GRAND ISLAND, Neb (KMTV) — Harriet McFeely is a bit of a celebrity in the Bigfoot community.
Known affectionately as the “Bigfoot Lady” she is the founder and curator of the Crossroads of America Bigfoot Museum and Research Center.
“In the beginning people called me the Bigfoot lady. It was not a compliment it was, she is the crazy Bigfoot lady. But I said to myself I don’t give a rip. If I was so tender hearted I would have never made it,” said McFeely.
Harriet’s passion for Sasquatch has helped transform Central Nebraska into a Mecca for Bigfoot enthusiasts.
Her museum, which she first opened in 2018, now boasts three buildings full of exhibits and her annual Nebraska Bigfoot conference has grown from a small event to a weekend full of activities and seminars about everything Bigfoot.
“Pacific Northwest is what everyone always thinks where Sasquatch lives but they are all along the eastern seaboard, throughout the Deep South. In Nebraska my guess would be anywhere that is heavily wooded,” said Bigfoot Researcher Jim Meyer.
Jim Meyers was one of around a dozen Bigfoot researchers who are presenting at this year’s conference.
Meyer’s has spent decades hunting for signs of Sasquatch and says he has had his own close encounters with the creatures and those experiences have shown him that Bigfoots are much more Human than we might think.
“I think some of them are very curious by nature, some are more aggressive or less aggressive. We see their personality based on how they interact with us. They have a language just like we do Ive heard them speak,” said Meyer.
It wasn’t just Sasquatch pulling people’s attention at this year’s conference.
Some presenters shared their research into possible connections between aliens and Bigfoot and one vendor was showing off his own legendary creature, the preserved body of the vampire chicken Count Cluckula.
“He used to kill a bunch of cattle back in the 1940s until they staked him. If you pull that stake out he will actually come back to life. That’s why our insurance company makes us carry a vampire killing kit just in case,” said Matt Alford, Curator of Eyesore’s Curiosity and Monster Museum in Cawker City, Kansas.
While the presenters, and many of the enthusiasts, have different ideas about where Bigfoot resides or whether its more Great Ape or Human they all share one thing.
A love for the curious creature that has brought together a family of enthusiasts from across the country.
“The people here I love it. Its like a giant family reunion every year and it just gets bigger,” said Mcfeely.
