- Class 1a
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
- Class 1b
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
- Class 1c
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 1d
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 2
- Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
- Class 3a
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3b
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3c
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Case: 01040026
Class 3cTrack found and second-hand account of grandparents' visual encounter.
Report Details
Occurrence date: November/1917
Location: Cass County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Queen City
Time / Conditions: Nighttime — Nighttime, clear, full moon. Wooded, hard-scrabble farms throughout this rural area of East Texas.
# of Witnesses: 5
Location: Cass County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Queen City
Time / Conditions: Nighttime — Nighttime, clear, full moon. Wooded, hard-scrabble farms throughout this rural area of East Texas.
# of Witnesses: 5
Witness Account:
This incident occurred in 1917 to my paternal grandmother and members of her family. She was 18 at the time and the family lived somewhere near the Sulphur River bottom in extreme East Texas, southwest of Texarkana.
Based on my recollection of what had been told to me over the years (she died in 1975), most of my grandmother's family lived in and around the Atlanta/Queen City area south of the Sulphur River, and at the time in question, she and her immediate family were living in a farmhouse somewhere west of Queen City and south of the Sulphur River (where Lake Wright Patman is today).
Her family apparently moved around quite a bit in that area and it's hard to pinpoint the exact location of this farmhouse. My grandmother was always referring to Knight's Bluff in her many stories. I'm not exactly sure of the location of Knight's Bluff. I believe it doesn't exist anymore (site submerged by the lake?) in that in my life-time I've never heard of it except in the references of my grandmother and father.
I remember my grandmother telling how they (mother...father...and some combination of her many brothers and sisters) were "coming home from town" on a bright moon-lit night in summer, and on one occasion I recall she specifically mentioned Knight's Bluff as being that town. And since they were riding in a mule-drawn wagon, I suspect they were somewhere within 8 to 12 miles from Knight's Bluff, wherever that was. She said they turned into the lane leading to the house. One detail I seem to recall is that she referred to the pasture to their right as the "east pasture", implying the lane led north to the farmhouse.
According to her the first indication that there was a problem was that the mules were acting up. She said her daddy said something about a snake, then they heard "something." I honestly don't recall her exact words, "screaming", "squalling", a high-pitched eerie wail (my words).
The moon was high, the night was flooded with bright moonlight. The tree line beyond the east pasture, where the sounds were coming from, was very black in contrast. She said they watched as a tall figure came out of the trees and stood full in the moonlight. It was as tall or taller than a man and covered with long dark hair. I do remember that my grandmother said it stood absolute erect and walked slowly toward them, like a man, not slouching like an ape. All the time it was howling and shrieking and motioning angrily at them. Her father fired a shot at this thing and it turned and ran back into the woods.
Getting to the house, my grandmother said the dogs were all cowed under the porch. They barricaded the doors and spent a fearful, though uneventful, night.
The next day, and several days thereafter, her father, brothers and neighbors ranged through the woods looking for any sign of this thing, blood, fur, tracks, but nothing was ever found.
This is probably the most interesting of the old tales my grandmother and father told me over the years in that it was the only story in which a creature of this type was seen clearly. There are many other intriguing tales including one where I was present, but I was only six, and as I told Mr. Woolheater, these stories (except the one I was present) were all told to me many long years ago, and thus are very unscientific.
Sounds:
Screaming and "squalling". Even in my recollection wailing, screaming and in some cases "whistling".
Investigator's Observations
Investigator(s): Charles DeVore
This investigation was conducted as a result of incidents that allegedly occurred in Cass County, Texas involving a family over a period of many years.
I spoke with sighting reporter. Due to the nature of this report being relayed to him by his grandmother who has since passed away, he had little further information to add except to emphasize that the subject reportedly seen by the family was said to be very large. He arrived at the year of sighting being 1917 as his grandmother was pregnant with his father at that time. His father was born in 1918. It was such a frightening experience that all the family worried that it would affect the baby. Of course the worries were for nothing.
Further research reveals that Knights Bluff still exists. It is on the south side of Lake Wright Patman at the water's edge. It is located in what is now Atlanta/Queen City Park. Back in the early 1900s it was a small community.
Other related events of his childhood:
When the witness was very young, his father came running home from hunting alone in the Antioch Community just south of Knight's Bluff. He was "ghost white" and obviously very frightened. He had reportedly encountered a "large hairy booger." The witness's father was so upset about the incident that he would never discuss it with his family and get very upset if anyone mentioned it in later years. The father apparently confided in one of his cousins, who later described it as a "bigfoot."
In 1956, when the witness was 6 years old, he was very excited to be taken on a night hunt with the men of the family. This hunt also took place around the Antioch Community south of the Sulphur River and northwest of Atlanta/Queen City, Texas. On a creek bank the group encountered a very large footprint that looked like a barefooted human except much too large to be a human. The group stood around the footprint looking at it by the light of kerosene lanterns and discussing what it might be. The adults used it reinforce their insistence that the kids keep up and not lag behind or something might get them. Because of this find, I have determined that this report be classified as 3c.
This investigation was conducted as a result of incidents that allegedly occurred in Cass County, Texas involving a family over a period of many years.
I spoke with sighting reporter. Due to the nature of this report being relayed to him by his grandmother who has since passed away, he had little further information to add except to emphasize that the subject reportedly seen by the family was said to be very large. He arrived at the year of sighting being 1917 as his grandmother was pregnant with his father at that time. His father was born in 1918. It was such a frightening experience that all the family worried that it would affect the baby. Of course the worries were for nothing.
Further research reveals that Knights Bluff still exists. It is on the south side of Lake Wright Patman at the water's edge. It is located in what is now Atlanta/Queen City Park. Back in the early 1900s it was a small community.
Other related events of his childhood:
When the witness was very young, his father came running home from hunting alone in the Antioch Community just south of Knight's Bluff. He was "ghost white" and obviously very frightened. He had reportedly encountered a "large hairy booger." The witness's father was so upset about the incident that he would never discuss it with his family and get very upset if anyone mentioned it in later years. The father apparently confided in one of his cousins, who later described it as a "bigfoot."
In 1956, when the witness was 6 years old, he was very excited to be taken on a night hunt with the men of the family. This hunt also took place around the Antioch Community south of the Sulphur River and northwest of Atlanta/Queen City, Texas. On a creek bank the group encountered a very large footprint that looked like a barefooted human except much too large to be a human. The group stood around the footprint looking at it by the light of kerosene lanterns and discussing what it might be. The adults used it reinforce their insistence that the kids keep up and not lag behind or something might get them. Because of this find, I have determined that this report be classified as 3c.
