; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Bigfoot Encounter Along Medicine Creek


I received the following account in December 2014. Bigfoot sightings in Nebraska are uncommon, so I thought I'd repost:

I grew up near Niobrara, Nebraska not far from the river. My brother and I were able to do a lot back then. We were outside year around. We really enjoyed fishing in the river for catfish. It was the 1950s and things were different. No one cared much what you did, just so you didn't cause trouble.

We usually fished in the morning and evening during the summer. In June 1959 we planned to hike to an area on Medicine Creek and spend a few nights there. It was about 5 miles from home. The second night we were there, we heard strange screaming sounds coming from one the bluffs west of us. It wasn't like anything else I've ever heard before. We also heard something heavy moving through the brush and trees. I'll admit we were scared. As the night went on, things quieted down.

The next morning I walked towards the bluff while gathering firewood. As I approached a rocky pass I caught a glimpse of something big and hairy running away from me. It wasn't a bear and stood at least 7 ft high. It was huge with a wide back. That was enough for me. I was ready to move camp someplace else.

My brother and I packed up and started back toward the old trail. I guess we had walked about a mile, then stopped to fish at a good spot we knew. We spent most of the day there. Late afternoon we decided to hike back home. I wasn't feeling well anyway.

The area was much different than today. It's part of a state park with lots of roads and camp areas today. Back then it was much more rugged.

It was about 6pm and we were close to the footbridge at the river. My brother suddenly stopped walking and pointed at a clearing at the river bank. He said someone was over there. We stood there for a minute, then this huge hairy creature stood straight up and looked right at us. It let out a loud grunt, swinging it's arm up over it's head. We started running. I don't thing we stopped until we got near the roadway at the end of the trail.

Over the years, we talked about our run in with the creature and we're both sure it was a Bigfoot. I only told a friend about it a few years later, but he thought I was lying to him. We've been back to the same area many times since then and never noticed anything. I contacted the BFRO in the 1990s but they never came out to take a statement.

That's my story. You can contact me, I have a few questions. Thanks. Gary T.

NOTE: I called Gary, who is 70, and we discussed the two encounters. I think it may have been the same Bigfoot trailing the brothers. There were no other details available from Gary, who has never heard of another sighting in that part of Nebraska. I checked the database...there isn't much to refer to, other than a sighting in Knox County near Santee in 1979. That was classified as a BFRO Class 'A' report. I forwarded an inquiry to Nebraska Game and Parks about the area of the sighting. BTW, there have been documented Mountain Lion encounters throughout northern Nebraska. Lon

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Monster Trek: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot

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