A cryptid is a creature that has been sighted but not scientifically documented to be real. The majority of Pacific Northwest cryptids originate from nature-related areas. They often also originate from Native American folklore.
The most common cryptid coming from the PNW is, of course, Bigfoot, but there are many others. Let’s get into it.
Starting off strong with the star of the cryptids: Bigfoot, or alternatively, Sasquatch. The first sighting was in the 1800s. Native Americans have a long history of folklore about hairy men/giants in the woods, and over time he became a symbol of forests. Sam Lehman, an Instructional Assistant here at Lincoln, thinks that “he’s just a guy.”
There has been talk of a nine-foot-tall hairy looking monster with batwings, spotted near Mt. St. Helens, dating back to the 1980s and nicknamed “Batsquatch.” Some say it has the ability to affect car engines, and Ms. Karp, an IEP teacher here at Lincoln, says that “Batsquatch is a nice upgrade.”
Bigfoot also has an albino aquatic brother seen in Conser Lake, Oregon since the 1960s. Locals say that the cryptid looks like Sasquatch but with white fur, showing the possibility of the Conser Lake Monster being both a water and land cryptid. Unfortunately, this cryptid likes to inhabit a privately owned lake, so not much has been researched.
Next up is Wally, a Loch Ness Monster adjacent cryptid sighted in Wallowa Lake. Wally is said to be involved in a Romeo and Juliet-esque Native American story around the 1800s.
Two tribes (Nez Pierce and Blackfoot) were at war and yet the daughter of the Nez Pierce chief and the son of the Blackfeet chief fell in love. Local legend said that one night they took a canoe out onto the lake in hopes of running away, but then a monster emerged from the lake and swallowed them.
Hence, the Romeo and Juliet comparison. To this day, the Nez Pierce tribe refuses to head out on that lake. Other, more recent sightings have occurred as well, with several locals saying they have spotted a sea monster of sorts many times over the years.
The lake is 270 feet deep, above average depth, which makes these stories even more likely. Maybe Wally and Nessie – nickname for the Loch Ness Monster – are long-distance friends. We may never know.
Lastly is the Thunderbird, a bird that runs through several Native American and First Nation myths and has been seen across several states and up into Canada.
The Thunderbird is a large bird, said in some legends to be so large it could carry a whale. When it flaps its wings, thunder strikes and rain falls from its tail. The Thunderbird is said to be the origin of thunderstorms, and the igneous rock thunderstone is often associated with its eggs in select mythology.
A significant attack occurred in 1977 when a 10-year-old boy was snatched by two large birds, one of which picked the boy up at flew him 30 feet in the air before his mother ran and saved him. Several eyewitnesses claimed they watched it, along with a plainly traumatized boy in the aftermath.
Even if you don’t believe in cryptids, it’s hard to deny that their origin stories are interesting and unique. Kaitlyn Nowak (‘29) says that she “doesn’t think they exist” but likes to “believe in them when I’m alone in the woods at night.”
The thing about cryptids is that they have been around for a long time and will continue to be. The blue whale and platypus would have fallen under cryptid until they were scientifically documented in the 1700s.
Obviously, in today’s world something like that is less likely, but the ocean is deep and the land is wide. Who really knows?