Bigfoot Speaks to Woman at 1961 Klamath River Homestead

A story surfaced recently on YouTube that stopped me in my tracks. It's the kind of account that reminds you just how deep the history of Sasquatch encounters really goes in this country, and how much of it has been buried under decades of silence. The video, posted by the channel William Keyes, tells the story of Lorraine Haske, a woman living on a homestead above the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Northern California. The date was October 14, 1961, just after 7 in the morning. Her husband Dale had gone out before dawn to hunt deer along the creek behind their property. Her seven-year-old son Tommy was eating breakfast at the table. Then a single gunshot cracked through the trees, much closer than any hunter should have been firing. Dale came running down the slope with no deer, shouting through the screen door for Lorraine. He told her he'd shot something nobody would believe, and he pulled her up the hill by the wrist to see for herself. What Lorraine saw lying in the yellow autumn leaves by the creek was not a bear. It was longer than Dale was tall, covered in dark brown hair, its chest still rising and falling. One arm lay flung toward the water, ending in a hand with a thumb and a broad gray palm. Dale had already removed his hat without realizing it. He pushed his rifle into Lorraine's hands, worked the bolt, and told her to shoot it if it moved. Then he left with Tommy to fetch the deputy, some men from the mill, and a camera. What happened next is the part that has stuck with me since I watched the video. Lorraine stood over the wounded Sasquatch with the rifle shaking at her shoulder. It smelled of wet hair and blood and something sour like a den. A low sound came from its closed lips, and the hair across its shoulders rose and slowly