"Don't go anywhere without your camera," Thomas Steenburg advised during Sasquatch Days in Harrison this weekend. He's been hunting the elusive creature, and its cousin Big Foot, for more than three decades.
Steenburg and Bill Miller were on hand at Harrison Memorial Hall to discuss their research with the public, as part of the resurrected festival.
Both have had close encounters with what could be a Sasquatch, they maintain. And through years of pouring over photos, videos and stories, as well as embarking on hunting expeditions has only steeled their resolve that the Sasquatch is out there — somewhere.
There have been sightings in Harrison, even very recently, on both sides of the lake.
Miller actually had his brush with the captivating creature in Minnesota in 1980, on a fishing trip.
"A bi-ped ran right past us," he said. "For many years I didn't think nothin' of it."
But he always remembered the encounter, and it became a favourite story of family folklore — not unlike the re-telling of Sasquatch encounters in First Nation history locally.
It wasn't until 1998 that he started to get serious about the Sasquatch, when he came to a convention in Harrison and met Steenburg and John Green, Harrison's very own Sasquatch expert.
"I met all these people who were really serious about it," he said.
Now the two run Sasquatch Country Adventures, along with Barry Blount, conducting tours while keeping an eagle eye open for more sightings. Miller and Steenburg participated in a documentary called Bigfoot's Reflection, and both men have been featured in many newspaper stories and other media.
Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs this weekend was a perfect opportunity for the experts to provide more information to the public. The festival was resurrected after being in hiatus for about 70 years.
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