Editing Bigfoot (section)

====Jerry Crew and Andrew Genzoli====

In 1958, Jerry Crew, bulldozer operator for a logging company in [[Humboldt County, California]], discovered a set of large, {{convert|16|in}} human-like [[footprint]]s sunk deep within the mud in the [[Six Rivers National Forest]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bailey |first1=Eric |title=Bigfoot's Big Feat: New Life |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-19-me-bigfoot19-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=April 13, 2021 |date=April 19, 2003 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822012255/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/apr/19/local/me-bigfoot19 |url-status=live }}</ref> Upon informing his coworkers, many claimed to have seen similar tracks on previous job sites as well as telling of odd incidents such as an [[Drum (container)|oil drum]] weighing {{convert|450|lb}} having been moved without explanation. The logging company men soon began using the word "Bigfoot" to describe the apparent culprit.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flight |first1=Tim |title=The Hairy History of Bigfoot in 20 Intriguing Events |url=https://historycollection.com/the-hairy-history-of-bigfoot-in-20-intriguing-events/10/ |website=historycollection.com |access-date=April 13, 2021 |date=November 9, 2018 |archive-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413161935/https://historycollection.com/the-hairy-history-of-bigfoot-in-20-intriguing-events/10/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Crew and others initially believed someone was playing a prank on them. After observing more of these massive footprints, he contacted reporter Andrew Genzoli of the ''[[Times-Standard|Humboldt Times]]'' newspaper. Genzoli interviewed lumber workers and wrote articles about the mysterious footprints, introducing the name "Bigfoot" in relation to the tracks and the local tales of large, hairy wild men.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McPhate |first1=Mike |title=When California introduced Bigfoot to the world |url=https://www.californiasun.co/stories/when-california-introduced-bigfoot-to-the-world/ |work=[[California Sun]] |access-date=March 18, 2021 |agency= |date=August 7, 2018 |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417203833/https://www.californiasun.co/stories/when-california-introduced-bigfoot-to-the-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[plaster cast]] was made of the footprints and Crew appeared, holding one of the casts, on the front page of the newspaper on October 6, 1958. The story spread rapidly as Genzoli began to receive correspondence from major media outlets including the ''[[New York Times]]'' and ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref name="Buhs2009">{{cite book |last1=Buhs |first1=Joshua Blu |title=Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend |year=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-50215-1 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI4SlHwH7h0C&pg=PA75 |access-date=December 16, 2023 |archive-date=December 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212044604/https://books.google.com/books/?id=RI4SlHwH7h0C&pg=PA75 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, the term Bigfoot became widespread as a reference to an apparently large, unknown creature leaving massive footprints in Northern California.<ref name="Nickell2017">{{cite journal |last1=Nickell |first1=Joe |author-link1=Joe Nickell |title=Bigfoot As Big Myth: 7 Phases of Mythmaking |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=2017 |volume=41 |issue=5 |pages=52–57 |url=https://www.csicop.org/si/show/bigfoot_as_big_myth_seven_phases_of_mythmaking |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826145056/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/bigfoot_as_big_myth_seven_phases_of_mythmaking |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 26, 2018 |access-date=August 26, 2018}}</ref>