HOME OF BIGFOOT
HomeHow it all started...
Around here, the stories about Bigfoot began to surface in the late 1800's. People made mention of "something in the woods" here of there, and finally it became more than coincidence. A flash of dark in the pines. A large set of footprints along the swamp. Sightings in the same areas became more frequent. Sightings from people other than loggers made people take notice. Rumor has it that William P. Remer found tracks in the early 1900's. Mr. Remer was the founder or Remer, MN and that gave some credibility to the story. Some people began to worry although there were never reports of any dogs or livestock disappearing. Just your occasional "something moving through the brush and it wasn't a bear or a deer." Most of the tracks were in the woods east of Remer, but they were also in other areas. The tracks were huge. They were much bigger than a man's foot and they sunk deep in the earth. Visual sightings happened in basically every direction around Remer and they were usually brief, almost like Bigfoot vanished into thin air. There was never any damage done. There were no thefts, no injuries, nothing disappeared or died. Just sightings, tracks, and occasionally more. Every once in a while someone would find a small tuft or dark hair on the side of a balsam fir tree. There were stories of depressions on the ground that were lined with grass and pine boughs that were assumed to be beds. Most of these were found in the area south and west of Shingle Mill Lake.
Occasionally, people would leave small piles of berries or vegetables that they had picked out of their garden near the beds. Always within a day or tow the piles were gone without a trace, but presumably appreciated.
By 1910, sightings were more common and people seemed to peacefully coexist with Bigfoot. In fact, that was the year that he gained his name. People around Remer talked fondly of "Bigfoot" and when someone had seen them last. "Have you seen Bigfoot today" could be heard all around town.
There was more than one. Different sizes. There were even Bigfoot children. "Saw Bigfoot at lunch today" husbands would tell their wives. "He disappeared behind the branches of a black spruce tree." It seemed like the Bigfoot had certain patterns. Certain feeding, bedding, and bathing areas. They often bathed near the lowland in the southeast corner of the main portion of Big Sand Lake. Townspeople avoided that area so as not to disturb the Bigfoot family. Everyone liked having them around. They were interesting and mysterious. Bigfoot fed on plants, berries, tree leaves and buds in all areas, but primarily bedded in the dense forests to the east of Remer. The stories continued through the 1920's and 1930's. However, as the forests were cut it seemed that the families of Bigfoot moved to other areas of the state and attempted to stay in the more densely forested areas. There were still sightings, but not in the usual areas, and not as often. Sometimes, because it was so commonplace, people would see them and just not say anything. It was like they were neighbors.
