Episode Details

Moose writes "When I was around 9 or 10 years old, back in 1989 – 1990 in Jackson Wyoming where I was born and raised. I had a friend who lived down the street from me who got a horse for his birthday. So, I saddled up my horse and we hit the trail.

Back then kids like us could take off for a few days before anyone started worrying. I think I remember that we rode those poor horses all over that country for 3 days. The second and third day we went way up Cache Creek Canyon to see how far we could make it and we got to a little spring where a tree had fallen across the trail and we realized our horses could jump over it so we must have ran them back and forth over that dam thing for an hour until the horses were all lathered up so we decided to unsaddle and let them cool off and we all drank from that spring.

I remember clearly that my horse had his ears pinned forward and would give a little snort now and again, clearly concerned about something off in the timber, but I couldn't see anything. Then I smelled something awful, a rotting flesh mixed with a wet dog smell. The first thing that came to my mind was it must be a dead elk because that canyon is a migration route for elk in the fall and spring so I told my buddy that I was going to go check it out to see if I could acquire some ivory. So, I went up to the base of this cliff that was about 60, maybe 70 foot tall and trees blocked the area between where my friend and the horses were and myself. As I was scanning the area I looked over to my right and this giant black man walked around the base of the cliff.

The evening sun was behind me and the way the shadow played off the base of the cliff I could only see the top half of this man. Now, normally that would be cause for concern I suppose but, in my mind, it was another mountain man who decided to quit civilization and live off the land like in the old days. I had been with my dad and grandpa when we had met other men who would come down to stock up on supplies and then head right back up into the mountains, so I really just thought he was one of them. Yes, he was huge! But again, I was an ignorant little country boy who up to that point never met a black person before and the only thing I did know was what I saw on TV when we would watch the Packers play and I genuinely thought that black folks were bigger and usually better at sports then other folks and I was fascinated by the situation I found myself in and I wanted to meet this guy! LOL.

The man was enormous, with long dreaded black hair and fairly long beard that was silver up the middle of it. He was bald on the very top of his head and I remember that it looked raw or something because he had a big scar running the length of the top of his head and I remember thinking, man that looks like it must have hurt. Another thing I noticed was his head was fairly pointed as well. He was wearing what I thought was a black bear skin coat because it was pitch black hair covering his upper body, but I could see his massive shoulder muscles and biceps moving under the hair. He raised one arm and grabbed a little ledge of the cliff and kind of leaned into it and at that point I realized it wasn't a jacket he was wearing but in fact it was his own hair that thinned around the armpit and along his sternum and under his pecks.

Now like I said I was fascinated and had no feelings of being threatened and I wanted to ask this guy a bunch of questions, so I raised my hand and waved and said "howdy" I'll never forget the look he gave me; it was a look of annoyance. I knew the look well because I was an annoying kid back then. Then I asked, "what yuh doin?" still he did not respond and seamed like was more concerned about something else up the ridge because he would look up the ridge and study it for a bit then back at me and at one point he made a low growl, like I was in the way or something. I don't remember how long the encounter lasted but it see