In 1968 a group of Native Americans traveled to the Kootenay Plains on the North Saskatchewan River and began to set up camp in tents and teepees. This was to be their new home, away from the modern influences, to embrace the life of their ancestors. And then entered an unforeseen neighbor. The hairy giants of their ancestors' legends. The creatures didn't cause the people any trouble. There were chance sightings and brief contact but nothing disturbing.

One man was out cutting brush when he looked up to find one of the hair-covered creatures watching him as he worked. "I didn't know what to do, so I just went on chopping wood." After a while, the creature continued on its way, leaving the man alone.

In the fall, people found huge tracks in the sand near where the Cline River joined the North Saskatchewan. George Harris, living in Nordegg, came by and took photos of the tracks.  One measured 17 inches, the other 13.

A Michigan family witnessed a large black Figure walking upright, taking long strides, on a ridge across the valley from the Columbia Ice Fields. Although they were a mile or so away, they were positive that the figure was too large and walking too fast to be human. The headwaters of the Cline River were on the other side of that ridge. This is the area that the Kootenay Plains Indians believed these giant hairy creatures were coming from.

In 1969, preliminary work was being done for the Big Horn Dam construction on the North Saskatchewan River. This was about 20 miles below the Kootenay Plains.

On the morning of August 24th, a man working on the pump installation down by the river noticed a dark figure standing on the high bank about half a mile away and 300 feet above him.  The worker thought it looked like a very large man just standing there, watching what they were doing. This figure remained on the ridge for around a half hour, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, before it suddenly started walking along the edge of the bank and disappeared into the trees.

By the time the figure left, five men had witnessed it. Although it was on the same side of the river as the work crew, there was a large loop of the river in between them and the figure so it would have been difficult to approach it. They had tried waving but got no reaction from the figure.

The men thought that it appeared rather large to be a human, but none of them realized just how large the figure was until two men finally made their way to the bank where this figure had watched them. By using the trees the figure stood near, they estimated it at a height of 12 ft., but more probably nearer 15 ft. They could find no footprints.

Investigators came and interviewed the men and looked over the area where the encounter took place. They could find no reason to think these men had made up the story.