My Review of Sali Shepherd Wolford's Valley of the Skookum

I loved this book, couldn't put it down. Sali Sheppard-Wolford is mother to Bigfoot researcher  and author Autumn Williams, whose<u> Enoch</u> is fantastic. More on that book later. Meanwhile, enjoy! (You can also read the review at Amazon.com)

Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters With Bigfoot (Paperback) 

I started reading Sali Sheppard-Wolford's Valley of the Skookum, and I couldn't put it down. I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. reading it, almost getting to the end but not quite, and finished it the next day. (Sali Sheppard-Wolford is mother to Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams. )


I expected to find the book interesting, but had no idea I would be so drawn to it. And I'm not sure why I felt such a strong connection and a familiarity with the topic as I was reading the book. Part of that connection might be due to Sali's writing style, simple and honest, a personal narrative of highly strange experiences. Sali writes about her years living in a remote place in Washington, with her young children, including Autumn, who was the youngest, staying at home with her mother during the day. Sali (and eventually the entire family) encounter Bigfoot, along with many other high strangeness events, including UFOs and orbs of light.


There's a beauty to this story and I can't put my finger on it. As I said, there was an echo of something that kept tugging at me. That aside, her experiences, while unique, do parallel other "LTW" (long term witnesses, as Autumn Williams calls them) of `paranormal" Bigfoot encounters.


This isn't fiction. This could be seen as a bold statement, after all, all this supernatural Bigfoot stuff causes so many researchers to gnash their teeth at the very thought of such things. But there are only two possibilities: one, she's lying. Or two, she's not. I don't think she's lying, so she's telling the truth. I choose to believe she's telling the truth. For one thing, her narrative style rings true. For another, as unbelievable as it may sound to some, her story isn't an isolated one. There are other witnesses out there with strange tales involving "high strangeness" Bigfoot encounters. Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams (her daughter, and author of the Bigfoot book Enoch) saw Sasquatch when she was a child, confirming Sali's account. And lastly, I had the pleasure of seeing Sali Sheppard-Wolford give her presentation at the recent Oregon Sasquatch Symposium (which was a great conference all around) and it is clear Shepherd-Wolford is telling the truth.

pastel oil sketch of orange orb seen on Lorane Hwy, Eugene, OR

One of the things Sali writes about are orange orbs seen by herself and witnesses in the area. At times they're described as "basket ball sized" and when I read that, I almost fell off the bed. I've been collecting sighting reports of orange orbs for some time, and often they're orange "orbs" that are really pinpoints, or star sized, orange lights. The orange orb I saw so many years ago here in Oregon can be described as "basket ball sized." 

Impossible to know if these were the same kind of lights, or if the orbs in Sali Shepherd-Woolford's book have anything to do with Bigfoot. It's possible they do, it's possible the area is full of energy that caused these things to occur. Keep in mind that when I say "UFO" it doesn't mean flying saucer (necessarily.) In this context, I don't think they were. Of course, I wasn't there.


It is a fantastic story. And it may all seem a little much; psychic traits, psychic vampirism or energy drains, UFOs, MIBS, and Bigfoot. Sounds like a cheesy sci fi movie. As impossible as it may sound to some, there are people who've experienced these things. I know, because I know some of these people myself, and I've experienced a lot of these things myself.


It's a simple, honest and beautiful book.