DATE:               1981-82

TIME:           Different times

LOCATION:   Texas, Rusk County

TERRAIN:      Wooded
 

OBSERVED:  The actual events consist of one unseen night encounter, a sighting by three children, a second sighting by the same three children, and a third sighting by one of those children. Also, footprints were seen by all family members, one of whom is my wife. The footprints were photographed but the prints have since been lost.  The mother believes she still has the negatives and I am going to go through her old films to try and recover
them. That will be quite a hunt in itself but when I find them I will of course forward copies to you.  I will mail the copies to you for better examination.

 The first event occurred in the early summer of 1981 approximately 10 or 11 p.m. The girl, 16, was in a bathroom that adjoined her room. The light was on in the bathroom but the bedroom was dark. There was another child asleep on the bed.  The girl also had a small dog with her in the bathroom.  When she left the bathroom she picked up the poodle and set it on the bed so as not to wake the other child.  She noticed the dog staring at the window and described it as having every hair on its body standing up.  The dog did not bark however.  The girl then heard the sound of grass crunching outside her window.  She stated that she knows there were no leaves on the lawn and that it was very thick carpet grass. She heard the footsteps approach the house and then the two outside dogs came running around the house, barking violently. She also states that this was the only time one of the dogs ever barked in his life.  She heard the sound of the creature run off as the dogs followed it a short way and then returned.  She describes the sound of the footfalls as coming from something very heavy moving on two legs.  By itself this story could be interpreted several ways but when taken in view of the other stories I would say it is likely to be an actual sighting.

The next event  occurred during the same year and roughly 100 to 150 yds behind the house.  Three young children were picking dewberries in a clearing early in the morning, probably before 8:00am. The children were 3, 5, & 6 yrs old. The 5 year old child looked up and noticed the creature standing there observing them.  She screamed, and ran towards the house. The other children followed, screaming as they ran. The girl states
that as she and the other children ran the creature began screaming. It was a long howling sound that she has never heard since.  While this happened their mother was in front of the house but to the side. She told me what she saw that day separately from the children's account.  She heard the children begin to scream and looked up. She saw the children in the clearing running to the house but could not see what they were running from. She started running towards them and as she did she heard the creature screaming.  She got to the back of the house about the same time as the children did and in her words made the five steps up the porch in one step. She described the sound as a long wailing that was unlike anything she had ever heard. She stated that it literally made every hair stand up on the back of her neck.

******As a side note, I recently played a sound clip for her that I had downloaded from the  Cybersquatch web site. She immediately recognized it as the sound she had heard when the children were running toward her. She did know that I was going to play a supposed bigfoot recording for her, so this foreknowledge may have interfered with her reaction.******

The girl who first saw it remembered it as being covered with black hair and very tall.  She doesn't remember seeing the creature's face or of any odor.

The next occurrence was within a few weeks and happened in the late afternoon, near dusk. The same three children were playing in an old car that was behind the house and about half way between the house and the first
sighting. The oldest of the three was in the front seat pretending to drive. He turned and looked at the other two children in the back seat.  He saw the bigfoot through the rear window and jumped out of the car. He ran a short
way to towards the house then turned back to get the other children. They caught up with him and they all ran to the house. He says he remembers the creature just standing and watching them as they ran. No screaming occurred after they ran. The girl who told me the first story doesn't remember this occurrence but her brothers both recall her being present. He described the creature as standing on two legs and very tall.

The third sighting happened at night and within a few weeks of the last sighting.  The oldest boy was laying in his bedroom on the top bunk of their bed and heard the sound of footsteps outside the house. He distinctly
remembers hearing the grass crunch as the steps moved alongside the house. The bedroom was dark and there were no curtains on the windows. He saw a tall dark figure pass in front of the window. He remembers the creature filled the whole window as it passed by.  I have stayed at this house myself and this part of it is raised off the ground. Floor level is about four foot above ground level and the bottom of the windows are above my head when standing next to them. (I'm 6" )
When he saw the creature pass in front of the window he dove under the covers and stayed there hiding.  He doesn't remember hearing the creature move off or hearing the dogs barking or chasing it.

Sometime during this period of sightings, the footprints were found.  The older girl who heard the creature approach the house found them one evening. She was walking out to a travel trailer that was behind the house and near where the other sightings occurred.  The dirt there was hard packed but the footprints left an obvious impression. She got the other members of the family and they all came to look at the prints. The mother remembers the prints as being about 15' long and 8' inches at the widest point. The oldest girl put her foot next to them and said they were about three times as long as her foot. The print clearly showed five toes and one of the feet had a damaged small toe.  The distance between each steps was approximately 5" to 6 ".  The creature left three prints all  heading the same direction. As I said, photographs were taken and I will try to get copies to send to you.

Those are all of the stories from that family but they gave me some more information. The mother's first husband and his brother each had encounters of their own. Her husband was driving up to Rusk county from Houston on hwy 59 one night in 1973. He was getting tired so he pulled over into a rest area near Livingston (Polk County). He laid down in the front seat and fell asleep. He woke up to the car being lifted and shook from the passenger side. He saw through the window a hairy chest and arms. The creature shook the car for a while then dropped it. The man started up the car and sped off.

His brother also had an event but this occurred in the 1950's. He was driving up from Silsbee through the big thicket which, at that time, was very dense. This would be in either Hardin or Tyler County. The roads through there were narrow and the tree line came very close to the road. He tells of a large, hairy creature running on two legs.
It ran up to the car and traveled alongside it for quite a ways.  It kept up as the man sped up for probably 10 to 20 seconds. The creature didn't try to reach out to the car but seem to be racing it.
 

Activities of Witness:
 

Description of Creature: Tall, black hair, on 2 legs
 

Other Notes:  I'd like to give you a little background information. All these sightings occurred on the same property.   Although the surrounding area is networked with unpaved oil roads they are heavily overgrown and rarely traveled. The property is heavily wooded with loblolly pines and hardwoods. At the time there was a small orchard with apples, pears, and plums. Chickens and goats were kept on the place and the chickens were free roaming. There was a flowing creek running through the land and dewberries were growing all over the property.  Obviously, the remote location and easily available foodstuffs would be quite attractive to any wildlife. In fact, their mother tells of seeing bear tracks on the property in roughly the same time frame  as the bigfoot sightings. That she mentioned identifying the bear tracks as well as bigfoot
prints adds to the sightings credibility in my opinion.

The credibility of the witnesses, to me, is undeniable.  As I said in my previous e-mail, I have known this family for 12 years and they are honest, up-front people. In re-interviewing the members of this family I found the
stories identical to what I was told the first time.  I would qualify that with these few remarks, however.  I spoke with them individually and in a group and found that when together they co-operated in reminding each other
of details. Also, the events happened in 1981-82 and the people who sighted the creature were small children at the time. I am curious as to how much of their memories are vague impressions that were strengthened over years of discussion. Of this I have no doubt; however, all of them believe that they saw or heard something unlike anything they have every experienced before. I cannot testify as to what it was they saw but the event is firmly lodged in their beliefs.

Other Other Notes: I Bobby Hamilton have conversed with the submitting party on many occasions.  I would like to note that the areas in which he has specified, all have had a history of Bigfoot activity in them.  I know for a fact that some of them are ongoing to this very day.