Sali Sheppard-Wolford on her life with Bigfoot in 'Valley of the Skookum'

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Jeffery Pritchett. He is the host of The Church of Mabus radio show-- Bringing you unique personalities in the paranormal and high strange always and forever til death do us part. You can join his Facebook group, The Church Of Mabus Radio Show.

Great to be able to get into another Bigfoot interview. Which are always some of my favorites when it comes to the subject. Sali Sheppard-wolford's book "Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters with Bigfoot" is a gem. I am also doing a Bigfoot interview this Saturday night at my radio show The Church of Mabus with the Bigfoot Chicks. So it is a week full of Squatchery that I most assuredly can enjoy. Sali has a side to tell of this enigma that helps us to understand Bigfoot on many levels. That is much more than some wild and untamed ape like beast. A mystery always unfolding and I am glad to be able to present her perspective. I hope you enjoy this interview and thanks for your continued support to all our readers with their comments and feedback. I would also highly suggest stopping by the publishing house of the book, Pine Winds Press for more great rare titles on Sasquatch.

1. What was your inspiration behind writing your book "Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters With Bigfoot"?

SSW: My daughter, Autumn. For over twenty years I refused to talk to her about our days in the valley. When we moved to Oregon I vowed never to look back. I had lost the best friend I'd ever had there, and it hurt too much.

Autumn often asked me to tell her about things that went on when she was too young to remember, but I just couldn't do it. I'd hand her my box of letters, and mementos to look through instead of answering her many questions. Little did I know it would become her life's work. That happened in spite of me, not because of me, as it should have.

Many years went by before we were talking on the phone one day, and Autumn asked, "Mom, do you remember any strange animals on the trail behind our cabin?" It was like a dam broke, and I was swamped with memories that had been long buried. I was once again standing frozen while I looked into the eyes of someone that isn't supposed to exist. By his side stood a youngster who was much lighter in color.

I knew then that I had to tell my daughter everything that had happened back then. I wrote, Valley Of The Skookum to do just that. It wasn't meant to be published, but Autumn sent the first two chapters to Tom Blaschko at Idyll Arbor / Pine Winds Press. The rest is history.

2. Why do you think Bigfoot chose you to have encounters and communications with?

SSW: Again, my answer is: my daughter, Autumn. Her childhood experiences have given her a unique perspective when dealing with other witnesses, and her passion for the protection of Sasquatch is well known among her peers. I believe I was meant to teach her what I was taught through shared experiences and my journeys with Dream Walker. Unfortunately, that didn't happen until much later in life, but she learned much the same through other LTW, and her own efforts.

3. Could you tell us about some of your encounters that took place with Bigfoot?

SSW: I'll tell you about another. It happened the first day I ever saw the cabin.

My ex-husband and I went to check out an ad that had been placed in the local paper. The "rustic" cabin turned out to be an 11x33 foot wooden box with holes in the floor and a cold water faucet. But when we walked out to view the river I knew we would live there. When we turned to walk back, my ex yelled, "Race ya!", and disappeared into the woods.

I couldn't recall where we'd come out, so I took the most obvious path. I picked wild flowers as I walked, expecting him to do something to scare me, like jumping out from behind a bush and screaming. That was when I noticed the woods had become dark and completely quiet.

When I looked up, the sky was filled with ominous, rolling clouds. I shivered, and realized I was not alone, and the presence I felt was not that of my husband.

I screamed his name and turned to run, then a terrible smell wafted by on the sodden breeze. The woods erupted behind me, and I turned toward the sound of ripping foliage. As I watched, something huge and hairy disappeared into the trees.

Charged by waves of fear, I began running again, but tripped over a root and landed in the wet sand. I lay still, catching my breath. When I looked up, I noticed the sky had returned to normal. Puffy, white clouds stretched peacefully in a pale, blue sky. Birds twittered from hidden perches. The fragrance of Spring in the forest filled the air. The presence was gone.

I summoned up my last bit of courage and retraced my steps until I came upon the spot where I had dropped my flowers. Off to the side of the path it looked like a tank had gone through the thick underbrush. Then the destruction just stopped. I looked for a place where something that large could have gone farther, but there was none. Broken branches hung like dead snakes as I looked up into the overhanging limbs. I spied a tuft of brown hair caught on one. It was too far up for me to reach, but I finally managed with the aid of a stick. When I pulled it down, I winced at the rancid smell I would never forget. That's when it hit me just how huge that shape had been.

The funny thing was, it had run away just like I had. We had scared each other.

4. Will you share with us some of your spirit journeys with your Indian guide Dream Walker? Plus tell us who exactly Dream Walker is.

