Scientists gain new respect for evidence pointing to the existence of an unknown primate living in North America

From analysis of primate locomotion observed in the Patterson-Gimlin film clip and Native American pictograph research to the results of field expeditions following up on Bigfoot sightings and activity. Listen to scientists and investigators discuss the evidence and hear their conclusions and recommendations.

This is the first symposium to be held in Willow Creek, California, the Gateway to Bigfoot Country a mere 38 miles from the 1967 Roger Patterson-Bob Gimlin film site in Bluff Creek. The symposium sponsor is the Willow Creek China Flat Museum containing the Bob Titmus Bigfoot artifact collection.

The symposium is open to anyone interested in Bigfoot evidence. Whether you are an active investigator, an avid collector of Bigfoot artifacts, memorabilia and information, or merely curious and wish to know more about the evidence for Bigfoot, you will be welcome at the symposium. During this three-day event, you will have the opportunity to meet scientists who feel the evidence begs further investigation, credible witnesses who were there in the late 1950s and 1960s and saw a creature or tracks that were not made by known wildlife species, and investigators who are currently conducting field research and following up on Bigfoot sightings and evidence.

Excursions, exhibits, side events

In addition to the main program, the symposium will offer a guided excursion to the Roger Patterson-Bob Gimlin film site in Bluff Creek. Symposium attendees may also elect to book a fun-filled day of rafting on the Trinity River. A tour of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Museum and its world-class collection of Native American memorabilia can also be arranged.

Location and edibles

Registration will take place at the museum itself and plenary sessions will take place at Trinity Valley Elementary School on Highway 96, just a half mile from the museum and Highway 299 through downtown Willow Creek. Special meal events will also be offered during the symposium. An authentic Native American open pit salmon barbeque (salmon run permitting) will be offered on Friday evening. Lunch on Saturday will be the Willow Creek version of a mall food court. Various fund-raising groups will provide a wide variety of luncheon choices, including Indian tacos, hot dogs, hamburgers, desserts, and snacks. A classic pit-barbequed beef dinner by the Willow Creek Kiwanis Club is on tap for Saturday evening.

Program overview

The conference is composed of a balance of laboratory and field research topics, as well as historical context in the persons of pioneer Bigfoot investigators and witnesses who were on site in the late 1950s and 1960s. The presentations will allow time for discussions with the audience.

Preliminary list of speakers who have expressed their interest as of April, 2003:

Dr. Jane Goodall, Ph.D, CBE, Author, Scientific Director of the Gombe Stream Research Centre, Tanzania
Originally scheduled as a speaker, cancelled due to scheduling conflict, now offering video presentation.

Mr. Dmitri Bayanov, Author, Hominology Investigator since 1964, State Darwin Museum, Moscow, Russia

Dr. John Bindernagel, Retired Wildlife Biologist

Mr. Igor Bourtsev, Author, Hominology Investigator since 1965, State Darwin Museum, Moscow, Russia
Cancelled due to inability to obtain a travel visa.

Mr. Jimmy Chilcutt, Crime Scene Investigator/Latent Fingerprint Examiner, Conroe Police Department, Conroe, Texas

Dr. W. Henner Fahrenbach, Retired Invertebrate Zoologist and Head of Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Oregon Regional Primate Research Center

Mr. Doug Hajicek, President of Whitewolf Entertainment, natural history television documentaries

Mr. Alton Higgins, Assistant Professor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma, BFRO physical evidence coordinator

Dr. D. Jeffrey Meldrum, Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, Idaho State University

Ms. Kathy Moskowitz, Forest Archaeologist, Stanislaus National Forest

Mr. Rick Noll, Curator, Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

Special participants:

Mr. Bob Gimlin, participant in 1967 expedition resulting in the Patterson-Gimlin film clip of a female Bigfoot in the Bluff Creek drainage in northern California

Mr. John Green, Author, Journalist, Bigfoot Investigator for 44 years

Mr. Al Hodgson, Resident of Willow Creek since the 1930s, acquainted with and assisted many Bigfoot investigators as well as personally conducting investigations since 1962

Mr. Jim McClarin, Bigfoot Investigator since 1963 and member of early expeditions from northern California to Alaska

Mr. Ed Schillinger, Engineer/surveyor, observed 1958 track finds in Bluff Creek drainage

Mr. Tom Steenburg, Canadian Sasquatch investigator since 1978 and author (Reserve Speaker)

 

