Media Article # 184
Article submitted by John Moore (John_Moore@BFRO.net)
Article prepared and posted by Matthew Moneymaker

Thursday, April 1, 1993

Deseret News

Today, Bigfoot is part of our culture. There have been a movie and TV series - "Harry and the Hendersons" - and various TV reports on the mysterious beast over the years. As "Sasquatch," It's part of many Indian legends. David Thompson, a surveyor and trader for the Northwest Company, discovered what may have been Bigfoot tracks in 1810, near the Columbia River Gorge.

Bigfoot may be a larger cousin of the "Abominable Snowman" or "Yeti" and other similar apelike creatures rumored to live in the Eastern Hemisphere. Over the years, Bigfoot evidence has been reported in Canada, most Western states, portions of the Midwest and even in Florida. Sightings have also been reported as far south as Guatemala.

There is also a lot of evidence of Bigfoot reported in Utah, some of it fairly recently. Here's a list of some of the reported Bigfoot sightings and evidence in the Beehive State. The information on these reports are from the files of Ryan Layton of Layton, who has interviewed many Utahns who have claimed to have spotted Bigfoot in the past 13 years and from past media reports:

1960s: A possible Bigfoot sighting near Beaver.

1970s: Some residents of Clarkson, northwest of Logan, reported that something took a midnight trip through their community, awakening and frightening residents.

An Indian reported seeing a creature in the Dixie National Forest.

1973: Craig R. Johnson of Farr West, Weber County, was elk hunting with friends in the Manti-La Sal Mountains. After returning to camp, they reported something very powerful had lifted the door off a 300-pound horse trailer and tossed it 10 feet away. An imprint in the dust on the door didn't indicate a bear or a human.

1977: The first major reported Utah sighting: Jay Barker and Larry Beeson of North Ogden were hiking one summer morning with five [sic-six] young men in the Cuberant Basin of the Uinta Mountains and reported watching an 8-to-10-foot tall creature with a mantle of white hair from 600 to 800 yards away for 20 minutes until some loose rock alerted it to their presence on a ridge. An expedition into the area a few days later found no tracks, but the ground was very hard.

1979: Larry Darley of Clearfield was elk hunting with his wife in the fall near Monte Cristo, east of Ogden. They later reported a loud noise and an "awful" odor at twilight. Mrs. Darley said she spotted a "hairy thing, with fangs" at a water hole 50 yards away through her rifle scope. They watched it for several minutes before rushing to their truck after the animal seemed to look at them.

Hikers at Flaming Gorge reported stumbling onto a water hole with a hugh pine bed and a dead deer hanging nearby. They said they unearthly screams and made a quick retreat to their boat.

1980s (by month): A man from Lapoint, Uintah County, flying a small airplane from Ogden to his home one winter, reported seeing a large hairy manlike creature walking through the deep snow of the High Uintas.

Lee Fielding of Hooper, Weber County, who works for Utah Wildlife Resources, was camping in the Elizabeth Mountain area of the Uintas. He reported that something stormed through his camp one night and scared all the horses away. The next morning, his horse would not go in a particular direction, and he met a group of hunters in another nearby camp who told him they were spooked by seeing what they described as a Bigfoot.

A man on a dirt bike behind the Francis Peak Radar Towers said he was chased by some sort of creature.

Indians in the Ouray Reservation near Roosevelt reported Bigfootlike creatures in a particular canyon, but since they consider the area sacred, to [sic] outside investigation has yet been permitted. Ute Indians also have a legend that similar creatures sometimes congregate in the Island Lake area of the High Uintas. There are also periodic reports of large rocks being thrown in the middle of the night around Island Lake.

A Vernal church leader and family reported seeing the outline of a large creature near their tent one summer night. They also saw a huge handprint press against their tent.

February: In February, Bigfoot made big news in Utah with numerous sightings: Paulene Markham said she saw something like Bigfoot walking on a ridge behind her house... Ron J. Smith reported a creature in the moonlight in a pasture next to his house. He also said he heard it make an inhuman scream... Walter G. Ray reported that a pan of burned stew, set outside to cool, was mysteriously licked clean... Possible Bigfoot tracks were reported in the South Weber area... Lee Padilla of Clearfield reported seeing a 10-foot tall beast dart across Riverdale Road in front of his headlights at 3:30 a.m.... A Uintah man reported seeing something he described as non-human out a window of his home in the foothills... A South Weber resident, Edna Arave, said she was frightened by the unearthly screams of what may have been a Bigfoot one February night. She also believed many South Weber residents saw or heard things they never did report for fear of ridicule, or of the publicity they could receive from the media.

April: A 13-year-old Washington Terrace, Weber County, girl reported a hairy creature standing up with its back to her - only 10 feet away in a gully near the Weber River. She also said she smelled a terrible odor and rushed home. Her brother, cutting oak brush nearby, also saw something "large and black" about the same time.

May: An Ogden couple picking asparagus along the Weber River near 12th Street and I-15, reported an 8-foot-tall black figure with glowing red eyes about 40 yards away. They ran to their car and later returned to the area with Ryan Layton and others and found hundreds of tracks... Several footprints were also discovered in a residential area of North Ogden.

August: Teenagers reported hearing an unearthly scream and smelling a terrible odor one night. Large footprints are also later found in the area.

1981: The police chief of Garland, Box Elder County, said he saw a creature run in front of his car. Several other residents also reported sightings and tracks are found that lead in a northwest direction.

1982: Several drivers along Beck Street in North Salt Lake reported seeing a hairy creature run across the road in the early morning darkness.

1983: A jogger in Farmington reported seeing a Bigfoot near the city cemetery early one morning... Ryan Layton of Layton and a friend were camping on Sept. 1 in the Hoyt Peak area of the Uintas. Layton, who collects Bigfoot stories, had heard a tape recording of a Bigfoot scream that a Montana rancher had given to another Utahn. At 3 a.m., he said "just for fun," he imitated - as best he could - one of the Bigfoot sound and almost instantly got a reply. It was the same as the Montana recording, and Layton described it as an "almost ungodly, sinister and weird scream" that lasted five to 10 seconds. It had too much volume to be human or made by any known animal... Several men in the Wheeler Canyon area, near the Snow Basin road, reported seeing something large with red glowing eyes at about 3 a.m. one night. The left their camping gear and rushed off to Huntsville to report it and also said they saw several other creatures in the vicinity.

1988: Ranchers near Garland reported seeing two Bigfootlike creatures near their lambing pens after dark. Soon after, many tracks were found in the Garland area in deep snow and were followed for two miles.

1990s: An Orangeville, Emery County, man told Ryan Layton he's spotted Bigfoot four different times in the High Uintas, including one time with his whole family. He also said his grandfather had told him he'd seen Bigfoot in the same area.

1991 (August): Bigfoot sightings reported by residents in North Ogden.

1992 (August): Screams and a foul odor were reported in the same North Ogden area.

• Submit a report
• Submit a comment or article