The 1970s is popularly known as the Me Decade.

Well, maybe in the rest of the country it is. In the Pacific Northwest, it was the Bigfoot Decade.

Locals and tourists alike regularly set out into the woods in search of Sasquatch. Academics gathered at well-attended conferences to discuss the region’s mysterious hairy beast.

And there were sightings. So many sightings. In fact, you could call a special Portland hotline to report yours: 244-3668, or BIG-FOOT.

The Bigfoot frenzy died down once the go-go ’80s arrived. Americans moved on to newer diversions, like video games, cable TV and day trading. But interest never disappeared, especially in the entertainment world. In 1987, there was “Harry and the Hendersons,” a movie about a Washington state family that adopts a sasquatch. It was so successful it spawned an early ’90s sitcom.

And now, opening April 12, Hillsboro’s Laika is bringing us “Missing Link,” a stop-motion-animation feature about a lonely Bigfoot-like creature’s search for his long-unseen relatives.

"Missing Link" (Laika image)LC- Laika image

Bigfoot is an entertainment cash cow (so to speak) but, let’s face it, the beast was more fun before it went Hollywood.

Back then Sasquatch didn’t stomp around on red carpets. It stayed out of sight – or at least it tried to.

In 1970, “a 7-foot-tall creature with silver-tipped hair” appeared in the headlights of a car occupied by three young women traveling from Copalis Crossing to Carlisle, Wash. The beast proceeded to chase the car for a while.

The women reported the sighting, and the next day a deputy sheriff went to the area and told the Associated Press “he found footprints 16 inches in length, made by a stride of seven feet.”

Eight years later, Oregonian reporter Paul Pintarch posited three possible reasons he hadn’t been able to track down “the reputedly smelly and somewhat shy creatures”: 1) sasquatches are “both smart and fast”; 2) they’re “semi-mystical ... perhaps pioneers from a distant world”; and 3) Bigfoot “is a continuing hoax perpetuated in the belief human beings need something other than God to provide mystery in our day-to-day lives.”

Yes, go with that third one, suggested many readers – but not because they actually thought it was all a hoax. In this simpler, pre-internet era, a typical Sasquatch fan respected the animal’s privacy.

“Recent Sasquatch publicity is making many Northwest outdoors enthusiasts unhappy,” a reader of The Oregonian wrote in a 1976 letter to the editor. “In the first place, there is no Sasquatch. In the second place, we wouldn’t snitch on him if we could.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considered it possible Sasquatch existed, writing in its regional environmental atlas that the question at that time was “hotly disputed.” The corps stated that Bigfoot supposedly “is covered with long hair, except for the face and hands, and has a distinctly human-like form.” The corps wrote that the animals could be up to 12 feet tall and weigh more than a half-ton. Bigfoot’s shyness, fleet-footedness and excellent night vision accounted for it “leaving minimal evidence of its presence.” The atlas included a map that pinpointed reported sightings.

From The Oregonian in 1977

All of this interest led to a 1977 legislative effort, by a young Oregon state representative named Ted Kulongoski, to “‘document the existence and habits’ of the creature known as ‘Bigfoot’ [and] establish procedures to follow should such a creature be encountered.” (It must be noted that possible Sasquatch hair samples recently had been tested by the FBI’s laboratory and “found not to have come from a man or any known animal.”)

When Kulongoski stood up to introduce his Bigfoot measure at the state capitol, a “large, white furry creature with the head of an ape and relatively large feet” slipped into the House chamber and sat down to listen to the proceedings. Kulongoski looked over his shoulder, startled by the unexpected guest. He would soon discover that the “furry creature” was actually a man in a costume. So. Close.

It should come as no surprise that, having pandered to the Bigfoot vote, Kulongoski later was elected Oregon’s governor. Twice.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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