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[georger]

Cook explained his time with Tosaw to 377 in 2012. This comes via B Smith who shared it with 377 who posted it at DZ in 2012  In Cook's own words.


377  (F 666)

Nov 20, 2012, 9:26 PM
Post #37999 of 56923 (45908 views)
    Re: [BruceSmith] More commentary from Galen; re: Tina's BAr [In reply to]

________________________________________
Bruce passed this on from Galen
Quote:

" I've spent considerable time, probably between 100 and 150 hours at T-Bar, both on the shoreline and in boats between the wingdam of Caterpillar Island and the northern reaches of Tina's Bar. Tosaw and I were on his chartered expedition in 05' and again in 08'. In 05' Tosaw used a dive barge, crew of three hardhat divers, underwater camera, and some sounding devices. It was a pretty elaborate operation. Tosaw died in 09' after considerable illness. "

Wow. Tosaw spent some really serious money on his Cooper dive ops. THREE hard hat divers? Your average Joe Scuba doesn't have hard hat gear. Pro divers do and they don't come cheap.

I hadn't realized Galen was so close to Tosaw. Maybe it was a law brotherhood thing, like a shark bond.

BTW Bruce, its NOT a pilot chute, 100% certain. It's most likely a flare chute.

You'd assume Tosaw had access to all the FBI evidence. Was there something in it that made him so sure Cooper splashed? A river landing was pretty unlikely if you look at the odds.

377

* Nothing in this about Cook being with the Raineys or Tosaw in 1988 when the flare chute was found on a wingdam near Caterpillar Island. 

[georger]

Another post from the past (2012) by Mr. Cook himself, forwarded by B. Smith to DZ.

BruceSmith

Nov 20, 2012, 7:23 PM
Post #37992 of 56923 (46006 views)
Shortcut
    More commentary from Galen; re: Tina's BAr [In reply to]
Can't Post
________________________________________
The following was posted on the Mountain News today by Galen Cook, and addresses some of the current questions regarding the search at Tina's bar and the finding of the pilot chute.

*********

" Once again, a bit of personal commentary to help disgorge the log-jam of information.

I've spent considerable time, probably between 100 and 150 hours at T-Bar, both on the shoreline and in boats between the wingdam of Caterpillar Island and the northern reaches of Tina's Bar. Tosaw and I were on his chartered expedition in 05' and again in 08'. In 05' Tosaw used a dive barge, crew of three hardhat divers, underwater camera, and some sounding devices. It was a pretty elaborate operation. Tosaw died in 09' after considerable illness.

In 09', 10', 11' and 2012, I began my own research at T-Bar, and that included teaming up with a very competent scientist who has terminal degrees, is a part-time professor, and has his own consulting business with a laboratory in Portland. Our experiments lasted three years and the results will be released at a time of our own choosing.

This latest piece of information, the finding of a pilot-chute, was first brought to my attention by "Georger." I regard "Georger" as an acquaintence who has excellent credentials and some skin in the D.B. Cooper game. "Georger" and I do not agree on everything, but we are civil and professional in our exchanges. I consider "Georger" a dedicated researcher of fact.

Tosaw did not mention to me his 1988 find of the pilot-chute. Tosaw did not mention to me his 1985 interview with "Janet." He kept this for himself because of his personal needs to try and solve the D.B. Cooper case.

I have interviewed Earl Cossey on numerous occasions. He always returns my calls. SA Larry Carr does not believe D.B. Cooper survived his jump. SA Curtis Eng believes he did survive. The list of theories and speculations by qualified investigators is long.

The latest bits of information presented in Bruce Smith's news journal are fodder for the individuals with impartialed minds ( the persons who can add constructively to the fact-building of this mysterious case). There is an opening into the big-tent of D.B. Cooper sleuths. "Georger" and Bruce Smith are both well aware and do a good job. The price of admission isn't necessarily cheap, as some have learned, and it appears that some never get admitted.

