THE MURPHY FILE NEWSLETTER #26

March 1, 2007
©C. L. Murphy - cmurphy101@shaw.ca

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WE OFTEN RUN ACROSS references to Marco Polo’s account

(c.1285) of a possible orang pandek (a little ape-man) sighting. It is
interesting to see exactly what Marco said, so here it is:

“It should be known that what is reported respecting the dried

bodies of diminutive human creatures, or pigmies, brought from India,
is an idle tale, such pretended men being manufactured in this island
in the following manner. The country produces a species of monkey,
of a tolerable size, and having a countenance resembling that of a
man. Those persons who make it their business to catch them shave
off their hair, leaving it only about the chin, and those other parts
where it naturally grows on the human body. They then dry and
preserve them with camphor and other drugs; and having prepared
them in such a mode that they have exactly the appearance of little
men, they put them into wooden boxes, and sell them to trading
people who carry them to all parts of the world. But this is merely an
imposition, the practice being such as we have described; and
neither in India, nor in any other country, however wild (and little
known), have pigmies been found of a form so diminutive as these
exhibit.1 Sufficient have been said of this kingdom, which presents
nothing else remarkable, we shall now speak of another, named
Samara. “- Book III, Chapter 12, On the Second Kingdom, Named Basman
1 [Editor’s footnote]. At a period when the eastern part of the world was little known
to the people of Europe, who were credulous in proportion to their ignorance, it is
by no means improbable that such impositions were practiced by the traveling
Mahometian and Armenian traders who visited the islands where the orang utan or
A modern rendering of the pong (simian satyrus) was found, and might have been in the practice of selling their
orang pendek; 70.75 cm stuffed carcasses to the virtuosi of Italy, for the mummies of a pigmy race of men.
equals 27.9 inches.
From what I can gather from this, I really don’t think Marco saw any
live creatures. He likely saw dead ones, both processed and waiting to be processed.
Nevertheless, whatever the creatures were, I am surprised that one of the stuffed bodies has not
come to light in some museum.

However, on this point Loren Coleman has done some

considerable research and he has some excellent material on what are
termed carnival “gaffs” on his website. Such are fabricated man/creature
oddities that include both animal parts and other types of material. I have
previously discussed two of these things that I have personally seen.
One is Jake the Alligator Man, which is at Marsh’s Free
Museum in Long Beach, Washington, and the other is a little
mermaid at The Trading Post in Banff, Alberta. The practice
of making these curiosities has been going on for hundreds
of years. Nevertheless, I have never seen one that is simply
a tiny man (human) as Marco Polo implies, and which I envision would look somewhat like the
orang pendek illustration shown above. (Please wade in here, Matt Crowley.)
JUST FOR FUN, I had another look at the first Planet of the Apes movie.
I remember seeing it about 39 years ago, so I refreshed my memory.
The movie is copyright 1967, but I believe it was released the following
year. I know it’s been said many times, but there’s absolutely no
similarity between the ape costumes used in the movie and the creature
seen in the P/G film. As a matter of fact, with 39 years under my belt, the
movie costumes are really pretty funky. Nevertheless, if you have a mind
to get the movie, pick up The Day After also, and watch it first. Then
check back on what Odette Tchernine wrote, which I presented in my
last newsletter. (Look thy last on all things lovely…)

BOB HEIRONIMUS STATES in Greg Long’s book, The Making of Bigfoot

(page 344): "I think the feet [of the costume] were made of old house slippers
you used to see around that looked like a big foot with toes on them. They had
wrinkles on the bottom of them, you know.” Now, I do remember slippers like
that back in the 1960s, and indeed put a pair on when I visited a friend. They
were made of fake brown fur and were naturally quite large. I can’t find a photo
of them on the net, so if anyone in their travels runs across one, I would
appreciate a copy. Better still, check grandma’s attic, you might find a pair.

