YEAR: 2005

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Umatilla County

LOCATION DETAILS: Beginning at Pendleton, Oregon, go east on Mission Rd. to Cayuse Rd. and continue for about 10 miles. Turn left at silver railroad bridge.

NEAREST TOWN: Pendleton, Oregon

NEAREST ROAD: Cayuse Highway

OBSERVED: I and my husband were at the local swimming hole, called Black Bridge. I was at the gravel watching over our two nieces who were wading around the water. The swimming hole is under a rail road bridge. The footings are cement. My husband walked around the cement, along the edge, to the back side. I walked the other way along the gravel where I found two indentations under the trees. The indentations looked like a sleeping place for a bear. But it was odd how they were so big and right in the open. Anyway, the girls were getting chilled and got out to dry in the summer sunshine. My husband came back about then, too. You should have seen the look on his face! He had that stare of disbelief and his face was drained of color. I asked what it was, what was wrong. He said he was just about to walk along the path, into to trees... What was that? Someone whispering? He didn't think anything of it but felt uneasy. He heard two someone's whispering again. He stopped moving and they stopped moving. He'd start moving and so would they. He thought someone was just playing around but felt so uneasy. About the 4th or 5th time of this red light green light game, he for no reason got the heebie jeebies. He said something just was not right and he felt like high tailing. He remained calm, and just backed out to the water's edge where I turned to climb the cement back. Any way, he was just telling me about the whispering and that he thought they were saying "Look, who is that? It's --- (my husband's name)." Something... he wasn't sure, but he did make out his name. He was telling me the story when this huge limb comes flying out from back there and hits the water with a splash. We looked at each other and back to the limb, as it floats down river. No one could have possibly thrown that, I thought. We were just talking of checking it out when we heard this huge splash back there. There was this kind of grunt along with it. I figured we were interrupting the Big Man's meal gathering and we probably should leave. We said our apologies to whoever was back there and left tobacco as a courtesy and left.

ALSO NOTICED: Because we had the two girls, we weren't able to check the area.

OTHER WITNESSES: I and my husband and his two nieces witnessed the tree being thrown. The limb scared the girls to the car.

OTHER STORIES: Several people who live in the area tell stories of hearing things moving at night. Knocks are heard on the walls or vocalizations are heard. Mostly in spring and summer, but throughout the year up river.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Mid afternoon of a clear, warm summer day.

ENVIRONMENT: Along the Umatilla River. The area is predominently wheat fields. There are cottonwood trees all along the river and many rock caves.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dr. Wolf H. Fahrenbach:

The location is one of a deer river crossing. The hollows scooped out in the river rock were about 4' across and correspondingly deep. The husband's encounter before the stick throwing incident lasted several minutes. Refer also to reports # 15744, # 15745, and # 15746 by the same witness.

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net