Theodore Roosevelt and The Bigfoot Tale

 

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Roosevelt the.Badlands hunter By George Grantham Bain - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3a24199.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons: Licensing., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13275181

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was a passionate naturalist and outdoor enthusiast with a deep fascination for wildlife and wilderness areas. While there is no direct evidence suggesting Roosevelt personally encountered Bigfoot, he documented an intriguing narrative in his publication "The Wilderness Hunter" (1893). Here's a comprehensive examination of his exploration of the Bigfoot legend:

Background

Roosevelt demonstrated an adventurous nature and profound connection to nature from an early age. His youth was spent exploring wilderness areas, engaging in hunting expeditions, and conducting wildlife studies. These experiences provided material for several books he wrote, including "The Wilderness Hunter."

The Goblin Story

Within "The Wilderness Hunter," Roosevelt shares an account from an elderly mountain hunter called Bauman. The hunter described an unsettling encounter with a mysterious being in the Bitterroot Mountains along the Idaho-Montana border. Bauman reported that he and his trapping companion heard unusual noises and discovered strange footprints in the area. Tragically, Bauman later found his partner deceased, apparently killed by a large, unidentified creature.

Roosevelt's Interpretation

While Roosevelt found Bauman's tale compelling, he maintained skepticism. He observed that frontier dwellers typically avoided superstitious beliefs, attributing such stories to contemporary folklore and imagination. Nevertheless, he recognized wilderness environments could inspire mysterious sensations and fear, leading to beliefs in supernatural entities.

By Adam Cuerden - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.35645.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144415411

Cultural Impact

Roosevelt's documentation of Bauman's experience represents one of America's earliest recorded accounts of a Bigfoot-like creature in literature. Though Roosevelt never claimed personal encounters with Bigfoot, his narrative contributed significantly to the creature's growing mystique.

Conclusion

While Theodore Roosevelt never directly encountered Bigfoot, his storytelling abilities and interest in wilderness legends helped popularize the mythology. His account remains a significant piece of early Bigfoot folklore, blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

Bear thought to be made by Morris Michtom in the early 1900s; donated to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States, by Theodore Roosevelt's grandson Kermit Roosevelt Jr. in 1964

By Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - https://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/7237653442/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41208714

From Wikipedia - The teddy bear comes from Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, who was often referred to as "Teddy, (a nickname he loathed). The name originated from an incident on a bear-hunting trip in the U.S. state of Mississippi in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Andrew H. Longino, the 35th governor of Mississippi. There were several other hunters competing, including LeRoy Percy, and most of them had already killed an animal. A party of Roosevelt's attendants, led by freedman Holt Collier cornered, clubbed, and tied an American black bear to a willow tree after a long and exhausting chase with hounds. They called Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he should shoot the bear dead, although Collier told Roosevelt not to shoot the bear while it was tied. Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear himself, deeming this unsportsmanlike, but instructed that the bear be killed to put it out of its misery, and it became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post on November 16, 1902.While the initial cartoon depicted an adult black bear lassoed by a handler and a disgusted Roosevelt, later issues of that and other Berryman cartoons made the bear smaller and cuter.

Candy store owner Morris Michtom saw the Berryman drawing of Roosevelt and was inspired to create a teddy bear. He created a small soft bear cub and put it in his candy-shop window at 404 Tompkins Avenue in New York City with a sign reading "Teddy's bear." The toys were an immediate success and the rest is history. 

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Margie Kay is a writer, speaker, remote viewer and podcast host. She is interested in all things paranormal. www.margiekay.com

A Super Special Sunday

This Sunday, February 1, 2026 is Imbolc and will be lit by the full Snow Moon. Native American names for this upcoming full moon include the Bald Eagle Moon, Bear Moon, Raccoon Moon, Groundhog Moon and Goose Moon, Bony Moon and Hungry Moon. Imbolc is an ancient celebration going back possibly thousands of years, first mentioned in print in the 12th century. It is mentioned again in the 14th century as St. Brigid’s Day, a Christian celebration. Both occur the same day, the half-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

The spring equinox is Friday, March 20, 2026. If you’re eagerly anticipating the official start of spring, you can start your countdown this Sunday at day 48. We published the history of Imbolc a few years back, click here for a deep dive.

In addition to the full moon, you will also likely notice an extra bright Jupiter as well as stars Gemini, Castor, Pollux and Procyon. 

February begins mid-way through the sign of Aquarius ending on the 19th. Those born under the sign of Aquarius are likely to be the searchers of knowledge and sources of wisdom.

