THE MURPHY FILE NEWSLETTER
Newsletter #9 April 30 2006 Editor: Chris Murphy
?C.L.Murphy 2006
It appears I have taken something for granted, so need to clear the air. I have considered material provided to me in connection with this newsletter as intended for subsequent publication. This, however, does not appear to be the intent in all cases. To be on the safe side from here on, I will confirm usage of material and send originators a draft showing what I intend to show in the newsletter.
Did you Know, Nice to Know, or Need to Know
Marlon Davis sent me the following information which I find very intriguing. "In response to your newsletter, with the long toed Yowie. I don't know if you realize it, but there are humans with long toes, and possessing a mid tarsal break. I say there are, but unfortunately these people took a hit from measles, and being forced by missionaries to wear clothes, and it wiped them out ... or at least they say.
This photo was taken in the 1920's. Group Photo - Click Here These people are called the Yahgans. They lived in Tierra del Fuego, down at the extreme end of South America. This would be the southern equivalent to Point Barrow Alaska. Precipitation falls there 300 days out of the year. The water temperature hovers near freezing. The wind blows constantly. Yet these people went about completely naked, with no ill effects. The women dove for mussels. Charles Darwin anchored the Beagle off the coast of Tierra del Fuego, and these people came out in canoes. He said that he observed a woman suckling a child, and there was sleet on the child and the woman's bosom - both completely naked. Besides their indifference to cold, the Yahgans could grip rocks with their feet and hold on to them in a gale. ( Click Here for Darwin's detailed observations.)
They hunted by throwing rocks, and were very accurate with them. The men suffered from a psycho-neurotic disorder that appears to be congenital. They would go into a violent trance, preceded by melancholy. Whenever they felt themselves becoming this way, they would ask to be tied up, until it passed. The Yahgan name was given them by the missionaries, but the name that they called themselves was Yamanas. This meant literally...."alive", or living ones. They were an anthropological treasure trove, and yet were hardly studied at all before they disappeared. Look at the toes in the group photo - Toes Detail - Click Here. Also notice in the group photo that the breasts of the women begin very low down." (Reference: Richard Lee Marks, Three Men of the Beagle, Click Here for details )
I think we can gather from this information that sasquatch would not have any trouble living in cold climates. Nevertheless, I do note in additional material Marlon sent to me that the Yahgans did use fire for warmth and cooking (Tierra del Fuego means " Land of fire," so named for the smoking fires these people kept going constantly). One thing that intrigued me a little was the shelters the Yahgans built Click Here. This is what is said about them: "The Yahgans did not live in caves nor did they build huts or houses, they had "wigwams," but that word is misused to describe their shelters. They would find some fallen wood, a few boughs to pull together to serve as a support, and would pile tall grass and reeds against the sticks to make a kind of windbreaker." This is the type of structure I would envision sasquatch would make.
And let's talk about fire for a minute or two. As fire, to my knowledge, is not used (controlled) by any animals except human beings, I would think that it might be used as a bit of an indicator as to whether or not a creature is human or non-human. Nevertheless, at some very distant point in the past (beyond 1.4 to 1.5 Million years ago) humans (or whatever we were then) possibly did not use/control fire. That the sasquatch does not appear to use fire, puts its intelligence much lower than that of human beings; certainly lower than ANY human beings on this planet. When we use the words "ape-man" or "man-ape," the inference is 50/50, but I would think any creature that was 50% human, and even much, much less, would still learn how to control fire. In my mind, this is the main and strongest argument for the Green/Bindernagel stand that the sasquatch is an "ape," there is no "man" whatsoever. Nevertheless, having said all of that, there are cases where sasquatch have been seen playing with fire. Disregarding domesticated chimps that can be taught to smoke cigars, all animals, to my knowledge, have an inherent fear of fire. So perhaps the sasquatch is a notch or two up the ladder, but absolutely well below the human threshold, whatever that might be. (Recent findings on man's use of fire Click Here.)
