 The trap was built in 1974 by the North American Wildlife Research Team (NAWRT), a now-defunct organization based in Eugene, Oregon, that was inspired to build a trap at the location by Perry Lovell, a miner who lived near the Applegate River, who claimed to have found 18-inch-long human-like tracks in his garden.NAWRT operated the trap, keeping it baited with carcasses for six years, but caught only bears.Since then the trap had been abandoned and started to deteriorate.