The Night the River Spoke: A Yurok Man’s Bigfoot Encounter

0:01 You're listening to Big for Society, and I'm Jeremiah Byron. Tonight's story doesn't come from a tourist or Tonight's story doesn't come for a tourist or a thrill seeker. It comes from Rich, a licensed therapist, a hunter, and a man deeply rooted in Ura culture who grew up believing Bigfoot wasn't a mystery, it was a part of life. But one night, while fishing on his family's stretch of the Klamath River, that belief turned into something else. The fog was thick, the river full of salmon, and then the call came, deep, guttural and primal. Rich froze, rifle in hand, heart pounding. This isn't just a tale from the woods. It's a story that crosses generations, culture and something far more ancient. This is his story of Rich and what he heard on the river that night. So stay with us, all right, Big the Society. You've got the privilege of talking to Rich today. Rich is an individual that was connected to me from Eric from the China Flat Museum in Willow Creek. Good friend over there always sendings interesting stuff my way. So make sure if you're in the Willow Creek area. You head over to the China Flat Museum. They have some great big Foot artifacts on display. But Rich, is a privilege to finally talk to you. It sounds like you've got a lot of interesting things that have happened over the years. You are from Yuruk Heritage, and I'm just excited to talk to you today. Welcome to the show, Rich.

1:27 Thank you. I appreciate you having me on and so looking forward to And it's been a fun and interesting journey to kind of be involved in this and just kind of share some of those experiences that I've had and then how it's kind of connected to my culture, my urop culture, and you know, some of the stories and the things that you know, I've heard over the years from elders and different family members. So it's it's always been something that's you know, kind of been near and dear, close to my heart type thing. And without getting too long winded, I'm sure you have some questions, but one of the things that it's kind of interesting for me is I was a school counselor and I'm also a licensed clinical therapist, and you know, being born and raised in Northern California, this was just part of our folklore. It was part of our culture. As a rock person, you know, that was just one of some of the story I always heard from my family, from my great grandmother, who was a full blooded Iraq person and she spoke our language, and you know, she passed a lot of those traditions and those things on and the wild people is what she referred to them as.

2:41 And so that was something that kind of was just part of my existence from day one. So anyway, with that being said, that's a little bit about me, And if you have any questions, you know, we can kind of delve deeper into this or whatever you choose. So I'm here at your disposure. Yes, sir, absolutely, thank you so much for being here today. It must be incredible to grow up in a culture where it was a part of your life from your earliest memories. I would imagine it was. And that was the real interesting thing again, kind of going back to that whole being a counselor thing. I was at the school. I was a school counselor for special education and worked with kids and families and I was in speaking with a principal one day and she was from southern California, and she was, you know, we got along grade we were communicating about some of the stuff that was happening in the school, and she says, you know, Rich, it's just like people that believe in Bigfoot.

3:41 You know, it's just so odd to me that, you know, there's actually people out there that believe in Bigfoot. I kind of looked at her and kind of big eyed, you know, I'm sure, mouth kind of hanging out, and I was like, well, what do you mean, you know, thinking to myself, you don't believe in Bigfoot anyway, you know, I kind of brushed it off and kind of chuckled, and I told her, I said, well, well, kind I never thought that there wasn't a big Foot. And then I started kind of thinking myself, cheeze. You know, I guess maybe not everybody is a Bigfoot believer, you know, like I am. And I think I was thirty two at that time. Was there a time in your life where things got extremely real for you? It went from knowing this growing up, but then now it is, it's right in front of you.

4:29 We traditional net gillnetfish for salmon on the Klamath River. And so one summer evening, myself and a buddy were out fishing as we do up and down the river. We have traditional fishing holes where different families have traditional ownership of a whole. So that's just something you've done, you know, with your family for thousands of years. You have a traditional fishing hole where your family fishes. So we were down there fishing with our nets, and we did a great We had a great catch, and we were cleaned up, cleaned up our fish and pulled our nets out, and we were sitting on the bank. It was about nine thirty or ten o'clock and we were sitting in the truck and I remember it plain as day because of the circumstances surrounding it. So it just cemented it, you know for me. And I was sitting there in my truck and the doors were open. It was probably it was mid September, maybe late September. That's when the big salmon warn comes in. So you got to you gotta visualize this. The rivers are just full of salmon, and the bears are down on the river bar, you know, pulling salmon out. Just there's a lot of activity this time of year. And uh so we're sitting there and super foggy. I'm sitting on my family's river bar.