G. Cook

* Cook was not involved with the Rainey's in the 1988 discovery of a flare chute at a wingdam near Tina Bar, by his own description above. He learned about it from me, Georger, years later! I hope this settles this matter.

[georger]

So - there was searching of the Columbia River and its environs starting with the money find in 1980, lasting clear up into the 2000's, conducted by a diverse group of people from professionals to amateurs, and only a small group of people took notice or cared - with an occasional news story re- 1988 find of a flare chute by Curtis Rainey. And just two years ago several people were still exploring the wing dam pictured below and proposing new searching ... but that story was buried - received no coverage drowned out by  other Cooper forum chatter.

Where are FBI 302s covering this chapter of the NORJAK story?

Galen Cook has offered a few anecdotes which gives some small insight into this ongoing story, via his work with his friend Richard Tosaw, and Galen's comments are rather specific and offer a timeline. Tosaw had his own theory about what happened to DB Cooper and where searchers should look. Tosaw generally backed the Dredging Theory and let that theory guide his Columbia searching.

Virtually everyone accepts that 305 crossed the Columbia on the western side of Portland and that offers a boundary to where Columbia searching should start. Tosaw and others have used that marker to frame their searches.

But, the fact is the FBI excavation of Tina Bar was not the end of searching on the Columbia, but only the beginning. Nothing of direct application to the Cooper case has ever been found, we presume. Time has passed. It is generally agreed today that searches now would have a low probability of success. Time and Nature apparently have wiped the slate clean. Most people have moved on and a whole new generation now ponders the Cooper story . . . 

* Was anyone keeping track of these searches, over the years? Are there any 302s which record Columbia searching going on? It's food for thought. Obviously something happened to account for money being found on Tina Bar!

[haggarknew]

Your knowledge of the case never ceases to amaze me! Thank you.   As always, one question leads to 10 more.    I wonder about the flair chute?  Where this might have came from?  Who might have had access to one of these? Were these available only to the military or possibly available to the public through a military surplus store?          In all seriousness Georger, have you ever considered writing a book about the case? I for one would definitely be interested in reading it. Your dedication to the facts of the case is very much appreciated!👍

[Bruce A. Smith]

Galen Cook and Richard Tosaw - An Update and Clarification

I thought a recent email from Galen discussing the recent controversies here about their work on the Columbia might be in order.

"Bruce:
I read about you and I at Shutter's forum.  I hadn't previously realized that my investigative manners were so appalling to some.  Anyway, I'll try and clear the air.

I had filed a federal suit against the FBI/DOJ in Seattle in 2004.  Tosaw read about it and called me.  We stayed in touch over the phone and in June 2005 he invited me to join him at T-Bar where he rented a barge, tug, and service skiff along with three hardhat salvage divers.  We launched the skiff every morning from the Red Lion at the Quay and met up with the barge crew near T-Bar usually by 8am. I spent a week with that crew.  We used underwater cameras and had a live feed on the barge so Tosaw could keep an eye on things.  The divers were Portland based and the vessels belonged to a commercial outfit near Portland.

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find to approximately one-half mile up river, just beyond the wingdam located adjacent to Caterpillar Island.  Neither Tosaw nor I did any diving, but I waded around in chest deep water.  I also spent a day and a half searching Caterpillar Island, mostly by myself.  That week yielded virtually nothing, except for an old nylon tent that was hung up on one of the wingdam struts.  That find caused an initial stir.

Tosaw and I revisited T-Bar in 2008, but did not dive.  Tosaw was pretty weak from his illness at that point.  He just wanted one more visit to the Ingram money site. 

We also spent time going over 305's flight path that had been generated on paper by the Air Force and released to the public by Carr.   As for the Raineys, I was not part of their search and I don't know for sure if Tosaw was involved. But Tosaw knew the Columbia pretty well.  He did his homework and spent time raking the bottom of the river near TB with Brian Ingram, sometime in the early 1980's.   You can see their photo together in Tosaw's 1984 book.

