DATE: 06?/1885
 

TIME: Morning
 

LOCATION:     Watauga County, North Carolina,
 Northwest of Seven Devils, NC.  Roughly 15 to 20 miles northwest of Grandfather Moin
  Roughly 15 to 20 miles northwest of Grandfather Mountain
 

TERRAIN: Mountainous, with deep thickly wooded hollows
 

OBSERVED:    My Great-Grandmother told me this story.  She was a Cherokee Indian and they lived in the mountains in western Watauga County in the late 1800's.  She was 13 years old and had gone to gather some food along a creek in the bottom of a deep hollow.  While she was there she heard some shooting up on the ridge to the north.  A few seconds later she heard someone running down the side of the ridge towards her from the direction she had heard the shots.  She was scared since at that time it still wasn't a good idea for an Indian girl to be caught out by herself by a white man, so she hid under some bushes and watched where she heard the running steps coming from.

Instead of seeing a man come down the side of the ridge, she saw a tall hairy creature about 6 1/2 to 7 feet tall, covered with light reddish brown hair.  She said that she knew it was a "nun yunu wi" (one of the Cherokee names for Bigfoot) and that it was a male.  She said the hair on its head and shoulders was a lot longer than on the rest of its body.

It went over to the edge of the creek about 60 feet from her, where there was a big pile of leaves, sticks, dirt and debris washed up from when the creek had been up out of its banks.  She said it laid down in the edge of the debris on the side next to the creek and started covering himself up with leaves and sticks and stuff.  She said he covered himself up and completely hid himself.

About that time she heard some men coming down the side of the ridge from the direction the BF and the shots had come.  She decided then that she needed to get out of there before they got there, so she got up and sneaked away back to home.

She said she couldn't see any blood on it but the bigfoot acted like it was wounded.  She said it was on two legs but hunched over a lot.  She also said that she didn't smell anything like they did other times the "nun yunu wi" were very close by.
 She said she couldn't see any blood on it but the bigfoot acted like it was wounded.  She said it was on two legs but hunched over a lot.  She also said that she didn't smell anything like they did other times the "nun yunu wi" were very close by.
ACTIVITIES OF WITNESS(ES):  She was gathering things for food along a creek.
 

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:  It was about 6 1/2 to 7 feet tall, covered with light reddish brown hair and it was a male.  The hair on its head and shoulders was a lot longer than on the rest of its body.  She said the skin on its face and hands appeared gray and that it looked a lot like a man in the face.
 

OTHER NOTES:  Yes, she said they planted extra food to give to the "nun yunu wi" to keep them happy.  She also said they (the Cherokees) knew what part of the forest was theirs (the bigfoot's) and didn't hunt there or go there.  After marrying my Great-Grandfather in 1890, they moved out of the area in 1892.
 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA?:  None that I know of.
 
 

Follow up: f