5:47 We have like one hundred and some acres. It's been in the family forever, and just, you know, feeling good. We just did good on fishing and relaxing. The doors were open, and then I just it was kind of I can hear his silence and quiet, and all of a sudden, across the river, I hear this wha. It was huge, like or this this this sound that sounded like it was coming from something that was big. And I was explaining this to my son last night. He was asking me about it, and I said, it was just I can't even put it into words, you know, I do the best I can when somebody asks me about it. But it sounded really deep and guttural and big.

6:27 And it did it again. It went whoa whoa like two more times, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I got goose pumps all over my body, and I was just scared. And it was this really primal feeling of what was that, you know. I mean, I've been on the river my whole life, you know, fishing, hunting, and a lot of that stuff was at night, you know, on the reservation. We're allowed to do that. So, you know, you see and hear everything. You hear coyotes and you know, mountain lion once in a while if you're lucky, elk, you know, bugling. Sometimes you just you hear everything, so you have like something you can connect with, but like, oh, it's this or it's that, And there was nothing that I had that I could connect that to. And immediately I just like I said, I just kind of froze. And then I heard from up around the bend, probably three hundred yards up and the river kind of turns and goes right at the top of our property, and I heard something called back sound just the same, just deep and just like just heavy bass, like it had to have like a huge chess cavity, you know now that I think later about it. And it was way up off the ground.

7:45 It wasn't like down low like you know a lot of four legged critters are. And I just couldn't put a picture to what I was hearing, you know, a face. And I looked over to the other person and they were just like, you know, what the was that? And I looked over and I had my my rifle was sitting there at a two seventy rifle and you know that'll shoot an elk or a beer or anything. And uh, I just I looked out my rifle, you know, kind of reached for my rifle and it did it again, and then it stopped, and I just sat there kind of like like paralyzed, was just frozen. And then I was like, Okay, I'm going to turn the lights on, just see if we can see anything. So I turned the lights on and I was just kind of almost half assed petrified, and but I couldn't see anything because the fog was so dense, you know, on the river, you couldn't see anything anyway. So that was that was that experience, and you know, we were both just kind of like we just looked at each other like, Okay, I don't know what that was, but it kind of sounded like, you know, maybe some of the stuff we'd heard about from when we were kids. This was a year on person too, so you know, that was that was what happened. And it really like it just grabbed me because of that that that primal feeling of something that was just much bigger than me and that could just like tear me apart. It was, uh, it was very very unsettling, very very much so like nothing I'd

9:20 ever heard before. And I didn't see anything, and you know, so I'm not saying that. Yeah, I was a big harry guy stran across the river, but there was nothing that I could put my finger on that seemed like what it was that I heard. And so I went and talked to this guy. He was a teacher and he did I think he did bigfoot research. He like would go out and investigate for him when they'd had stories. And he kind of walked me through the whole thing and tried to pin me down, and I was like, I can tell you that what I heard was nothing like I had ever heard before. And he walked me through an elk and I said, you know, I've killed elk before and hunted elk, and this was no elk. It was nothing that I've ever heard before. And then sometime thereafter, I, you know, I started kind of just researching a little bit and I heard some vocalizations and I was like, that's it. You know, it was exact exact same thing that other people have said they heard, you know, out there, And there was kind of like this excitement but also kind of like just I don't even know how to explain it, you know, kind of, I mean, it was it was panic that night a little bit, you know, because of the feeling that I had, even though we had a rifle. And uh so, yeah, that was that was kind of the jest of it.

10:37 And then, like I said, I I had always heard stories from my rock grandmother and just different people, my uncle, and one of the stories was that they kind of lived with us or around us, and they smelled really bad, so we ran them off up into the caves. And there's stories about Bluefoot Blue Creek Cave and it's a real narrow area. It's a very it's called the I don't want to get too deep into it. It's traditional kind of cultural stuff, but it's a very sacred area and it's kind of hard to find to get up in there, and you know, people know to be respectful up in this area. But that's where there's you know, allegedly some activity, you know, or a lot of activity, and it's a spiritual place. So I've been up there when I was a kid. My mom and I would go up there. And part of our culture is your ox, you know, we go to the high country and pray and lots of stories connected to that. But anyway, that kind of kind of catapulted me to be like, Okay, I definitely had some kind of experience, and it seems much like the experience that of other people have had in the vocalizations were very much the same. And so I just feel like I'm I'm a believer, you know, And even though that was part of my mythology, I just, you know, it's incorporated my growing up. After hearing that down at the river during that time of year, when

12:09 I think that, you know, there was lots of fish, there's lots of food and resources available, it would kind of make sense that, you know that there would be something like that going on, fishing, hunting, whatnot. So it just kind of perpetuated some of my thoughts and ideas and beliefs about that that were connected to my culture. I'm trying to put myself in experiencing those sounds by the river. It just sounds incredible. Do you remember, Well, sometimes people will will say, you know, I heard the sound and it affected me physically in a certain way.

12:50 Did this really hit you in a certain way or affect you mentally at all? Or yes, absolutely physically. I have a pretty big guy and you know, I was a wrestler and you know, I boxed, and I'm very comfortable, you know with just physicality, and you know, it's just kind of in my existence. My whole life played football, just you know, very into contact sports. And this was something that, like I said, it just it really it made me feel small. And I'm six sixty one, you know, three hundred pounds. I've been a weight lifter or bodybuilder, and that moment I felt just completely undressed. I mean it was just like sitting in my truck and you know, I had this like thing come over my body. Like I said, it was a primal fear of like there's something out there that really hit me hard. And I wouldn't say I was shaking, but I was like, was my gun And even with my gun, you know, sitting right there a rifle, high powered rifle, I didn't really want to see it.

13:56 When I turned my lights on, I was like, I mean, it really got to the core of me. And I mean, right now I'm kind of ten steps just talking about it because it's just I've never you know, I've come face to face with bears out in the woods, and usually you kind of yelled and scream at a bear, make some noise, I'll turn around. I've hunted and taken down elk and bear and you know everything. I mean large animals that we have on the reservation and you know, picked them up, packed them around everything. And I've seen mountain lions, you know, on the river, and they don't really scare me. This this was really just something different, man. I mean, yeah, it was something like I said, that just made me feel small.

14:38 Do you think that? First off, I want to make sure I'm referring to to these in the right way during our Is it okay to refer to them as as bigfoot? I want to make sure that I'm okay in doing that, you know what. I'd so appreciate your respect with that and whatever anybody wants to call it, you know. I mean there's you know, lots of different tribes have different names like hoopas Umach and my nanny, like I said, I know what the Yurok name was. There's a name for it, but they call them ridge runner, yeah, bigfoot. I mean there's lots of different names that I've talked to with other tribal people, I've worked for different tribes, have a lot of Indian brothers and sisters, you know, different reservations and same stories, you know, just different names. So yeah, whatever you want to call it.

15:37 Okay, thank you. Do you think that, you know, I've heard stories and accounts where there have been people in areas where bigfoot have been and they have been you know, affected by something that people will call infrasound. Do you think that there is actually anything to that or is that a thing where you know, people that are experienced that might just be amped up or is there a history to that as well? Can you explain what your definition in that? Maybe I understand sure different contexts.

16:18 It's kind of like you will get hit with a frequency where you'll not be able to move, or you'll feel nauseous or get a headache, and almost like they can control actions using this frequency that a large predator will also use. Like lions can use them. Things like that. You know what that is interesting. I've never heard that before, never thought about that, But I felt like I froze when I was sitting in that truck and I was a good looking out right now, probably one hundred and fifty yards away, And yeah, I mean I felt like now that you kind of put in that context, I mean, that's kind of always been my recollection of that, and I think that's kind of why even though I knew I had that gun, there I was in a truck. You know, I couldn't turned the truck on, I could have whatever, but I just felt frozen. So I don't know if it was just from the fear alone, you know, like what was that and it was big, you know, and something to boom across the river and it still had that base it was.

17:27 It was Yeah, I mean kind of, like I said, it kind of gives me a little knots in my stomach right now because you go back to those those feelings and you know, experiences, and it was just so foreigned. I could see where animals would kind of freeze, just you know, the fear is what I've always associated it with. So I don't know, I mean, but definitely fearful. You had mentioned something in passing and with questions, I'm going to be trying to be extremely sensitive as I know in this area there. Are areas where. It just they are very very sacred to.

