Bigfoot enthusiasts swarm to East Texas

The 21st Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference was held last weekend in Jefferson. The event drew in hundreds of sasquatch enthusiasts from around the world.

In 2018, the city of Jefferson received the official title of “Bigfoot Capital of Texas” with a mayoral proclamation which still stands today.

“Numerous Marion County residents have reported multiple sightings of mysterious Bigfoot — like creatures in and around Jefferson for decades,” the proclamation read. The proclamation, initiated by Craig Woolheater, founder of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, also recognizes Jefferson as the “geographical epicenter” of Bigfoot sightings.

Woolheater’s annual conference also funds a college scholarship benefiting two Jefferson High School graduating seniors each year.

Guest speakers this year were: Adam Davies, Lyle Blackburn, Ken Gerhard, Shelly Covington-Montana and Sybilla Irwin. They presented information about local sasquatch findings, new hunting tools and skills, along with captured evidence.

According to Davies, a cryptozoologist from Northern England, those wishing to find a sasquatch should “know your environment. Get into the nature around you.”

Davies has written a series of books titled “Extreme Expeditions” that take the reader along for a ride that includes hunting for bigfoot, yeti and other mystery creatures all over the world.

When asked if the East Texas creature is different from those in other regions, Blackburn jokingly replied, “Oh yeah. They are leaner, meaner and scarier.”

Blackburn is well known among bigfoot hunters as an authority on the American version of the creature. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including “The Beast of Boggy Creek” and “Sinister Swamps,” whose subject matter reflects his life-long fascination with legendary creatures and strange phenomenon. Lyle is also the founder of the rock band, Ghoultown, and narrator/producer of documentary films such as The Mothman of Point Pleasant and Boggy Creek Monster. He is a frequent guest on radio programs such as Coast To Coast AM, and has been featured on various television shows airing on Animal Planet, Destination America, Travel, Discovery Science, and Shudder.

“Actually, we are seeing evidence of more white and gray fur-covered creatures here,” said Gerhard.

Gerhard is a cryptozoologist and field investigator for the Centre for Fortean Zoology as well as a fellow of the Pangea Institute and consultant for various research groups. He has investigated reports of cryptids and mysterious animals around the world including Bigfoot, the Monster, the Chupacabra, Mothman, Thunderbirds and Werewolves.

In addition to co-hosting the History Channel series Missing in Alaska, he has appeared in three episodes of the television series MonsterQuest (History Channel) and was featured in the History Channel special “The Real Wolfman”. Gerhard’s other appearances include Ancient Aliens (History Channel), Legend Hunters (Travel Channel), The Unexplained Files (Science Channel), Paranatural (National Geographic), True Monsters (History Channel), Weird or What? with William Shatner (Syfy), Monsters and Mysteries in America (Destination America), True Supernatural (Destination America), Ultimate Encounters (truTV), Monster Project (Nat Geo Wild) and Shipping Wars (A&E).

Blackburn and Gerhard both agreed that the creature is more prolific in areas with a thick crop of conifer trees – such as the East Texas piney woods that we live in.

“I’ve been all over the world looking at evidence, and there is definitely genetic localization that makes them (East Texas sasquatch) unique,” Davies added.

“The sasquatch here is not as furry, as say those in the Pacific Northwest,” said Covington. “And they have a narrower heel.”

Shelly Covington is a native Texan, known as a wilderness and wildlife enthusiast and a Bigfoot researcher with a passion for conservation and preservation. She has commented on continually improving her education through Citizen Science. She is a Level II certified Wildlife Tracker. She is in constant works on her Citizen Science Wildlife DNA kits and has created the Sasquatch Alba Vernix DNA collection and Latent Print kit.

“The only way we can truly know how many exist here is if people will report the sightings,” Irwin stated. “Even if you aren’t sure of exactly what you saw, report it anyway.”

Sybilla Irwin, a South-Texas native, is a bigfoot researcher and talented wildlife artist. She is a prominent sasquatch sketch artist and has created hundreds of portraits of sasquatches from firsthand eyewitness accounts. Irwin has self-published several prints of her paintings and is currently illustrating numerous books with several authors.

“Every Native American tribe has a name for the sasquatch,” said Covington. “That should tell you something.”