After Tosaw's death, his legal staff in CA contacted me and told me I was welcome to have most of his Cooper file.  This is where I learned about the pilot chute and about Janet.
I finally located Janet and she agreed to meet me in Vancouver, WA in 2012.  She provided me with a very detailed eyewitness account of what she saw on the evening of 11/24/71.  Her description did not waver from the Tosaw files of 1985.

As for T-Bar, my own experiments were conducted there in 2009 - 2013.  I spent many hours and nights camping at T-Bar thanks to the generosity of Al and Richard Fazio.

In 2012, I met and interviewed two brothers from Vancouver, who as teenagers used to fish at T-Bar.  About one or two months prior to the Ingram find in February 1980, they found a couple of corners from $20 bills.  They had no idea about the implications of their find, but they did show the pieces to their parents.  The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

Galen Cook"

[georger]

Your knowledge of the case never ceases to amaze me! Thank you.   As always, one question leads to 10 more.    I wonder about the flair chute?  Where this might have came from?  Who might have had access to one of these? Were these available only to the military or possibly available to the public through a military surplus store?          In all seriousness Georger, have you ever considered writing a book about the case? I for one would definitely be interested in reading it. Your dedication to the facts of the case is very much appreciated!👍

Thanks. What I admittedly dont know staggers me because every time I begin to answer one question a hundred others get generated. I do know this period from 1980 to about 2005 saw an expanding searching of the river and the area around Tosaw's claimed 'drop zone' including Tina Bar. We have only reached below the surface of that story and those searches involved a large group of people, communicating and building on each other, beyond Tosaw and his expeditions. The whole body of those searches helps define what may be the uniqueness of the Tina Bar money and how the Cooper money got to be on Tina Bar, of all places! The Cooper artifacts  found at Tina Bar forces us to focus on the flight path, the time of Cooper jumping, whether Cooper survived or died, etc. They are all wrapped up together and explains why so many people including Tosaw devoted time to searching the Columbia and the Tina Bar area...

I have no plans to ever write a book. I have too many irons in the fire as it is. Thanks.           

[georger]

Galen Cook and Richard Tosaw - An Update and Clarification

I thought a recent email from Galen discussing the recent controversies here about their work on the Columbia might be in order.

"Bruce:
I read about you and I at Shutter's forum.  I hadn't previously realized that my investigative manners were so appalling to some.  Anyway, I'll try and clear the air.

I had filed a federal suit against the FBI/DOJ in Seattle in 2004.  Tosaw read about it and called me.  We stayed in touch over the phone and in June 2005 he invited me to join him at T-Bar where he rented a barge, tug, and service skiff along with three hardhat salvage divers.  We launched the skiff every morning from the Red Lion at the Quay and met up with the barge crew near T-Bar usually by 8am. I spent a week with that crew.  We used underwater cameras and had a live feed on the barge so Tosaw could keep an eye on things.  The divers were Portland based and the vessels belonged to a commercial outfit near Portland.

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find to approximately one-half mile up river, just beyond the wingdam located adjacent to Caterpillar Island.  Neither Tosaw nor I did any diving, but I waded around in chest deep water.  I also spent a day and a half searching Caterpillar Island, mostly by myself.  That week yielded virtually nothing, except for an old nylon tent that was hung up on one of the wingdam struts.  That find caused an initial stir.

Tosaw and I revisited T-Bar in 2008, but did not dive.  Tosaw was pretty weak from his illness at that point.  He just wanted one more visit to the Ingram money site. 

We also spent time going over 305's flight path that had been generated on paper by the Air Force and released to the public by Carr.   As for the Raineys, I was not part of their search and I don't know for sure if Tosaw was involved. But Tosaw knew the Columbia pretty well.  He did his homework and spent time raking the bottom of the river near TB with Brian Ingram, sometime in the early 1980's.   You can see their photo together in Tosaw's 1984 book.