18:09 To your your people. But you had mentioned that there have been things that happen in this area over the years. Is it even a thing where we might not even want to speak of these things that have happened, or is that a thing that you could perhaps share. I don't know that it's been necessarily malicious type stuff, or you know, if I'm not sharing spots where people are going to run out there and you know, set up camp and dig around, I don't think it's that that would be you know, showing disrespect or to my culture, of my community, my family. I feel like, you know, there's so much activity and you know, like the Bluff Creek thing that's technically within our Aboriginal territory. I think it is, you know, right on the cusp moving into Katu territory. And so you know, there's been stories about Umach Bigfoot, you know for years, the ridge runners in this area. And you know there was a guy that I think it was Wlawless, came out fifty eight and he said, oh, you know Bigfoot throwing this and that around, and then came back at the end and when he was passing and said it was a hoax. And those of us that are from those areas that are native, we just kind of laughed and scoffed it off because we had these stories way before that dude came around, you know. I mean, these are stories that we had from our grandparents, our great grandparents, and our families and in depth stories. One thing I heard when I was

19:40 I think it was like nineteen nineties. I was in college and one of my native professors said that when you go to some place I'm not going to name it, that you might come across him or her, you know, kind of referencing him's Bigfoot, and either he can give you medicine, you know, good energy, good medicine for whatever it is that your prayers may be, or he can kill you. And I remember just kind of all of a sudden, like thinking, wait a minute, what you know, because to me, Bigfoot was always kind of this benign, you know, creature. I'd never heard any stories about tearing people apart or just people. It was just always like you just kind of lived out there with this, you know, and it's kind of part of our lore, part of our culture that you know. Again, there's plenty of people that are like, oh, that's a bunch of garbage, But at the same time, most people that I talked to a bit are Urrok or other tribes. They're just like, no, you know, we have the same you know, we believe in that and just like the little people, you know, we believe in those guys. And when you're raised like that, it just becomes part of your ethos and how you perceive your reality and your world, and you know, you want to move around respectfully and those types of things.

20:50 But when this person said this to me, and I respect him a great deal, he's a professor and who's also native, and I just I just flattened me. I was like, wait a minute, what do you mean this thing could hurt me? And that was like the first time I really thought about it. And then it wasn't until like the last five or ten years that I'd kind of been contemplating, Like I heard some stories of like, you know, Teddy Roosevelt, because as I researched this talked about these guys that came and told him a story, and these two hunters were somewhere out in Washington and they were setting a trap line. This is like in whenever Teddy Roosevelt's president, maybe late eighteen hundreds or early nineteen hundreds and they kept having contact with something, and then this alleged bigfoot came into camp and killed one of the guys. The other guy saw it and shot at it and ran off. And I mean, he came and told Teddy Roosevelt the story. There's much more to it than that, but the story he conveyed, he said he totally believed him. It was just compelling. And so, you know, then I started thinking, you know, maybe these things aren't always benign. Maybe there is a little bit of maliciousness, just like in human beings, you know. I mean, you can be you can have a lot of good people, but there's wolves out there that are, you know, treacherous and dangerous. So I don't know, you know, you hear stories about people going missing in the woods, and so it just kind of brought a whole new perspective to me. Like, whenever I go in the woods, I always pack, you know, I've always got a gun with me, usually a rifle, always a pistol, and I carry a high caliber pistol.

22:21 I carry a forty four mag and usually my my you know, just my nine millimeters or something. But you know, if you run into a bear nine millimeter not going to be. I mean, you can take one down, but you need a higher capacity. But I have to say in the back of my head, I'm like, you know, if one of these things tries to take me out, I need to have a little bit of horsepower, you know, to protect myself. I spend a lot of time, you know, on the river of fishing and hunting, and we have family property. You know that I go around a lot, you know, just I mean, I move around a lot up there. I've been pretty much every fishing hale from my family's property, you know, down to the mouth of the river, like many of the guys that I move with or family, and we'd like to get our feet on the ground and in the water and move around.

23:13 And yeah, there's. A fair amount of people in well, I'll just say the Bigfoot community where they believe that bigfoot are able to see or sense the intention of the person that is going out. Do you think there could be anything to that or or is that just something we may have made up? You know, I mean these are questions you're presenting to me. They're just so interesting that would follow suit I think, and I've never even thought about this before. With that my native professor guy who very traditional and a lot of the stories with him saying to me that if you're on this trail to go to go get your medicine, to go to your prayers, and that you know Bigfoot could kill you or give you good medicine. I would totally think that there could be a connection with that that there, you know, there's an intuitive sense like animals in general. You know, either say dogs can detect a good person or not so a good person. You know, when I was told when I was a kid that if I was going to go hunting, you know, you want to prayer. You want to you know, smoke your you know, put some smoke up to Creator and do some prayers and just you want to be in a

