Oregonbigfoot.com file# 00030

REPORT OVERVIEW

Date: May 15, 1997
Clackamas county, OR
Nearest town:
Nearest road:
Conditions:
Time: evening
Location: We traveled south on Hy. 170 from Canby, OR, turning east on Maxburg Road, then north on Elijah Road, which dead-ended at the site

REPORT DETAIL

Description of event: Lead from Rob Butler:Report of Mat Bagley.

"This is an account of what myself and a friend witnessed on May 15, 1997. We were sitting at the river's edge on the Molalla River near the logging bridge, which is near the train trestle and the old Molalla Forest Road. There were a bunch of young people partying just before we got there, and had left a big mess. Two nice people stayed behind. We chatted with them for awhile, and started hearing small noises in the woods about 50 yards behind us. The four of us figured it was the police checking things out, so it was about 9:30 PM at this time, and the two people who stayed behind decided to leave because it was getting late. About one minutes after they left, I was taking a leak over by the bridge, and heard a large thrashing sound going through the water. Needless to say, I did not stick around, and know it was in no way a deer, elk, or bear, because I have been an avid hunter for years. My friend, however, is a little fearless at times, so he decided to go take a look, and this is what he saw:

"Following the sound going across the water, my eyes focused on an area about ten feet from the far bank of the river. The area was a swift moving rapid that was about five feet deep. In the moonlight I saw a figure crossing the river. As it lunged through the water that was only waist deep on it, the figure was a person, because of the immense size of it. It was about as wide as two good-sized men and the five foot deep water only arose slightly over its waist. As it disappeared into the woods, we could hear the sound of large limbs being snapped like twigs. It was about then that we decided to leave the scene."

Peter Byrne, Cliff Olson, and myself - Ray Crowe, went on May 24th to investigate the scene. A bit late, but we had hopes of finding some spoor. The creature had been upstream 50 feet, and was traveling towards the Cascade Mountains. It had rained heavily the two days before, however, and nothing significant was found at the site. We traveled south on Hy. 170 from Canby, OR, turning east on Maxburg Road, then north on Elijah Road, which dead-ended at the site. A farmer was interviewed at the site, but knew nothing of the report, although he admitted to being a Bigfoot believer, and wished it were true. Local rain showers abated for the duration of the visit. Sandy beaches gave way in places to a wide swath of mud, a recent dried stream course. The area was in 40 acres of fairly dense growth, dominated by broadleaf maple and alder. The ground cover was noted to be rich in poisonous nightshade. Tracks of deer -one, a fairly large buck, raccoon, and a canine -dog or coyote, were noted. In the distance we could hear gunfire and the screech of peacocks at a farm. They make a very loud, piercing noise that sounds like a cat mewing. As I commented to Peter Byrne, "looks like another waste of time," but he returned with the optimistic quip, "but another nice morning."

Source: The Track Record #68
record updated:2002-07-09 00:00:00