The Historical Bigfoot

Childress takes a deep look at Bigfoot Nation—the seemingly real world of bigfoot around us in the United States and Canada. Whether real or imagined, that bigfoot has made his way into the American psyche cannot be denied. He appears in television commercials, movies, and on roadside billboards. In fact, bigfoot is everywhere, with actors portraying him in variously believable performances and it has become the popular notion that bigfoot is both dangerous and horny. Indeed, bigfoot is out there stalking lover’s lanes and is even more lonely than those frightened teenagers that he sometimes interrupts. Bigfoot, tall and strong as he is, makes a poor leading man in the movies with his awkward personality and typically anti-social behavior. He doesn’t care a skunk’s gland how many movies or commercials are made about him without any royalties whatsoever being paid. To him, Bigfoot Nation is all about style, a lifestyle—shall we say—that keeps bigfoot on the fringes of society, gently creeping into our dreams. Join David on a wild ride from the very first bigfoot reports in the 1800s to right now. Chapters include: 1800 to 1899: The Wildmen of the Frontier; The Oldest Bigfoot Photo; 1900 to 1940: The Pre-War Years; 1950 to 1990: The Post-War Years; The Skunk Apes of Swamp Nation; Bigfoot in the Southwest; 2000 to 2020: Post-Millennial Bigfoot, more. Includes 16-pages of color photos that document Bigfoot Nation!

Does a hulking, hairy, 800-pound, nine-foot-tall, elusive primate roam the woods and forests throughout North America—and the world? What should we make of the grainy videos and photos and the thousands of eyewitness reports? Audio-recordings exist purporting to be the creatures’ eerie chatter and bone-chilling screaming. Whether called Sasquatch, Yeti, Bigfoot, or something else, bipedal primates appear in folklore, legends, and eyewitness accounts in every state of the union and many places around the world. The fascination with the man-beast is stronger than ever in today’s pop culture. Exploring the history, movies, and literature, the conspiracy theorizing, and the world of the supernatural, The Encyclopedia of Sasquatch, Yeti and Cryptid Primates is a comprehensive resource to the man-beast. With nearly 200 entries and 120 photographs, drawings, and illustrations, it is the definitive guide to understanding, hunting, and avoiding the brute, as well as discovering the facts behind the sightings and horrifying tales. It covers 400 years of folklore, mythology, history, and pop culture, including Native American lore, the “wild men” reports in the pages of 19th century-era American newspapers, Florida's Myakka Skunk Ape, Australia's Yowie, China's Yeren, Himalayas’ Yeti, Russian expeditions, Harry and the Hendersons, Exists and the countless movies titled Bigfoot, as well as specials on the television shows Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel, scientific reports and findings, and much, much more. Various documentaries and reality television shows have all superficially tackled the subject, but Nick Redfern presents a truly encyclopedic look at cryptid primates. It is a richly researched reference, overflowing with fascinating information to make readers think—and reconsider their next camping trip.

The Historical Bigfoot covers sightings of Wild Men, Gorillas, Yahoos, and What-Is-It's, from the early 1800s to the 1940s. Before the term "Bigfoot" was coined to signify an unknown species of North American primate, sightings of towering bipedal apes were reported throughout the continent, but called a variety of names. This book compiles and sorts the most significant sightings, but also provides a look at hoaxes, misidentifications, and the influential perspective of newspaper editors as they dealt with reports of a strange hairy manlike ape.

The dark woods of Maine have been the setting for many eerie and unexplained events, none more captivating than sightings of a giant hominid known as Bigfoot. But what makes this corner of New England such a perfect place for this cryptid to live? Learn about the ecology and geography that support the legend and meet the people forever changed by close encounters with it. From previously unpublished eyewitness accounts to modern-day media portrayals, author and illustrator Michelle Souliere presents this detailed history of the phenomenon and folklore that has lurked in shadows for generations.

This second, expanded edition of The Historical Bigfoot looks at stories of hairy wild men and apes in the woods, before 'Bigfoot' was ever used to describe such creatures.

Last August, two men in rural Georgia announced that they had killed Bigfoot. The claim drew instant, feverish attention, leading to more than 1,000 news stories worldwide—despite the fact that nearly everyone knew it was a hoax. Though Bigfoot may not exist, there’s no denying Bigfoot mania. With Bigfoot, Joshua Blu Buhs traces the wild and wooly story of America’s favorite homegrown monster. He begins with nineteenth-century accounts of wildmen roaming the forests of America, treks to the Himalayas to reckon with the Abominable Snowman, then takes us to northern California in 1958, when reports of a hairy hominid loping through remote woodlands marked Bigfoot’s emergence as a modern marvel. Buhs delves deeply into the trove of lore and misinformation that has sprung up around Bigfoot in the ensuing half century. We meet charlatans, pseudo-scientists, and dedicated hunters of the beast—and with Buhs as our guide, the focus is always less on evaluating their claims than on understanding why Bigfoot has inspired all this drama and devotion in the first place. What does our fascination with this monster say about our modern relationship to wilderness, individuality, class, consumerism, and the media? Writing with a scientist’s skepticism but an enthusiast’s deep engagement, Buhs invests the story of Bigfoot with the detail and power of a novel, offering the definitive take on this elusive beast.

"Though the terms 'Bigfoot' and 'Sasquatch' have only been in our popular vocabulary since the late 1950s, people have been seeing large, bipedal, hairy monsters for as long as we've been keeping records ... Collecting newspaper reports from the 1830s through the 1920s, the articles in this volume show that Bigfoot is not new, nor is it a phenomenon confined to the Northwest United States and Canada. Bigfoot creatures seem to have been roaming Pennsylvania for as long as anyone can remember"--Back cover.

"Explores the history behind stories of Bigfoot"--