ON PAGE 108 OF Meet the Sasquatch I show the cast

Bob Titmus gave to the Vancouver Museum and
mention the note on the back. Shown here is a photo I
took of the note, which reads, “This is an actual cast of
Bigfoot imprint made Oct. 2, 1958 in Bluff Creek in
Humboldt County, California. ‘Bigfoot’ is not a hoax.”
Bob Titmus, Taxidermist, Anderson, Calif.

Titmus found a lot of tracks and dedicated a large part of

his life in his quest for the sasquatch. This year (July 1)
marks the 10th Anniversary of his passing.

THERE HAVE BEEN MOUNDS of material written about what Roger Patterson
said of his and Bob Gimlin’s experience at Bluff Creek. But what did Roger
specifically say (write) himself? A few months after the event (probably February
1968) he put out a newsletter, and here is exactly what he wrote and signed:

Patterson’s
newsletter logo.
 We can see from this information that the two men arrived
in area about October 11 or 12. Bob Gimlin seemed to think they
had been there somewhat longer, but I don’t think so.

THIS PHOTOGRAPH taken in Park des Sept Chutes’ (Seven

Chutes Park), Quebec, June 2005, continues to intrigue me.
All of the information is on Rob Gaudet’s website:
<http://www.haveyouseenthiscreature.com/>
What we see appears to be a baboon-like creature that
is carrying something. Another baboon-like creature was
allegedly filmed (video) in Texas. I have the photos, but the
owner does not wish them released. (A hoax is suspected,
but it is odd that someone would choose to use a baboon-
man headpiece rather than a bigfoot.) Then, last year I got an
inquiry as to what I knew about “devil dogs,” which were
described as baboon-like creatures seen in the southern U.S.
And then to top it off, a few months ago I got a call from
Joedy Cook in Ohio, who found part of an odd skull that has
been identified by the Cincinnati Zoo as being that of a
baboon. Joedy is sending me photos of the skull and I will share them. Just how a baboon would
meet its fate in the Ohio “outback” is a bit of a wonder. I suppose some people might keep such
animals, and one could have escaped. (Can you imagine seeing a baboon coming down the trail?)

As to the Seven Chutes photo, Dr. Meldrum points out that it

is likely a tree stump that has taken on “suggestive
characteristics” as a result of light/shadows and so forth. I
agree that this could be so; however, when researchers
went to the spot, there was nothing of that nature there. If
you enlarge this photo, you will see a man waving in the
lower right corner (arrow)–that is the spot. Rob Gaudet has
many photos in this connection on his website. All I can offer
here is that the researchers did not go to the right spot, but
this appears unlikely.

REMARKABLY OLD MARCO POLO says something odd about the

people “of the Island of Angaman” that is somewhat “baboon”
connected. Here is what he says:

“Angaman is a very large island, not governed by a king. The inhabitants

are idolaters, and are a most brutish and savage race, having heads,
eyes, and teeth resembling those of the canine species. Their
dispositions are cruel, and every person, not being of their own nation,
whom they can lay their hands upon, they kill and eat.”

Well, I hardly think so. Nevertheless, baboons are canine-like, so you

people out there in Quebec might keep a sharp eye in case some of the
Angaman folk trotted over to North America with bigfoot.
 ONCE DURING MY LONG career with the B.C. Telephone
Company (now Telus), I was asked to do a presentation to the
president, Brian Canfield, and the company’s executive, on a
supply operations department process I had developed. When I
got up to speak, I prefaced my talk with, “Well, gentlemen, with
this group, I hardly know where to start.” I was interrupted by Brian
Canfield who said, “Well Chris, just pretend we’re all idiots and
start there.” This I did, and most certainly much information I
provided that I thought was common knowledge was new to many
in that group. My point here is, that with knowledge, what’s “new”
is totally relative. If you were born five minutes ago, then
everything in the world is new.
I didn’t work at the I see one individual, commenting on a bigfoot presentation I
headquarters building, but made, stated that I wasted an hour or so of his life. Another,
was often there. commenting on Meet the Sasquatch, said, “not much new.” Both
are certainly correct from their vantage points. Indeed, if this
newsletter was being sent just to the likes of Green, Perez, Meldrum, Coleman, Steenburg, and so
forth, I would not bother getting into the “old hat.”