After Tosaw's death, his legal staff in CA contacted me and told me I was welcome to have most of his Cooper file.  This is where I learned about the pilot chute and about Janet.
I finally located Janet and she agreed to meet me in Vancouver, WA in 2012.  She provided me with a very detailed eyewitness account of what she saw on the evening of 11/24/71.  Her description did not waver from the Tosaw files of 1985.

As for T-Bar, my own experiments were conducted there in 2009 - 2013.  I spent many hours and nights camping at T-Bar thanks to the generosity of Al and Richard Fazio.

In 2012, I met and interviewed two brothers from Vancouver, who as teenagers used to fish at T-Bar.  About one or two months prior to the Ingram find in February 1980, they found a couple of corners from $20 bills.  They had no idea about the implications of their find, but they did show the pieces to their parents.  The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

Galen Cook"

If Galen has Tosaw's financial records he will have pay stubs for all of Tosaw's diving hires - - - includng the Raineys.

If you read the article I posted it says quote: " He (Curtis Rainey) was working with Richard Tosaw, an attorney from Ceres ...   obviously they knew each other and worked together, actually from 1986 to 1988 and maybe beyond. I will have to check my notes. Galen's time with Tosaw much later: 2005-8. 

As I have been trying to convey, Tosaw was not the sole story, or the whole story, of people searching the Columbia inspired by the money find in 1980. Prior to the money find in 1980 there was no reason for anyone to search for Cooper 'in the Columbia'. The money find started a ground swell of interest. Tosaw was an early arrival - he had just finished his Kinnick work in my hometown! We knew him well. But very quickly Tosaw moved on to the Cooper case in Washington, where people with a lifetime of experience in salvage and diving work on the Columbia were already in motion. Tosaw was a rank amateur by comparison. So far as I know there is no record of Tosaw being at the 1980 Tina Bar excavation while other area Columbia experts were.

Working the Columbia takes years of experience. That is something Tosaw did not have when he arrived.

I feel Im preaching to the choir here. Im just not sure what page you guys are on. You are always working some angle, Bruce. So not much I can say that matters.

* Tosaw was a bright dogged investigator, a quick learner, willing to take risks and learn from mistakes, kind of a loner . . . Himmelsbach tangled with Tosaw early for a hole bunch of reasons but people at Seattle were interested in his work . . . its a closed chapter except for the results Tosaw and others obtained searching for several decades after 1980. These results have usually been ignored since nothing exciting was found. Ignoring these results may be a mistake.

[georger]

Did this ever get resolved ?

Cook has Cooper chute given him by . . . ?

FLYJACK says:
April 23, 2019 at 12:04 pm
Whoa,, did Tosaw get the unused Cossey chute and give it to Galen Cook?? (not sent to Cooper)

Galen Cook, Attorney at Law says:
October 26, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Bruce:
Good bit of work on this story. Tosaw gave me one of Cossey’s NB-8 rigs and I kept it in my garage for some time. It was pretty simple, and made as a reliable chute for emergencies. This one also had Cossey’s signature on the rigger’s card, which was located in a small flap on the side.


Any resolution of this ? Galen Cook is a pilot? Galen Cook parachutes? Is this a Cossey chute involved in the Cooper case ? 

[EU]

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find
-------
The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

I find the two quotes above from Galen interesting.

The reason these are interesting is because awhile back I was watching the DB Cooper show that Galen was on (I cannot remember the show) where he and the show host approach Tena Bar from the river. Galen then proceeded to walk the host to the "money find spot."

Of course, me being very familiar with Tena Bar myself and the actual money find spot in particular, I immediately recognized that Galen identified the wrong money find spot. Ironically, the small cove where Galen and the host pulled up on the beach and parked their boat was literally 20 feet from the actual spot.

