by Kenneth Hargens
7 December 2021
This incident happened in 2018, I believe. Certainly not any later year. I am sure the month was September as the tourists had left and there was very little traffic on Mystic Road, at this time of night, about 11:30 PM. This is the gravel road leading north from the intersection of Deerfield Road and Mystic Road at the location of the old gold rush townsite of Tigerville. About 7 miles from Hill City, SD.
There are 5 private property locations in my area. They are mineral claims from the old gold rush days. On my side of Mystic Road, the east side, there are two private properties. I have about 15 acres and the neighbors to the north have 9 acres and we are separated by a barbed wire fence. This area is surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest.
As I sat by my fire pit, enjoying the brilliance of the stars, the only light was the glow of the fire and a dim yard light some little distance from me. I do not recall any moonlight. I most often sat by my fire when there was no moonlight as the stars were more visible. The neighbor’s horses were grazing in their pasture near the gravel road and I heard them stamp their feet and snort and run across the pasture, east, towards the old railroad roadbed. They would then run back near the road, stamp their feet snort some more and run back across the pasture. After they did this a couple times, I began to hear something/someone walking on the loose pea gravel at the edge of the road. It sounded like someone walking with swim fins as I could hear the feet slap the ground.
At the same time, whoever or whatever was making the walking sounds they would make a sort of moan/groan/grunting sound about every step. As I thought they may come into my place on my driveway, I got up and went into my garage for my multi-cell camp light. My big garage, with living area on the north side, is parallel to the road and between the road and my fire pit. I came back out of the garage and shined the light toward the gravel road. After a second or two of orienting the light, I discerned a large figure standing next to the barbed wire fence and facing north. The figure turned toward me as the light struck it and I realized that it was a female sasquatch. The creature lifted its left leg and stepped over the fence and then swung its right leg over the fence and walked into the trees away from me and out of my view.
This sasquatch was quite heavy, at least 465 pounds. It was at least 6 feet tall as it stepped over the fence with ease. She appeared almost like an inflated person as she had thick legs, thick arms, thick waist, pendulous breasts, and a very short neck. In the light of the camp lantern, she appeared blackish-gray. Her feet, as she stepped over the fence, looked to be at least 14 inches long. She may have had just the slightest point to her head but it may have been hair.
As this hominid was about 80 yards from me, all measurements are only estimates. The creature was hair-covered (not fur) all over the body except for the knees, elbows, face and soles of the feet. She appeared lightly-haired on the breasts and sides of the body where the elbows may have caused some friction. I saw no reflection or eye-shine from her eyes.
As I stood close to the walk in door of my garage, and as the sasquatch was walking away from me, I was not too alarmed as she was not threatening. Other than the previous sounds of distress, she made no other sound. This sasquatch must have been taking pretty big steps as she covered the ground from where she was when I got up to go into the garage, and when I shined the light on it, in about 30 seconds. A distance of probably 90 yards in 30+ seconds.
This was the fourth of these elusive hominids I have seen. When going about my tasks in the Oregon forest, when employed by the BLM, I had visual encounters with male and female adults eating blackberries and a 4.5-5 foot juvenile ran across a logging road in front of me. The You Tube recently had a video of a man interviewing his father who watched a sasquatch, dripping with water, walk from a creek past his parked motorhome. This incident was only a few miles from my location.
Kenneth Hargens is a resident of the Black Hills in South Dakota.