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Margie Kay is the Director of the OZ Institute and a remote viewing trainer.

The Legend of Bloody Mary

Light a candle in a dark room and say Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary three times while looking into a mirror and Bloody Mary will appear! Where did we get the idea to attempt to invoke an evil or tormented spirit? Well, probably from another kid. And that kid from another. Why did we love, and still love, to get a scare or to hear a good campfire story? Because, I think, it’s not just the paranormal that is fascinating, it’s the curious threat of the inexplicable. The unexplained wrapped in horror - triggering something important within us. 

 

 The fact that we are attracted to tales which thrive upon an uncertain edge of darkness, tells us that there is indeed something built dead center into our DNA, drawing our attention to the spooky world of ghouls and ghosts, cryptids and beasts. Perhaps it is our instinctual need to practice facing fearful situations - as we do in our dreams. Maybe we somehow learn something about ourselves that elevates us. 

 

Is learning something about ourselves why we get a thrill from being scared? So much so that we wish to experience it again and again? I do think that, like faux fighting kittens playing to prepare themselves for yet confronted threats, we are preparing for real danger.  But I think there is more to this. When I'm scared, it’s a distraction from my real-life problems. So, in a sense, like any form of escapism, I am relieved of my woes. But even deeper than that, we are catapulted into a state of mind where, in some sense, we feel freer and more liberated. Elevated in an almost metaphysical sort of way. When adrenaline rushes and the sense of survival first overtakes us, there are no judgments; no prejudices; and no time for pettiness. The lines that our programmed minds have drawn for us (without our conscious consent) will disappear. Surviving is clearly the rush here. 

 

 

Survival is powerful. Even for those who are racist, when it comes to their precious life, a good percentage would happily embrace anyone who saves their life an equal. In such a moment, the racist wouldn't care what someone looks like or where they come from. Because in that moment, boundaries dissolve. The need to survive can eliminate prejudice and, in turn, alter one's preconceptions because the conscious mind is forced wide open, with no other choice but to see others for who they really are. Misguided prejudice can barely exist when a helping hand is extended. Of course, there are some exceptions. Nonetheless, in this more extreme example, you can imagine how preconceived boundaries are blurred. So, in a sense, fright is a leveler. It can keep us grounded and honest with ourselves. 

 

Combine fearful goosebumps with the broad philosophical contemplation of the paranormal and we feel like we can lightly tap into that Oneness which is life. Is it as profound or as tangible as having what some would call a religious experience or a psychedelic experience? Maybe. We can still get fleeting rushes of that sensation during story-time moments. Based on my own experience, this gives me comfort. That’s why I love Halloween’s blood-pulsing ethos, which invites us to explore the unknown, who we are, and to be open to express hidden aspects of ourselves through costume and storytelling. Do I think scary movies, ghost stories and the like will make us all enlightened beings if we increasingly expose ourselves and more people to it? Not exactly. But I'm confident it would have a noticeable effect, with more people better appreciating life and our fellow humans in some way or another. The darker aspects of life - like danger or the paranormal - make it clear that there are plenty of gray areas in our existence. Who we are as humans becomes less black-and-white. So, by willfully engaging in the scarier aspects of the paranormal, one's mind is nudged to open up - just a bit more. 

 

The Ritual:  
The participant enters a darkened room with a lit candle. They look into a mirror while chanting Bloody Mary's name or a specific phrase a set number of times. If the ritual is performed correctly,  Bloody Mary might either appear in the mirror, reach out of the mirror and scratch the participant's face, or be released from the afterlife to haunt him or her forever. Other versions of the story include the mirror dripping blood, the participant's hair turning white, or the participant disappearing without a trace.  

The History: 
So how did the practice of Bloody Mary start? There may have been real historical Mary that was the source of the legend. Researchers think that Bloody Mary may have been one of the following women, all of whom might have a good reason to come back from the afterlife to wreak havoc among the living: 

• Mary Tudor (Mary I of England), who put many Protestants to death for heresy, giving her the nickname "Bloody Mary." 

• Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the "Queen of Blood," who was supposedly convicted for murdering hundreds of young girls so she could bathe in their blood. 

• Mary Worth, a witch executed in the Salem witch trials. 

 
My vote is for Elizabeth. Regardless of where the story began, Bloody Mary provided (and continues to provide) many a night of haunted excitement for anyone game enough to try it. With the other classic superstitious elements of mirrors and magic rituals, Bloody Mary is sure to remain a popular legend for years to come. 

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Margie Kay is a paranormal investigator and Director of the OZ Professional Paranormal Investigators Association. www.ozinstitute.org