Thursday, October 17, 2013
Full Summary of the 5-Day trip to the Oklahoma Bigfoot Symposium
Paul Hulsey picked me up on Wednesday, October 2nd, and we headed to Stilwell, Oklahoma, arriving there at 6:00 P.M. that evening. We went to the Walmart in town and picked up some supplies, but could not get ahold of D.W. Lee or Randy Harrington to locate the Lee's Creek campsite, so we stayed Wednesday night at the Regency Inn in Stilwell. We did get directions from the desk clerk who worked once with D.W. and whose grandfather knew where the place was. We had breakfast at the hotel, then headed to the campsite and set up camp. While setting up, D.W. and Randy drove up and talked to us for a few minutes and I was made aware that not far from that campsite was where knuckle and hand prints were found and cast the previous year during the Symposium weekend. We finished setting camp after D.W. and Randy left, had lunch (bologna, turkey and cheese sandwiches and Pringles chips, yummy!!!), then we drove that road where the knuckle prints and hand print had been found. Paul was looking out his drivers' side window and spotted some impressions on the side of the road. We got out and I began videoing the area and the impressions,documenting Paul mixing Plaster of Paris to pour in the impressions after we did measurements on them and the stride length between two of them, which turned out to be 59 inches from heel to heel. Paul casted one impression with the Plaster, but ran out of that, so he used some mortar and casted another. We then made the decision to go back to town to get some Plaster, which we did. When we returned, Randy and D.W. had returned, but brought Josh, AKA Arkansas Tracker, and D.W.s wife Bobbie out there, and we took them to where the tracks were. They looked at the impressions and believed they were more than likely boot prints, based on the fact there were bulldozer tracks on the road where they had been plowing in roads into that area. The fact that toilet paper was found not too far off the road led us to believe that a worker or two had to heed the call of nature and jump off his bulldozer to take care of that and he just happened to land right there on the side of the road. The impressions were 14" by 6" at the ball of the impression and 4" at the heel. Paul attempted to bring up the mortar cast, but it fell apart so it was of no use. He then casted another impression with Plaster and left it there actually for a few days. We then headed back to camp to get ready for the evening. D.W., Randy and Bobbie took me on four-wheelers back to an area known as the Devil's Cauldron which was across the road from where our campsite was and we went quite a ways back into the brush at least 2 miles, mostly uphill. We stopped at one place which had a high cliff and a beautiful pool of water below it, and there were trees literally growing out of the side of the cliff. We then returned to camp, where dinner was being prepared, some chili which Paul was cooking which smelled delicious. We sat around the campfire eating the delicious chili and talking. Josh showed me the knuckle print casts that were taken in that area the previous year as well. Paul had previously taken some sound recorders across the creek and hung them up in trees, and set up his FLIR device, pointing it towards the creek to see if anything might be picked up walking the creek or up on the high ridge north of the campsite. After it got dark, Robert Swain arrived and joined us at the campfire, where Paul was showing us his possible photos and sound recordings he made in his research areas in Alabama. We were made aware Jerry Gressett and his fiance' Jenny Killen were coming to the camp as well (they are also Mississippians) and that we would hear them coming. Sure enough, we heard this loud vehicle coming down the road which actually set off a car alarm(!) and it was a Samurai with large tires and enough lighting on the top to play a night baseball game. It was Jerry and Jenny, and Jerry shook all our hands and Jenny gave all of us a warm hug. After sitting around and talking and joking and listening, Jerry and Jenny headed back to the hotel and the rest of us retired for the evening. Next morning, we arose and had breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage patties, which was great. D.W. said that about 4:00 A.M. he heard footsteps coming down into the camp on the gravel road. Now, there were other campers at the site down from us, and we thought maybe one of those campers came down and checked us out around that time of the morning, but we are not sure. We then went our separate ways for a while (after I checked the thermal footage cam, which nothing of note was seen on), with me heading to the hotel to check in for a couple of nights, and we met Abe Del Rio at the hotel to head down to Fouke, Arkansas to meet Smokey Crabtree. Paul, Abe and myself and Abe's friend Dan McLaughlin were about to head to Fouke, but Dan was not feeling good, so it was just Paul, Abe and myself in Squatcher-One (Paul's truck) taking a long trip down to the Southwest Arkansas burg. We arrived in Fouke around 3:30 Friday afternoon and went to Smokey's, where we were greeted warmly by his wife and by Smokey himself. He showed us inside his museum, where we saw a large stuffed beaver which stood about the height of a small child, a large loggerhead snapping turtle about the size of a coffee table and a huge stuffed blue boar which Smokey and his family spent 17 years trying to take down. I got my picture taken with Smokey and picked up some items from him, including some homemade red plum jam which was absolutely delicious. After having a really good visit with Smokey and quite a few laughs, we went to the Monster Mart in Fouke where we ate supper, some ready-made pizza and picked up a few items from there as well. We then went south to the Boggy Creek bridge where we photographed the plaque on the south side of the