YEAR: 1963

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: unknown

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Smith County

LOCATION DETAILS: Marlow Bottoms, 5 miles S. of Tyler towards Bullard Texas, at Marlow Creek going west about 3 miles into the bottoms.

NEAREST TOWN: Tyler

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 69 South

OBSERVED: Only in the past few years have I associated a previous experience with an investigative report. I presumed at the time I was not believing what I saw. I was 16 yrs old at the time and was out with my cousin and a few others "coon hunting", south of Tyler, Texas in a creek bottom known as "Marlow Bottom". We heard the dogs "on tree" and went to see what coon (raccoon) was treed. We approached with our coleman lanterns, flashlights and guns drawn. I believe there were five of us there...we saw a huge animal of some sort, covered in red fur, flaying it's arms and making a dreadful howling noise toward the dogs. One of us, I don't remember who, shot toward the animal and there was a terrifying growl that absolutely scared the wits out of all of us, including the dogs. We immediately left the area at a run. At the time we didn't think anyone would believe us, so we chalked all of it up to a disbelief and forgotten. There was no reports of a Sasquatch, Bigfoot, or anything like that in 1963.

ALSO NOTICED: none other than previous mention

OTHER WITNESSES: 5 - Myself, my cousin, J. Porter, Mr. James and one other friend of Mr. James.

OTHER STORIES: none

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Occured around midnight...pitch black and cold around 40 degrees.

ENVIRONMENT: Bottom land...with narrowing of creek boggy mud and heavily leafed forest floor...of mostly oaks, pine, sweetgum and poplar trees....isolated from any residences.

Follow-up investigation report:

I spoke to the witness, now in his 50’s, about his encounter and found him to be totally credible. The incident occurred when he was a young teen, but it left an indelible memory in his mind.

The witness remembered the incident as occurring in late October of 1963. The witness and four others were out in the deep woods of East Texas, south of Tyler, “coon” hunting. The hunters had a total of four dogs with them. The witness remembered that one of the dogs was a beagle – not normally a coon dog, but the witness commented that the little beagle was one of the better coon dogs on the hunt. Other dogs included a black and tan, and two other mixed coon hounds.

Around midnight, the men heard the dogs off in the distance on a “hot track”. The men immediately pursued the dogs and as they got closer, it became obvious that the dogs had “treed” their prey.

Finally arriving on the scene, the men heard a very strange, loud, howling sound originating from the tree around which the dogs were gathered. The beagle, though he was still actively participating in the hunt, appeared to have had his “belly ripped open” and “had a trail of guts hanging out that he was dragging behind him.” One of the men immediately grabbed the little beagle and tried to “stuff his guts back in.” The witness told me about the wounded beagle in a rather innocuous way, as if it was an inconsequential detail. But after hearing the full account of the incident from the witness, I believed the beagle’s wound to be quite significant.

The witness stated that the men illuminated the animal up in the tree and were astonished at what they saw. The witness described the animal as a “huge, hairy thing.” The “thing” was screaming loudly, shaking the tree limbs and moving its arms violently in the large pin oak tree. The witness said he was not able to see a face, but from where he stood, it appeared to be a “big monkey” with hair or fur that was “reddish or burnt-orange” and appeared no less than “around six feet tall.” The witness said that the men reckoned that the beast had taken to the tree to escape the dogs. The men observed the creature from a distance of approximately 75 feet.

The witness further stated that one of the men “took it upon himself to shoot the thing.” So, with a .22 rifle, the man fired at least two rounds into the tree at the unidentified creature. With that, the animal became even more violent and louder. The hunting party, along with the dogs, immediately fled the scene, retreating back to the safety of their vehicles. Once there, the men decided not to speak of the incident, since they were unsure of what they had encountered. The men surmised that the little beagle had gone through a fence, and in the process had split open his abdominal section. The dog had been seriously injured, but did manage to survive the incident.

I asked the witness if he had any idea what it was that he, his hunting partners, the coon dogs and the little beagle had encountered that cold, autumn night in 1963. The witness stated that there was no explanation for the creature, and that the men saw what they saw. It was clearly a “huge, hairy thing” high up in the pin oak. I asked the witness if had heard of any other reports that involved bigfoot and dogs. The witness stated that he was not familiar with any reports involving dogs and bigfoot. I then offered as mere speculation on my behalf, that first perhaps, the beagle and the creature encountered each other on the ground. I further speculated that the creature may have attacked the beagle in a way mentioned in other BFRO reports. That is, the creature may have grabbed the dog and ripped open its abdominal area. At that moment, the other dogs arrived on the scene, forcing the bigfoot to drop the beagle and retreat up into the pin oak tree. Then, within seconds, the men arrived. The witness was amazed at my conjecture and stated that the men never once considered that the beagle’s wounds were caused by the creature. I told him that there was really no way to know for sure, but that the BFRO had other cases in which dogs and other animals had been attacked in a similar fashion.

Summary: The witness stated that only one of the other witnesses is still alive. He added that he would make an attempt to contact the other surviving witness and would then contact me so that I could gain the other witness’s perspective of the incident. Further, the witness and I discussed a whole litany of animals to determine which, if any, could have been chased up into that pin oak tree. The witness and I both agreed that based on his recollection, the animal likely fell into the category of primates and was certainly an unknown, undocumented animal to the Piney Woods of East Texas. The creature was either an unusually large orangutan – or the creature they encountered that night was a bigfoot.