Written By: Ken HulseyIn the time since I last wrote about both the "Borrego Sandman" and the "Fontana Speedway Monster" I have managed to stumble upon more reported sightings of both creatures while doing research on another. Not wanting to proceed with an article about another of California's legendary creatures, and not wanting to add to the other two articles, I have opted to write a follow-up article instead.
It seems that the Bigfoot that reportedly inhabit California's southern regions have been a lot more active over the decades than I first realised.
Here are a bunch of stories that I happened to come across while doing my research:
Borrego Sandman
As I had mentioned in my previous article, the Borrego Sandman, is said to inhabit the rather desolate desert areas of Southern California that reach from the Mexican border to the San Bernardino Mountains to the north.
It may come to the surprise of those who follow stories about Bigfoot and other mysterious creatures that the first report of these creatures by European settlers did not come from either the East Coast, Midwest, or Pacific Northwest. It actually came from southern California in 1769, when Spanish priests founded the first mission in San Diego. Local Gabrieleno Indians told the padres about "harry devils" that lived nearby. In fact, according to written accounts, the Indians actually lived in fear of these large, foul-smelling, "wild-men" and refused to anywhere near their reported home called "towis puki" (camp of the devil) on the southern bank of the Santa Ana River.
The area of "Deadman Hole" near Holcomb Village, just west of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, was a water stop on the old Stagecoach lines during the mid to late 1800s and the reported site of several alleged murders that were blamed on Bigfoot. In 1876 one the passengers who ventured out of the safety of the coach while it's horses stopped to take a drink reported seeing a large, naked, harry "thing" watching him from behind some scruff.
After that, several people met their demise at the site, either strangled or beaten to death by an unknown person or thing. Of course, the monster got the blame, whether it actually did the killings or not.
In March 1888 two local hunters, Charles Cox and Edward Dean, set out to hunt down the monster and put an end to all the murders. According to a report in the San Diego Daily Transcript (newspaper) the pair found, and killed, what they were looking for, a creature that was described as a gorilla, with the face of an Indian, and fangs like a bear. The body of the creature was transported to San Diego where it was to go on public display, though before it did, it mysteriously disappeared.
In April of 1876, the San Diego Union reported on an encounter with a "missing link" near Warner's Ranch, also west of Anza-Borrego, by a young man named Turner Helm. According to Helm the creature had dark fur like a bear and a face like an American or Spaniard.
Moving forward in time now to 1964, when a father and son were pelted with rocks by a"shaggy" creature while hiking near Escondido, then later that very same summer, a juvenile Sandman was blamed for the death of three cows on the MGM Ranch near Jamul, again to the west of Anza-Borrego. This time the creature left behind plenty of large human-like tracks in the soft dirt.
In 1985 a set of large, human-like, tracks were found in the mountains near Anza. A local hiker, who reported the story to the BFRO, noted "I have hunted that area and hiked around there over the years. Many times I have been out there and knew or had some feeling of another presence. I don't mean like small animals or anything of that sort; just some unexplained feeling that someone or something has been watching me or following me."
It seems that the Borrego Sandman has had a long and very interesting history for sure.
The Fontana Speedway Monster
As I mentioned in my prior article, the "Speedway Monster" was seen in the area of the Mickey Thompson's Fontana International Dragway during the 1960s. What I didn't know was that this creature who reportedly wandered the fields near the track and rummaged through it's garbage also had a violent side.
In July of 1965 a young boy was attacked by the monster as he walked home. According to the account the creature surprised the lad by jumping out from behind some bushes. As he tried to wrangle away from the monster his clothes were torn to shreds. The child manged to get loose and run away, the monster reportedly didn't give chase.
On August 27th of that same year a young woman named Jerri Mendenhall was attacked while in her parked car on a residential street in Fontana by a mud-covered monster that smelled "like a dead animal". The creature reportedly crabbed her through the open drivers-side window. Frightened, the young woman put the car in gear and stepped on the gas to escape. Again, leaving the monster in the dust.
Oh, and here is a little history. Back in the 1800s an area between what is now the towns LaVerne and Pomona, near Fontana, was known to local Indians as "Toybipet" ("devil woman who was there) the reported hunting ground of a female Bigfoot.
See Also: The Fontana Speedway Monster (1951 - 1992) - California The Monster State - Part 3 / The Borrego Sandman (1939 - Present) - California The Monster State - Part 2 / Classic Tales From Cryptozoology - Mass Flying Dinosaur Sightings In Texas Circa 1976 / The Long Beach Sea Monster (1909) - California The Monster State - Part 1 / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #6) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #5) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #4) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #3) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #2) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #1) / Young Film Makers Taking On The Scottish Sasquatch In BROKEN SPECTRE / Bigfoot Movie News - Nightbeasts Premiere Info - The Bloody Rage Comes To DVD / Two Terrified Kids Unleash THE DEVIL AT LOST CREEK / Is It The Great Pumpkin? Or The MOMO Monster? / An Update On Jamie Belty, The LEGEND OF GRASSMAN Crew Member Who Was Assaulted With A Hammer / A Call Out To All Fans To Help THE LEGEND OF GRASSMAN Crew Member After Assualt / The New Poster For James Baack's BLOODY RAGE OF BIGFOOT - Cast And Crew On MNBRT Radio / Bigfoot Pummels Both Peter Graves And Mr Lobo / New Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Brian Jaynes BOGGY CREEK / Bill Barton's Modern Bigfoot/Western 'Blood Forest' Comes To DVD / Fred Olen Ray Jumps Into The Bigfoot Movie Craze With "Sasquatch vs Chupacabra" / New Toy Tuesday! A Sexy Princess, Ash, Bigfoot, The Mummy And The Starship Enterprise / Two New Clips From Jordan Blum's Bigfoot Horror, 'Savage' / 'Savage' To Premiere At Horrorfind Weekend In Maryland / The Bloody Rage Of Bigfoot - Preview Clips, Nasty Church Letters And Sequel News / The Bloody Rage Of Bigfoot - Behind The Scenes Shots / The Brand-New Teaser Trailer For Brian Jaynes 'Boggy Creek' / “The Legend of Boggy Creek” Director Charles B. Pierce Dead At Age 71 / And Yet....More Photos From 'The Bloody Rage Of Bigfoot' / Cryptozoological Crazyness - Bigfoot An Escaped Slave - Possibly Has Bone In It's Penis / Vancouver Sasquatch Photo The Real Deal Or Publicity Stunt?