SSW: Dream Walker was an elderly Native American who came to me in my dreams. He took me on journeys into the past, and showed me the history of the local Sasquatch in our valley.

My education was in the form of events that had taken place when the Chinook Tribe populated the valley, and later when the white men (Passiooks) moved in to take over the land.

These journeys, for the most part, were quite disturbing for they showed me the fate of both the Natives, and the Sasquatch as they were pushed farther into the forest or violently disposed of.

I was given hope for the future of Sasquatch in the form of Dream Walker's last words to me: "Remember all I have shown you and teach your young ones. I will not be here to remind you. Make sure the children believe in what they cannot touch or see.

"To one of you a girl child has been born. She has the sunbeams in her hair. One day I will come to her as I have come to you. She too will learn the ways of our people and Skookum."

It did not occur to me at the time that he was describing my daughter, Autumn.

As to who Dream Walker is I will answer you thus... In one of our later journeys it was the present time. He led me down the path behind Youdi's cabin. I walked around a curve on the path between the huge, rotting logs that had been deposited by some ancient flood and there stood the adult Sasquatch (I now know) I had met on the path.

One minute he was there, then the next Dream Walker stood in his place. That answered the question for me, but I leave it to others to decide for themselves.

5. What is this about a UFO Crash being covered up in Orting, Washington and other strange phenomenon like spirit lights and a phantom train?

SSW: I discovered the crash of an Air Force plane in an old, Frank Edwards book (Flying Saucers-Serious Business pages 38-39) I checked out at the library. According to the pilot they had hit something, or something had hit them. Witnesses described two orange or yellowish objects following close behind the C-118. Troops were quickly brought in and all witnesses were silenced.

On April 1, at 7:44 P.M., 1959 the pilot radioed that they had been hit. Part of the tail assembly was later found in the hills north of Mt. Rainier, miles from the scene of the crash.

All four men aboard were killed.

Even 20 years later we had trouble finding anyone who would talk to us about all this. The one man who finally spoke disappeared shortly thereafter. When MIBs started following my friend, Youdi, and showing up at her house in town, we decided to keep our inquiries focused on Sasquatch.

After, Valley Of The Skookum, came out I was sent copies of newspaper articles from a reader. Apparently, info. on the crash had been de-classified the year after we moved to Oregon (1981). I'm told accounts can now be found in the archives of the Seattle Post Intelligencer online under, Historical UFO cases.

We were witness to several other light anomalies during our time there. There were the orange orbs, which had been seen by locals for many years, and there were the colors, moving light displays over the ridge across the river, but the strangest to me were the "firefly" like lights that surrounded the head and shoulders of the Sasquatch at night.

One night I was looking out the kitchen window and saw the tall, dark form of a Sasquatch walking down the path toward the river. Surrounding his head and upper torso were tiny, twinkling white lights. When I tapped on the window, the lights went out like someone had flipped a switch, and he was swallowed in darkness.

The phantom train is a local legend in those parts. The road we lived on used to be a railroad line that brought coal down from the mines up closer to Mt. Rainier to the coke ovens (still there) where the tracks still run parallel to the main highway. When the mines closed, they ripped up the tracks and made our road.

I never put much stock in this legend until we had our own encounter with what I believe was the train one night when my parents were up visiting from Calif. They had taken my family, and a couple of friends out to dinner in the town of Puyallup. Our two friends drove there in a separate car.

On the way home, what we thought was our friends drove up behind us at a rapid rate of speed with their brights on. I could tell my father was getting nervous, and was having trouble keeping the Cadillac on the road. He make a sharp turn into our downhill drive with the other car right on his bumper. I was hopping mad that our friend was driving so recklessly, and vowed to have a few choice words with him.

At the same moment that my father turned off the road, I looked back. There were not two headlights behind, but one huge, yellowish one. I bolted from the back seat when the car stopped with the intention of confronting whoever was driving that vehicle. But there was nothing on the road. Nothing! There wasn't even the sound of a vanishing engine in the still night air.

Sitting off to the side of the drive was our friend's car. It was obvious from the fogged up windows that they had been making use of our "lovers lane" for some time.

6. Could you tell us about your children's books and especially about the one that explains Bigfoot?

SSW: To date, I have written and illustrated a collection of 15, Color And Keep storybooks for children. The kids get to become involved in the story when they color the pages. Each story is in rhyming text. I have these printed, then bind them at home. They are only available through me. If anyone is interested in purchasing one they can email me at sali@oregonbigfoot.com

The story about Bigfoot is titled, My Secret Friend. It tells of a girl's friendship with a Sasquatch. I wrote it for my daughters when they were young because of all the Sasquatch activity around our cabin. The kids on the bus used to tease my middle daughter, Amber, because we had "monsters" at our house.

