Product Description

A four-year story of ongoing encounters between the author, Sali Sheppard-Wolford and a group of Bigfoot that played in her yard and thunderously walked by her house in the dead of night.

Four years of encounters with a group of Bigfoot in Orting, Washington. Investigations of Bigfoot and other strange phenomena in the area. In addition to the Bigfoot encounters, Sheppard-Wolford describes her spirit journeys with the Indian guide, Dream Walker, and investigations of other strange phenomena near Orting, including an old UFO crash where the old newspapers reporting the crash have mysteriously disappeared and spirit lights that appeared on the ridge above the river.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #283370 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

About the Author
Author of a series of children s book, including one that explains Bigfoot. This is her first book for adults, which she wrote for her grown daughter (and Bigfoot researcher), Autumn Williams, to describe what happened when Autumn was growing up in Orting, Washington between the ages of 3 and 6.

Customer Reviews

Magical
Valley Of The Skookum is simply, pure magic. Those looking for merely descriptions of Bigfoot encounters should consider themselves advised that this book is so much more than just that. It is an immaculately penned tale about a very special group of people, many years ago during an amazing time, and in a special place, where mysterious, wonderful events were happening around them. It is the story of their attempts to come to grips with and make sense of the fascinating things taking place.

It is also a tale of a very small community of people, living at the precipice of America's wilderness, who became friends, bonded together by the fantastic, and at times frightening things going on. Yes, stories of Bigfoot sightings are in this book, such as the author's close encounter with two Sasquatch while with her then 3 year old daughter Autumn as they were out gathering firewood. There are stories of sightings by her friends & neighbors, amazing accounts of the creatures passing by at night so close to their home that the very ground shook from the weight of their footsteps!

Most impressive is how the author wonderfully and carefully handles the intriguing metaphysical and paranormal elements of the story, things often ridiculed and immediately dismissed in the Bigfoot research community (an extremely delicate balance, and not an easy task at all when you consider that her daughter is one of the most well known and respected Bigfoot researchers in the country)!

These events, from the mystic-like encounters with the being known as Dream Walker, to strange lights appearing before them, to the history related about these creatures through Native American customs, are handled with grace, poise and dignity by Sali as she deftly maneuvers through what would be a minefield to any other person associated with Bigfoot research. Take note of the fact that she never once states that the metaphysical, paranormal events she experienced are connected with Bigfoot in any way, she merely states that the events happened, and that they coincided with the continued appearance of the Sasquatch. She leaves it up to you, the reader, to decide if there is a connection.

The story shows how a group of neighbors in a remote area who hardly knew each other came together, and supported each other when "each other" was all they had to rely on. It's a tale of how they persevered against and defended each other from the unwanted advances by overzealous Bigfoot researchers and others who came to try to break the group up. It is the story of the essence of friendship. That is why Valley of the Skookum is much, much more than just a Bigfoot book.

Even if you don't believe in Bigfoot or think this tale must be a work of fiction, read this book, because regardless of how you feel in that way, it is purely a wonderful story. Just read it with an open mind and accept it for the magical tale that it is. Sali has left it up to you to decide how you feel about it, which is more than can be said for many authors about their works. Such a book has not covered such themes and moved me so since I read "Bigfoot" by B. Ann Slate and Alan Berry (1976 Bantam). I highly recommend Valley Of The Skookum.

A really good book
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down, finishing it in two days!! It was quite well written, and done in a very simple, straightforward style that didn't attempt to hide or confuse the subject.

If this is truly representative of the kind of long-term contacts rural people have with Bigfoot and similar creatures, it represents a nearyly ignored aspect of research into this area of cryptozoology. More books like this are absolutely necessary to the discipline, as this is where the REAL action is going on.

Overwhelming
Sali Sheppard-Wolford gives us a book on her four years of experiences in the Valley of the Skookum, as she dubs it, outside Orting, WA. This isn't necessarily a book about bigfoot/sasquatch/skookum but a personal journey in four years of her life. I bought it as a bigfoot book based on an interest that was perked by her daughter Autumn Williams, of whom I have much respect for. I liked this book but then I also didn't like it. It's a bit overwhelming and too much has purportedly happened to her during these four years, like she's a paranormal magnet. During this time she talks about: bigfoot/skookum, extradimensional beings (skookum and blue herons), ghost trains, psychics (ranging from mind manipulation, esp, telepathy, psychometry), phantom lights, past life regression (including reincarnation, spirit world dreams, spirit guides), future premonitions, UFOs, men in black conspiracies, possible 'vortexes', being spiritually linked to people she's never met, and maybe one or two others I didn't note. Almost anything paranormal was linked to her in this time frame and locale, I'm not sure if she's a magnet or just a little whacked (please forgive me).

I don't know what to make of the purported link between bigfoot/skookum/sasquatch and the phantom lights. B. Anne Slate covers this in her book in connection with the 'Sierra Sasquatch Sounds' and for those who have looked further into the 1927 Ape Canyon incident, Fred P/Beck (different sources say Peck or Beck) also discusses phantom lights following the occurance in his self published book. Otherwise, everything else is almost over the edge in the occurances. More of what I picked up on in these events, is her possibly semi-subconscious negative relationship with her husband John.

Jumping back to the good points, I like the writing style on its own and Sali expresses herself well in the first 3/4 of the book in regards to her relationship with Youdi and Emily and even Esther. I was very interested in how she and her neighbors dealt with 'Bwana James'. The whole situation changes when Tami arrives and she obviously has a deep emotional conflict in regards to Tami in her spiritual life and her social life with John and Youdi.

Overall, certainly worth having in you collection. For me, I think a fictionalized book on the events would be fantastic; as it stands, it's overwhelming in the paranormal in events that I don't think have any relation to each other (which in Sali's defense she states on the back cover saying she doesn't know how much of this is related to bigfoot).

Sali Sheppard-Wolford - thank you, sorry I am skeptical of your events.
Autumn Williams - great job in your research.