	Willow Creek China Flat Museum Bigfoot Conference AGENDA Friday, September 12, 2003
9:00 -11:30 a.m.	Check-in at Willow Creek China Flat Museum
10:00 -11:30 a.m.	Press Conference at Museum.
11:30 -12:30 p.m.	Lunch (Included)
1:00 -1:45 p.m.	KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Mr. John Green
2:00 -2:50 p.m.	Apelike anatomical and behavioral characteristics of the Sasquatch - Dr. John Bindernagel There is a compelling case that the Sasquatch will be found to be an upright North American great ape. A review of over a hundred detailed eyewitness descriptions of Sasquatches reveals a number of unique anatomical features found only in the better-known great apes of Africa and Asia. Similarly, certain elements of reported Sasquatch intimidation behavior, such as projectile-throwing, are consistent with display behavior of great apes and a few other primates.
3:00 -3:50 p.m.	Midfoot flexibility, footprints and the evolution of bipedalism: Perspectives on the Patterson-Gimlin film - Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum A look at the pattern of the emergence of hominid and modern human bipedalism, suggesting that walking bipedally on flat flexible feet was a stable adaptation that may have persisted for several million years with modern human foot structure and gait patterns emerging possibly as recently as homo sapiens sensu lato. The morphology of the Sasquatch foot, as inferred from numerous footprints and correlated with the gait and foot kinematics evident in the Patterson film is thus seen in a new light. Sasquatch may be the modern analog of a locomotor adaptation - bipedalism on flat flexible feet that was the norm for the majority of hominid evolutionary history.
4:00 -4:50 p.m.	Dermal ridge evidence in footprint casts - Mr. Jimmy Chilcutt Latent fingerprint examinations of over 100 Bigfoot track casts have revealed the existence of dermal ridges. Focusing on three casts a 1967 northern California track, a track from Walla Walla, Washington, and one from Elkins Creek, Georgia exhibiting the same ridge pattern flow, Mr. Chilcutt explains his conclusion that these casts are from the same species of animal.
6:00 -7:30 p.m.	Dinner Native American Salmon Barbeque (Included)
7:30 -8:30 p.m.	KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Mr. Doug Hajicek Patterson-Gimlin footage: Another Look Natural history filmmaker/camera inventor and Discovery Channels Legend meets Science producer, Doug Hajicek shares his insights regarding two new discoveries and forensic techniques used on the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film footage. The analysis includes a full motion skeletal reconstruction and its revelations plus possible pathology and/or morphology on the upper quadriceps of this film subject, as well as muscle structure and walleyed gait. A video presentation of the new results will be included.
	Willow Creek China Flat Museum Bigfoot Conference AGENDA Saturday, September 13, 2003
9:00 -9:50 a.m.	Mayak datat: An archaeological viewpoint of the hairy man pictographs - Ms. Kathy Moskowitz Located on the Tule River Indian Reservation, Painted Rock (CA-TUL-0019) represents the center of creation for the Yokuts tribe. There, all the animals came together to create man and left their images on the rock to be remembered. Hairy Man, or Mayak datat, also left his image, becoming the only known Bigfoot pictograph yet discovered in California. This presentation will explore the connection between traditional Yokuts stories of Hairy Man, the pictographs, and archaeological evidence pointing to when the rock art was created. The presentation will also seek to establish that Bigfoot is not a white-man creation, but rather a long, well-rooted fact within the Penutian language family group.
10:00 -10:50 a.m.	The Skookum cast - Mr. Richard Noll In September of 2000, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization conducted an expedition in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of Washington State. This expedition used various techniques and devices to try to lure a Sasquatch near enough to the base camp to establish thermal imaging. Rick will discuss the expedition and its results - a 200 lb. plaster cast of what appears to be the lower torso of a hair covered primate. Latest News! The Skookum cast will be on display at the Symposium
11:00 -11:50 a.m.	Photo evidence case study - Mr. Alton Higgins Methods used to examine two photographs of an alleged Sasquatch for the possibility of hoax, as well as the circumstantial evidence related to the photos, are presented.
11:50 -1:00 p.m.	Lunch various vendors onsite.
1:00 -1:50 p.m.	Sasquatch investigations in Canada - Mr. Tom Steenburg Comparison of characteristics reported by eyewitnesses in BC and Alberta, Canada.
2:00 -2:50 p.m.	The Sasquatch Skin and its Appendages - Dr. W. Henner Fahrenbach Dr. Fahrenbach will discuss the structure and function of skin and its appendages, such as glands and hair, with respect to primates in general and the sasquatch in particular.
3:00 -4:30 p.m.	Pioneer bigfoot investigation Panel - Moderator Mr. Rudy Breuning Bob Gimlin, Jim McClarin, Al Hodgson, Ed Schillinger and John Green were there in the late 1950s and 1960s capturing film, casting tracks, and investigating the Bigfoot evidence of the times. They will discuss their activities and answer questions about their involvement in Bigfoot investigations.
4:30 -5:30 p.m.	Bigfoot/Sasquatch Auction The Willow Creek Bigfoot Symposium is looking for people, authors, and artists who would be interested in donating Bigfoot/Sasquatch memorabilia for the Symposium weekend's planned Bigfoot auction. Items that can be donated include books, videos, DVDs, artwork, newsletter subscriptions, plaster foot casts, or anything else Bigfoot related. All proceeds from this auction will go directly towards the Willow Creek China Flat Bigfoot Museum. Any contributions made would be greatly appreciated. To make a donation or to find out more, please contact the Auctioneer, Marc A. DeWerth, by email or 440-236-6301.
5:30 -7:00 p.m .	Dinner Kiwanis Deep-pit Beef Barbeque (Included)
7:00 -8:00 p.m.	KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Mr. Dmitri Bayanov, Author, Hominology Investigator
	Willow Creek China Flat Museum Bigfoot Conference AGENDA Sunday, September 14, 2003
9:00 a.m.	First van caravan to Bluff Creek departs Willow Creek China Flat Museum parking lot. Estimated return time at Willow Creek is 3:00 p.m. Lunch included.
10:00 a.m.	Second van caravan to Bluff Creek departs Willow Creek China Flat Museum parking lot. Estimated return time at Willow Creek is 4:00 p.m. Lunch included.
11:00 a.m.	Third van caravan to Bluff Creek departs Willow Creek China Flat Museum parking lot. Estimated return time at Willow Creek is 5:00 p.m. Lunch included.

LODGING

The North Coast Inn has made available blocks of rooms for attendees of the symposium.
Rooms will be held from Thursday, September 11, through Sunday, September 14, 2003. A ticket will be provided upon check-in for the breakfast buffet on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the Crystal Willow Room. Breakfast will be available from 6:45-8:00 a.m. each day.
Daily Room Prices (including breakfast and tax): Single $66.00, Double $72.00 Deadline for reservations is 6 p.m. on Monday, August 11, 2003.
Make sure to mention the Special Rate Code for the symposium of BFS03.
Phone # 707-822-4861