Trail Camera Check Leads to Ape Canyon Bigfoot History

There's something undeniably thrilling about watching a fellow researcher head into the woods with nothing but a good ear and a hunch. That's exactly what unfolds in this latest upload from Steve Searches, and honestly, it gave me chills right from the jump. Steve pulls up to what he calls "the squatching area" and immediately starts hearing something moving around in the trees. No thermal camera, no fancy equipment, just him and his instincts. He mentions hearing gunshots in the distance from a gravel pit, but there's definitely something else going on closer to him. The crackling of branches, a squirrel getting agitated, and a branch visibly moving in the brush. Classic signs that something with a little more weight than a squirrel was moving through the area. What he does find is some bear scat, which is interesting but probably not what was making all that noise. He also notices that some spider webs that had been undisturbed for weeks have been torn through, suggesting whatever was moving through there was sizeable enough to break through them. Steve sets up a couple of trail cameras in the area, hoping to catch whatever was lurking around. By the time he made it about 50 yards down the trail, whatever it was had vanished. His best guess? A deer or possibly a lone elk, though he notes there's plenty of elk sign in the area. Honestly, I'm not entirely convinced, but that's why the cameras are rolling. Now, here's where the video gets really interesting for anyone who loves the history of Sasquatch research. Steve takes a moment to talk about one of the most legendary encounters in Bigfoot lore, the Ape Canyon incident of 1924. For those who might not know the full story, a group of gold miners, including Fred Beck, were working a claim in a canyon on the south side of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. According to their accounts, they were attacked by a group of large, ape-like creatures that besieged their cabin for most of the night. The miners fired back, reportedly killing at least one of the creatures, and eventually fled the area. The canyon was renamed Ape Canyon after the incident, and the story has become one of the foundational pieces of Sasquatch history. Steve points out that he was actually in Kelso, Washington, which is the town those miners called home. He highly recommends checking out the work of researcher Marc Myrsell, who has done what Steve calls the most thorough research on the Ape Canyon incident ever conducted. Myrsell has not only located remnants of the original cabin but has also tracked down descendants of the miners who were involved, some of whom didn't even know they were related to the famous encounter. That's the kind of deep-dive genealogical and historical research that really moves the needle in this field. The video wraps up with a lighter moment as Steve stops for coffee and asks the barista if she believes in Bigfoot. Her response, a pretty firm "no" accompanied by what Steve describes as a "maniacal laugh," is honestly kind of hilarious. You have to wonder what was going through her mind at that moment. All in all, this is a solid watch for anyone who enjoys the process of fieldwork, the history of Sasquatch research, and a good laugh at the end. Steve's casual, no-frills approach to investigating is refreshing, and his reverence for the historical encounters that have shaped this field is something every researcher can appreciate. Definitely worth checking out.