It took several attempts to contact the original witness, who was cooperative, but hesitant about disclosing his experience. It seems that the childhood tales conveyed by his parents were still fresh in his mind. I asked if I could present his story to my readers for their opinions. After pondering my request, he eventually gave me permission, with a few conditions.
After our discussion, I added and redacted information from the original inquiry. The witness, who I will refer to as Jesse, approved the final draft:
"I grew up in a rural area of Calhoun County, West Virginia. The land we lived on had been in my father's family for many generations and was surrounded by hundreds of acres of woodlands. My sister and I were raised to respect our elders and not to question our parents. Our parents stressed attending and succeeding at school.
My father was what you would call a handyman. There wasn't much that he couldn't do even though he hadn't received much schooling. My mother was a homebody and didn't care much about traveling about. My sister and I were warned about the dangers in the world, especially those dangers close to home.
Both our parents used to talk about 'the Snowman.' This was a terrifying spirit that lived in a hidden burial mound for most of the year. It would rise from the mound after the first snowfall and roam the area each night until the last frost. The Snowman was feared by the Mingo people who once lived here in the early 1700's. My father told us that there was a great massacre of Mingo people one night, not far from our home. The Snowman gathered the bodies and carried them to his hidden mound. He described the Snowman as a tall, rotund being with long white hair all over the body. But the most terrifying aspect was that the Snowman had no face, just long white hair draped over from it's head.
We were warned not to venture out in the dark. The house was kept quiet during those winter nights because we didn't want to draw the attention of the Snowman.
In January 1979, my sister and I were both in our early teens. One evening around 8PM we were in the kitchen doing homework at the table. Our father walked in from the living room and grabbed his coat by the door, then stepped out into the night. I asked my mother what he was doing and she told me that he had forgot to bring in the firewood for the night. No sooner had she responded to my question, my father rushed through the door. He grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and wedged it on the door. Then he opened the cellar door and retrieved his 12 gauge shotgun and a handful of pumpkin-ball shells. What had he seen?
He stood at the door and said "Snowman - he's out there." I ran upstairs to the attic so I could get a look out the window. My sister was right behind me. For almost 10 minutes, we noticed no movement. Then my sister said "look at the garden." There it was. It was huge, maybe 8 feet high. It would stand, walk a few feet, then crouch down digging into the hard frozen ground. It continued do this for several minutes. Then it stood up and moved closer to the house. Father was correct, there were no facial features! A second or two later it turned and moved into the woods. I never saw it again.
My mother is still with us and continues to live in the old house. She says that she has heard screaming at night, but believes it's the spirits of the Mingo people killed by the Snowman." Jesse
NOTE: Jesse thinks that the 'Snowman' is a Bigfoot, and I tend to agree with his assessment. He still has a tremendous fear of this creature, telling me that he believes it has supernatural abilities. Is a breeding population of white Bigfoot possible? The sightings go back over 300 years. Could it be an interdimensional being or a natural explanation? What are your thoughts? Lon
Monsters of West Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in the Mountain State
Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents on Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals
The Braxton County Monster Updated & Revised Edition The Cover-up of the "Flatwoods Monster" Revealed Expanded
American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America
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