Because of the humorous association many people have with Bigfoot, it's
always important to deal carefully with rumors associated with the
creature lest speculation be confused with something more. And yet it's
always hard to dismiss a good rumor that appears substantiated by
multiple witnesses outright. It's with this asterisk we explore the
claim that during the eruption of Mt. St. Helens the government enacted
an initiative to recover the bodies of several wildlife creatures
including two Sasquatch.
On May 18, 1980, one of the largest
volcanic eruptions ever witnessed by the western world in the past
hundred years, Mt. St. Helens sent clouds of ash and smoke into the air
and killed millions of creatures inhabiting the areas of wilderness
nearby. In the following weeks federal and state agencies cooperated to
make the land habitable again and move to quickly recover the bodies of
any dead creatures found within the devastated ecosystem nearby. It
was during one of these operations that there is a very prolific legend
that two bodies were recovered in the Cowlitz River by the Army Corps of
Engineers. Thought at first to be the remains of a large animal of
some sort, a helicopter was sent to recover the bodies. They were
rushed away. But the story goes that the team that originally recovered
the body said that the creatures they recovered fit the description of
the elusive sasquatch.
A similar tale seems to pick up where the
first leaves off. It seems the pilot of the helicopter was similarly
disturbed by the contents of his net that May evening. Among the
creatures that they carried that evening were elk, a bear, some deer,
and something else that seemed almost too unusual to believe. The
reported sasquatch was said to be badly burned to the point of being
practically unrecognizable. The creature was simply taken to a disposal
sight where it was burned along with the other carcasses. And that is
where the story of the sasquatch bodies of Mt. St. Helens ends.
Legends
from local Yakima tribes did confirm that the sasquatch or "Oh-Mah" as
it was called, was seen repeatedly throughout pre-history. There are
even stories of limited contact between the Yakima and these mysterious
creatures. For the most part, however, it was understood that the
infamous hominid wished to be left alone, and had a reputation as being
the watcher of the woods who would care for the area as a gardener would
care for his own plants. But was the eruption of Mt. St. Helens a
force too destructive for the Oh-Mah? Or was this story nothing more
than a complete fabrication? There is a third possibility. If the
creature had been as badly burned as was rumored by witnesses, it is
possible it could have been falsely identified. Those involved say it
was too human to possibly be just another bear or an injured deer.
Regardless, this story has clearly established itself as one of the
great tales of bigfoot lore for years and promises to continue for years
still.
