Bigfoot Encounters

ALASKA NEWSPAPERS PUT THEIR READERS
ON ALERT FOR STORIED `HAIRY MAN'

The Salt Lake Tribune
Published: February 2, 1993
The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- He's as big as Big Foot, not so abominable as the Snowman and elusive as Sasquatch. He's Alaska's Hairy Man and a statewide group of newspapers is on his legendary tracks. "There are very few people who've actually sighted Hairy Man, but there are plenty of stories," said Chris Casati, editor of Anchorage-based Alaska Newspapers.

The group operates seven rural weeklies from Cordova to Bethel to Kotzebue with a combined circulation of 17,000. The papers have started asking readers to send in stories about Hairy Man, a folklorish creature who inhabits the vast tundra around southwest Alaska.

Last month, three schoolteachers raised havoc in remote Quinhagak by tramping around in the snow with foot-shaped pieces of plywood to make fake Hairy Man tracks.

Worried calls poured in to police. One officer called it "a bad joke." The teachers apologized and visited classrooms to show off the wooden feet and assure children there was nothing to be afraid of.

Article provided by Marlene Trask, archive researcher.

Back to Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Main