Media Article # 187
Article submitted by John Moore (John_Moore@BFRO.net)
Article prepared and posted by Matthew Moneymaker

Thursday, March 5, 1981

Pleasant Grove Review

Giant footprints in the snow of the High Uintas are perhaps those of "Big Foot," a Pleasant Grove man reports.

Leonard Howlett and his son, Lester, first spotted the prints early in January at their logging camp in the Unita [sic] Mountains. A professional logger long familiar with the mountainous terraine [sic] there, Howlett said he could not explain the prints in any other way. He discounted any possibility of them being made by bear and mountain lion nor by moose which live in the area.

Howlett said he has always scoffed at reports of "Big Foot" or "Sasquatch,"as the legendary creature is often called. He explained that he has been a logger or a cowboy in the region for many years and had never seen anything which could be construed as "Big Foot." That is, until the huge prints were located recently.

He said there were two sets of tracks six feet apart. The prints measured 19 inches from heel to tip of toe and were more than 11 inches across at the widest point. The stride measured 54 inches. Many of the prints showed distinct toe, instep, heel and ball of foot imprints. These types of marks would not have been made by snowshoes either, he said.

Howlett reported that during the evening before the first prints were found, there was a sound of crashing in the willows, a sound of something being beaten and a grunt or a growl. The Howletts followed the prints for some distance before returning to camp to finish logging as Lester had to get back to school.

A second trip to the camp two weeks later found the first prints covered with fresh snow although some new prints were seen but filled in somewhat with drifted snow. A beaver carcass was found which had been picked cleaned much as a man would do to a chicken, Howlett said. Howlett plans to return to the area soon with hopes the creature will become accustomed to him and perhaps let themselves be seen.

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