
Tidbit: Note the full body image at the beginning of this section; reports indicate this Bigfoot has been seen moving rocks and eating bugs in Massachusetts.
BIGFOOT OF WHITEHALL
Hair/Fur: long brown hair
Eyes: large and red but not glowing
Height: 7 to 8 feet
Weight: 400–800 pounds
Body Appearance: wide shoulders, little to no neck
Facial Features: apelike; flared nostrils, thin lips
Demeanor: passive
Vocalization: piercing scream
Location: Whitehall, New York—about seventy miles north of Albany and two hours north of New York City. Between Lake George and Lake Champlain, at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains
Legend: In the summer of 1975, a golf course owner and his dog were riding in a golf cart when they came across a large, hairy creature standing in the middle of a green. The beast stared at the dog, shooting what looked like red beams from its eyes. Then the thing turned and crashed off through the woods. One year later, eleven people reported seeing a Bigfoot-type creature in one night. This became known as the Abair incident. Three teenagers went out driving