Is Bigfoot alive and well in Texas?

by Lyn Horner

"Bigfoot" or "Sasquatch" is a legendary ape-like creature believed by some to exist in the Pacific Northwest. But did you know cryptozoologists are diligently searching for the same type of animal in the Lone Star State? Indian legend and modern day sightings indicate they may be on the right track.

I’ve been researching Caddo Lake in East Texas to use as a setting in my upcoming book (title still up in the air.) Lying half in Texas and half in Louisiana, Caddo Lake is named after the Caddoan Native American tribes who inhabited the area in days past. It’s the only natural lake in Texas and the largest one in the south, covering approximately 26,800 acres. And it may be an ideal habitat for Bigfoot.

Caddo Lake with Bald Cypress trees; photo by Jay Carriker (User:JCarriker); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddo_Lake

How the lake formed has been debated. One theory claims it was created by the New Madrid earthquakes of December 1811. Centered in northeast Arkansas, the quakes strongly shook an estimated 50,000 square miles.

An alternate theory suggests the lake was formed by the Great Red River Raft, a huge log jam that extended above and below present day Shreveport, LA. for some 160 miles. Having formed over several centuries, the raft completely blocked the river channel and caused massive flooding. However, tree rings and geologic evidence prove Caddo Lake even older than the raft.

Note: The Great Raft was cleared after the invention of nitroglycerin.

During the 1800s, Caddo Lake made Jefferson, Texas the state’s second largest port. Only Galveston shipped more goods and people to and from Texas in those days. Steamboats moved up the Mississippi River, into the Red River and on to Jefferson via Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou. For four decades, large quantities of cotton and other materials were carried down this route to New Orleans.

Today, Caddo is a mysterious wonderland of lake and wetland, home to waterfowl, alligators, turtles, frogs, snakes, raccoons, minks, beavers, white-tailed deer and other mammals. Bald cypress trees draped with Spanish moss and aquatic plants thrive in the maze of sloughs, bayous, and ponds.

Photo in the Public Domain; Wikipedia Commons

The lake is also bordered by tall pine forests – the East Texas Piney Woods, nearly 12 million acres of forestland. What, you thought Texas was all prairie and longhorn cattle? Nope. We boast four national forests and five state forests in East Texas, spreading over forty-three counties. It’s this part of the state where most sightings of Bigfoot are reported.

The Texas Bigfoot Research Center, located in Jefferson, is a non-profit organization dedicated to proving the existence of the legendary creature in this region. The center has recorded several substantiated sightings of the hairy “ape-man” in the lake region, as well as hundreds of unofficial reports.

One such beast called the "Caddo Critter" is said to have inhabited the bottoms around Caddo Lake in the 1970's. Similar stories have come from the Sulphur River area along the Texas-Arkansas border for decades, and farther south, Sabine residents reported seeing a hairy gray ape-like animal in the area's dense forests in 2000. It was dubbed the "Sabine Thing."

Bobby Hamilton, founder of the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization (GCBRO), states, "I know it sounds crazy, but there are Bigfoot creatures right here in Texas. . . . I've been researching these creatures in the field for quite some time now. They're out there." Hamilton goes on to say, "We have recorded some noises we just can't place with known animals. Some of these sounds are pretty amazing, even frightening.”

Loren Coleman, co-author of A Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide and viewed by many as the world's foremost cryptozoologist, asserts there are numerous historical references to apelike creatures in the South, both from Europeans and Native Americans. "The Louisiana Choctaw Indians had an animal they called the nalusa fayala, which means ‘long, evil being’," he said.

While no one has produced a clear photo of a Bigfoot, let alone an actual specimen here in Texas, the Caddo Lake region, with it’s dark forests and misty waters, surely offers a perfect hiding place for the shy, reclusive creatures. If they exist.

Now here’s a peek inside my “nameless” book. Hint: It begins in Ireland but shifts to Texas, and there’s a supernatural element. Oh, and it’s the first in a series.

Excerpt:

She gave him a funny look then turned to stare out her side window. “There’s a lake!” she suddenly exclaimed. “I can see it through the trees.”

Clearing his throat, he managed to speak in a normal voice. “Yeah. Guess I forgot to tell you the cabin backs up to Caddo Lake.”

“You certainly did.”

They rounded a gentle curve and he slowed to turn onto the winding drive leading to the cabin. When it appeared behind the screen of tall pines Lara gave an astonished cry, making Conn grin in satisfaction.

“That’s the cabin? It’s huge!” She gaped at the two-story log structure as he pulled up in front. The place was impressive with its wraparound porch, upper balcony and professionally landscaped grounds.

“I did tell you it belongs to the company I work for. The big bosses use it for meetings and to entertain clients, but they make it available for us roughnecks when there’s nothing going on out here. Lucky for you and me it’s empty for the next couple weeks.”

She scowled at him. “You’re a devil, Connor O’Shea! You deliberately didn’t tell me what to expect, admit it.” Her lips twitched, telling him her affronted act was all in fun.

He laughed and reached out to give her shiny dark braid a tug. “You’ve got me there, honey.” He didn’t intend to kiss her, but when her eyes widened and her rosy lips parted, he gave in to temptation. Her warm breath fanned his face as he bent close.

