Wednesday, April 29, 1987
San Francisco Chronicle
Sierra County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Mosley, 34, is one tough mountain cop, already legendary for the airtight heat he puts on drunken drivers and other high-country miscreants.
“Statistics-wise I’d have to say I’m up on top,” the deputy acknowledged yesterday. Bigfoot is another legendary creature of the Northwest. Although confirmed statistics are entirely lacking on him, Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, is said to be one tough beast, hairy and ridiculously oversized.
Last Friday night three strangers knocked on the door of Deputy Mosley’s residence in central Sierraville, barely a block away from the town’s main saloons. It was not known how the strangers knew it was the deputy’s house, but they carried word of frightening personal confrontations with Bigfoot. Mosley believed then they were sincere, and still does. “They were sober, and you could tell by their actions that they were honestly very scared of something,” he said yesterday.
Sierra County in general is known for its sasquatch-sized practical jokes and tales. Mosley has been conned in the past into chasing nonexistent accidents by Sierraville-area saloon denizens who wish him out of town for a while, said sheriff’s dispatcher Nora Prince, who added about the Bigfoot caper: “I think they set him up again.”
But Mosley is sure it was not a trick this time. “They wouldn’t have hung around and slept in their vehicle right in Sierraville, if it was a trick,” he said confidently. “It takes a lot of nerve to tell someone you saw Bigfoot because you’ll be called whacko.”
The strangers told the deputy of stopping for a dusk coffee break at a Highway 89 rest area about 25 miles south of Sierraville, and only two miles north of Truckee, where there is a Nevada County sheriff’s substation. “They heard a squealing noise, and then saw a 9- or 10-foot tall burnt-black animal standing on its hind legs about 100 to 150 yards away,” Mosley said. “They said when it saw them, it took off in an easterly direction, walking fast on its hind legs, straight up like a man.”
The deputy wrote up all this in a report, and yesterday the Bigfoot sighting recounted by Mosley on behalf of the three men, who haven’t been seen since Saturday, was all over the region’s airwaves and newspapers. Sierra County saloons were buzzing with speculation.
“Every little county has its No. 1 deputy that nobody likes. You know, the guy who parks in front of the bar at 2 a.m.,” said Jim Shelton, bartender at the Golden West Tavern in Loyalton, 12 miles out of Sierraville. “If he’s the guy they reported it to, they could well be pulling a trick on him.”
Nah, Mosley said. “A ride-along civilian was with me, and he believed they were sincere. Maybe it was a bear or something, but they said they were loggers who had seen lots of bears in their work,” he said. The middle-age strangers were driving an older pickup truck with Texas license plates. They gave names of Claude Dudley, Tommy Ruffing and Lee Janet III, and told Mosley they were itinerant loggers on their way to the J.B. Henderson Lumber Camp in Portland, Ore.
The two main umbrella organizations for logging and lumber companies in Oregon said yesterday that they had never heard of J.B. Henderson.
PATRICK
Deputy who isn’t afraid to do his job. Perhaps too diligent for the locals ‘ tastes.
Robert P
I’ve been to Truckee. Very close to the encounter a few shows back. I bet they were for real and got the lumber co. name wrong. Great story
David J
This happened 1/4 of a mile from my dad’s house at Prosser Creek Reservoir. I still have the clipping he sent me back then! That summer my sisters and I were up there for a couple of weeks. The first night we were there sleeping in the front room something big walked up to the house and was creeping around. This was around 11. We could hear it walking and breathing. It was big! It came up to the open windows, thank God for blinds. We freaked out and ran to dad’s room. A few minutes later it smacked the propane tank in the backyard a few times! It seemed like it was trying to get us to go outside. I believe it heard us making all kinds of noise when we got to the house that night and was curious to see us kids. This was in 87 so I was 17 and my two sisters were a few years younger. No footprints to be seen the next day since the ground was dry. I will never forget that. Lat 39°22’30.98″N, Long 120°10’50.70″W
Thanks for posting this!
David J
The first Lat Long was where the sighting happened to guys in the article. This is my dad’s house where our encounter happened the same year: Lat 39°22’8.28″N, Long 120°10’46.18″W
David J
I was thinking about this last night and I have to change my encounter date. It happened in 86, not 87. And to think I would sneak outside at night there to smoke. Yikes!
Christopher c
It sure would be nice to hear from this fellow if he is still around, Wes can you work your magic on this one-you know pull a rabbit outta yer hat?,I know we are so needful all the time LOL!
Christopher c
@ David J. ,Holy Cow! Prosser is a block away from my buddies dads house,my buddy who has been living in Montana for the past 20 years,well 2 weeks ago he told me that he had a sighting of a dark figure on two feet cross the road a few years back on his way home from visiting a friend as well as screams that had him and his ex-wife back out of an area back to back guns drawn because they knew that was no noise they were familiar with,well he decided to tell someone at the local watering hole and bingo the other guy told my buddy that he saw one as well as heard it vocalize so i begged my buddy to contact Wes and he said he would so hopefully we will enjoy a bit of the Montana Squatch soon!
WALT D
That is so cool to see that you were in the zone 28 years ago ! 37 years ago I walked the woods where Wes and Woody had there encounter ! Much different then.
Paul M
Not sure if these guys would go to this extreme hoping for 1 cops reputation to go bad. And this area seems to had HELD some BF at the time. cop was convinced they were trueful.
Robert P
Can you imagine being eaten alive over a cigaro?
David J
It takes the danger of smoking to an new level.