One of the earliest written accounts of Vancouver Island's Sasquatch legend.
Vancouver Island's legends and stories have been passed down throughout the ages by the generational storytelling of the First Nations people. Since its earliest written history, however, the island's visitors and newcomers did their best to translate these fascinating stories into their own native language - Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese, but most of all English. The writer of this story (possibly JD Pemberton) remained anonymous. Whoever he is, he claimed to have fully understood the language of his Cowichan friend and did his best to retell the story that he had pondered on for several years before sharing it with others. Most unexpectedly, this published story of the Sim-moquis conjured up more similar stories among the island's inhabitants. Over the following decades, many sightings of the Sasquatch-like creatures of Vancouver Island were recorded in personal journals and local newspapers.
"And are there any Sim-moquis now-a-days?" I asked the narrator, as he turned to leave. "Oh, yes," said he as he walked away; "lots of them. They live by the side of a lake on a big mountain, and the shores of the lake are covered with gold."
"1853::The Legend of Vancouver Island's Sim-moquis"
Clip: The Daily Colonist (1860)
Victoria, British Columbia