How Hank Parchell Became a Bigfoot Investigator: In His Own Words
Hank Parchell:
My knowledge of the so called Sru Lake bigfoot was passed on by earlier reports and conversations with Dale Saxton in 1977 and a forest employee of the Siskiyou National Forest. Back then they called him the brush man up there. We know it's not the same creature because the original one was light brown and female.The reports kept coming from that region and was labeled as misidentification of a known forest animal. It made no sense to me or others that all of these people were seeing a very large bear. Then in 1985 a well known logger in this county phoned Saxton and told him of a huge upright biped type animal or wildman that was watching his crew string out yarding lines on a ridge. The crew was all in agreement that it was no bear but some kind of wildman/bigfoot. When Emery joined Saxton in searching for bigfoot. It was the main goal of the two men to find out what these loggers had seen.
Also Saxton in the 1970s had found large footprints on a construction road he was building about 10 miles from the reported sighting. He never saw what made them but was positive it was no hoax because of location and a steel gate at the entrance of the new timber access spur. He met Emery on a logging job near Merlin, Oregon, when he asked Bill to join his search. The conversation started when Emery told Saxton of large footprints and his ripped apart chainsaw he found over the cliff on Emery's cutting job.
Meanwhile the reports were coming in at maybe 2 a year of this strange beast up at the Squaw lake area. By then Saxton and Emery felt this was probably the best place to setup a camp and watch for this thing. They were sure that this bigfoot would be seen again because of its non-fear of people. So as you can see this has been a ongoing thing for Saxton and Emery for some time. It was just recently that one report we recieved made us take notice of the area. Though I can't discuss what was in that report, I can say it got Bill's attention very quick.
Before Saxton's death he told Emery of a person he needed to talk with. After Saxton's death this old hunter told Emery of the bigfoot mistaken for a bear he had shot by mistake. Then Emery started going through the reports and found the Hamiltons' story and once again interviewed them. He was then positive this same bigfoot was still in the area around that lake. More to come!
PART 2
As I proceed with the story, I remember first meeting Emery with Saxton on a mountainside I was cruising for Moore Mill and Co. It was in March or April of 1986 when I ran across these bare footprints from something unknown to me. I remember telling a fellow that some old nut is running around up here in the snow. He asked me if I had ever heard of bigfoot. I said of course I had but really hadn't paid a lot of attention to the stories. Well,this fellow said "you better start paying attention." I smiled thinking I was going to get a bad joke from him. Then he said do you know Dale Saxton? and I replied "yes" I do. Then he proceeded to tell me about the old stories of Azalea Lake from back in the forties.
This kind of made me think about the fact I am working on Rock Creek just above the old lake site. After I got home that evening, I called Dale up and ask him to look at these tracks I'd found. We agreed to meet at the campground on Saturday morning. When he got there he had Bill Emery with him. I was impressed with the two men right away. Their demeanor was right and they made me feel quite comfortable around them. I showed the track to Dale and Bill and they both looked at each other and said "It's our boy OK."
I said what do you mean by that? Saxton started telling me of their quest for this strange animal. I was so impressed with the way these two talked with me I ask if they needed extra help. Emery said the pay is terrible (meaning $0) but the two wanted my expertise in forest animals on their team. I agreed to join them parttime and then after Saxton's death I had then retired so I wanted to fill a void in the team.
Emery is one of the most thoughtful people I've ever met. Soon I was going to reported sightings with him and Dale's son Cole. I've learned a lot about bigfoot through the stories and reports Emery shared with me. Then this latest hunt for bigfoot came along. Emery thought the success rate was good that we could get a look at this bigfoot.
Well, let me tell you--one can't make he or she ready for such a meeting. When it came down that trail, I was about to have a heart attack from the smell and size of the bigfoot. Though I stayed completely still, I still wasn't sure this bigfoot wouldn't take me down and stomp me in the ground. I have to say Bill didn't look much better than me. He was quite a bit closer to him, but the bigfoot didn't see him, though he certainly must have smelled both of us because he looked around and pulled his head back and seemingly sniffed the air. Then he walked behind a small tree and disappeared back into the trees.
Cole might have been out on the trail with us but was coughing from a case of bronchitis. It was important for him to stay in camp. We all thought the bigfoot had been watching us from the trees around the camp for days. Anyway, this is how I became a bigfoot researcher and became one of the lucky ones!