Matt Crowley has jumped in regarding my discussion on the Hyampom footprint: "With all due respect I must disagree with the conclusion drawn in your latest newsletter.The enclosed photographs show tracks I made with a rigid prosthetic foot I fabricated using an old tennis shoe, some two part urethane casting compound, and a clay female mold. I made the tracks by bounding around on some mud flats here in Seattle, down by the Duwamish River. I had no idea that a totally rigid prosthetic foot was capable of making these kind of tracks until I actually tried it. As you can see in my photographs, the heel and toes have ?dug in? while the mid-foot has not." Click the following to see the prints: Print #1 Print #2 Print #3 Print #4, and here is the foot sole with a tennis shoe Matt constructed to make the prints, Click Here
Here is what an impression looks like when a solid plaster cast is pushed down directly into soft sand Click Here . This print was made from Dahinden's "master" cast of the 1958 Bluff Creek print found and cast by Bob Titmus. Dahinden glued the cast onto a flat base so that pressure could be somewhat evenly applied when the cast was pushed into soft sand. Click Here . The finished cast copies on the left are from the P/G film site casts. He did not use the same process to make these casts; just simply pushed the master casts into the sand (no block).
Jim Roberts of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the first, to my knowledge, to win an award for sasquatch art. Jim's carving of a sasquatch took a first place ribbon at the Prairie Canada Carvers' Association competition. The 14-inch high carving is shown here: Click Here View #1 Click Here View #2. Jim tells me he used illustrations in Dr. John Bindernagel's book, and Robert Bateman's painting for inspiration. Congratulations Jim. Here is Jim's website - lots of great carvings Click Here
While I was down in Texas last year for their Bigfoot Conference, Craig Woolheater took me out to Lake Worth. I was amused to see alligator warning signs, so had Craig take a photo of me standing by one Click Here. Craig sort of said, really nothing to be concerned about, but I was still a little uneasy. He just sent me this clip Click Here. Can you imagine meeting something like that face to face! I would much rather meet a sasquatch. Thanks Craig, (nothing to be concerned about, yea right).
A sasquatch exhibit at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Pocatello, is in the making. Everything I have was packed up Click Here (but that's not all) and shipped April 23. The museum is now sorting things out and planning their exhibit. Dr. Jeff Meldrum will be adding his casts and posters, etc., so the exhibit will be the most comprehensive (if not the largest) ever held. I now have my spare room back, and save my photographs and books, one would hardly know I am involved in sasquatch research. Here is the museum's website Click Here . When accessed, click on the first entry COMING SOON: Bigfoot Invades IMNH for full details. Here's the site for the Bigfoot Rendezvous Click Here (June 16/17/18) that will start the ball rolling.
Not much sasquatch research on my part in the last two weeks. I have been getting it together with my photographs, which number in the thousands. When one gets to this point, albums or file boxes are hopeless for quick referencing. The only way to go is proper Acme Visible or Kardex files. Files1 Click Here Files 2 Click Here. The "tower" seen has the capacity for about 10,000 photographs (up to 8" x 5"). Naturally, I have tons of digital images as well, but I always take regular photos of anything important, or that might be needed for publication.
Up here (or down here) in British Columbia, we have Sasquatch Beer, and now Sasquatch Bread Click Here and then Click Here . Both are really great stuff if you happen to be in the neighborhood.
Actual Links for "Click Here" Insertions Shown Above
Group Photo: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_3_original.jpg
Toes Detail: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_5_original.jpg
Darwin's Observations: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_14_original.jpg
Print from Dahinden's Master: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_10_original.jpg
Titmus Cast on a Block: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_11_original.jpg
Shelter: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_12_original.jpg
Crowley Print #1: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_6_original.jpg
Crowley Print #2: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_7_original.jpg
Crowley Print #3 http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_8_original.jpg
Crowley Print #4: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_9_original.jpg
Crowley Foot: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_13_original.jpg
Idaho: http://www.fallingrockproductions.com/rendezvous/
Carving#1 http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/20060415110332884_15_original.jpg
Carving#2 http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_1_original.jpg
Bread Label: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_2_original.jpg
Bread: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_3_original.jpg
Jim Roberts' Website: http://www.namaycush.com/
Alligator Sign: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_4_original.jpg
Alligator Clip: http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8779506/detail.html
Shipment: http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_5_original.jpg
File #1 http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_6_original.jpg
File #2 http://forum.hancockhouse.com/images/articles/2006041813174144_7_original.jpg
