Hominoid Braiding

  The presence of Hominoids/Forest People braiding horse manes has been a phenomena documented over the decades. Dr. Igor Burtsev of Moscow, Russia (International Center of Hominology) shared with me some of his experiences with horse hair braiding. His first experience with these braids occurred on his first expedition in 1965 Pamirs with Dr. Marie Jean Koffman a French Surgeon and one of the founding members of Hominology. He learned about and studied horse hair braiding of the Almasty . This was the regional name for the Russian Snowman, Yeti or Leshy (Forest dweller) of the northern Caucasus Mountains. The local farmers had reported the horse hairs have braid like weaving that they purported was the result of the Almasty.  My correspondence with Dr. Burtsev on this subject is below as taken from our e-mails. I had been contacted to write about a recent find in Garrison, Nebraska Memorial day weekend 2020, that is suspected braiding/weaving of a flag by a biped hominoid.   I wrote Dr. Burtsev to get his thoughts and experiences on horse hair braiding of the Forest People.

8/19/2020

Hello Igor,

I have attached a story that I thought would interest you. Please read, I was contacted to comment on the story and my thoughts are in the PDF.

You had told me about your first expedition with MJK 1965. You said you investigated a horse farm in “Konezavod”. There you examined horse braids. Would you have any pictures of those braids from that time? I am curious about your thoughts on this flag and the subsequent stories surrounding it.

You met Harriet here in Lincoln, when we had dinner before going to the Omaha Reservation. She has a museum here in Hastings, Nebraska and this flag will be an artifact on display.

8/22/20

Hi Rich,

 I'm sending you some pics of braids in manes, you to have imagination, how they plate them.

First I need to tell, that they start to plate the laces not from their beginning (bases), but from the ends of laces, making a small net of three-four laces and putting that knot into gaps between laces - upper and upper to the neck, and stopping, when it is difficult to put the knot into the gap between laces.

The humans do by the opposite manner^ they start to plate from the bases of hairs (laces) and plating to the ends of them.

Several photos attached. I studied this phenomena in many places, including USA and Canada, not only on MJK location and Azerbaijan on our side.

 The important is that you have found hairs, it's necessary to analyze them as minimum with microscope, if you don't have opportunity to study the DNA.

 My opinion: such is their (BFs) pranks, to plate the strips of the flags into the braids!

Good luck,

Igor, PhD (Hist)

 Igor,

I will be going to a presentation on this Flag on September 15th at the Museum and I will take pictures of it then

 Your research on the braiding is an enormous resource in the identification and understanding how these Hominoids create them.

 To clarify you use the term “plate”. Will you explain what you mean by plating? I want to be precise in my interpretation. You have given specific detailed explanations in how they create them. It is important that I get your explanation correct.

 I will suggest to Harriet that she get the hairs examined under a microscope. You are referring to the absence of a medulla as an identifying trait of hominoid hair. In the event that they can be authenticated then possibly a lab could test them. Dr. Ketchum comes to mind. Maybe she would be interested in them?

 Regarding your pictures sent are they all from your research in Russia? Is the older one black and white when you were with MJK in 1965?

 8/22/20

 Hi Rich,

As to using word "to plate", I understand that it was my mistake. I think, the proper word to use would be "to weave", not "to plate", "plaitng"

 Those b'w pics were taken by me in Azerbaijan in 1970th independently of Jeanne Kofmann. Though she inspired me with her finds yet of 1959 in Daghestan, bordered to Azerbaijan )here are three photos of her, no objections for using them too). They are numbered by 1. Numbers 2 are mine, of 1970-1975 in Talysh location, in Azerbayjan.

Numbered by 3 were taken mostly in MO, near Joplin, in 2005-2006 (the horse owner doesn't like to be disclosed, though doesn't object against publication.

Notice: we advised her to put a colour ribbon on the horse neck, and FPs inviewed them into the braid.

 Numbered by 4 - some were photographed in the Robins household in MI some in 2011-12.

Here are a couple of braids photos presented by Janice Carter, but I don't remember which ones exactly.

 Good luck to you and Harriett!

Igor

 Photo's Courtesy of Dr. Igor Burtsev 

International Center of Hominology 

Moscow, Russia

Hastings, Nebraska Bigfoot Crossroads Museum, Flag Induction Ceremony 9/15/2020

     I attended the Flag induction ceremony to the Bigfoot Crossroads Museum and was asked to be a guest speaker by curator Harriet Mcfeely. The Flag and the story surrounding the Village of Garrison, Nebraska is woven with a patriotic past and a convergence of unwittingly participants of Hominoid activity. The Flag was saved from a retirement ceremony that included its burning by what appears to be a divine intervention. The windy day (that is not at all unusual on the Nebraska plains) spared the Flag and brought it to the consciousness of the Garrison community. Harriet Mcfeely was gifted what maybe the most important artifact associated with Bigfoot since the Patterson/Gimlin film. The likely hood that this is a perpetrated hoax is minuscule considering every effort was made to explain its damage was weather related on that stormy night it was torn/cut and braided. The circumstances surrounding the stories that support something had been in and around Garrison and its cemetery were not fabricated and unsolicited up to the point when Harriet began investigating the facts.

