Bigfoot of the UP

There are sightings of Bigfoot all over the country. There are people who make a living out tracking Bigfoot. But, one part of the country has made a substantial buck off Sasquatch and his sightings. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This place is swimming with stories of Bigfoot sightings, and people looking.

Today, there are many people who will call you bat-crap crazy if you were to ever say that you saw a Squatch. Or, if you know a person who saw the Bigfoot. And, over the last 100 years not much has changed.

Some historical stories of bigfoot...or a wild woods man.

There was a young boy in 1904 who resided just south of Sault Ste. Marie who reported seeing a "wild man" in the woods. The local sheriff was occupied helping with local activities handed the task of investigating to the under sheriff. This sighting of this wild scared locals so bad that they kept their children home. They even stopped going outside if they didn't absolutely have to. The boy said this wild man was dressed in torn clothes and had no shoes on. The under sheriff offered the explanation of the boy seeing a wild animal and he was so distressed that his imagination turned it into a wild man instead.

This story isn't even the first of a wild man in the UP. In 1901, Crystal Falls, Mi experienced the "Wild Man" panic. Hunters reported seeing a wild man drinking from a river while out hunting. The hunters got within 30 feet of this wild man and he was eating a dead skunk. The wild man growled at the man and then ran into the woods to take cover. This made the men start a town wide hunt for the wild man in the woods. Today bears would be the scapegoat for Bigfoot. In the early 1900's it was a lunatic in the woods that was the only explanation for a wild beast running in the woods. After about 3 days searching for this wild man the posse gave up. They followed foot steps in the mud believed to be that of the wild mans. They still could hear his wild unearthly screams within the woods but could not ever locate him. Later in 1901, the mystery may have been solved. A lunatic asylum in Minnesota reported one of their patients escaping. Although, no one could figure out how he would have traveled the hundreds of miles to get to Crystal Falls from Minnesota. It was an easy way of explaining away a wild man in the woods.

Wild Men became such a thing that it became an attraction in the circus industry. All over the country travelling circus' used "The Wild Man" as its hook. And, it drew people in. The idea that a man could live in the wild with little to no clothes and eat dead animals was a huge thing.

This is where the first sightings of Sasquatch came from. Now, people say Bigfoot, and not a wild man, roam the vast land of the UP. Sightings remain a thing and will continue to for as long as time goes on. Unless they can prove or disprove the existence of him (or multiple him).