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Staff Spotlight, November 2025: Mike Quast

Name: Mike Quast

School: Probstfield Elementary

Position: Custodian

Year on Staff: 3rd

If you meet Mike Quast while he’s on duty for his day job as a custodian at Probstfield Elementary, you might say that his quiet demeanor makes him “a man of few words.” Such a first impression makes it all the more astonishing to learn that Mike is a published author, with five nonfiction books to his name.

The subject matter is equally surprising: Mike writes books about Bigfoot research. His books are “The Sasquatch in Minnesota”; “Sasquatch Central”; “Bigfoot Chronicles”; “Bigfootage: a History of Claims for the Sasquatch on Film”; and “Bigfoot: the Minnesota Scene.”

Mike’s writing career sprang from the confluence of his passion for writing and an encounter with a legendary creature he had as a young boy, about a half hour north of his childhood home of Detroit Lakes.

“Our family was driving through a forested area around Strawberry Lake when I saw a vertical black object. At first I thought it was a burned and blackened tree,” explained Quast, “until all of the sudden it stepped away from the road on two legs and disappeared into the trees. I didn’t think it was a bear, because bears don’t walk very far on two legs. And I thought if it was someone trying to scare us, he sure didn’t let us get a very close look at him! I was pretty convinced that I’d just seen a Bigfoot.”

This experience led Mike to learn as much as he could about sasquatches. At the time, the stories of Bigfoot largely originated from the Pacific Northwest, so he was surprised to learn that Minnesota also had many sightings. The subject held his interest through childhood, to the point that he decided that he wanted to research Bigfoot—a pursuit known today as cryptozoology—as an adult.

“I’ve always been into writing, too. When I was little, I’d write comics and stories. As I grew up, writing aligned with my desire to be a researcher, so it seemed like a natural thing to write about Bigfoot,” Quast added.

At age 19, Mike started self-publishing his research, first as a newsletter known as “The Sasquatch Report" and then later in book form. He continued to compile Bigfoot reports from across the state and go on research trips of his own to northern Minnesota towns such as Bagley and Blackduck, the latter of which became the basis for “Sasquatch Central.” To date, Mike has collected over 700 reports of Bigfoot in the state.

In 2021, Mike caught the attention of Doug Haijcek, a former television producer on the History Channel show “Monster Quest.” This popular show aired for four seasons, using modern science and equipment to research legendary creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Haijcek had started Hangar 1 Publishing, focusing on printing books covering “unexplained events and occurrences,” and offered to publish Mike’s books.

“It was really exciting to get published after over 30 years of doing it on my own,” Quast said. “It was a big honor.”

Mike’s work in Minnesota has made him a go-to expert on the subject in the state. In 2020, the first annual Minnesota Bigfoot Conference in Grand Rapids invited him to speak before a group of assembled cryptozoologists and enthusiasts.

“A lot of the guests were celebrities in the field, people who were on TV all the time and had traveled a long way to be there,” recalled Quast. “They had sharp PowerPoint presentations on big screens; I was a little more low-tech: holding up posterboards with photos and illustrations. Still, people approached me afterward and said my talk was one of the best ones.”

This conference has grown in popularity, welcoming over 500 guests for its sixth installment in October 2025.

What’s next for Mike? He is still doing field research, having visited the Blackduck site multiple times this past summer, and plans to continue writing.

“I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing for well over 30 years,” he said, “and I already have in mind what I want to do for my next book.”

All of Mike’s books can be purchased directly from Hangar 1 Publishing; they are also available from major online book retailers and as e-books for mobile devices.

Staff Spotlight is a new feature that will appear monthly in the Spud Hub and on the district website and social media. Do you know a staff member with an interesting story that we should feature? Email spudnews@moorheadschools.org!