The point Galen referenced as the money find spot is about 300 feet (100 yards) south (upriver) from the actual spot. Therefore, there are two interesting possibilities based upon the Galen quotes from above:

1) Galen and Tosaw never actually searched downriver from the money find spot because the incorrect money find spot they were referencing was actually 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

2) If the story from the two boys is accurate, the spot where they found the corners of the twenties was very near the actual money find spot, again given that Galen was working with a money find spot that was incorrect and about 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

[Robert99]

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find
-------
The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

I find the two quotes above from Galen interesting.

The reason these are interesting is because awhile back I was watching the DB Cooper show that Galen was on (I cannot remember the show) where he and the show host approach Tena Bar from the river. Galen then proceeded to walk the host to the "money find spot."

Of course, me being very familiar with Tena Bar myself and the actual money find spot in particular, I immediately recognized that Galen identified the wrong money find spot. Ironically, the small cove where Galen and the host pulled up on the beach and parked their boat was literally 20 feet from the actual spot.

The point Galen referenced as the money find spot is about 300 feet (100 yards) south (upriver) from the actual spot. Therefore, there are two interesting possibilities based upon the Galen quotes from above:

1) Galen and Tosaw never actually searched downriver from the money find spot because the incorrect money find spot they were referencing was actually 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

2) If the story from the two boys is accurate, the spot where they found the corners of the twenties was very near the actual money find spot, again given that Galen was working with a money find spot that was incorrect and about 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

Eric, let me see if I can get something clarified here.  If the actual money find location was further downstream (to the north) than originally believed, that would put even more distance between the money and the dredging.  And that would eliminate the possibility that the money had anything to do with the dredge activity.

[EU]

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find
-------
The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

I find the two quotes above from Galen interesting.

The reason these are interesting is because awhile back I was watching the DB Cooper show that Galen was on (I cannot remember the show) where he and the show host approach Tena Bar from the river. Galen then proceeded to walk the host to the "money find spot."

Of course, me being very familiar with Tena Bar myself and the actual money find spot in particular, I immediately recognized that Galen identified the wrong money find spot. Ironically, the small cove where Galen and the host pulled up on the beach and parked their boat was literally 20 feet from the actual spot.

The point Galen referenced as the money find spot is about 300 feet (100 yards) south (upriver) from the actual spot. Therefore, there are two interesting possibilities based upon the Galen quotes from above:

1) Galen and Tosaw never actually searched downriver from the money find spot because the incorrect money find spot they were referencing was actually 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

2) If the story from the two boys is accurate, the spot where they found the corners of the twenties was very near the actual money find spot, again given that Galen was working with a money find spot that was incorrect and about 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

Eric, let me see if I can get something clarified here.  If the actual money find location was further downstream (to the north) than originally believed, that would put even more distance between the money and the dredging.  And that would eliminate the possibility that the money had anything to do with the dredge activity.

The money find spot is approximately 400 feet north (downstream) from the northern edge of the 1974 dredge.

The money could not have come from the '74 dredge for a number of reasons.

[georger]

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find
-------
The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

I find the two quotes above from Galen interesting.

The reason these are interesting is because awhile back I was watching the DB Cooper show that Galen was on (I cannot remember the show) where he and the show host approach Tena Bar from the river. Galen then proceeded to walk the host to the "money find spot."

Of course, me being very familiar with Tena Bar myself and the actual money find spot in particular, I immediately recognized that Galen identified the wrong money find spot. Ironically, the small cove where Galen and the host pulled up on the beach and parked their boat was literally 20 feet from the actual spot.

The point Galen referenced as the money find spot is about 300 feet (100 yards) south (upriver) from the actual spot. Therefore, there are two interesting possibilities based upon the Galen quotes from above:

1) Galen and Tosaw never actually searched downriver from the money find spot because the incorrect money find spot they were referencing was actually 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

2) If the story from the two boys is accurate, the spot where they found the corners of the twenties was very near the actual money find spot, again given that Galen was working with a money find spot that was incorrect and about 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

Eric, let me see if I can get something clarified here.  If the actual money find location was further downstream (to the north) than originally believed, that would put even more distance between the money and the dredging.  And that would eliminate the possibility that the money had anything to do with the dredge activity.

