Darlington County, South Carolina
A Roadside Research Project
by Christine Bruun
Published to this site January 24, 2010
Roadside Research - What is it?
The Darlington Roadside Research Project: We ran across a sighting report published on the BFRO website that occurred in 2006 in the Darlington County area in South Carolina. Their report number is: #14154 (Class A). It is from a region of the state that is called the "low country". Fortunately for us, it was within two hours of our base of operation.
The Process:
We try to combine appointments with research to make good use of our funds as well as our time. If we have to be somewhere on a certain date, we prepare to do our research along the way or while we are there. The date of our adventures was January 22, 2010
In this case we had to be in the Florence, SC area for the final procedure required to create Jim's new dentures. It was going to be an all-day event. We decided to utilize the time we would waste sitting and waiting for each phase of the treatment. We planned just what we could accomplish in the time we would be allotted. We had to be there, why not kill two birds with one stone?
We had a block of time during the lunch break that would allow us to locate the Chamber of Commerce as well as find the local newspaper office. Both were close by, so it made it workable. The Chamber office told us where the newspaper office was located. We picked up a map of the county that cost us $3.00 as well as a free phonebook while we were at the Chamber office.
At the newspaper I learned a valuable lesson. It had been a long time since I had placed an ad in a newspaper and costs have skyrocketed. Deciding under what category to place the ad was another problem. Each category was priced differently. The person we were working with suggested the "ad" section of the newspaper. After figuring up the price by the number of lines and by how many weeks it would appear, she absently quoted the price. "That will be $613.00. I almost choked.
I quickly took out my copy and scratched a line here and a line there and cut out these words and that word until I thought I had it condensed enough to make it affordable. We then changed the category to the classifieds under "announcements".
Once again she quoted me a price that threatened to give me a coronary event. Once again I started scratching here and reducing the number of times that it would appear. Finally we settled on an amount I could afford. It would appear twice. The cost was $100.00 Gasp. Yes, I gasped.
I looked at my husband and saw the shock on his face. This was going to be one experiment we were not going to be able to repeat very often at these prices. We decided to go ahead with the ad to see what kind of response we would get. However, we began brainstorming to come up with alternative options.
What we came up with was the use of flyers. We would target our market more carefully. Obviously, there would be certain places that people, who might actually have a chance of seeing a Bigfoot, would frequent. We decided to target gun shops, hunting and fishing supply stores, farm supply stores, hardware stores, home improvement stores, and army surplus stores . Those will become our primary targets.
Once we had recovered from the ad shock, we headed for a local restaurant for lunch. While there we discovered two free newspapers that the restaurant provided for their customers. We grabbed them and will investigate the possibility of using them to place our ads. Cost is everything. We will need to locate the places that the local residents frequent in order to get the most bang for our buck. Marketing is one lesson I learned the hard way when I was the owner of a retail business.
It was a long day, but once Jim's dental work was completed we headed to I-20 towards the location of the sighting. Our GPS unit was invaluable, especially in those rural areas. We got lost once and had to turn around and retrace our steps, but we eventually found our way.
The meat and bones of the report was that the sighting was located two miles south of BoBo Newsome highway, and three miles north on US 15 once it turns north coming from Bishopville. This makes the distance from US 15 north to Bobo Newsome highway a stretch of approximately five miles total. Hartsville would be to the north, Bishopville would be to the west.
Using our odometer we drove the three miles north on US 15 as the report mentioned. It is sometimes difficult for the witness to gauge the distances correctly, especially at night and when they are frightened. Right away, we sensed something was wrong. The mileage didn't ad up. We found the cotton fields on both sides of the road. Then we drove to Bobo Newsome highway. It wasn't three miles between the sighting and the turn onto US 15 coming from Bishopville either. It was only 2.9 miles. The difference could have been whether the measurement took place in the middle of the field, or at the north or south end of the field. We have no way of knowing exactly, from one end of the field to the other exactly where the creature was crossing the road. There is no mile marker or visual marker mentioned, except for the ditch.
Likewise, it was only one mile from Bobo Newsome highway to the sighting location rather than the two miles as reported. It was a small discrepancy, but important when doing any research, especially if someone wants to revisit the location of the sighting. In a more rural area with few visual markers, a mile can make a big difference, especially if you are looking for physical evidence such as footprints.
All of the other information was correct. We did uncover a bit more information that might be important for further consideration. We discovered that where Bobo Newsome Highway intersects with US 15 there is a lot of traffic of all kinds. It was about 4:00PM when we were there. We stopped on the southeastern corner where an abandoned restaurant stood. 34 degrees 20.163 minutes N., and 80 degrees 4.402 minutes W. is the GPS coordinates of the restaurant parking lot. On the northeastern corner was a used car lot where it looked like a gas station once stood. There were two gas stations, one on the northwestern corner and the other on the southwestern corner.
