Sasquatch Outpost

January 5, 2020

I hate to admit this, but on our hikes in Colorado I’m still way too nervous. I stay glued to the trail like my life depends on it, fearful that if I roam too far into the shadows that I might get lost, stumble into a protective mama bear (animal or human) or get sucked into an abandoned mine shaft. And among the endless worries I have about exploring this amazing state, somehow I’ve never considered a Bigfoot encounter among them.

Sasquatch. Bigfoot. Their legends are one and the same—a towering, hairy, off-shoot of a primate that dwells deep in the woods where most of us never venture.

And then I realize, damn, is this why I never go off-trail? Do I harbor some sort of unconscious fear of creatures like this? I mean, I can’t really blame Bigfoot. Perhaps this fear is spun from the stories we all grew up reading, things like cannibalistic witches and big bad wolves, meshed with my own paranoia of alien abductions and lingering spirits.

Personal digressions aside, according to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the word "Sasquatch" emerges around 1929.

Chances are, if you live in the Pacific Northwest, you’re all too familiar with its lore. Lesser-known are the many other names attributed to this curious and elusive creature, including: Skunkape (Florida), Grass Man (Ohio), Boggy Creek Monster (Falk, Arkansas), Momo (Missouri), Yeti (Himalayas), Yeren (China), Almas (Russia), Yowie (Australia), and Orang Pendek (Southeast Asia).

And that’s just a few of the more common ones. As Jim Myers, owner of the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, Colorado pointed out to us on a recent and first-time visit, every Native America tribe has its own unique name for it.

To the Zuni, it’s Atahsaia or "The Cannibal Demon." The Tlingit call it Kushtaka or "Otter Man." For the Shinook, it’s Skookum or "Evil God in the Woods." You can view an extensive list here.

Sightings have been continually documented and shared around the world. Curiosity-seekers go Squatching—yes, that’s a real thing—to search for footprints and mysterious teepee formations that are associated with their existence. And I’m guessing many would love the chance to see one and collect audio and/or visual evidence.

Unfortunately, the closest I’ve ever been to experiencing Bigfoot was probably attending the Skunkape Festival in the Everglades as a budding journalist in 2004. Prior to that, I watched Harry and the Hendersons, a 1987 film starring John Lithgow about a family who hits a Bigfoot creature with their car and later makes him part of their family. And that pretty much sums it up for my obviously limited expertise.

But I have to admit, during our recent trip to the Sasquatch Outpost, I realize there’s a lot more to be curious about.

First and foremost, almost all of the art pieces in the museum, from the clay sculptures to a gigantic Bigfoot replica named Boomer, are created by Jim Myers. Myers and his wife, Daphne, own and operate the Outpost, and they refer to themselves as researchers and admirers. These artful oddities along with historical timelines, witness accounts, casts of monster-sized footprints, maps of reported sightings and other discoveries together, even if you’re a skeptic, follow a story through the eyes of believers that here in the US now spans 60 years.

Here’s an interesting History.com piece about the small news story out of northern California in 1958 that sparked the legendary curiosity for the creature the journalist then-dubbed Bigfoot.

My favorite feature at the Sasquatch Outpost is the imposing beast hidden inside a dark turn, its eyes glowing red as you trigger a motion sensor passing by. At the front half of the Outpost is a gift shop with some of the coolest Bigfoot merch you could ever come across, much of it also designed by Jim. And the $5 entry fee ($2.50 for kids 5-18 and free for children under 5) is hands-down the best $5 we’ve spent in a very long time. We think it’s absolutely worth a visit regardless of how long it takes you to get there. And with 21,000+ visitors to date since the museum opened in 2016, we don’t think we’re alone in that regard.

Also, make sure to subscribe to their You Don’t Know Squatch podcast!

Curious for more Sasquatch lore? Visit the six other centers in the US dedicated to Bigfoot.