The Lake Minnewanka Wildman

[Sean V]

The Lake Minnewanka Wildman

By Sean Viala

Lake Minnewanka is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The information provided here was collected through a variety of sources, including: Archive Reports, Old Newspapers, & Local Legends. The lake is seen here in an old post card (a drawing), circa 1905. Up to about this time, it was known as "Devils Lake" (shown on the image), which may have been associated with the term "Indian Devils" - now known as sasquatch.

The first indication of the creature that became known as

[skeeterbaymac]

Sean:

  Very good post! I enjoyed it and found it very interesting!

Thanks!

[Ray Ford]

Sean,

I also enjoyed, and was intriqued by, your post.

A couple or three things:
--l. This was not, apparently, a sighting or encounter by one person.  A number of people over a period of time encountered this creature under different sets of circumstances.  Some of them were experienced outdoorsmen.  That tends, for me, to lend credibility to the reports.
--2. The encounters produced some statistics.  The person who had the "gumption" to check the height of the limb under which he saw the creature duck established that it was over 7 feet tall.  The prints were measured at 19 inches.  I wonder how that ratio of height to foot length checks out against people?  (I just did a simple ratio calculation of 72" to 12"--a person six feet tall with a 12" track--equaling 96" to X and came to a value of over 16" for the X.)
--3. This creature may or may not have been hit by some of the shots.  He certainly was by the lever action; therefore, it does not take an enormous bore size and power charge to do it damage.  He may have been crippled by one or all of those three shots and may have eventually died from the effect.  He may have survived the wounds in the short run, but the crippling may have inpaired his ability to survive in the wild in the long run.  There is, of course, the possibility that the lameness was not caused by the shots.

In addition, there is no indication in these reports that he was part of a group: he seems to have been a lone individual.  Does this suggest that less than dominant males may be driven out of groups to become loners--loners that move into new territory and have a bad disposition from sexual deprivation?

[Ray Ford]

Sean,

Consider this a second addition to my above post.  In addition to the things that I mentioned that make your post intriquing, there is the matter of diet.  

Three or four points:
--l. The creature was located near a lake and had apparently broken the ice on the lake and had apparently, given the fish bones near his tracks, eaten fish.  
--2. The two dogs that were killed were apparently not eaten.
--3. The creature was spotted near a trap line.  Could he have been attracted to either trap bait or trapped animals?
--4. The creature was spotted observing two horses.  Was this out of curiousity or an interest in them as a food source?

If these creatures actually exist, and if they are decidedly humanoid, I would expect them to be omnivores--like us.

[Ray Ford]

Sean,

Consider this a third addition to the above.  

I re-did my height-to-foot ration calculation with the unknown/"X" as the height rather than as the length of the foot.  With 72 inches to 12 inches--a person six feet tall with a twelve inch track--equal to X inches to 19 inches--a Big Foot with a nineteen inch track, the value of X, or the height, comes out to 118 inches or nine feet.  This accords with many estimates of height given by persons who have reported sightings or encounters.  

No one knows, of course, whether the ratio of height to foot length on these creatures, assuming they exist, is the same as for people.  And, of course, that ratio varies from person to person.

[Micahn]

Nice read