bridge which says Boggy Creek 1970. We then headed on back to Stilwell and got a much-needed rest before the Symposium the next day. The next morning, we headed to the Community Center for the Symposium, where Jerry Gressett started things off in grand fashion, recounting his sighting there in Oklahoma on Memorial Day of this year which gave him goosebumps and still does even now. That was followed by D.W.'s grandson Izzy being promoted to senior field researcher for the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center. The next presentation was Randy Harrington giving a brief history of Bigfoot in Oklahoma. Then, Robert Swain gave a short presentation about his book and cartoons called Laughsquatch. Then Don Stockton and Scott Plowman of MABRC Missouri presented on their research in the Show-Me State where they presented some interesting photos, audio clips and even a possible video of a Sasquatch. Then I believe it was lunchtime, so we broke for lunch and we ate and sat around and talked and socialized. After lunch, Paul presented on his research and the evidence he has collected, including some interesting audio recordings and the thermal footage he shot at Sylacauga, Alabama which will be featured on the upcoming season of Finding Bigfoot. Then, I believe Randy Savig, also from Missouri, presenting on some interesting audio recordings he had as well. Randy was also selected as field researcher of the year, well-deserved. Then Ron Boles gave a really great presentation on the ecology of Sasquatch as relates to forest land and food sources and water sources and even a U.S. President, Teddy Roosevelt wrote about several stories of unknown creatures. Next was Larry Parks of TexLa Research, discussing the Chambers Creek Monster of Texas and some of the research being done on that creature. Then, if I am not mistaken, the final presentation was Jim Whitehead who presented on the different names of Sasquatch in Oklahoma as well as areas these creatures are seen in in the Sooner State. The first day ended very successfully and was great. Paul, Abe and I went for Chinese at the Golden Garden in Stilwell, then retreated to our respective places. Abe went back to his room and fell asleep for a while, then he, Dan and I went out to the campsite for a little bit, then headed back to the hotel to rest. During that Saturday night, as Paul describes it, there was a visitor in the camp which came from across the creek (nothing was picked up on Paul's FLIR the Thursday night session, and everyone had put their thermal imagers away due to thick fog in the area from rain Saturday morning). He was lying in his tent and heard footsteps coming from in the creek, then it stopped at his tent, where he had outside an old duffel bag with chili cans in it. Something was messing with the cans, then it moved to a Rubbermaid Tote and was sliding it around a bit. Then, Paul heard a voice saying "Bobbie, Bobbie, Bobbie." He initially thought that maybe one of the campers was trying to wake up someone named Bobby and heard what he was hearing, but it turned out to be not the case. He got up the next morning and said that someone was trying to wake Bobby up during the night. The 20 other campers explained that there was no one named Bobby in the camp, but what most likely happened was D.W. had been down at the camp earlier in the evening talking to his wife Bobbie, and the possible 'Squatch was mimicking him talking to his wife. This was told to me by Paul the next day. At the Sunday session of the Symposium, D.W. and Randy went over the history of Bigfoot in Oklahoma some more, including some very unusual happenings of items going missing and then being found, as well as audio clips and photos and videos. Then we had another lunch break, followed by a town hall meeting where people were encouraged to speak on their experiences. Only a few people spoke. Then, D.W. ended the Symposium and we hung around there for a little while longer, then headed back to the campsite, where Robert Swain was headed back to Arkansas. It was myself, Paul, TheRealSuperDave, Matt Marston and Shelly and Don Montana from Dallas and Shelly and Don were looking around in the creek and on the Big Boy trail across the creek. Shelly and Don were getting ready to head back to Dallas, and we were standing around talking to them, when we heard a loud *WHUMP* of something hitting steel. Then SuperDave said a rock landed beside his foot. Well, a rock had just hit Shelly and Don's truck and then one landed by SuperDave. That was around 6:15 in the evening. Then, Shelly and Don left, which just left Paul, Dave, Matt and myself-until Randy Harrington came back to stay one more night. Abe and Dan came back to do a little 'Squatching and really there was nothing new found, although Paul did retrieve his other cast which to him had some interesting characteristics which did not indicate a bootprint, but then again, he was a bit unsure of what it was. Not much really happened beyond that, and Abe and Dan headed back to the hotel. We all went to bed, and around 1:45 early Monday morning I had to step outside the tent and take care of business, when I heard two strange howls ring out. Whether they were coyotes or Sasquatch I cannot say, unless there are wolves in Oklahoma no one knows about. Next morning, Paul had basically packed everything away the previous day except for a few items including the tent, so he broke down the tent and put away the remaining items. As he pulled the tent back, there was a rather nasty surprise-a 6" copperhead, with head up ready to strike. It had gotten under the tent the previous night to get warm. Paul handled the situation rather well and shooed it away, and it slithered on into the brush. We got everything packed away and headed back to Stilwell for breakfast, then headed on back east. It was a great 5 days, and I cannot wait to do it again next year.
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