Bigfoot Rendezvous
A Gathering of the Bigfoot
Community in Pocatello,
Idaho, June 16 – 18, 2006
by Tom Yamarone
Rendezvous…a bigfoot rendezvous…
just like the mountain men in the 1840s,
bigfoot enthusiasts were due to gather
along the banks of the Snake River in
southeastern Idaho for three days of revelry,
camaraderie and information sharing. It had
been a long, hard winter and the lure of a
rendezvous was too much to pass up. It was
a weekend to anticipate due to the fact that
many prominent bigfooters were due to be
there including Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum,
Richard Noll, Christopher Murphy, Kathy
Moskowitz Strain, MK Davis and Doug
Hajicek. Others of exceptional
qualifications— although not as publicly
prominent – would be there as well,
including Owen Caddy, John
Mionczynski, Willie Preacher, Jimbo
“Bobo” Fay, Bob Strain, Craig
Woolheater, John and Montra Freitas,
Kelly Berdahl, Scott McClean and Pete
Travers. Good friends would be in town
from Washington state as well as people
Iʼve met on the bigfoot internet.
The event was organized by Brandon
Tennant of Falling Rock Productions. The
city of Pocatello and Idaho State
University cooperated in the endeavor as
well as the Idaho State Museum of Natural
History. The museum opened a small but
informative exhibit on the bigfoot/sasquatch
phenomenon due to run through
September 2006 with many of the displays
coming from the “Meet the Sasquatch”
exhibit that was in Vancouver, B.C. last year.
People began arriving Friday afternoon as
we gathered in the old town section of
Pocatello. This city has a rich history
dating back to the days of the Hudson Bay
Company and the fur trade. Then it was a
stop along the Oregon Trail for pioneers
heading west in the mid-1800s. There is a
large native American reservation that
surrounds the city and, as I learned in the
museum, the Shoshone-Bannock tribes
that occupy the reservation include the
band of Shoshones that gave us Sacajawea.
Yes, we were in the lap of history there
on the western fringes of the Rocky
Mountains.
The “festival” was little more than a few
local food vendors, a couple of native
American artists and the bigfooters who
had merchandise to sell. Fortunately, it
was a festive atmosphere as friends
renewed acquaintances and spent the
afternoon catching up on the past yearʼs
events while being serenaded by a couple
of local bands. I got to play a set of
bigfoot songs which were appropriate
background music for this gathering. We
finally departed as the long June day faded
into night.
The next morning we were congregating at
the universityʼs student union auditorium
for a long day of presentations. Rick Noll
started with an excellent recap of the
September 2000 expedition that netted the
Skookum Cast. He included historical
sightings from the area and detailed the
activities of the outing. It was similar to the
presentation he gave at the Willow Creek
bigfoot symposium in 2003 and was great
to hear this material again. He exhibited the
cast in the auditorium and it was a rare
opportunity to see the cast first hand.
Christopher Murphyʼs presentation could
aptly share the title of his 2004 compilation
book, “Meet the Sasquatch.” In one
hour he covered many of the classic
2
stories of the sasquatch lore found in the
books by John Green. His talk was
highlighted by personal photographs from
many of the locations depicted in the
accounts from his native British Columbia.
After lunch, we were treated to the Hairy
Man pictograph talk by Kathy Moskowitz
Strain. She first presented this material at
the Willow Creek symposium and had
many new images this year. It is a
fascinating account of the only known
bigfoot represented in the rock art of the
native Americans and is from the Tule
River Reservation in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains near Sequoia National Park.
She presented other depictions of the
Hairy Man in baskets by the Yokut tribe
who inhabit the reservation that contains
the Hairy Man pictograph. She recounted
several of their tribal stories involving
Hairy Man and even played a song by a
tribal elder she recorded in 2005.
MK Davisʼs talk centered around his
photographic study of the Patterson-
Gimlin film from 1967. If you are unaware
of his work, he is able to show detailed
segments of this film on his computer that
prove this is indeed a living creature – like
some of us knew all along. You see the
feet flexing as they lift from the ground,
toes spreading out as they flex towards the
next step, muscles flexing in the legs and
other details you donʼt see in the film
played at regular speed. His presentation
struggled through some computer
glitches, but his work is some of the most
important to date proving the authenticity
of this film.
After dinner we had three more presentations
and, fortunately, they were all
exceptional because if it were anyone else,
fatigue would have thinned out the weary
crowd. Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum gave an
outstanding talk about sasquatch foot
anatomy and the studies he did with other
primates to discover the mid-tarsal flex
exhibited by early bi-pedal locomotion.
Doug Hajicek, well-known producer of
“Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science” and
the TV series “Mysterious Encounters”,
detailed how he became interested in the
subject of bigfoot and how he was able to
transfer the Patterson-Gimlin film to high
definition video – a project that led to
many new discoveries in that film.
Owen Caddy, a former African park
warden and primatologist, spoke about the
Patterson-Gimlin film and showed how
certain procedures can bring out more that
we can actually see in the original film At
one point, he shows how the face is
actually more ape-like than we perceive it.
Sundayʼs events were highlighted by the
presentation of John Mionczynski who
detailed his experiences in the Rocky
Mountains over the last few decades. He
works as a wildlife biologist and contracts
out his time among a variety of federal
and state agencies. His most memorable
bigfoot encounter was depicted in the
2006 documentary “Giganto: The Real
King Kong” which aired on the History
Channel in January (and was produced by
Doug Hajicek). John continues to investigate
bigfoot encounters and is participating in
the North American Ape Project with Dr.
Meldrum and Rick Noll. He is an exciting
new face on the scene and one that we
might hope to see more of in the years to
come.
A Native American panel offered a rare
glimpse into how bigfoot is regarded in their
culture. “We know of it as an historical fact,”
stated one of the panelists. They donʼt often
share their knowledge with the western world
outside of the reservation, so this was an
amazing chance to listen and learn from
those who have shared their world with this
elusive creature for generations. The
audience listened with rapt attention and
deserved respect. I canʼt get into all of the
stories they shared, but suffice it to say, they
are still experiencing sasquatch related events
to this day on their reservation in Idaho.
The conference was an excellent
opportunity to not only experience these
excellent presentations, but a chance to
interact with others who are excited and
knowledgeable about the subject. There
really werenʼt enough opportunities to just
“hang out” with other bigfooters, but we
did find the time late at night to do so.
This is always the most memorable aspect
of attending such a conference – getting to
share our experiences in this endeavor. It
was, indeed, a rendezvous and a way to
make contacts that weʼll maintain throughout
the years ahead. It may not have been
widely attended but the people that were
there were sufficient and exciting
company to have made the trip worthwhile.
It is something everyone interested
in the subject should experience once –
just to enjoy a weekend together with
those who share your interest in bigfoot.