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Many years ago I received
a call from a man in northern California, a Mr. C.
Thomas Biscardi, who was interested in Yeti or “Big
Foot.” He had heard of Reavis Valley, a landlocked
biotic island high above the Sonoran Desert floor,
that supported a dense Ponderosa pine forest. He
wanted to know how to get to Reavis Ranch.
I must
admit I have heard everything now. A story of Big
Foot inthe Superstition Wilderness Area was
preposterous, if not down right laughable. Then I
thought for a moment about another tale about a
strange encounter more than eighty years ago when
two prospectors hiked into the area of Pope Springs
to search for gold.
Late at
night something attacked their camp, killed and
hauled off their burro before they could even fire a
shot. Both men got a good look at the towering beast
as it dragged their burro away. The two prospectors
stayed up for the rest of the night scared out of
their wits. The only thing they could think of
capable of carrying off a burro was a large Grizzly
bear. Their burro weighted about four hundred and
fifty pounds. It would require a mighty large animal
to carry off a four hundred and fifty-pound burro.
The
story, as I recall, said the prospectors described
the intruder as a large, smelly, strange animal with
a matted, coarse and tangled hair coat. They said it
walked on its hind legs and towered at least eight
to ten feet in height. When the prospectors told
their story, many old timers figured they ran into a
large Grizzly bear.
The
prospectors said they could not identify the beast
as an animal or a human, but did say it smelled like
feces and urine and was unusually agile on its
hindquarters. They estimated the animal weighed
between 400 – 800 hundred pounds. This description
could easily fit a Grizzly bear. This same story
could have fueled the imagination of noted Big Foot
hunter C. Thomas Biscardi.
 The
Phoenix Gazette on Monday, May 11, 1981, announced,
“Explorer Plans Capture of Big Foot.” C. Thomas
Biscardi was making an exploration trip to the
Superstition Mountain of Arizona to search for Big
Foot. Biscardi claimed his latest encounter with Big
Foot occurred on Mount Lassen in Northern
California. He said he took photographs of the
elusive primate but concedes the front-view images
of a large hairy figure emerging from a clump of
trees may not be enough to convince skeptics.
Biscardi reported there were more than eight hundred
fifty sightings of creatures matching the
descriptions of Big Foot in the Soviet Union, Canada
and the United States. Biscardi planned to prove
their existence and said he believed these creatures
could be the possible missing link.
The
researcher had two reports of large human-like
creatures in the Superstition Wilderness Area and
spent two weeks in the Reavis Ranch area reporting
no sightings. He did report finding signs of Big
Foot in the region. He pointed out Ponderosa pines
with scratch marks thirteen feet above the ground
indicating a mighty tall animal scratched on the
tree. Biscardi also stated there was a sour-sweet
smell associated with Big Foot. This smell was
reportedly found in several locations south of the
Reavis Ranch in tall timber.
Biscardi’s exploration trip into the Superstitions
may have been a serious attempt to prove the
existence of Big Foot in the Superstition Wilderness
Area. However, Big Foot was not found. Biscardi said
his expedition was disappointing and he concluded in
the final analysis that the wilderness area was not
large enough to support a population of these
unknown creatures.
There
has been another update as of 2007 on Big Foot in
the Superstition Wilderness Area. It was recently
reported that a large upright animal spooked a rider
and pack horse near the head waters of Rough Canyon
along the northern edge of White Mountain. This
story surfaced about five years ago. Rough Canyon is
almost impossible to hike through. The area is
extremely remote and ignored by many. The rider who
reported the large upright animal was trying to get
to the head of Rough Canyon to set up a camp and
explore the area for archaeological sites. He
claimed he was studying the pattern of inhabited
areas north of White Mountain and south of Reavis
Mountain. Recent years have produced a lot of
interesting characters who explore the Superstition
Wilderness Area trying to explain what exists there
whether it is archaeological, fauna, flora or just
plain tall tales.
The
Superstition Wilderness Area has always been a
region that attracted the unusual and unexplained
tales and stories. If Big Foot exists, it still
remains to be proven. I must admit I was riding
horseback north of the Reavis Ranch in the fall of
October 2000 when a friend and I spotted a large
Black bear. The animal ran in the opposite direction
from us. I could easily see, if a person had an
imaginative mind they could have envisioned Big Foot
running across the old pasture in tall grass. The
scratch marks on Ponderosa pines reported by
Biscardi could have easily been caused by Black
bears. Black bears can climb pines like squirrels
almost. Often when bears are playing they will slide
down trees using their claws.
If
nothing else, the Big Foot story created interest in
yet another Superstition Wilderness Area legend or
myth. |
