Interview with Ian-Connor Espinosa regarding an Eighteenth century Bigfoot Encounter                                                     

1. Are you a Mormon?

Yes, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The term Mormon is a nickname as is the term LDS, which are both okay to use when referring to my religion.


 

2.Is this site connected with the Mormon Church?
No, absolutely not! This is my site, based upon my research and writing. I'm not promoting or distracting from the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


3. Do all Mormons (LDS) believe this theory?
This is really a non-issue. As a Mormon I can honestly say that this has no doctrinal significance. 99% of Mormons don't know about this experience of David Patten and frankly it doesn't matter. This story is an oddity. There is no further documentation that I'm aware of that sheds any further light on how David Patten felt about this experience or how it effected him. He was killed (the first Martyr of the church) a few years after this experience. I have no record of him discussing this with any other church official. I also have no record of any church official every commenting on this story, or offering any further light on the subject of Cain being Bigfoot. It seems to be an odd footnote in the history of the LDS church.

4. Is this pure fiction or an actual account?
I found this story by studying the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I thought to myself that this unique "Mormon " legend would provide a strong basis for a fiction treatment. So I started to write.

Here are the facts according to David Patten.
1.He was coming home through the wilderness late in the evening
2.He saw a hairy man (very tall)
3.He spoke with him
4.The man said he was Cain
5.He commanded him to leave in the name of the Savoir
6.The man (Cain) left.

THE ENCOUNTER                                                                      

(1835)†
The hooves of the laggard, old, brown mule crushed the leaves lying gently on the autumn trail, which descended and stretched east into the thicket of dense trees outside Paris, Tennessee. Trying to ignore the odd, unhorse like motion of this beast of burden as it carried him home, David W. Patten focused on the trifling, crunching, rustling sound. The resonance from the rustled leaves was ever so slight to David's perceptions as he took cursory note of the hickory and sycamore trees that painted the hilly landscape. All else was quiet and calm on each side of this rutted trail. David was a burly man for his era, 5'11 and 195 pounds. He dressed as a gentleman and sat handsomely in the saddle, despite the homely mule. Draped over the back hindquarters of the mule, hung a small black leather bag, which contained a journal, a Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.


As the evening ushered the daylight away, David reflected upon the light fog that had greeted him that morning, and the cool fall air that now shook the color out of the leaves. Occasionally, he would see the barren branches of the Dogwood tree, and he thought of how the tender, white, petals looked in the spring. Interrupting this pleasant scene, the mule periodically fluttered with feigned exhaustion, which caused David to give the mule a sharp pinch with his legs and boots. Continuing in solitude, he thought of his day in Paris. He had met with a relative of Abraham Smoot, his stepfather, and had told him about the restoration of God's church on earth, the Book of Mormon and about the Prophet Joseph Smith. Unfortunately, the stigma of the "Mormonites" as they were called, had preceded David and the meeting was without success.


David now thought of home, and of the times away from home because of missionary work. Without regret, but with reflection, he let these images fade away into the recesses of his mind. His perception of sassafras and sycamore trees, strangled by kudzma and sumac vines on each side lessened as the trail narrowed, and the thick brush encroached upon him. The mule knew the way home and needed no prompting of the reins. David's hands rested on the horn of his saddle, and he focused on the bobbing head of the mule leading the way. The rustling of the large leaves and the pounding of the dirt, descended in a harmony of monotony and David was lost in pointless attention to the trail being engulfed from his view underneath the mule's front legs. The paralyses of his perception broke, as he noticed an increase in the intensity of the sounds that accompanied him on his trek. The leaves rustled more intently, and the audible sounds of the single mule making passage were joined by something else traveling a similar course.

Becoming aware that he was not alone sent a superficial shiver down his back. But his alarm was not great enough to open his perceptions into a wide panorama. He tensed up slightly as he took slow inventory of the possible reasons for his inclination that he was not alone. Not knowing why, David, disregarded any notion that a creature could make such sounds, even though a bear could produce a frightful rumble in the woods. He wondered if a renegade band of Cherokee or Shawnee Indians would descend upon him. Henry County was formed in 1821, brokered from Indians. Paris sat in the middle of Henry County occupied by only a thousand people. Indian attacks were rare, but the possibility still entered his mind. At any rate, whatever it was, he somehow felt a human presence, yet he still did not look around him, he just stared forward, astonished not so much by fear, but by intrigue. While in the midst of resolving these feelings, with shallow evidence to rely upon, he noticed a smell, a pungent odor that rose above the fresh familiar smell of the white pine. The odor smelled of rotting meat, slowly decaying for a millennium.

