Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

Author Timothy Renner returns to the show to talk about his new book Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men: A History of Wild Men, Gorillas, and Other Hairy Monsters in California, Oregon, and Washington state.

Most of you remember Tim when he was on the last show and shared historical encounters from his book Bigfoot in Pennsylvania: A History of Wild-Men.

Tim writes “The last time I was on it was to talk about my book Bigfoot in Pennsylvania – which included the historical newspaper accounts of the creatures from the 1800s through the early 1900s in PA.

As you suggested at that time, I compiled reports from the NW and I have published my next book in what looks to be a series: Bigfoot: West Coast Wild Men ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983434094/ ). This book covers reports from the 1850s through the 1920s in CA, OR, and WA.

This book contains one of the single best bigfoot descriptions I think I’ve ever read (the result of hunters killing a creature and describing the body in detail – but there’s a lot more to the story – it’s fantastic); as well as some really interesting reports of “wild gorillas” in CA, attacks in OR, and a creature which appeared on the campus of the University of Washington multiple times.

I love Sasquatch Chronicles because of the witness reports – which I believe are the best source of information regarding bigfoot creatures – and these old articles often read like witness reports. The descriptions of not only the creatures but their behavior mirrors reports we hear on SC today and these articles are well over 100 years old in most cases.”

I will be also welcoming Timothy Renner to the show. Tim writes “I just published my second book which is called Bigfoot in Pennsylvania: A History of Wild-Men, Gorillas, and Other Hairy Monsters in the Keystone State. It is all historical accounts from the 1830s through the 1920s which I have compiled from old newspaper articles.

In this way, it is kind of like Sasquatch Chronicles in that it’s just filled with encounters. I have added some commentary at the end of each chapter – but this mostly is my reasoning as to why I think the “wild man” in an article is referring to a bigfoot creature (for instance if the “wild-man” is 8 ft tall and covered in hair). Throughout the early 1920s there was a wave of sightings in PA – many of them quite aggressive – with multiple attacks on people, livestock, and cars noted in the articles. Many behaviors are noted throughout the articles which I recognized from being an avid listener of SC.

I know you don’t often have authors on – but I figured I would at least let you know the book is ‘out there’ and let you decide.

All the best”

Check out the book here

“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 record. From the myths of early man, to medieval manuscripts, to the earliest newspapers, these creatures make appearances by various names, but their described appearance and behavior seem to suggest Bigfoot has been hiding in the woods beside us for as long as we can remember. Old newspaper articles call the creatures “wild men”, “gorillas”, “hairy giants”, “ape-men”, and “spooks” – but the reports describe large, hairy, man-like creatures crying out with unearthly, eerie howls and leaving strange footprints in their wake. 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. Herein are strange tales of wild-women abducting children; frightening wild-men slaughtering livestock; and giant gorillas roaming over the hills of Pennsylvania. Read about huge, bare footprints found in the snow and mud; ape-men attacking humans; and weird, hairy beings creeping across farm, field, and forest.”