24:43 good place. You have to be no matter what it is, whether I'm fishing or eating or hunting, you almost want to be in a good place. Mentally, your heart needs to be clean and pure in order for that animal to come to you. You know, whether it be KWin which is what we call eels, or pook which is dear nypui which is salmon. You always want to pray and be in a good place. And the older I get, the more I realize how important that is. So going back to intuition and just animals having the sixth sense, if you will, I mean we hear about it often. I would absolutely think that they could pick up on vibes and know if somebody was there to harm them or you know whatever. I don't think as humans were near as in tuned as we used to be, because we moved so fast and you know, congested society, you know, with cars and iPhones and everything. Whereas if you're living out on the land, your feet are touching the ground, you know, you're smell on the fresh air, and you're you're just out there moving around, you're going to be a lot more in tuned to your environment. So I don't know how in tune, but I just say, generally speaking, we know that there's empirical evidence and truth value with that kind of thought. So yeah, I mean I could totally see that, And now that I hear that as an older person, I think he was kind of saying that that they can tell, you know, I think from his words, if you're up there for good reasons or bad reasons, so maybe they'll kill you, maybe they'll touch

26:15 you and give you good medicine and you'll have this power. And that was a little too like I don't know for me, maybe a little too woo woo at the time, but I listened to it, you know, and reflecting back in your question, that's really interesting. So I could definitely see connection with that. Absolutely in your culture. Are there ever times when it's talked about that there is a form of communication that happens between people and bigfoot or even not being verbally out loud communication. So I don't know anything about that. I just think that, yeah, think that generally speaking, you know, we have a reverence for all living things, animals, everything in our environment, you know, the water, the trees, everything has energy, everything is alive.

27:12 So just from our base of how we believe and think, generally speaking, you know, we respect everything. So but as far as like having the ability to communicate maybe telepith telepathically, I don't. I don't know anything about that. Okay, do you know any of the history behind why they are called? Do you say ridge runners? Uh? Huh? So. My limited understanding, because you know, we don't have an exact science with this, just stories, is that they would move around on the ridges. That's where they traveled, you know, along the ridges, and you know that's where you would see and hear them, and maybe because it's up high, you can kind of see what's going on if you're gonna hunt or staying up away from people and things. But yeah, they call them the ridge runners. And there is there's a rock name for it.

28:07 I can't remember what it is right now, but there's a rock name for ridge runners. It's extremely interesting. Eric had said that to kind of lead into this, that you've actually had more than one encounter with bigfoot over the years. Is that something you'd be able to share the second. And if you know, no, no, I'm good. So I didn't even really think that I had this thing until Eric and I were talking one day, and I remember when was it. It was about it was about the same time, a few years, maybe within a three or four year stretch, and I was going up to a place up the river farther which is even more isolated, and I would go up there often and hunt. So I drive it on this road and uh, you know, hunt on the way in to our our place on the river, our family's place on the river, and there was this one spot and uh, when I come up there on that spot in my jet boat. It was it was like I always remember it so well. I'm not going to say any names because you know, everybody would know that knows me, or that you knows yerok, would know exactly, So I don't want to do that.

29:30 But it's a place where there's a family house down there, and there's a creek that runs down through it, and it's like a ravine and it's a big opening and it was logged. So it was the best hunting spot. I mean, it was just fabulous. I would go up there in the winter time, right before winter, like the end of summer, not winter. You know, that's not a good time to hunt, but uh, there just feel a lot of activity. I go up there at night and there'd be big old butts running around. You know. We did very well for years and then everything started growing up. But so one time I'm driving it was a lad day, it was into summer, I think school had started. I was working. It was on a weekend, so I went up there to see if I could, you know, knock something over and driving down the s dirt road looking over the side of the bank and it went way down and then it went all the way down to the river, but you couldn't see the river. You could see down this this cut that had been clear cut and it was kind of growing back, so there was clover and lots of grass, lots of feed, you know, for the for deer, and and then below that it expanded one another she's maybe half a mile and then it just went down to the river. And so anyway, I looked back to my right and right along the tree line, so this is this open area, this meadow that kind of rolled down the hill cutaways maybe four hundred yards, and then onto the right, it was just like a straight tree line where they cut this area

