No, it is not an April Fool's Day joke - there really is an Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance!  You can see for yourself in the following book of wacky laws:

Kevin Underhill, The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance and other Real Laws that Human beings have actually dreamed up, enacted, and sometimes even enforced, American Bar Association (2013).  Law Library stacks: K183 U53 2013.

A facsimile of Ordinance No. 69-01, adopted the 1st day of April, 1969, by Skamania County, Washington, can be found on p. 271 of the book.

Indeed, Skamania County has a webpage up for your very own Sasquatch Seeking Fun!  It includes an Itinerary Overview that'll take you 368 steps up a sand ladder to view the crater of Mount St. Helens in the distance, and perhaps even see Sasquatch!  Don't forget to visit Ape Cave while you are there, so much excitement!

Before we go overboard, we need to get back to the basics of the book: a collection of very unusual laws that may or may not make you the life of the party.  For instance, the first written law code mentions beer.  The "Reform Edict of Urukagina" (ca. 2350 B.C.) specifies beer shall be paid in compensation for burial services.

The levy of fines was common practice for any variety of offenses in olden times.  For Salian Franks, the fine for battery depended on how hard you hit your victim (Pactus Legis Salicae XVII, ca. 500).

Since 1313, it has been the law that "every Man shall come without all Force and Armour, well and peaceably" to the English Parliament (The Coming Armed to Parliament Act 1313 (7 Edw. 2)).  Be it knownst, King Edward II was not very popular at the time.  Still, the statute remains in force to this day.

This next one caught me off guard, according to 10 U.S.C. sec. 311, all able-bodied American males between the ages of 17 and under 45 are members of the militia, like it or not.

Now, here's one for us librarians!  Willful noisemaking in a public library is a crime in Massachusetts (Mass. Gen. Laws sec. 272-41).  That'll cost you a $50 fine or a month in jail.  Even the Law Library doesn't go that far!

In Aspen, Colorado, snowball fighting is illegal (Aspen, Colo., Mun. Code sec. 15.04.210).  And I am sure gIad I didn't grow up in South Carolina.  I loved playing pinball as a kid!  "It is unlawful for a minor under the age of eighteen to play a pinball machine" (S.C. Code sec. 63-19-2430).

Here is probably the nicest law in the entire book.  January 26 is "Motherhood and Apple Pie Day" in the state of Virginia:

"The twenty-sixth day of January of each year shall be recognized and celebrated as Motherhood and Apple Pie Day throughout the Commonwealth. Upon this date, all citizens of the Commonwealth are urged to reflect upon the need to continue efforts to reduce the state's infant mortality rate to preserve our heritage and to ensure the health and well-being of future generations" (Va. Code sec. 2.2-3303).

My favorite of them all characterizes the qualities I hope our graduating class will take with them out into their profession.  The following comes from the official state code of Wyoming, known as "the code of the West," derived from the book Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen (Wyo. Stats. 8-3-123):

Live each day with courage;

Take pride in your work;

Always finish what you start;

Do what has to be done;

Be tough, but fair;

When you make a promise, keep it;

Ride for the brand;

Talk less, say more;

Remember that some things are not for sale;

Know where to draw the line.

Submitted by Eric Taylor, Evening Reference Librarian on March 31, 2025

This article appears in the categories: Law Library