YEAR: 1971

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: March

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Pierce County

LOCATION DETAILS: This occurred in 1971 so if you could locate the barricks area of Company E 4th Battalion 2nd Brigade. You will find the location.

NEAREST TOWN: Ft.Lewis

NEAREST ROAD: unknown

OBSERVED: Read report 3281.
I had basic training at Ft.Lewis,Wa. I was there from Jan. 71 to May 71. I was assigned to Company E 4th Battalion 2nd Brigade. That is were my barrick was. Between the barricks was an open field 100 yds or more wide.
On the other side of the field the outline of the forest trees began and after them more trees and more trees.
Anyway it was winter and it had snow. The area was covered in snow. It was a cold clear night. There was a full moon which illuminated the night sky. I can't recall what month it was. I was assigned guard duty of our barricks area. My shift was the early mouring hours (After midnight). I was to walk for two hours patrolling our company area.You could hear the crunching of the snow under my boots as I walk.
As I was walking towards the last barrick, I was facing the open field. I saw something at the distance in front of were the forest trees began. It was walking towards me and then it would stop. Where it stood, I looked to the right side of the area and to the left side of the area and saw only this thing in front of me. It started to move again towards me.I saw a silhoutte of a figure it was all black.
When it walk it was swaying back and fourth. Scared, I turned around and walked towards my barrick and went inside and told no one about what I saw. A day or two later I think it was in the Seattle times newspaper there were photos taken of bigfoot prints in the snow near a fence at a ranch in the area. I wonder if this is what I saw that night?

ALSO NOTICED: Come to think of it the figure I saw looked like the thing on the DVD cover 'The Legend Of Boggy Creek'. It was swaying back and forth as it walk. That is the silhouette I saw a black figure walking towards me.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: The newspaper article I mentioned here. Also the report listed on your website.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early morning (after midnight) Maybe between 1AM and 3AM. Clear winter night. Full moon.

ENVIRONMENT: The barricks.The open field covered wit snow.At the end of the field alot of pine forest.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kristine W.:

The witness was a brand new, 19 year-old soldier going through basic training when he had this encounter. He was so new that he had not even been issued a weapon yet. The witness described himself as a city boy from San Jose, California who was unused to the heavily wooded areas of the Pacific Northwest.

The witness’s assigned duty was to patrol the perimeter of the barracks area. He carried a folding shovel instead of a weapon. He came to a field that was about 100 yards to the tree line. In front of the tree line was a black figure that moved with an unusual, swaying gait. When the figure stopped walking and held still, it blended so well into its background that it looked just like a stump or tree.

The soldier couldn’t believe his eyes because there were not supposed to be any personnel out at that time of night. He looked to the left and right of the figure, then back at it, just trying to figure out what he was seeing. What made it look unusual was the "huge" size (much taller and bulkier than a man), the way it was able to blend into the background and its peculiar swaying walk. The witness said the shoulder area was exceptionally broad and that the figure looked “big on top.”

The young man was scared by what he saw and decided to go back inside the barrack. He told no one for fear he would be forced to “investigate” what was out there. He said his folding shovel didn’t seem like a very effective weapon against an animal of this size.

At the time of the sighting, the witness did not know what he was observing. It was not until he saw an article about sasquatches that he determined what he might have seen.

Fort Lewis is almost 16 square miles in size and has a long history of possible sasquatch activity within its borders.

About BFRO Investigator Kristine W.:

• Bachelors of Science Degree in Botany -- University of Washington.
• BFRO Curator of Report Information for Washington State
• Attended all of the public BFRO Expeditions in the American Pacific Northwest
• Organized numerous smaller non-public expeditions in Washington State