7. Autumn Williams the author of Enoch and you experienced many Bigfoot encounters between the two of you correct? Would you be willing to share some that took place with you both at the same time? Or one of hers if not?

SSW: I would rather not speak for my daughter, but I will relate some details of the encounter I spoke of earlier. It was a daylight meeting from about 20 feet away. We were searching for sticks to burn because we city folks had forgotten about firewood when we moved to the country (duh!).

We came around a bend on one of the trails behind our cabin and standing in the dappled shade of the trees were an adult Sasquatch, and his much smaller companion. I couldn't have moved if I'd wanted to. With my three-year-old daughter by my side, I stood frozen in place until the adult broke eye contact. He cocked his head and looked down at the fur coat I was wearing as if to say, " What kind of animal ARE you?"

At that point my instincts kicked in. I spoke softly when I told Autumn her to, "turn around and walk, honey, don't run". When she was safely out of sight, I turned and followed. The two Sasquatch never moved.

When we returned to our cabin, we crawled into bed. My husband was livid when he came home from work because there was no wood to burn. I told him we were sick because I had no other excuse for being in bed. I did not remember that meeting on the trail for over 20 years.

What I remember most is the eyes. Full of intelligence. They were about twice the size of my own, and no whites were visible. The color was brown, but they had a greenish tint, and were covered with a sort of convex lens like a cat. They were not the eyes of an animal. I had the feeling they looked deep into my soul.

Most of my family, and several of our neighbors had encounters during the time we lived in the valley. These are described in Valley Of The Skookum.

8. If you could describe the origins of Bigfoot and exactly what they are in terms of their origins. What would you say?

SSW: If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that they are a type of prehistoric man who has morphed into the form we see today. Some say they are a form of ape, but I don't agree. The two beings I saw were hairy people. They did not have the stooped posture, flattened face, or coned head described by some, nor (during this meeting) was there the pungent scent Sasquatch is famous for.

Some claim Sasquatch are the missing link. I don't agree with that either. If anything, it could be that WE are the missing link. Sasquatch are capable of existing in the wild, as our ancient forebearers were. We are the only "animals" on this planet who require all the trappings of society to stay alive.

Lloyd Pye, in his book, Everything You Know Is Wrong, answers many of my own questions regarding this subject. If nothing else, he makes a person think.

9. What is a Skookum exactly? Is it a place or another name for Bigfoot? Also do the Bigfoots have names that they wish to be called by?

SSW: Skookum is the Chinook word for Sasquatch. I believe it means big/strong, as in reference to a man.

I would imagine since Sasquatch have language they are also capable of understanding some of ours to a certain extent. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they called each other, or us, by name. Therefore, names like monster or creature could be offensive to them.

Sasquatch should be treated with respect like any other race on this planet, not hunted like animals. If someone thinks they don't have a language, check out Ron Moorehead's work on the Sierra Tapes.

10. How do you feel about the Bigfoot UFO connection? A lot of people scoff at that in the field angrily. But I don't have a problem with it really. If Native American shamans talk to the star people. Why wouldn't Bigfoot? Your thoughts on this?

SSW: I've thought long and hard on this question. I don't know that there is a connection, but I wouldn't rule it out. The fact that we experienced both, along with many other anomalies, during our time in the valley could lead one to that conclusion, but the fact that so many strange things happened in one place could be caused by something else entirely. There are so many things that science seems to ignore, or can't explain.

I've looked into the possibility of a vortex in that area, or a junction of ley lines. Native Americans have looked at certain areas near Mt. Rainier as sacred for centuries. They know Skookum roam the forests there. Kenneth Arnold reported flying saucers not far from where we lived.

The publisher of the book is highly worth checking out for many other books on Bigfoot and more at http://pinewindspress.com/

About the Author and book

Author of a series of children s book, including one that explains Bigfoot. This is her first book for adults, which she wrote for her grown daughter (and Bigfoot researcher), Autumn Williams, to describe what happened when Autumn was growing up in Orting, Washington between the ages of 3 and 6.

Four years of encounters with a group of Bigfoot in Orting, Washington. Investigations of Bigfoot and other strange phenomena in the area. In addition to the Bigfoot encounters, Sheppard-Wolford describes her spirit journeys with the Indian guide, Dream Walker, and investigations of other strange phenomena near Orting, including an old UFO crash where the old newspapers reporting the crash have mysteriously disappeared and spirit lights that appeared on the ridge above the river.