As we watched the traffic we saw a steady stream of everything from cars to logging trucks stacked with pine. There was a stop light there. Also, there was no place to pull off the road in the vicinity of the cotton fields. One would have to pull off onto the shoulder, which, because of the rain, was soft and mushy. We were not able to stop long enough to record the exact coordinates of the cotton fields due to the steady traffic flow.
Since they are the only fields in the vicinity and they were the most important visual marker reported on the original report, the location will not be difficult to find again. The original report was very well done. The follow-up information is especially interesting.
We also saw housing nearby. I'm not sure how things have changed in the four years since the original report, but at the time we were there it was a very busy road. However, at 2:00 AM perhaps not so busy. From what we saw there, unless there was moonlight, it would be a very dark area at that time of morning. There were no fences around the fields. This is typical in the area. Few seem to bother with fencing unless they are keeping animals contained. The creature's path would have been unimpeded as he traveled across the open fields.
Looking south on US 15 going away from Bobo Newsome Highway, we could see the cotton fields. They weren't extremely large fields. The one to the west was bordered on the north by a road marked "High Point" It curved off to the right, (west) just as we reached the northern most part of the fields. On the left, (which would be the eastern field), we saw a metal building sitting near the south end of that field. It sat back from the road quite a distance.
Just south of the metal building was a stand of trees and further south, partially obscured by the trees, was a farm house that looked like it had been there for some time. It was a typical older farm home. Likely as not that house and the fields are connected since the house was adjacent to the field. That is one detail we will have to revisit the next time we are up in that area. We hope to interview the farmer who owns the older home as well as those living along High Point Rd. We just didn't have the time that day with the storm, the rain, and the darkness closing in.
Behind each field to the east and to the west was forested area, just as the original report mentioned. Though this particular spot was not swampy, many of the residences and farms are nestled within swampy areas. It is not uncommon to have to drive through a swamp to get to a residence. In fact, we passed swamps and swampy areas visible from the road. It has been a wet winter and most of the rivers are running high and the normally dry fields and woods are saturated. The water tables are high in the region.
The big question that came to mind is why the Bigfoot would be traveling from west to east across open fields? Where had it been and where was it going? Was it within a reasonable day's walk of its home base or was it just passing through on a nomadic journey? Why this normally busy area? Why was it not avoiding the close proximity of humans, dogs, etc.? Had it made this journey before or did he have some kind of migratory instinct that guided him as he traveled? Was this a seasonal journey? Was it seeking a mate, looking for food, or heading to a safer location?
One of the interesting theories this brings up is whether they live a nomadic lifestyle vs having a home base. There have only been a handful of reports where more than one have been seen. This would lend credence to the theory that perhaps only the females linger in one place while giving birth and raising their children. Are the males driven off leaving the females to raise and care for the offspring while the males migrate to different regions in a search for another mate? Or, do they mate for life?
Certainly these lone sightings tell us that much of a Bigfoot's life is solitary. They may have to travel for long distances for mating purposes and then, do they have to fight for dominance, sending the weaker males off on this seemingly endless wandering? Perhaps the great distances between the creatures helps to keep the population small. Anthropologically speaking, there would have to be a population of several thousand of these creatures to ensure a continuing species. Any less would place them in danger of becoming extinct. We have no idea how long they live or under what conditions. With our encroachment and their increasing numbers, perhaps it is only a matter of time before we meet face to face on a more regular basis.
If we are to gain any important information from the encounter, it would seem that the creature did not seem afraid of the vehicle, but more angry at it. It was aggressive toward the car as it passed, not trying to get away from it. It did not seem to comprehend it's precarious situation or view itself in danger from the vehicle. The animal's reaction was as if it saw the vehicle as simply impeding its way. The vehicle had entered into its space. It was reacting in a typical manner expected by a creature used to living in remote areas. It did not know what a car was or that it needed to be wary or afraid of it.
We may have to go back several times and investigate further. We may never get the answers to our questions. If more of us were traveling to these locations and doing our own roadside investigations, perhaps we would be able to answer a few more of the questions that linger. At the very least the information we gather and the questions that come as a result of more information will perhaps create a dialog that we can share and discuss.
Finally, how has the encroachment of human civilization impacted these creatures? Only time and science will solve this puzzle.
Footnote: Since I am writing about a South Carolina sighting, it is important to understand a bit about this region of the country. Please click on this link to learn more.
e-Mail to: editor@cactusventures.com
Roadside Research - The Beginning
A Bit about South CarolinaA bit about South Carolina