JAN SUNDBERG directed me to further information on the eagle/ fox

altercation photo I posted in newsletter #24. The photo was taken in
Finland by Pekka Kome, a wildlife photographer. Dr. Darren Nash
originally posted the photo, and he has astounding information on the
subject of eagles killing large animals on his website, shown below. In
summary Darren tells us: “…big eagles, most notably the golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos, are able to attack and kill mammals substantially
bigger than they are. Wild individuals will attack and kill deer (including
reindeer, roe deer and white-tailed deer) and pronghorn, and there are
ridiculous, authenticated cases where golden eagles have killed domestic calves exceeding 100 kg
in weight. Trained individuals in Kazakhstan kill wolves.” The photo shown here is also from
Darren‘s website. > http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/12/when-eagles-go-bad-one-more-time.html<

GERRY MATTHEWS of West Coast Sasquatch

has kindly volunteered to feature a presentation
on his website that I have prepared (painstakingly
edited by Roger Knights) on my sasquatch exhibit
at the Museum of Natural History in Pocatello,
Idaho. Many of you, I am sure, will not be able to
get to that neck of the woods, so I am providing a
“virtual tour.” Please go to Gerry’s site, as shown
below. A link to the presentation is shown on the
front page of the site under Latest News.

<http://www.westcoast-sasquatch.com/>
 IN THE FUHRMANN files, I found
this interesting newspaper account
of the April 1982 track-find in
Washington. A footprint cast on one
track, produced from a mold by Rick
Noll, is seen below (see page 105
of Meet the Sasquatch). Dr. Henner
Fahrenbach mentioned to me that
he investigated the prints found in
that area at that time, and there
were many half-tracks and so forth,
which definitely indicated a natural
foot had made them.
Nevertheless, again we find
ourselves pondering the “hoax”
question and trying to sort out how
the tracks could have been
fabricated. It is certainly easy to say
they were hoaxed, but quite another
to show how–and around and
around we go.

You may not have been a believer in the infamous myth of

Sasquatch or Bigfoot, but after having taken a look at the mold
of a print found Wednesday, April 21, one might be leaning
toward such a belief. Sheriff Dennis Morrisette, right, and
Deputy Denny Heryford, one of the investigating officers, hold
the seventeen by seven-inch mold of a print found on
Worman’s Bar in the Satsop River, near the end of Brady Loop
Road. The print, which is shown in the accompanying photo
before being lifted for a mold, was found by Dan Makeviney, a
Shelton logger. From the depth of the print it is indicated that
whatever made it would have to weigh about 650 pounds. A
250-pound deputy sheriff was unable to create a similar depth
of footprint. Heryford said that several hairs were found
between the toes of the print, and they were to be analyzed. He
also said that two or three ‘Sasquatch’ experts were anxious to Cast from print found at
examine the footprint mold. Earlier that same day, another set Abbott Hill, Washington. It is
of large footprints were found near the Ventron plant south of 15 inches long.
Elma on Highway 8. Morrisette noted that if the several sets of
footprints were indeed a hoax, “Someone went to an awful lot
of trouble and expense,”
SOME RESEARCHERS, including Loren Coleman, Mark Hall, and Matt Crowley now present
further arguments that Ray Wallace and/or his associates probably faked the 1967 Blue Creek
Mountain and Onion Mountain prints.
Coleman provides the information gathered on his website (address shown below). He
alerted me to the information, and I subsequently got into discussion with him and Matt Crowley on
this issue. If the evidence provided is correct, then indeed we must proceed in the way Coleman
recommends. I have started to look into the matter, and will present my findings as I move forward.
Please visit Loren Coleman’s website for full coverage on this subject.
>http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/wallace-line/<

SOME OF YOU have emailed me and complimented me on my newsletter, and I truly appreciate
your support. Roger Knights assists me greatly with his editing expertise, so thanks on your behalf
is extended to him.

END OF NEWSLETTER #26

YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME.