YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Grant County

LOCATION DETAILS: Canyon City, Oregon is located just South of the Hwy 26 East and 395 South interchange.

NEAREST TOWN: Canyon City

OBSERVED: Story 1. It was evening time,a late summer afternoon. I was six years old at the time. I was outside talking to my stepbrother who was working on our pick up truck. Well I noticed someone standing atop the hill across the road. At first I thought who was that lady at that time of day?, I assumed at that time because I saw long dark brown reddish hair lit by the setting sun behind her. Then I noticed its entire silhoutte was covered with hair, not just the head. I stared at it for a good minute or so, as it just stood there. I knew then it was a bigfoot that my folks told me about. It turned and started walking away. As it dissappeared I ran into the house and was yelling to everyone what I had just seen. Parents went up top the hill and found large foot prints. That happened late summer in 1976 in Canyon City Oregon.

Story 2. I had another experience traveling through the Three Sisters Mountain Range between Bend and Eugene Oregon. It was late that fall about the same year 1976. We were on our way to Eugene,me,my mother, and step brother. I had to take a leak and we were up on the mountain so I asked them to pull over because I couldn't hold it any more and had to go. Well they pulled over and I got out and was in the process of going when I looked down I saw a foot print beside the road, a bare foot, no shoes on. I noticed there were several prints from the road going into the woods. I got scraed ran back to the car and jumped into the front seat of the car. I specifically remember saying lets get the hell outta here I just saw some bigfoot tracks. They wanted to see, so I had to let my mom out, so we looked at them together and found footprints in the sandy dirt roughly the size of a mans.

I have been told by my mother, of loud screams that were loud,gutteral sounds, and somewhat raspy. Also in Canyon City. She also described them as being like the creature was in a deep sorrowful pain, as it sounded to her.

I also had friend that moved from Michigan that he and his folks seen one standing in the middle of the road one night, described it as a large hair covered creature that looked like a man, he referred to it as a bigfoot.

I have another story told to me by my grand mother in Yreka California. She was living in her cabin in the forest when one night she saw a bigfoot peering at her through the window. She said that it must see in the dark because its eyes were lit up like that of a deers in the head lights and that the color of them were blue. She said she was not afraid of it. She also said that its eyes seemed as if they had the knowledge of the all the world in them. It was there only a minute, then it was gone.

Thank you for allowing me to voice my stories and to share the ones I have been told.

- John Stephen Melland

ALSO NOTICED: 3-4 months prior to sighting the sounds were heard by mother near our house at night.

OTHER WITNESSES: none

OTHER STORIES: stated on first report above

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1st. Evening,sunset,time of sighting.
2nd. Afternnon,daytime,time seen tracks

ENVIRONMENT: 1st. Near stand of hard woods across street. Where it was standing and behind it was grassland and sparse evergreens.
2nd. Lush rain forest of the 3 sisters mountains

Follow-up investigation report:

Follow-up investigation by Kathy Harper, BFRO

After speaking with the witness over the phone I found him to be a credible witness.

Canyon City is located in Grant Co. in Eastern OR. Just North of the Strawberry Mountain range.

Three Sisters is part of the Cascade range with Ponderosa Pine, Doug fir and underbrush that becomes quite dense the further West you travel.

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