A few years in the news business transformed this naïve country boy into a skeptic. I want proof. Journalists live by the creed: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

Over the decades sources have told me incredible stories that, upon investigation, proved to be nothing more than a rumor or a straight-out lie.

In retirement I watch the YouTube channel on television and of late I have seen some fascinating programs about Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch) — a large, hairy creature believed by some to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and in western Canada.

Bigfoot believers describe him/her as a large, muscular and bipedal human or ape-like creature covered in dark brown, black or dark reddish hair. The creatures have been described as roughly six to nine feet tall with some reports telling of Bigfoot creatures as tall as 10 to 15 feet. Eyewitnesses claim the hominid creature is ape-like except with more human facial features.

Although Bigfoot has been a part of American and Canadian indigenous folklore for centuries, since the mid-20th century he has become a cultural icon.

While there have been many reported sightings of Bigfoot creatures, footprints and distant video and photographs, no physical remains (bones, body parts, etc.) have been found.

I had always considered Bigfoot to be a Washington State and Oregon matter. That was until I recently discovered that Bigfoots have been sighted here in the Midwest.

According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization — BFRO, Bigfoot creatures have been seen in wooded areas or crossing highways in remote areas in the Midwest.

Illinois and Missouri have produced the most numerous Bigfoot sightings in recent years — Illinois with 296 and Missouri with 154. Wisconsin follows with 102 sightings, Iowa with 76 and Minnesota with 74. South Dakota and Nebraska sightings number 19 and 15, respectively. The states with the highest numbers of Bigfoot sightings are Washington, California and Florida with 676, 445 and 328 respectively.

I reside in Dallas County, west of Des Moines, where the BFRO reports six Bigfoot sightings along the Raccoon River. North Central Iowa’s Hamilton County is where I grew up and where two sightings have been reported.

My home county is a major producer of corn and soybeans, but the Boone River flows through the western half of the county before it meets the Des Moines River a short distance west of the county line. There are thousands of acres of wooded land in this area where Bigfoot could conceivably thrive.

I think back to the years when friends and I hunted along and canoed on the Boone River. As a teenager I was aware of good parking places in the timber as well. (Got caught by the county sheriff’s “gravel patrol” one night.)

Thinking back to those years, I don’t know what I would have done had I spotted one of these Bigfoot creatures in the Boone River timber. Hopefully, I would have shown great valor but coming up against an eight-foot ape-like creature in a remote area would make the toughest guy scream like a little girl. And I’m not necessarily the toughest guy!

Within international folklore there are dozens of Bigfoot-type phenomena. In the southeastern U.S. similar creatures are known as Skunk Apes. In Asia there are Almas, Yeren and Yeti, and Australians talk of a Yowie. In Russia, Bigfoot-like creatures are known as Almasti, Mang, Kauasha and Chuchunya, depending on the region.

While the legend of Bigfoot continues, it is agreed by the American scientific community that there is no credible DNA evidence to support its existence nor has anyone found any Bigfoot skeletons or bones.

Yet, thousands of North Americans claim to have seen, filmed, photographed, heard and recorded Bigfoot including hundreds here in the Midwest.

Bigfoot is another of life’s big mysteries. I don’t want to believe in Bigfoot but one of my old newspaper editor friends used to say, “Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you!”

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. ©2025 by Huisman Communications.