  Through the lens of an observer the village residents of Garrison are the star witnesses to the sincerity and truthfulness of their experiences. Many are still undecided that this braiding of their cemetery flag was the work of a Bigfoot. Don Monroe spoke about the importance of this Flag and the braiding of horse hairs that he had encountered over the sixty years of his Bigfoot research. Don discovered the hand print in Lovelock Cave, Nevada and ranks this Flag among the greatest discoveries he has known. (See his interviews below that I conducted)

    I believe there is a greater meaning and purpose that this flag was chosen in Garrison cemetery and it may take years to interpret. Some of the hairs that had been woven into the braids were identified as cat hair. Was this done inadvertently by the Hominoid handling a cat before weaving the flag? Was it done as a joke on the researchers who would try and test them? Someone may have just left hairs on the flag when examining it. There are many layers to this Flag incident that I still need to sort out.  What I can say is I plan to visit the Museum again to wonder at this epic statement of our time here and now in America.  

Richard Soule HX Hominologist 

A Walk on the Weird Side: Bigfoot activity in Nebraska  

This is a chronicle of events that has been slowly escalating throughout central Nebraska for decades. 

On June 12, 2020, Margo Hlavac visited Hastings, Nebraska, to tour the Bigfoot – Crossroads of America Museum and Research Center. During my informational tours through our many exhibits, I often tell guests that the one word that stands out when folks share their Bigfoot stories with me is “weird.” Often times I have heard people say, “I heard something really weird,” or “I saw something really weird,” so this is a word that I really pay close attention to. As one friend said, “If something is weird, chances are it’s weird!” I have heard some very interesting “weird” stories about Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts, giants, and other things, and I really listen. So, when Margo came to our museum with a “weird” story to tell about an incident that had recently occurred in her small town of Garrison, Nebraska, population 54, I was all ears. 

The following is a true story of a well-used American flag that was flown in a small Nebraska town for many years. Its usage was limited to two days each year: Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The remainder of the year it was lovingly stored in a 3 X 5 home. 

However, this year the flag was flown an extra day because of a proclamation by President Donald Trump made to honor the many health care professionals and first responders working tirelessly across our country on behalf of our citizens who had contracted the COVID 19 virus. 

It was Jim Daro’s “Uncle George” Daro who donated the large flag (approximately 5’ X 8’) to the Garrison Cemetery Association in 1991. George has since passed away, but his entire family has continued the tradition he so proudly started of flying the flag.  

Each year, members of the Daro family join in the annual celebration. Several of them tend to the cemetery year-round, mowing the grass, trimming the trees and placing flags on the graves of veterans.  

Recent rains had “greened” the grass, and the flowers were in full bloom for the annual celebration. 

E.J. Hlavac raised the flag on the 30-foot pole about 7 p.m. on Friday night, May 22, of Memorial Day weekend. It was flown at half mast, situated about 15 feet from the ground. This was to designate respect for both the flag and the first responders being honored. 

It was Saturday afternoon about 5 pm. May 23, when Margo Hlavac, a cousin, noticed one of her chickens had died. As was her custom, she put the chicken in a box and took it to the creek that runs behind the cemetery, where she “recycles” the fallen fowl. She leaves their bodies near the creek for the raccoons and other animals to feast on. As she strolled by the cemetery, she couldn’t help but notice how beautiful everything looked.  

By this time, all of the tasks were completed and the flag was gently blowing in the breeze. She thought to herself: “The flag looks really pretty today.” It perfectly complimented the cemetery decor, with grass freshly mowed and trimmed and family members having placed flowers on each grave. For the moment, everything was peaceful, quiet and beautiful.  

For 29 consecutive years, the flag had flown proudly for the two-day weekend memorial stint. On this year, however, its tour of duty was shortened to approximately 36 hours. 

On Sunday morning. May 24, the flag was discovered torn to shreds, decimated some 36 hours after it had been raised and 15 hours after many had seen it intact. The red and white stripes that had been torn in two measured approximately 4 to 5 inches wide and torn into five or 6-inch strips, stretching in long strips across its blue background and white stars to the end of each strip. Near the blue background, two red and white strips were pulled together into long strips, stretching nearly to from one end to the other.  A few inches from the far end, a long knot roughly the size of a tennis ball was tied several times. Upon learning of its demise, the cemetery association promptly replaced the tattered flag with another for the remainder of the weekend.  

