Fate Magazine Article ( 11 / 88 )

Taken from article written by David L. Robbins

Colorado Bigfoot

A Summary: by Christine Bruun

In this article, Robbins reports that most sightings are made in areas where there is a lot of rain, thus the Northwest and Florida has the majority of sightings. He also reports that Dry, arid states like Nevada and Colorado have the least sightings.( This is why I was so shocked to have my daughter see a Bigfoot in the desert region of Idaho). He takes his information from a book by John Green written in 1978 called The Apes Among Us.

He quotes John Green in his book published in 1980, On The Track of the Sasquatch, where Green lists 365 reports from California, 182 from Oregon, 297 from Washington, and 245 from British Columbia. (These were the stats at that time in 1980). Green alludes to the fact that most reports are from areas that have 20 inches or more of rainfall. He states in his book that Nevada has fewer than a half dozen reports.

The article states that, " Colorado is not exactly the Sasquatch capital of the world" he states, with only four reports, (at that time). I would be interested in finding out what the stats are as of 1999. If there is someone out there is someone out there who can provide us with those statistics, I would be love to hear from them!

Robbins writes about an encounter during the Spring of 1987 in the state of Colorado. He reports that it started with a simple sighting and turned into a major scientific inquiry.

He describes a late Colorado evening for a resident of Green Mountain Falls. Dan masias just happened to look out his window about 11:45 P.M on March 28, 1987. The following is a countyl map of this particular area of Colorado.

Masias was quoted as having said, "I looked out the window at quarter of 12 and here came these creatures. They were running down the road right in front of my house, which at one point is 30 feet from my front window. The whole road there was covered with about a quarter of an inch of fresh, cold snow that had fallen. They ran down the road in a manner with their arms hanging down, swinging in a pendulum motion. The first impression I got was that they were covered with hair. it was the most incredible thing I have ever seen."

Robbins reports that Masias was so excited he couldn't sleep. He stayed up all night and in the morning he and his son went out to look for tracks. They photographed the prints they found. Masias contacted the National Geographic Society, Colorado University in Boulder and Harvard. The only response he got was from the National Geographic Society who wish him luck in solving his mystery.

His wife knew some people whose son was a physiologist at Louisiana State University. Robbins reports that researchers from the LSU Museum of Natural History examined the photographs of the footprints. They were unable to match the tracks with any known North American animal species.

Robert Brienzo of the University of Nebraska, a self-professed "monster hunter," announced plans to bring half a dozen people to Colorado in the summer of 1988 to search for the creatures. He intended to use infrared cameras in hopes of catching them on film. Brienzo and his team had hunted in the northwest and the swamps of Louisiana, but had been unsuccessful.

Masias went public with his account. Television stations aired segments on the story, featuring Masias detailing his tale. He was interviewed on the radio. The Denver Post Wire Services ran an article. The Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph carried stories.

Kathleen Woodward ( a pseudonym) was one of the many people who then came forward to report sightings of their own. She had resided on a ranch in a remote area of Colorado during the summer of 1980. The ranch is located west of Florissant. both Masias and Woodwards homes are in the same vicinity of Pike National Forest.

Woodward said that she and her children never really saw what they encountered, but they repeatedly heard it. She said that "we head the 'Growlly," as we affectionately came to call it, many, many times. In September of that year Woodward became concerned about the bestial noises, Robbins reports, and persuaded a friend and her husband to come out and listen. Woodward related," When he heard Growlly, he yelled, 'My God!' Then he took off in the direction of the sound after yelling to his wife and kids to get in their car and stay there. He claimed he saw something that would have been as large as he was if it stood erect, but it was hunched forward and ran exceptionally fast for its size. My friend's husband, who is about 6'2" 325 pounds, gabbed my .22 before he ran into the woods.

My friend took two shots at the creature but he didn't know if he had hit the thing or not. Wood was extremely upset. "I didn't sleep much the following week," she said. "We didn't hear Growlly and I don't know if it had been hurt and perhaps it was out in the woods suffering, or perhaps it was just trying to figure a way to get revenge. We were, I guess you would say, relieved when it started to make its rounds again."

Many neighbors and strangers alike came forward, most anonymously, to report their similar stories. The Pike National Forest figures prominently, in the reports, Robbins States in his article. The Masias resident, along with his neighbors' sits on he edge of the forest. His "backyard" is a tree-choked slope, a steep mountain. Walk up and over that mountain and you are in the Pike National Forest.

The photographs Maisas took show two distinct and separate sets of prints. One smaller than the other. The larger one has only four toes. However, the smaller one seems to be of a deformed foot. It was during 1969 and 1970 that Sasquatch investigators John Napier and Grover Krantz converged on Bossburg, Washington to examine the tracks apparently made by a Sasquatch with a crippled foot. Perhaps this physical phenomena is not so phenomenal after all.

Robbins reports that Masias accidentally built his house in the path of an animal run. Robbins states that Many animals, like humans, prefer to follow the same routes again and again, particularly on trails leading to water. This run is situated in the center of a shallow, erosion-worn gully descending the slope behind the Masias house. The run then skirts the house to the left and this is where the bear tree is located.

Masias and others claim a number of the tracks they have found would proceed across the snow for a varying distance, then vanish in mid-stride. No bear can do that! Search as they might, they have not been able to find where the tracks resume. And bear in mind that these tracks were in snow. Another weird twist to the sighting.

The largest collection of sighting reports on the Internet is at: http://www.moneymaker.org/BFO/

Anyone having further information about this report, please contact me at editor@cactusventures.com. I would like to verify this article from those out in the field who have the information to know the truth.