1969 Bighorn damn Sighting, Alberta

[Deleted]

I had oppertunity this weekend to meet with Roy Engen, the brother of Floyd Engen who was one of serveral that saw a very tall sasquatch during damn construction in Aug 1969. Roy stated that his brother described the sasquatch as at least ten feet tall, black hair, and had a very long stride (ten feet was quoted). I'm told the distance of the observation was 45 yards. Floyd reported that he yelled and waved at the sasquatch, did not get any reply. They looked for footprints, however the ground was too hard. No odour and no noise was made by the creature.

A sketch of the creature was done by an artist linked to the Edmonton Journal under the direction of Floyd and a few of the others. What I see in the sketch is a tall, thin sasquatch, relatively short hair, obvoius from the sketch it is not a cumbersom costume as there is a fair about of musculature detail. Floyd swore on his deathbed that the info he gave was true.

Roy Engen is now in his 80's but seemed very competent and sincere in his answers to my questions. Additionally, he did state that his brother had subsequently learned of others that had seen trackways and footprints in the area around some of the camps at the general time of the sightings.

Not much has happened up there since, another instance of squatch being push back further into the mountians?

BB

[thomassteenburg]

Sad to hear that Floyd has passed on. I talked to him in 1980. and he was still convinced that what the men saw was indeed a Sasquatch. I don't think a distance of 45 yards is accurate. the men were more than half a mile down buy the foundation of the pump house and the creature was was seen up on the high cliffs in the distance. The sight remains today much as it was in 1969. I have visited it more times than I can remember. At the time two of them went up to where the figure was. After it had moved off of course and the men below said that their companions. were less than half as tall as the creature. so at the time 15 feet was reported as the hight of the subject. They were guessing of course. There has been continuing reports from the area since 1969. Nordegg was for a time Alberta's bluff Creek though reports of very tall creatures stopped after a 1984 report. Normal height reports also occurred during those years and continue at lest until 2002. I left Alberta that year to move to the lower main land of B.C. And have not followed up on any in that area since. But I would not be surprised if they indeed continue.

Thomas Steenburg

[Deleted]

Thomas, thanks for the reply. We at the WCSRO have been active in that area for several years now. We recently placed ads in several small town papers along the front range (forestry trunk road between Cochrane and Hinton), hoping to generate more reports from those that have had encounters. The plan was reasonably succesful, generating a dozen or so new reports. However, the majority of these were quite old.

We're thinking that the population density has shifted back into the mountians further or has moved further north due to encroacment and/or the volume of ATV traffic. Have you folks at the West Coast noticed a general fall off in sightings / tracks/etc?

[thomassteenburg]

Brian, there seems to be a general shortage of reports over all around here this last summer but we have had periods like this before. I always remind myself for every sighting we hear about there are probably 8 or so where the witness hasn't told any body. Also if anything this last summer did occur, we might hear about it for the first time next spring. Its been 6 years now since I was on the trunk road between Nordegg and Hinton, and back then I was quite taken aback on all the activity on that stretch, logging, mining, and other human encroachment. The best area always seemed to be right around Nordegg, a little south by the red deer river, and a surprising amount around Sundre. Even heard from a off duty Calgary police officer whom is a small plane pilot on his own time, told me he flew over a cut line and spotted a sasquatch in the open! I think that it is indeed possible that closer to the mountains the more likely it is you might come across the creature. but I would not be surprised if you suddenly find another outbreak of activity around rocky Mountain House.

Thomas Steenburg

[Deleted]

Hi Thomas,

You're probably WAY low on your estimate of only 1 in 8 sightings reported. Off subject but really ON subject...I used to be a police dispatcher and learned from the investigators that only about 1 in 10 rape victims report a crime. That said, makes sense to me it would be MUCH more difficult to come foward with a Bigfoot sighting that a report of rape. A rape victims is looked at with mercy where a person who sees Bigfoot may be labeled a nut! My guess is that only about 1 in 50 Bigfoot encounters are published. Just an educated guess based on what I've seen being reported by the general public and what I know to be the "real numbers" on other types of reporting.

By the way, although I'm not in an area that has sightgings I have no doubt these creatures exist.

[Deleted]

May long weekend and I was fool enough to head out with the rest of the fools. Difference is, I did'nt take six flats of beer and and a few forty pounders with me like every other camper did. I spent one night in my tent in the Alberta west country and it was like camping out beside a nightclub, only louder and more annoying.

Point of my story is, I went to the Bighorn dam, or should I say "damn" and just like I was warned, there were at least one hundred campers with atv's. There were more quads and dirtbikes ripping up the area than you could imagine. That pretty much describes all of Alberta's sasquatch stomping grounds from Thomas day here in Alberta.

Don't even get me started on the thumping bass stereos, it's like a competition to see who can get louder and drunker.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2008 21:05:28 GMT -5 @roman said:

May long weekend and I was fool enough to head out with the rest of the fools. Difference is, I did'nt take six flats of beer and and a few forty pounders with me like every other camper did. I spent one night in my tent in the Alberta west country and it was like camping out beside a nightclub, only louder and more annoying.

Point of my story is, I went to the Bighorn dam, or should I say "damn" and just like I was warned, there were at least one hundred campers with atv's. There were more quads and dirtbikes ripping up the area than you could imagine. That pretty much describes all of Alberta's sasquatch stomping grounds from Thomas day here in Alberta.

Don't even get me started on the thumping bass stereos, it's like a competition to see who can get louder and drunker.

hi Roman, this was my experience last year along forestry trunk rd on the August civic holiday long weekend! atvs, dirt bikes and partiers. unless the partiers had some kokanees I highly doubt squatch would of been in the area. there was even a cop along forestry trunk rd checking for drunk drivers!!!

[vilnoori]

Yeah, me too, I took my kids to my favorite uncrowded hard to access beach (there was only one other group of four people there, on the May long weekend, which tells you how hard it is to access) and the road there was littered with partiers! Thankfully not many were intrepid (or crazy) enough to go down the steep incline, walk across the felled log thrown across the raging torrent (aka, usually a small creek) and pick their way to the tiny beach. All the beaches have been submerged by high snow melt water this time of year, but not this one!

I did it with my 13 yr old, 10 yr. old, 4 yr. old (whew, she didn't fall in) with me, and my 2 yr. old on my neck. Holding a folding chair, no less. lol I must be crazy! It will be much nicer when the water recedes, though. Plus I always have the heebie jeebies about cougars and bears coming out of the bush for my toddlers. I kept a stout pointed walking stick handy, but wished I could've had a shotgun.

No big footprints this time. I think sassy goes up high into the mountains when there are so many people around. Odds are when it starts getting hot, they prefer it up there, anyway. They can come down at night to forage for food, when all those loud little two leggers leave or go to sleep.