Then suddenly he looked to his right, and there, next to him, in the twilight of the evening, he beheld a personage walking next to him. It was not so dark in the evening to mistake any man or creature for what it was. But this odd figure puzzled David. The first order of business was to ascertain what this was. This assessment took into consideration the shape and motion of the being traveling a parallel course with him. It was man-like in features and walked in an erect upward stride, denoting a human. However, its head was even with David's shoulders as he sat very tall upon his mule. A mule that ignored his master's guest. The sum of his features was calculated and although there were anomalies, he was not a beast, nor an Ape, even though David had never seen an Ape before. It was a man, a very large man.

David observed that this man had no clothing, but was covered with thick dark hair, yet not so thick that he could not see the dark skin that lay underneath the hair. From a distance, in noon day light, this figure could be mistaken for a bear or some other hairy creature, but not a man, as David could so closely observe. Surprised at this oddity, he now questioned the reality of this experience. The subtly of this encounter and the reason why this being had joined his trek, slowly absorbed with alarm and baptized him in mild disbelief. Yet, these feelings were pushed down deep within him as he retreated from the precipice of panic, covering his reactions with calmness, assessing the situation from a broad perspective.


This hairy man seemed unconcerned with David. He walked intently, never looking at David, but remained in a fixed stare directly ahead of him. When David further assessed the close proximity of this strange personage, knowing that he could lean to his right and touch the hairy shoulder of his uninvited companion, he knew that he needed to determine the nature of this encounter. He wondered if this was a spirit, or a vision. David looked down to the ground from his mule and observed the man's large feet. They were not covered with skin, but were bare. His feet touched the ground and moved the earth and leaves as he walked. He was not a spirit, but perhaps something else.


These assessments were made slowly as the two traveled for several miles without any manifestation or gesture to break the solemn trek into the thicket of the woods. The reason for such a long interval of silence on this passage with an unknown beast would make this story seem absurd when he later recounted it. However, the slow simmer of panic twisted time, and held his rationality captive. Even though David determined this was man, he didn't have any inclination to greet him as he would any other human upon the face of the earth, whom he might meet traveling in the bantam hills of Tennessee. Then, finally, in this surreal setting, noting that he was aware and awake, he sensed that the being was aware of him, but had not the desire or perhaps the ability to communicate to him. With curiosity juxtaposed to his caution, he determined that he should speak to the hairy man. He turned and looked directly at the man's large head with seemingly no neck. He asked with careful lucidity,


"Who are you?"


"I'm Cain, who slew his brother Abel." Its voice was low, meek, but the stringent matter-of -fact accent had an undercurrent tone of wrath.


Before David processed what was said, the mere fact that this being replied was somewhat shocking, it revealed the intelligence of the man and proved that this was not an Ape, nor however, could it be categorized with the rest of the human race. This declaration riveted David in a manner that he had never experienced. The world around slowed down and all sound fell into silence. His vision narrowed and it seemed as if he were looking down two, long, narrow, tunnels, with the parameters of life taken from his view. Teetering deep within himself he mentally swooned backward, almost becoming lost in the encroaching dementia from outside his faculties. Yet, he was aware that he was still moving and the man was still traveling unconcerned next to him. He broke through his feelings of dread and gripped the horn of his saddle with his hands, reviving himself.


Not understanding nor accepting the full impact of what the man had said, David felt compelled to query him further.

"Where do you dwell?"

In the same prosaic tone, the man replied, "I have no home. I'm a wanderer in the earth and travel to and fro. I am Misery, a creature without sanctuary. I have earnestly sought death many times, but I cannot die!"


"Why are you here?" David automatically asked.


"My mission is to go to and fro in the earth and destroy the souls of men."


Finally the fog of shock and astonishment lifted; David could now discern the spiritual effects of his encounter. As demonic forces pressed upon his spirit, David feared, like Brother Joseph, that the power of darkness would descend upon him and crush him. Without hesitation he exercised the right and privilege as a holder of the Holy Priesthood of God.

David sat straight in his worn saddle, looked directly at the beast and said,

"I rebuke you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the virtue of the Holy Priesthood which I hold."

Showing no malice and without looking at David, the man cowardly turned to his right, and walked away, blending into the thicket of the woods. And David was once again left to himself.

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