Jim Daro was outraged. He took the flag’s remains to Butler County Sheriff’s Department, where, upon inspection, Sheriff Ton Dion concluded it had either been damaged by extreme weather or misplaced good intentions.  

Later, on June 7, during a flag retirement ceremony in David City, Nebraska, members of the local VFW and American Legion chapters showed visitors the torn flag that had been braided on each end. 

Like the sheriff, Jim Daro initially believed the flag had fallen victim to the heavy storms that had visited the area that day. Upon further inspection, he noticed the tattered ends were braided. This confused him.  

VFW commander Larry Sabata offered a $200 reward to anyone with information concerning the flag’s decimation.   

The flag retirement ceremony June 7 was shorter than planned. More than 200 flags were scheduled for retirement and burning at the conclusion of the ceremony. Instead, strong winds made it unsafe to burn the retired flags. That part of the ceremony was rescheduled for Veterans Day, November 11. Because of this, the mysteriously braided flag was spared burning. Details about its unusual mutilation are well chronicled in the local newspapers, corroborating Marge’s “weird” story.  

On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, members of my Bigfoot Museum staff including myself drove to Garrison to investigate the strange braiding incident ourselves. Upon inspection, it became obvious to us the flag had been intentionally torn and braided into long strips with a long knot tied on each end. Sections of the strips were only about two inches long, measuring about ¼ the size of a pencil. These sections were also braided, with small knots on each end. Several strings were braided together with red and white strings also knotted on the ends. 

Adding to the mystery of the flag, museum staff members Kenny and Robin discovered eight hairs attached to the flag. They were a light reddish-brown in color and measured about an inch long each. Their texture was soft, with shapes both straight and slightly curly. I inquired of Jim and Margo whether either had a dog or cat that may have left the hairs. Both said their pets’ coats were of a different color than the hairs found on the front and back of the flag. The hairs remain a mystery. 

While in Garrison, museum member Kenny and I interviewed several residents of the small community who had witnessed “strange happenings” locally over Memorial Day weekend.  

Maxine, “Max,” is a lady who lives across from the city park. Walking its one square block each morning, she routinely tidied the park by collecting any broken twigs and branches she came upon that had fallen the previous night. While embarking on her usual stroll around 8 a.m., Sunday, May 24, she came upon a large limb measuring about four or five inches in diameter that had been snapped off a tree near its trunk. It originated some 15 feet above the ground, but following its break was now about three feet above ground. Near the end of that limb were five or six lower hanging branches, each about five feet in length,  that were still growing from the limb. The branches were grouped together and braided to the end of the primary limb.  

The next thing she noticed were two metal cages that had been placed near two newly planted trees. The cages were placed to protect the little trees from nicks caused by mowing the lawn. However, on this Sunday morning, the two cages had been uplifted and tossed three or four feet away from the sapling trees, coming to rest near the big tree with braided branches.  

The strangest thing about the dangling broken limb was that it was still attached to the main trunk and seemed to represent the only observable broken limb in the entire park. Not a single leaf seemed out of place otherwise.  

Jolene Daro, Jim’s wife, also reported a “weird happening.” Her daughter and granddaughter were walking near the cemetery to visit her at home, about a one-and-one-half block stroll. While walking, they heard what they described as a terrible sound, half howl, half growl. It terrified them, as it was unlike any sound they had heard before. It was certainly not the familiar sound of a dog or coyote. Too afraid to walk, they called upon Jolene to pick them up in her car.  

Though they have called Garrison home their entire lives, both walkers said they had never heard anything like that guttural growl before.  

The next strange incident that occurred in Garrison was not terrifying, just weird. Another resident, who has asked to remain anonymous, related this story. In front of her house grow circular round bushes on each side of the porch measuring about three feet in height. On two to three occasions, she discovered the bushes were mashed down, as if someone or something had sat on them. Only who? 

Since our investigation, our research team has drawn several conclusions as to the origins of the braided flag. On these points, we all agree. Firstly, we are convinced the flag was deliberately braided. Its condition had nothing to do with high winds. These braids are nothing new to us. We’ve seen many like them featured in an exhibit at our museum. They can be seen in photos of multiple horses whose manes were mysteriously braided with knots and loops by unknown sources, which some of us believe may in fact be Bigfoot.   

Our braided exhibit was donated to us by Don Monroe of Lima, Montana. A researcher/explorer for more than 60 years, he has researched the phenomenon of horse braiding for more than 40 years.  

Secondly, the light reddish-brown hair found on the flag intrigues us. We could find no cats, dogs, or other animals with that color who may have contributed the mystery hairs. We’re currently looking for a reputable DNA expert to examine the hairs and determine their origin.  

