YEAR: 1972

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 26

PROVINCE: Alberta

COUNTRY: Canada

NEAREST TOWN: Medicine Hat

OBSERVED: On September 2nd 1972 we were at Strathcona Island ark which is outside Medicine Hat, Alberta. About ten of us went to swim in the river [Saskatchewan River].

In the afternoon going back to the campsite I ran ahead of the rest down a winding path. I came to a stop when I smelled what I can only describe as a wet dog that rolled in a garbage dump for a couple of weeks. I then heard brush moving to my right. I turned and looked and saw a large black furry animal facing a Saskatoon patch.

I could see the crack of its rear end sitting on the ground and its shoulders and pointy head leaned away from me. [In its sitting position it] was about 5 to 5 and a half feet in height and 4 feet wide at the shoulders, and about 30 feet away.

Its fur was long and shaggy and oily. This thing just did not move at all, which going to Banff a lot and seeing black and grizzly bears, was not common. Suddenly a quiet grumbling chatter came from it, to which my brain translated it as get away from here. I turned and ran south, continuing down the trail. As I ran I could hear the thing smashing through the trees, with a smash, smash, smash sound. No one else heard or saw anything.

ALSO NOTICED: Later in the Fall I saw an article about teenagers who saw a bigfoot north of Seven Persons along the creek ravine. When I checked a map I found out that the Seven Persons creek flows into the South Saskatchewan at Strathcona park.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Sunny with cumulus clouds.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Cori Bowhay:

The witness was 8 years old in 1972 and had been swimming in the South Saskatchewan River with family and friends at Strathcona Island Park in Medicine Hat, AB. The group was leaving the beach to return to their fire pit for hot dog lunches. Our young witness went racing ahead of the group to get back.

As he ran along the winding trail from the river to the picnic site the witness was stopped in his tracks by a foul smell. He described this has being putrid and unlike anything he'd smelled; The smell was like a wet dog had rolled in garbage. It was so awful and he was trying to figure out what it was.

A small rustling drew his attention to a massive, black back seated at a patch of Saskatoon bushes. The witness explained that this creature had a conical shaped head sloping into broad shoulders with no visible neck. It didn't look like a bear. And it remained frozen, as did the witness.

He estimates that the shoulders were at least 4 feet across. The creature was sitting, and the witness noticed he could see the crack of its buttocks where it sat on the ground. From the top of the head to the bottom of its backside, the witness guessed was about 5 feet. He figured that the creature weighed about 600 pounds (about the average weight of a male grizzly bear).

The witness, however, was certain the creature was no bear when it emitted a gargling, chattering sound. When he later discovered the Sierra Sounds this was very similar to what he had heard as a child.

He emulated what he had heard and it was very reminiscent of the the "samurai chatter" heard in the Sierra Sounds recordings.

Immediately the witness got a clear message in his mind to "Run! Run away!". And so he did, as fast as he could to the picnic site. This was when the creature also made it's escape and he could hear it stomping away through the forest. When the rest of group finally arrived he asked if they had seen or smelled anything but no one else had.

The area where this incident occurred is on the edge of the city of Medicine Hat in southeastern Alberta. Strathcona Park is a picnic and day use area. Even today, the area remains undeveloped to the SW of the river valley. If a creature like a bigfoot or a bear were going to be in the area, eating late summer berries along the river valley is the most likely place you would find one in this region.

What strikes me as interesting about this possible sighting is that the creature remained still, it didn't turn to look or sniff in his direction. And then it chattered at him. This was certainly an experience that stuck with him his whole life.

About BFRO Investigator Cori Bowhay:

Cori has been researching sasquatch since 2011 when she decided she wanted to know what was out in the forests. Since then Cori has attended BFRO Expeditions across western North America including BC, Alberta and Washington State. Additionally she has spent many hours in the field doing her own research across Alberta. Her main interest in bigfoot research is tracks and track casting. Cori loves spending time outside and believes a bad day bigfooting is still a good day in the woods ⛰ ✌🏼