Sources:

http://texaslesstraveled.com/bigfootcountry.htm

http://www.anomalist.com/reports/lonestar.html

http://www.countylinemagazine.com/July-2012/Caddo-Lake-Caddo-Country/

Find my books on these sites:

http://www.amazon.com/Lyn-Horner/e/B004CY506Y/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Lyn-Horner?keyword=Lyn+Horner&store=catalog

SAILING UP TO NORTHEAST TEXAS

A riverboat port in Northeast Texas?  Strange as it sounds, Jefferson, on Big Cypress Bayou, was an important port in the 1870’s. Jefferson is one of my family’s favorite places to sightsee. We visit antique shops and the candy store (for yummy fudge), drive along the lovely streets, and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Many of the 19^th century homes are now bed and breakfast inns, and the Excelsior Hotel still accepts guests. We’ve even been known to go fishing in Lake Caddo. (Not me - I read a book while my husband fishes.)

During the late 1840s efforts were made to clear Big Cypress Creek for navigation. As the westernmost outpost for navigation on the Red River, Jefferson quickly developed into an important riverport. The first steamboat, the Llama, reached Jefferson in late 1843 or early 1844. Within a few years steamboats were regularly making the trip from Shreveport and New Orleans, transporting cotton and other produce downstream and returning with supplies and manufactured goods, including materials and furnishings for many of the early homes. By the late 1840s Jefferson had emerged as the leading commercial and distribution center of Northeast Texas and the state's leading inland port.

Among the persistent legends that have grown up around the town was the belief that Jeffersonians had shunned the railroads. While much of the city's wealth during the antebellum and early postbellum years derived from the river trade, city leaders recognized early the importance of rail transportation and made efforts to build a railroad linking the town with Shreveport and Marshall. Construction of a line began in 1860, but only forty-five miles of road was completed by the outbreak of the Civil War. During the Civil War a meat cannery was established there, as were factories for boots and shoes.

Jefferson was an up-and-coming city after the Civil War. In 1867 Jefferson became the first town in Texas to use natural gas for artificial lighting purposes, and ice was first manufactured on a commercial scale there in 1868. By 1870, Jefferson was the sixth largest city in Texas. In the late 1860s more than 75,000 bales of cotton were being shipped annually. By 1870 only Galveston surpassed Jefferson in volume of commerce.

Loading cotton bales

The town reached its peak in 1872, but in 1873 two events occurred that eventually spelled the end of Jefferson's importance. The first was the destruction of the Red River Raft. The Great River Raft or Red River Raft began in prehistoric times as the river ate away at the river’s bank, causing trees at the river’s edge to collapse into the river. Timber and driftwood formed solid bridges that stretched across the river. In some places the raft was reported to be twenty-five feet deep. Some areas were solid enough to serve as land bridges that could support a man on horseback, although I can’t imagine a poor horse having to cross. With slow-moving flow of water, the silt carried by the river sank, damming the bayous along the river.

Breaking up the raft

Imagine a 165-mile log jam. In November of 1873 nitroglycerin charges were used to remove the last portion of the raft, which had previously made the upper section of the river unnavigable. The demolition of the raft reopened the main course of the river, but significantly lowered the water level of the surrounding lakes and streams making the trip to Jefferson by boat difficult.

Even more important to Jefferson's decline was the completion of the Texas and Pacific Railway from Texarkana to Marshall, which bypassed Jefferson. Death to any city!  Although another line of the Texas and Pacific reached Jefferson the following year, the development of rail commerce and the rise of Marshall, Dallas, and other important rail cities brought an end to Jefferson's golden age as a commercial and shipping center. Though efforts were made in later years to raise the water level on the Big Cypress, the railroads soon displaced the riverboats, and with them Jefferson.

For my latest release, BLUEBONNET BRIDE, I placed a fictional town called Pearsonville a few miles from Jefferson that shared in the riverboat shipping trade. The heroine’s late husband bullied his way to control Pearsonville. Fortunately for Rosalyn, my heroine, she severed all ties with the area only a month before the area’s decline.

Here’s the blurb for BLUEBONNET BRIDE, Men of Stone Mountain book three:

He’s a by-the-book Texas sheriff; she’s on the run from a murder conviction...

When a tornado provides Rosalyn with the opportunity to escape the gallows, she collects her daughter Lucy and flees. They travel far enough West that Rosalyn believes she’s gone to the ends of the earth. She hopes she and Lucy will be safe in this remote North Texas town where she embarks on a new life as a dressmaker. If only she could avoid contact with people, especially the handsome sheriff who pops up every time she turns around. She fears either she or her chatterbox daughter may slip and reveal too much.

Joel Stone has been content with his life, even if it’s not the one he’d dreamed. His younger brothers are married and living nearby, his aunts have moved to Radford Springs, and he is respected for the efficient job he does as sheriff. When he meets the new widow in town, his instant attraction staggers him. She appears uninterested, but he is determined to win her hand in marriage. 

But life doesn’t turn out the way either Rosalyn or Joel plan. They overcome temporary obstacles, but what of the secret she protects? Can he save her from the gallows?

BLUEBONNET BRIDE is available at Smashwords in e-book:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/287177?ref=CarolineClemmons

And in print or e-book from Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Bluebonnet-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B00BHOC7L8/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361679076&sr=1-10&keywords=caroline+clemmons

Thanks for stopping by!