Next, we find the braided tree limb difficult to dismiss. There are several examples of tree breaks on exhibit in the museum from photos taken in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Kansas, and other states. However, we have never seen the branches braided together like we saw in the Garrison Park incident.  

The fourth piece of the puzzle is the horrific scream heard by the walkers. Such sounds are well documented in areas where Bigfoot activity has been observed. We have witnessed firsthand and followed reports of such screams all over Nebraska and neighboring states.  

Another piece of evidence collected was discovered during a follow-up visit to the cemetery following interviews of witnesses. Behind the cemetery runs Kezan Creek. Bigfoot staff member Art, an experienced tracker, discovered a large track running parallel to the creek. He said it looked like something had walked through the tall grass but could find no sign of tracks from animals known to frequent the area, such as deer, raccoon or coyotes.  

We all have our opinions and what we believe is substantial evidence to support them. We submit this for your approval and analysis, inviting you to draw your own conclusions as to what may have occurred that fateful Memorial Day weekend in the cemetery.  

Should you decide to stroll past the cemetery some late night and witness any blood curdling screams or anything that’s out of place, please let us know. We’d love to explore further. You can reach us at 402-705-0000. 

Walk on! 

Harriett (the Bigfoot Lady), Kenny, Art and Robin

                                                                                                Garrison Nebraska Conflagration

There are notable aspects to this story that have paralleled other encounters with Sasquatch/Hominoid activity. I have heard passed on stories in this region that give credibility to the occurrences that took place Memorial Day weekend in Garrison. To the North of Garrison is David City, NE. A woman I worked with confided to me that her father a farmer near David City had long shared a story with his family that he had seen a bear when hunting. This had occurred years before this incident.  The farmer was laughed at and was not taken seriously. The woman who shared the story with me said her father was not one to make up a story and stood by his sighting but family members did not believe him. There are no bears in Nebraska and this region is far from any bordering states that do have bear. I told my colleague that I think he saw a Sasquatch and not a bear at all. I came to this conclusion because the Platte River is a prime location for these hominoids and it was within the range of a Sasquatch to travel.

   The second corroborating story took place to the south of Garrison in Seward County. I believe it was in the 90’s that this was reported to a BFRO investigator and later shared with me. A report was never officially made, but I remember these details as they always come to play in some unforeseen future such as this. A Seward county Sheriff’s Deputy none the less, had a sighting of a Bigfoot.  Apparently it was disturbing enough to him that he reported it to the BFRO. I don’t recall the details but it was enough of a visual that he was certain it was a Bigfoot.

   Back to Garrison and the Flag incident. Garrison lies in between these seemingly unconnected accounts of Hominoid activity. Given the location, the community seems to be an unlikely hotbed of activity. There are significant sources of water; reservoirs are strewn throughout the farmland. Attached frame #1 is a map of Karst systems nationally that are associated with caves and underground natural springs. Frame #2 is a map of Karst in Nebraska and Garrison appears to be within this habitat that I know are favorable to these Hominoids. The natural springs offer fresh water and the caves created by these Karst systems of underground water are ideal homes for Hominoids.

  Map frame #3 is of the Garrison Cemetery and #4 Kezan Creek lies to the right of the yellow line.  I did a screen shot to give reference to these locations. Cemeteries have a long history associated with Hominoid activity. This does not surprise me to hear the experiences near the cemetery especially if a chicken is placed near the creek. That would draw in other wildlife and an opportunistic Sasquatch would stop by this location to see if there are any easy calories.

The village of Garrison, only comprising of some fifty people would be fairly predictable for a Sasquatch to move through at night. Peek in windows, like the incident of the flattened bushes and then rifle through the garbage perhaps at the park. Hence the growls at people interfering in the snack search at the cemetery. When you put all this together it forms a picture of Hominoid activity that parallel many of the experiences reported around the world.

The Flag debasing maybe the clincher in how all this fits together. Having raised the flag and leaving it an extra day may not seem out of the ordinary for the humans involved with this story. The local Sasquatch may have taken issue to the normal predictability in a routine that is rarely altered. The flag hanging half-staff perhaps raised the ire of the Hominoid, not knowing when it would be retrieved and the people would go away. Now just in reach the temptation to alter its appearance proved too much.  Tearing it out of frustration and braiding it in repair is a way to pass the time and encourage the flag to go away along with the people who come to look at it.

Patriotic or passive aggressive, the braiding of the Flag is a sign of Hominoid activity documented globally. The hairs left behind are the smoking gun, if they can be tested.  A DNA test resulting in 99% Homo sapiens 1% unknown would be good enough for me to rank this as a Heartland Hominoid!

Richard Soule HX Hominologist  August MMXX

Sasquatch Canada  Link to Bits and Pieces article #132 Garrison Flag

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