1924 Ape Canyon Bigfoot Attack: Centennial Photos and Analysis Released

If you've spent any time digging into Sasquatch history, you already know the 1924 Ape Canyon incident sits right at the top of the pile when it comes to legendary encounters. It's one of those stories that refuses to die, no matter how many times skeptics try to poke holes in it. Recently, a video crossed my feed that takes a fresh look at some of the criticisms leveled against the miners' story, and honestly, it's worth your time. The video comes from Larson Edson over on YouTube, and it tackles a recent episode from The Missing Enigma where Nick covered the disappearance of Joe Carter near Mount St. Helens. Edson isn't out to trash Nick's work. He actually opens by saying he respects the deep-dive style and the willingness to admit when a story got overhyped. But he takes issue with a few specific claims about what came before the 1924 incident, and that's where things get interesting. One of the biggest points of contention is whether there were any documented sightings in the Mount St. Helens region before the famous cabin siege. Nick apparently said he couldn't find any. Edson pushes back hard on that, pointing to the 1924 newspaper coverage itself, which explicitly mentions that the Klickitat and Cowlitz peoples had oral traditions going back centuries about large, hairy, humanlike beings who threw rocks, whistled, and lived in the remote wilderness. Ethnographer George Gibbs actually documented these traditions back in 1865, which is sitting in the archives. On top of that, Fred Beck and the other miners had been finding unusual tracks near creeks and springs for about six years before the attack, with some prints measuring up to 19 inches long. They also reported a strange animal trying to get into their tent around 1922. That's a documented pattern, not a blank slate. Then there's the YMCA prank theory, which has always been a favorite of debunkers. Edson walks through why this narrative has serious problems. Ted Stokes didn't come forward until 1968, which is 44 years after the fact. The YMCA camp at Spirit Lake was roughly eight miles from the miner's cabin, and that's as the crow flies. The idea that a handful of teenage boys were hiking eight miles at night, throwing dozens of heavy rocks, faking footprints, and doing it repeatedly just doesn't hold up. Plus, the miners had been experiencing weird stuff for years before that particular YMCA session even happened. And Stokes is the only source. None of his alleged companions ever corroborated the story. The ranger investigation gets some attention too. Edson points out a glaring contradiction. The rangers said the area was too barren for large animals to live there, but they also found cougar tracks. A cougar can weigh well over 200 pounds, so how does that math work? He also notes that the rangers investigated within days, and in the high country in July, conditions change fast. Rain, wind, and animal activity can erase footprints in hours. One of the most compelling parts of the video covers the claim that the miners never returned to the cabin. Edson explains that while they never resumed living and working the claim, they did go back with newspaper reporters, law enforcement, and a forest service ranger. That's why the famous photograph of Beck and Leroy Smith posing with rifles at the cabin exists. They were showing newsmen how they defended themselves. And here's the kicker: in 2024, around the 100th anniversary, a family member of Wilma Welsh, the wife of Ranger Bill Welsh, released previously unseen photographs from the family collection. These images show the clearest pictures ever taken of the cabin, with visible damage to the walls and a severely damaged roof vent. That's primary source evidence sitting in a family collection for a century, now available to researchers. The 1924 Ape Canyon incident has always been a cornerstone of Sasquatch research, and cases like this are why it keeps getting revisited. New evidence keeps surfacing, and the historical record keeps getting refined. If you're into the deeper history of these encounters, definitely check out the full video. Edson lays out his case with receipts, and it's a good reminder that getting the story right matters, especially when the details have been argued over for a hundred years.