Editing Patterson–Gimlin film (section)

==Encounter==
[[File:Patterson Gimlin film.webm|thumb|The film]]
As their stories went, in the early afternoon of Friday, October 20, 1967, Patterson and Gimlin were riding generally northeast (upstream) on horseback along the east bank of Bluff Creek. At sometime between 1:15 and 1:40{{nbsp}}p.m., they "came to an overturned tree with a large root system at a turn in the creek, almost as high as a room".<ref>Perez, 9, 20</ref><ref>Gimlin, quoted in Perez, 9</ref>

When they rounded it, "there was a logjam—a 'crow's nest'—left over from the flood of '64," and then they spotted the figure behind it nearly simultaneously. It was either "crouching beside the creek to their left" or "standing" there, on the opposite bank. Gimlin later described himself as in a mild state of shock after first seeing the figure.<ref name="Meldrum, 139">Meldrum, 139</ref><ref name="Krantz, 87">Krantz, 87</ref>

Patterson initially estimated its height at {{convert|6|ft|6|in}} to {{convert|7|ft}},<ref>Patterson & Murphy, 195</ref> and later raised his estimate to about {{convert|7|ft|6|in}}. Some later analysts, anthropologist [[Grover Krantz]] among them, have suggested Patterson's later estimate was about {{convert|1|ft}} too tall. Gimlin's estimate was {{convert|6|ft}}.

The film shows what Patterson and Gimlin claimed was a large, hairy, [[bipedalism|bipedal]], apelike figure with short, "silvery brown"<ref>Patterson and Murphy, 195</ref> or "dark reddish-brown"<ref>Napier, 90</ref> or "black"<ref>Sanderson (1969), 66</ref> hair covering most of its body, including its prominent breasts. The figure in the film generally matches the descriptions of Bigfoot offered by others who claim to have seen one.

Patterson estimated he was about {{Convert|25|ft}} away from the creature at his closest. Patterson said that his horse reared upon sensing the figure, and he spent about 20 seconds extricating himself from the saddle, controlling his horse, getting around to its other side,<ref>Perez, 9</ref> and getting his camera from a saddlebag before he could run toward the figure while operating his camera. He yelled "Cover me" to Gimlin, "meaning to get the gun out".<ref name="Perez, 10">Perez, 10</ref> Gimlin crossed the creek on horseback after Patterson had run well beyond it, riding on a path somewhat to the left of Patterson's and somewhat beyond his position. Patterson estimates he came within {{convert|60–90|ft}} of "Patty".<ref name="Perez, 10"/> Then, rifle in hand, he dismounted, but did not point his rifle at the creature.<ref>Meldrum, 140</ref>

The figure had walked away from them to a distance of about {{convert|120|ft}} before Patterson began to run after it. The resulting film (about 59.5 seconds long at 16 fps) is initially quite shaky until Patterson got about {{convert|80|ft}} from the figure. At that point, the figure glanced over its right shoulder at the men and Patterson fell to his knees; on Krantz's map this corresponds to frame 264.<ref name="Perez, 12">Perez, 12</ref> To researcher [[John Willison Green|John Green]], Patterson would later characterize the creature's expression as one of "contempt and disgust ... you know how it is when the umpire tells you 'one more word and you're out of the game.' That's the way it felt."

Shortly after this point the steady, middle portion of the film begins, containing the famous look-back frame 352. Patterson said, "it turned a total of I think three times,"<ref>Wasson, 69</ref> the other times therefore being before the filming began and/or while he was running with his finger off the trigger. Shortly after glancing over its shoulder on film, the creature disappeared behind a grove of trees for 14 seconds, then reappeared in the film's final 15 seconds after Patterson moved {{convert|10|ft|0}} to a better vantage point, fading into the trees again and being lost to view at a distance of {{convert|265|ft}} as the reel of film ran out.<ref>Krantz, 89–90</ref>

Gimlin remounted and followed it on horseback, keeping his distance, until it disappeared around a bend in the road {{convert|300|yd|m|spell=in}} away. Patterson called him back at that point, feeling vulnerable on foot without a rifle, because he feared the creature's mate might approach. The entire encounter had lasted less than two minutes.

Next, Gimlin and Patterson rounded up Patterson's horses, which had run off in the opposite direction, downstream, before the filming began. Patterson got his second roll of film from his saddlebag and filmed the tracks.<ref>Wylie, 12</ref> Then the men tracked "Patty" for either {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}}<ref name="Perez, 12"/> or {{convert|3|mi|spell=in}},<ref>Sanderson (1969), 68; Sanderson might have mixed up this with the {{convert|3|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} they traveled back to the campsite.</ref> but "lost it in the heavy undergrowth".<ref>Coleman and Clark, 198</ref> They went to their campsite {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} south, picked up plaster, returned to the initial site, measured the creature's step-length, and made two [[plaster cast]]s, one each of the best-quality right and left prints.

===Details===
According to Patterson and Gimlin, they were the only witnesses to their brief encounter with what they claimed was a sasquatch. Their statements agree in general, but author Greg Long notes a number of inconsistencies. They offered somewhat different sequences in describing how they and the horses reacted upon seeing the creature. Patterson in particular increased his estimates of the creature's size in subsequent retellings of the encounter.<ref>Long, 162–65</ref> In a different context, Long argues, these discrepancies would probably be considered minor, but given the extraordinary claims made by Patterson and Gimlin, any apparent disagreements in perception or memory are worth noting.

The film's defenders have responded by saying that commercially motivated hoaxers would have "got their stories straight" beforehand so they would not have disagreed immediately upon being interviewed, and on so many points, and so they wouldn't have created a suit and a creature with foreseeably objectionable features and behaviors.<ref>For instance, see "How Not to Plan a Hoaxed Filming," ''Bigfoot Times'', March 2004.</ref>

A more serious objection concerns the film's "timeline". This is important because Kodachrome II movie film, as far as is known, could be developed only by a lab containing a $60,000+ machine, and the few West Coast labs known to possess one did not do developing over weekends. Patterson's brother-in-law Al DeAtley claims not to remember where he took the film for development or where he picked it up.<ref>Long, 252–54</ref>

Critics claim that too much happened between the filming (at 1:15 at the earliest) and the filmmakers' arrival in Willow Creek (at 6:30 at the latest). Daegling wrote, "All of the problems with the timeline disappear if the film is shot a few days or hours beforehand. If that is the case, one has to wonder what other details of this story are wrong."<ref>Daegling, ''Bigfoot Exposed'', 147–49.</ref><ref>McLeod, ''Anatomy of a Beast'', 79–82.</ref> The film's defenders retort that although the time window was tight, it was do-able.<ref>Perez, ''Bigfoot Times'',</ref>

Chris Murphy wrote, "I have confirmed with Bob Gimlin that Patterson definitely rode a small quarter horse (which he owned), not his Welsh pony 'Peanuts'. Also, that Patterson had arranged to borrow a horse by the name of 'Chico' from Bob Heironimus for Gimlin to use{{nbsp}}[...] Gimlin did not have a horse that was suitable (old enough) for the expedition."<ref>Murphy (2008), 39</ref> Heironimus stated that Chico (a middle-aged gelding) "wouldn't jump or buck".<ref>Long, 347</ref>