YEAR: 1996

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: October 1

STATE: Idaho

COUNTY: Valley County

LOCATION DETAILS: Scott Mountain Road, North east of Garden Valley, Idaho, near Deadwood Res. Go about seven miles north of res. to the old abandoned Deadwood Mine on the east side of the road. There, you will find two old buildings that served as an office and boarding house for the miners. No one has lived there since the forties.

NEAREST TOWN: Garden Valley, Idaho

NEAREST ROAD: Deadwood Res. Road, Boise NF Rd # 579

OBSERVED: We were camped at an old abandoned mining town and mine near Deadwood Res. in Oct. 1996. Our son had an encounter with an unidentifiable being. My husbands company was helicopter logging near an area that was once an old town and mine out in the forest. It was opening day of the deer season, and our son, who was 14 at the time, got up early to go hunting near camp. We were near Deadwood River, which was little more than a creek. He took out with his rifle to see if he could get a buck that morning. He crossed the river and went up a hill to where he could get a better look at the river and flats below. Our pilots were camped down the river about a quarter mile from our camp.As our boy was looking down towards the pilots camp, he observed what he thought was a bear down on the flats near the river. He thouht that it was a little unusual that the 'bear' was walking very steady on it's hind legs more like a human. The more he watched it, the more uncomfortable he began to feel. As he was watching it, it suddenly looked up and started staring back at him. He felt sudden fear race through him as he felt it's eyes lock onto him. He told us that he has never felt that feeling before or since then. He said that it was very dark in color and was very tall and hairy, After it had stared at him for a time, it proceeded in walking towards where he was standing. Realizing that it was moving in his direction, he turned around, and started racing for camp as fast as he could. When he got to camp, he ran into our fifth wheel trailer, shut the door and locked it behind him. He then closed all the curtains and blinds. He was absolutely scared to death that the thing that he saw was coming to get him. He wouldn't come out of our camper at all until I took him home two days later. He kept the door locked all the time, and the curtains drawn, even in broad daylight

ALSO NOTICED: The other unusual thing that we noticed up there was in the basement/boiler room of the old boarding house that was near our log landing/camp. It looked like a huge nest in the corner near the old boiler. It was made of evergreen boughs and leaves.It looked like it was being slept in by a very large animal.The floor was soft dirt, and it had a very strong odor all over in that part of the building.It was open to the outside by an open doorway.

OTHER WITNESSES: Several other people working for the same logging company had different sightings and encounters within the same area and time frame (a couple of days apart) as our son's encounter

OTHER STORIES: At the time that our son had his encounter, the water truck driver also had an encounter. The evening of my sons encounter,the water truck driver came to our camp, and told of a strange encounter the previous evening while filling his water truck about a half mile down river from our camp. He said that it was about 3:a.m and he was waiting behind his truck for it to fill up.He had the floodlights on so he could see the hose in the water. He said that he had an overwhelming feeling that he was being watched.The Deadwwod River is quite shallow and not very wide, so the other side of the river is very close.(about25 feet across) He told us that he looked up and across the river to a set of eyes that were watching him from behind a tree on the other side of the river.It was very large and dark and had very piercing eyes. He said that it was much taller than a man, and moved upright and quietly from one tree to another, all the time, watching him. He said that he had driven water truck for many years, and he had never encountered anything like that before. He put in his resignation the next day after his sighting.

We also found out that others had had encounters of their own near our area. The logging boss and his 2 sons had something chase them down the hill above our camp the night before.They said that something was screaming at them from behind trees and rocks as they were trying to get to camp. Since that time, we have heard hunters who have been in that area hunting, tell us that they have smelled a really strong odor and have felt like they were being watched as they moved through the forest.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About 8:a.m, sunny, cool Fall weather.On flats near river.

ENVIRONMENT: Near logging site, on flats next to small river. Forests of evergreens.Small mountains and rock faces.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Roland Wolfe:

Both the mother and son interviewed reported many details of this encounter as if it had happened yesterday. The boy had seen a dark brown to black hair covered, bipedal animal that obviously had hands and not paws. The creature was somewhere near eight feet tall and would move from behind one tree to another trying to stay hidden as it came up the hill toward the witness. Trees in that area were around two feet thick and the thickness of the animal's torso was greater than the tree width. The witness felt a deep sense of fear. He said it felt like he was the quarry and was being stalked. He has not returned to the sighting area since.

An onsite inspection of the area by this investigator in July of 2004 turned up many story substantiation details. Remnants of a possible nest area were found in the crawl space of the abandoned mine office building. A flat open box filled with dried leaves was found adjacent to the nest area. In the second abandoned building further up the hill a second possible sleeping area was noted in the basement. This room definitely had a strong, musky, skunk-like smell lingering in the air. A nest story detraction was that there was also positive evidence of pack rat activity in both buildings.