Nancy Bradley

Owassa Bigfoot

June 17, 2009 |  9 comments
Image Credit: Nancy Bradley Bigfoot has been a mystery since I was a child at our summer cabin on Lake Owassa in New Jersey. Big John Lonewolf, a Ute Indian, one of the few residents who stayed on the lake year round and a seasoned hunter and fisherman told tales of this huge bear like creature he was unable to catch. One thing I knew about “Uncle” John at an early age, was that he was a man of few words, and of those few words, there were no lies or exaggerations. So I knew there was a Bigfoot creature from an early age. Little did I know I would become a huntress for one, not to kill it, but to observe and help prove its existence. No one on my paranormal crew kills or hunts, we are simply hunters for finding, on the trail, making it known, headed for truth wherever it takes us.

And the further curiosity of such things started when I was about 8 years old. It was customary for me to spend the summers at the lakefront summer cabin of my grandparents. Sometimes for a kid my age it was hard uprooting herself from her friends and classmates in Baldwin Long Island New York to separate from the fun things they were doing to the woods of New Jersey. And it was just one of those days of boredom at the lake that I had taken a walk way back into the woods to think whatever kids think about. I sat on a fallen log deep in thought.

I did not hear him coming. Slowly something was creeping up behind me, me no more the wiser. Closer and closer it came, silently and calculatingly. And then the large strong hand extended, slowly, slowly, fingers spreading slightly until rightly in place, grasping on my shoulder tightly.

I jumped up and tried to run but the hand held me fast. I remember being beyond frightened and scared. There was no way to escape no matter how hard I fought. I turned around to face my captor. It was Big John Lonewolf. He let go and pointed his finger at me in anger. “ALWAYS LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER!” he said. And with that he was gone!

Now I want to remind you that this was deep in the woods, and there were crunchy leaves all over the ground, fallen twigs and an assortment of other things that Mother Nature had discarded that should have made the sounds that would have warned me of an oncoming stranger. I learned that day that John could walk through the woods without being heard or seen and maybe (in my childish thinking) even walk on water! And if he could be beside me without me knowing it, maybe other things could also. It was a big lesson that I carry to this day. It was that day that I learned to ‘look over my shoulder’ for anything, or anyone that could come across my path.

An early evening soon after that incident I chose to walk the two mile small winding dirt road from our cabin to the ‘Boathouse’ for an ice cream treat. My grandmother had given me the money, which I held onto carefully. As I walked the evening grew darker and darker, and the bats that are so prevalent at that time of night, buzzed my hair. I had always loved that, it was so etheric and lovely. Deep in thought again and one last time forgetting John’s message, I was not paying attention which it seems is customary for kids my age. The trees were dense, on both sides of the narrow path, oaks, maple, willow and elm, with just a few houses dotting the landscape, few and far between. Still, in those days it was safe to be most anywhere, there were no phones here in the woods, few cabins except the Boathouse even had electricity, and there were no thoughts ever of being molested, or harmed in any way. Life was different then.

As I turned the final bend on the path, lights from the Boathouse were clearly in sight. Lagging along I glanced into the woods beside me. There were two eyes fixated at me through the darkness.

At first I thought it a black bear. That was calming as we have a lot of them in the woods. I have never had a fear of these bears, I was told to not disturb them, and they have always returned the favor. But this was a much larger creature, standing upright, thinking back about 9 feet tall, and hiding behind a large oak. My view of the creature was obstructed because of all the brush, branches and leaves. I began walking faster as I strained to see further in its direction. Nothing moved except its eyes, which watched me pass, its focus was clearly fixed on me. Thinking I was doing it without being obvious, I slowly turned up the pace to running, praying it would not follow me. I hurled myself through the threshold of the Boathouse, and slammed the open door closed behind me. Excited, out of breath and almost incoherent, I told the man at the counter what I had seen. He sat me down and handed me a glass of water. He calmly dismissed what I had told him with some seeming logic, eliminating my fear. Still, and to this day I remember he had that strange look in his eyes, and he later had his son accompany me half-way back to our cabin, rifle in hand. I later learned the next day he visited our cabin and told my grandmother he had encountered such a creature himself. Years went by and I managed to live through adolescence and grow up and move to California. We would come east and visit the cabin on occasion, coming back to old digs. Married now, when approaching the aging Indian, we continued to ask his further impressions about Bigfoot. His stories never changed, maybe there was a new sighting he was willing to share, but the creature was still out there he told us, he had seen it many times, and he had walked among it. “Just be careful” he told us.

Over the years many stories of such a creature had been reported to authorities and talked about in circle among the residents of the lake. Generations changed and families grew, and yet they all knew to be aware of an elusive creature out there that many had seen, heard, and experienced. One story was told to me by the persons involved. They were just two kids at the time that had made the decision to sleep outside in sleeping bags, between their cabin and the lake front. Thinking it safe, (they were just outside their parents bedroom window) it was agreed they could do so this one night the summer of 1999. In the middle of the night they had a visitor. A large bear-like creature, 8 to 10 feet tall came out of the woods, walking on two hind legs. Its feet were enormous. It had a musty smell, not pleasant, and it observed everything around the area, especially interested in a lantern they had, but turned off, between them. Several times the creature circled their sleeping bags. Fearful of making a sound or getting up, they held their breaths and pretended to be asleep. Soon as the creature went back into the woods and they thought it safe because enough time had passed, they raced for the cabin and the warm security of their own beds.

Another story involves a mother and two children driving down the one lane winding pathway. It was late at night and they were just getting back from a high school football game. Out of the woods came another large creature, looked at them fleetingly, and escaped back into the depth of brush, not to be seen again. Of course the police was called once again, and her husband went back to check, but no creature was found. Samples of what looked like a possible large footprints were taken on the muddy road. Unfortunately because it had just rained the evidence proved inconclusive. Sad.

And so the stories went on and on. And I know they are true, as does everyone around, because Big John would not lie. This summer we arrived at the lake again. My husband Robert and I, relatives from Pennsylvania, and friends on the lake got together for fun and games. Old times again. Not much had changed at the lake, same houses, fewer in fact, as some had been taken down because of age and no longer being safe dwellings, usable. I was told that there would be no further building there. This is good. It is too lovely a place to build to capacity.

We took some pictures, went over to the inlet bridge, and took a boat ride across the lake. The Boathouse business is gone now, the building a private residence. Photos were taken, many in fact. Sometimes you can go back again! The following photo is one that was taken of our visit. Clearly there is a creature in it. If only there was time to explore again, be a kid, get through the woods unseen and unheard as John had done all those years ago. But the picture pretty much tells the tale. There is a Bigfoot on Lake Owassa. I know it because I have a picture and I guess that is important. But mostly I have known this all along. There is a Bigfoot on Lake Owassa because Big John Lonewolf told me so, and Big John Lonewolf would not lie.



Copyright @2009 Nancy Bradley All rights reserved.
From the Upcoming book: BE A GHOST BUSTER
(With Gold Rush Ghosts Paranormal Investigations)

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