Top 3 Misunderstandings About Bigfoot

Once people get past their initial chuckles in a conversation about Bigfoot, I find that most haven’t put much thought into the subject. I understand that no one has a captured Bigfoot to study so there isn’t much that we can actually know about them. But I hope this helps to clear up a few basic incorrect assumptions so that whether you’re a believer or not, you can think a little more clearly about the subject.

1. There is only one Bigfoot

It may be because people tend to categorize Bigfoot into the same mental group as Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Santa Claus, but many people think that Bigfoot is a singular creature. They assume that witnesses are describing catching a glimpse of the one Bigfoot as it roams stealthily about the countryside.

Well, let’s think about this. Does that assumption apply to any other creature on earth? No. Every species has a lifespan and has to reproduce. They mate and the offspring develop and mature over time. Some reports describe creatures with male anatomy while others describe female anatomy. Many reports involve more than one creature — even family groups. Witnesses aren’t reporting a sole, immortal monster destined to walk the earth. They are reporting seeing one or more of an undocumented species.

Fun Fact: The Bigfoot Community commonly agrees that the proper plural of Bigfoot is Bigfoots.

2. Bigfoot only lives in the Northwest

The best footage of a reported Bigfoot was filmed in Northern California. All the documentaries and movies are set in the Northwest. So it is easy to assume that Bigfoots only live in the Northwest.

But with the internet, a little research shows that witnesses are reporting the phenomenon worldwide. Sightings have been reported in every American State but Hawaii, and on every continent but Antarctica.

Each area has its own name for the same kind of phenomenon too. While Bigfoot and Sasquatch more universally known, Florida has the Skunk Ape. Ohio has the Grass Man. Louisiana has the Honey Island Swamp Monster, Georgia has The Wood Booger. Missouri has Mo Mo. Arkansas has the Fouke Monster. Australia has the Yowie. China has the Yeren. Russia has the Almas. Nepal has the Yeti. That’s just to name a few.

Fun Fact: Hollywood portrays the Yeti as having white hair but reports describe their hair as being brown.

Check out this recent article on The Top 8 States To See Bigfoot.

3. Bigfoot was made up in the 1950’s

Many articles make statements like, “The legend began in 1958.” Or “Reports of Bigfoot started in 1958.” But this wording is quite misleading. While it’s true that the actual term “Bigfoot” was coined by a reporter in 1958, reports of the creature go back a lot further.

The name “Sasquatch” is an adaptation of the word “Sesquac”. A word the Coast Salish Indians’ used to describe the “wild man” long before the Europeans arrived in North America. It’s just one of the many different names that various indigenous people groups have for the description of a Bigfoot-type creature.

President Theodore Roosevelt wrote about the Bauman Incident in his 1893 memoir, The Wilderness Hunter, where Bauman describes a creature that fits the description.

As the printing press and mass media developed in North America, articles were published about “wild men” being reported in the woods. Usually hairy and very tall. Here are some samples from Maine and Georgia.

At Painted Rock, California there is a petroglyph called The Hairy Man that is estimated to be 500 to 1000 years old. All of this to say that the world has a long history of reports of these types of creatures.

Fun Fact: The creature described in the history and art of the indigenous people groups is mixed right in with the bears, moose, and wolves — making no distinction to imply one is fiction.