31:01 that was designated, but right next to it like a straight line was the tree line. And then it led down into this area where there's water, and then it leads out into the river. So it's a great like it's like a highway for deer and bear and everything. They go down this area. They got water and coverage and all that kind of stuff. So anyway, I look back and I'm just cruising along looking for deer, and I see this this thing kind of hopping around and it's small, it's like two and a half three feet tall, and I just, you know, I saw it in the tall grass, so the grass is probably two and a half three feet tall, and it was kind of jumping up, rolling around, just you know whatever, and I thought, oh, a little bear. And then I was trying to register it, you know, and I was like, wait a minute, that was weird. It did not seem like a bear because the bears have you know, more like torso and smaller legs, and just the way they move. They just move differently, you know, obviously than any other animal. And and I kind of hit the brakes. I'm seeing it. I'm visualizing it right now. What I saw. It was like this cinnamon brown, long hair, like I might have been two of them. And I just hit the brakes and I was like, okay, when was that? And I stat there for a second. I was like, I got to check that out again because that just did not seem right.

32:25 So here we go again, you know, I put it in reverse. I backup real quickly, and I get out of the truck and I go stand up on the road and I'm like looking around for something, and there was nothing there. So a part of me felt like they knew whatever it was. Maybe the mom or whatever that something wasn't right. It really like it sparked my interest again, like and I didn't even think about the one previous. I was just in the moment, you know, thinking that was weird, that did not look like a bear. And so I never even really thought about it. Kind of thought about it, but not so much to Where'm going to go out and tell everybody, Oh, I saw big footage not going there, you know. And but then I was talking with Eric go out back, and I said, well, you know, I kind of and I had that feeling of confusion because I really could not put my finger on what I saw. The jumping and kind of rolling around like little kids, and it did not seem like a baby bear. Not to say they don't do that, but their legs are short, and this thing just it was different to the point where I knew it was different unconsciously, like even more than I maybe knew. And that's what stopped. Maybe stop and like, dude, go back and look at that. What was that? And you know, unfortunately it was gone. But you know, you're talking about this intuition or you know, maybe the sixth sense that they have. I mean, just like deer, you know I'm hunting.

33:52 They know they can tell when you got your rifle. I mean, they're like no most of the time, and so yeah, I would think that they would kind of be stealthy in the same way that you know somebody's gonna pull back and come look at them. They probably are pretty good at getting out of there. So that was my other thing. So if I did see something, it was small, it was a juvenile they were just a few years old, and as soon as I went back, it was like ten seconds, maybe not even ten seconds, backed up pretty quick, it was gone, and I think there was two of them. But yeah, they were just like romping around in the tall grass. But it sounds like you had a completely different reaction than your first experience where you were kind of frozen.

34:40 M yeah, absolutely that you point that out. Totally different because it wasn't big and I didn't you know, there was an ominous feeling or the first one. It was definitely like there was fear, you know, like deep, deep stuff like I've been at fights before and I don't get you know, it doesn't scare me. It's like, Okay, we're going to go. And if I would have seen something like this, you know, in front of me, I would have been running, you know. I mean, it's just like there is no chance you're going to stand in with something like this. But I've never felt that way before. You know that. It's not that I couldn't get my my rear kick, you know, but I'm just saying that that was just such a different feeling. Man. I'd be like facing off the bear that's trying to eat you.

35:24 It was just crazy. Wow, Oh my goodness. I can't imagine that. I've never had a I've heard things. I've heard vocalizations in the will lay At National Forest and Oregon, but never had any visuals of any kind. Yeah, definitely, yeah. Yeah. The sound that you heard, was it a deep kind of like was it a like a whoop kind of sound? Guttural kind of like what I explained. So, I have heard a whoop before. It was in Iowa, and it sounded just like a gibbon from the zoo, which was really weird. What I heard in Oregon is very weird too, because I only remember half of it.

36:05 My ears kind of clicked off and just I almost felt like a bottomed out and I passed out. Is very weird. I don't remember a lot of the sound, but I remember enough that I heard a roar and a scream at the same time, and it was just like there's this primal kick in where it was like you're in trouble, buddy. Yep. Absolutely, it was like everyone was like, what in the world is going on? It's very very strange. But yeah, it's how you mentioned, there's there's a primal deal where it's like, yeah, I've never heard this before, but. I know how to react to it. Yeah, yeah, run, yeah. Absolutely.