Distance is relative in this context - things on sandbars move for a number of reasons. You know that!

*The problem with the money find historically, is it turned everything on its head, literally. Under the FBI narrative based on testimony at the time in NORJAK the money find should not even happen - could not happen. Himmelsbach had to scramble to set the money find aside ... his Washougal Theory based on almost idle comments a hydrologist came up with, which btw the same hydrologist stated 'may not have happened'. Five years later H is giving interviews saying the FBI new-revised-current position is Cooper bailed 12 miles north of Portland, wherever that is! That allowed people to push things east toward the Washougal basin. However, Seattle was not going along. H escaped having to eat crow because he retired ! 

You know all of that R99!   

[georger]

We spent the week combing the WA side of the river from approximately 100 yards downriver of the Ingram find
-------
The brothers took me to their discovery location, which was about 100 to 150 yards downriver from Ingram's discovery.

I find the two quotes above from Galen interesting.

The reason these are interesting is because awhile back I was watching the DB Cooper show that Galen was on (I cannot remember the show) where he and the show host approach Tena Bar from the river. Galen then proceeded to walk the host to the "money find spot."

Of course, me being very familiar with Tena Bar myself and the actual money find spot in particular, I immediately recognized that Galen identified the wrong money find spot. Ironically, the small cove where Galen and the host pulled up on the beach and parked their boat was literally 20 feet from the actual spot.

The point Galen referenced as the money find spot is about 300 feet (100 yards) south (upriver) from the actual spot. Therefore, there are two interesting possibilities based upon the Galen quotes from above:

1) Galen and Tosaw never actually searched downriver from the money find spot because the incorrect money find spot they were referencing was actually 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

2) If the story from the two boys is accurate, the spot where they found the corners of the twenties was very near the actual money find spot, again given that Galen was working with a money find spot that was incorrect and about 100 yards upriver from the actual money find spot.

Galen has given countless interviews in the press and on radio programs. Smith acts as a delivery boy on forums sometimes. Galen's different versions of things simply don't match. And neither Cook or Smith are willing to clarify and answer direct questions of fact. That is very disturbing to me, especially when it involves me!

Has Galen or Smith done anything to document the claim that two boys found "bill corners". If you recall this nonsense lead Flyjack to claim that Cooper or someone else was trying to counterfeit Cooper bills by cutting corners off good bills and pasting them on other bills ?? Total nonsense. But neither Galen or Smith said a word.

Galen knows Curtis Ng. Did Ng ever go out and verify Galen's claims? Did anyone else in the FBI verify Galen's story? Did Galen or Smith care if the story was verified or not? Does Jupiter have rings or is that a myth - too?  Has anyone checked it out? 

Let's tune in to Ghost-to-Ghost and find out the next chapter int his DB Cooper soap opera. My sense is that is what this is all about. "Cook and Tosaw Search Columbia River with spoons" - as revealed by Bruce Smith. Tune in to WBY on 650 kilocycles. Brought to you by Grandma's Rice and Flour ...

  

[Shutter]

Has Galen or Smith done anything to document the claim that two boys found "bill corners". If you recall this nonsense lead Flyjack to claim that Cooper or someone else was trying to counterfeit Cooper bills by cutting corners off good bills and pasting them on other bills ?? Total nonsense. But neither Galen or Smith said a word.

I don't think that was FJ...it was another member..

[georger]

Has Galen or Smith done anything to document the claim that two boys found "bill corners". If you recall this nonsense lead Flyjack to claim that Cooper or someone else was trying to counterfeit Cooper bills by cutting corners off good bills and pasting them on other bills ?? Total nonsense. But neither Galen or Smith said a word.

I don't think that was FJ...it was another member..

I will go back and look when I get a month to do it!