Bob Gimlin

Biography: Bob Gimlin

Robert Emory Gimlin was born October 18, 1931 in Missouri. Eventually he moved to Yakima, Washington where he lives to this day. Gimlin was and still is a rancher who breaks in young horses-at the age of 74! He has lived an interesting life in and around the Yakima area. His neighbor is a rather notorious fellow by the name of Bob Heironimus-notorious because Heironimus claims to be the "man in the suit" of the famous Patterson/Gimlin film. Gimlin is of Indian descent, Chirokowa Apache to be exact. From Robert and Frances Guenette's book Bigfoot: The Mysterious Monster is this:
Gimlin's reputation is that of a mild, honest man. I have talked to him, several times. He still lives nearby Yakima with his wife, Judy. He has a somewhat embittered attitude about the whole matter; he is angry at the insinuations that he either compromised his honesty to perpetrate a hoax, or indeed was the prime dupe of one. He has repeatedly said that "there is no question about what was out there..." describing the creature and explaining the incident over and over again in detail. In all his pronouncements, he has not changed his story. He believes he saw a Bigfoot that October 20th at Bluff Creek. I am only one among many who offered Gimlin large amounts of money to "tell the truth" about what "really" happened that day. His answer to me was, "I'm already telling the truth." His wife, Judy, told me that she suffered rather than gained, from the whole experience. She was working at a bank at the time; she became the butt of many jokes and found herself ridiculed by even her closest friends. She says she urged her husband to quit looking for Bigfoot, to withdraw him from the field. In a large way, Bob Gimlin has, existing now only on the perimeters of it, kept there by the fact of his presence that day in 1967 when Patterson shot the film and by the other Bigfoot hunters, all of whom use his name freely, calling him an associate even if he isn't. He is, in fact, the foremost living Bigfoot investigator, even if he is now inactive, even if he was only a passive partner of Patterson's. Everyone awaits the day when he will re-enter the field. Gimlin met Patterson between 1955 and 1959, and Patterson thrilled Gimlin with many stories and accounts of sightings. The two would go out on pre-expeditions in search of the creatures. Patterson and Gimlin were in the Mount Saint Helens area in September 1967, when they received a message from Mrs. Patterson that Al Hodgson that there were Bigfoot tracks in the Six Rivers National Forest area in northwestern California. Patterson and Gimlin went down there, stayed for 3 weeks and filmed a Bigfoot. They also cast tracks of the creature. Gimlin pretty much dropped out of the Bigfoot field after that, except for occasional appearances at conferences (the first one he ever attended was the 1978 Conference on Humanlike Monsters at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). In the early-'70s, Gimlin took part in lawsuits to get rights to the film. Eventually, Rene Dahinden got about 51% of the film rights (the still photos from the film) and Patricia Patterson, Roger Patterson's widow, got 49% (the actual film rights). Gimlin really didn't want a whole lot to do with the film itself, so he sold his portion of the rights to Dahinden for $26.00. For nearly 30 years, Gimlin stayed mostly out of the Bigfoot spotlight. A few years ago, he began to be invited to different conferences. He spoke briefly at the 2003 Willow Creek Bigfoot Symposium and was an honored guest there. He also spoke at the 2004 Crypto-Conference in Conroe, Texas. He appeared at the 2005 Bellingham conference and also the Seattle Museum of the Mysteries in June 2005. Bob Gimlin is a very honest individual who seems to be telling the truth about what he saw that day 38 years ago, and he has no motive to lie now or come forward with a "hoax story". Many Bigfooters believe his story to be accurate and truthful, and there's no reason to doubt his story. Bob Gimlin should be highly regarded by all.

Roger Patterson

Roger Clarence Patterson was born in Walls, South Dakota on February 14th, 1933. He and his family eventually moved to Yakima, Washington. Patterson became a rodeo rider and rancher in the Yakima area right around the Tampico Valley. Patterson began his interest in the subject of Bigfoot in late-1959 after reading an article by Ivan T. Sanderson in True Magazine which described the sightings and footprint finds of large, hairy, unknown creatures in Northern California in the Bluff Creek area after a road construction crew found large tracks around their construction site. Patterson was fascinated by this and began to investigate sightings he had heard and read about and he collected many different accounts. On October 20, 1963 (not '64 as has been widely reported) timber cruiser Pat Graves found a series of tracks in the Laird Meadow Road of Bluff Creek and told Roger, already in the area about them. Patterson made casts, and the second-generation left foot cast is now sold in various places. In 1966, Patterson wrote a book called Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist? which featured many newspaper stories, as well as taped interviews Patterson conducted with witnesses, most notably Albert Ostman and Fred Beck. The book sold poorly initially, but after the filming of "Patty" it sold very well. Patterson continued his research, finding tracks and casting them. Patterson also had two lookout towers in the Tampico Valley area to look for Bigfoot, which had apparently been reported in and around the area. In September 1967, Patterson and his friend, Bob Gimlin, were in the Mount Saint Helens area looking for evidence when Mrs. Patricia Patterson, Roger's wife, received a message from Al Hodgson of Willow Creek, California that fresh tracks had been found in the area, and that Patterson would be well-advised to head down there. Patterson and Gimlin headed on down to the Bluff Creek area, the Six Rivers National Forest, looking for tracks. Patterson had a film camera with him shooting a documentary in which he would have included recreations of sightings. After 3 weeks in the area, on October 20, 1967, Patterson and Gimlin came upon a female Bigfoot and Patterson filmed it. At the time, Patterson was battling Hodgkins' Disease but was beating it at the time and was in excellent health. Over the intervening years since the filming, however, Patterson was losing the battle and on January 15, 1972, just one short month shy of his 39th birthday, he passed away, leaving the world with a legacy of a great film which is still debated today. Before his death, however, Patterson was told that a captive Bigfoot was being held somewhere in Thailand and he spent all the rest of his money pretty much on a wild goose-chase. He died broke, but left us this film. We should all be indebted to Patterson for his legacy to us.

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