Doubts about Bigfoot in Saltville

The news spread like the proverbial wildfire recently. There allegedly had been a sighting of a Bigfoot near Saltville and some of the pros were coming to hunt the critter and film a TV program about it. The beast was the buzz of local gossip.

For anyone unaware of what a Bigfoot is let me set the record straight. No, I am not talking about my youngest brother, Ron, nor either of my cousins Buzz or Wayne Smith. Nor am I referring to either Gregg or Tim Sholes, all five of whom take about a whole steer hide to make them a pair of shoes. I am referring to the mysterious man-like beast referred to by numerous names in numerous cultures throughout much of North America and in the rest of the world as well. In the mountainous regions of Asia a similar creature supposedly exists in the Himalayan mountains where it is called the Yeti or Abominable Snowman.

The folks coming to hunt the critter were from Animal Planet. Generally I enjoy Animal Planet programs. They normally are professionally produced and scientifically backed. They tend to be well done educational programs about various types of animals inhabiting our planet. For that reason alone I was looking forward to the Animal Planet crew coming to Saltville to investigate a supposed "Bigfoot" sighting in the Saltville area. I had not really heard much about it, just that someone, somewhere in the Saltville area had allegedly seen what they believed to be a Bigfoot, the mysterious ape-like animal that turns up here and there. I had heard from someone that the critter was seen on Flat Top Mountain near what is called Aistrop Hollow. Flat Top Mountain has (I believe) 50,000 plus acres of wilderness. So it would perhaps be a suitable hiding place.

I am neither a convinced believer nor a confirmed disbeliever in Bigfoot. In a way I doubt its existence. For one thing, despite so many people dedicated to finding and proving it, very little evidence exists. For example no one, to my knowledge has ever found the remains of a deceased one. Nor has anyone ever produced reasonable proof of young ones. No skeletons, no burial sites should they be that far advanced. There has, I believe, been a few scraps of fur caught on thorns. Films are always by someone who has seen an adult. However, the filming is usually from a distance or unclear or both. That was why I looked forward to Animal Planet coming to the area. I envisioned a highly professional crew of researchers and camera crew. I was, however, disappointed.

The schedule for showing was the first problem. It aired this time opposite the Grammy Awards program. Normally this would not have bothered me as I am no big fan of awards programs of any type. However, one of Terry's favorite artists was up for a couple of awards and she did want to see it so we more or less bounced back and forth between the two programs.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed.  For one thing, though the alleged sighting was advertised as being near Saltville (which they hit another sore spot with me, two actually, when first pronouncing the area as part of the App-uh-lay-shuns. I cannot understand why they find it so difficult to pronounce it as most of us natives do, Ap-uh-lat-chuns. Another was when they announced they were holding a meeting at a historic mill in Salts-ville, Va. I would think if they were very professional, they would have bothered to learn the correct name of the town in which the meeting was to take place.).

The sighting itself was much nearer to Bristol or even Dickenson County than Saltville as it was said to have been near Abrams Falls, and at some point High Knob, which is in Wise County, was also mentioned. The areas mentioned are much closer to Benhams and Mendota, both much closer to Bristol than Saltville, both fairly near the Tennessee state line. In fact, the original video that caught the attention of the Animal Planet folks was titled the Beast of Gum Hill, and is on YouTube. Gum Hill is in the lower end of Washington County, much closer to the Bristol area than to Saltville or anywhere in Smyth County. That kind of added to my puzzlement as to why they were coming to Saltville.

I was unaware of the meeting but from what I have read or been told, not very many local folks attended. I did see a brief segment on TV (again switching back and forth between channels). I saw one or two young people I recognized but that was about it. I later spoke with Kris Sheets, the librarian at Saltville's Public Library. Sheets did attend the meeting. She was also surprised that she saw only a few folks that she knew to be Saltville area residents. She said most of the people who spoke were from further away, even a few from other states, including West Virginia. Again I don't understand the choice of Saltville by the Animal Planet crew.

In an article by Patrick Smith, an intern working with the Smyth County News & Messenger, Smith recounted stories by a man from Piney Flats, Tennn., as well as a Bristol resident who said he had also seen the creature at Gum Hill. In his piece, Smith also quoted a young woman from Saltville who said she saw a Sasquatch standing on top of a hill outside her home. She told the crowd that once she made eye contact with the figure, she was struck on her right leg by a stone thrown hard enough to leave a bruise. She had brought along a drawing of the creature she saw for the Animal Planet folks to view. Apparently, according to Smith, 10 people there had Bigfoot stories to tell. The folks from Animal Planet asked these 10 to stay as they wanted more details about their sightings and help pinpointing them on the map.

As I said, I have not completely made up my mind, one way or the other about this ape-man critter. I have seen recordings that certainly look real. But then folks these days have access to cameras and computers that almost rival filmmakers from Hollywood. Some of these folks have seen something. Not being there I don't know what.

One of the things that gives me some doubt is the number of people I know who have hunted much of the mountain region where most of these latest sightings took place. Fellows like Joe Roberts Jr., the late Robert "Maneater" Kestner, R.J. Kestner, the late Fred Frye, the late Pete Frye and lots of other folks from the Saltville and Rich Valley areas have hunted that region for years. These are guys who if they saw a Bigfoot, or any other kind of Booger, would likely have brought it home draped over the fender of their truck. I have never heard any of them mention seeing anything even vaguely resembling a Bigfoot.

I also think it strange, if such a beast exists in our region that either Harry Haynes, Pat Sword, Gregg Harris, my brother Rusty, several of his friends, the Campbell boys Bob and Raymond, Big Tom Buchanan, or his dad my old buddy Raymond, or any number of the other fellows from the Rich Valley area would have never seen one. We have all spent a lot of days and nights as well prowling the back roads and little mountain dirt roads throughout the area. But then again I cannot rule them out. After all, I was told for years that panthers, especially black ones, no longer inhabited this area. Had Harry and I not stumbled across one way up on the Ridge Road late one night I would still believe that was true.

If Sasquatch exists I think the upper Rich Valley region would make it a good home. If I see one and he doesn't bother me, I won't bother him. But until I see one, I will still have doubts. As to the Animal Planet segment, I am sorry to say that this one was a bit less professionally done than is their norm. Perhaps the subject matter played a big role, as one about lions or tigers or bears and such has tons of information and research on record; while one on a creature that many still doubt exists has very little scientific research backing it. Perhaps the team did the best they could with what they info they had available. I suppose time will tell.