36:47 There's sometimes there's stories that get thrown around the community, and there's one from up in Oregon, and I'm just curious if if it reminds you of anything from your culture, because maybe we're not looking at it the right way. But there are people that say that they will be walking through the woods and they'll come upon or walk through portals. Sometimes small, shorter creatures will come out of the portals. Is that anything that could have connections to things you've heard in the past.

37:30 Maybe not me personally, but I told my story to a buddy of mine or guy that kind of worked around my house, older guy, and he said that this is kind of loosely connected I think he was walking around in the woods and he and his son and it was late at night, and he said they heard these big like boulders splashing in the water. And I've heard that. I'm sure you've heard that where they throw rocks or something. And he said it wasn't just the boulders. He said, the feeling they felt like this vibe of like you're picking up that energy as an animal just scared them. Same same kind of thing. And but as far as like portals and orbs, that stuff that's totally new to me that I've been hearing the last few years.

38:13 Were Initially when I heard, I was like, ah, you know, but now, I mean I think anything's possible. You know, you listen to guys like Bob Lazar and you know, my son kind of introduced me to some of these things. Joe Rogan just kind of legit mainstream kind of guys that are throwing things around that I'm kind of pondering now that I never did before. You know, just like we never believed in UFOs when I was a kid. Grown up. It's like you're a crackpot, you know. We had people that believed in that. Oh that's not true. Now it's like, okay, they're true. So if you've got aliens, you know, or UFOs and likely have aliens and people like spaceship's how hard is it to imagine on Bigfoot, you know which I mean, we've got these gigantopithecus. We found a job. You know, it's pretty analogous to what Bigfoot would be. I mean to a te you know, this giant thing and then you know, I mean it's an animal. We're not even talking about UFOs and we know that, you know, as far as evolution is concerned, we're finding missing links and different you know, different whatever you call them in between that they just found somebody recently, you know, and it's like, well, this one's a little different.

39:26 My thoughts. That changes everything, which is science, you know, you want them to be able to do that. But I just think there's been so much kind of laughing, pointing the finger, you know, mockery of this versus you know, how real can this be? And I think we're moving in that direction. I think it's a matter of time before somebody actually unfortunately is you know, going to kill some kill one or something, and then you know, we'll have more like hard evidence, but I don't know. I mean, these portals, black holes or whatever they could you know, why not. I mean there's other stuff that's really unexplainable.

40:10 Absolutely, you know, just more weird stuff seems to be coming out, especially this year, so you never know. Maybe we'll get the big Foot stuff next or maybe we won't, and maybe that would be okay. Maybe we just need to give them some space. But I don't know, it's it all depends on how you look at it. But Rich, it has been a privilege to talk to you and to learn some really interesting things from the euroch side of looking at Bigfoot. And I just want to say thank you for coming on the show. It has been it's been a privilege to have you on.

40:51 Yeah, you're welcome. And again one year Ock. You know, one year Rock, We've got lots of your rocks will probably be have different ideas, but there's also plenty of that I agree with what I had to think, not agree with. They have the same kind of thoughts or ideas. And thank you so much for having me on here and kind of moving this forward and giving it validity in terms of, you know, the research that's being done. Mike Eric is doing the same thing, Eric Nelson. They're at Bigfoot and other people that are really taking us in a scientific way, and I just think it's a matter of time. You know, we're getting more and more information and it's really exciting. So thank you. I appreciate that. I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for listening to this episode of the Bigfoot Society podcast.

41:32 Rich's story is one that lingers, not just because of what he heard echoing across the river, but because of what it meant, a connection to ancestors, to land into something primal that we still don't understand. So huge thanks to Rich for sharing a piece of his Urak heritage and for reminding us that sometimes the deepest truths are passed down in whispers and in roars. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the subscribe button on YouTube and tap the bell so you never miss a new episode, and share it with a friend who needs to hear a good Bigfoot story. If you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, make sure to follow and leave a review. It truly helps the show reach more listeners, and if you or someone you know has had an encounter with Bigfoot, especially in northern California or anywhere along the Klamath River.

42:18 Please email me at Bigfoot Society gmail dot com. I'd love to hear your story and also don't forget Sasquatch Summerfest is coming July eleventh through twelfth in Oakridge, Oregon, and Bigfoot Society listeners get two day passes for the price of one with code BFS at checkout, So grab your tickets now at www dot Sasquatch Summerfest dot com. Thanks again for being part of the Bigfoot Society and until next time, keep your eyes open, respect the stories, and never stop listening to the land and see you in the woods.