The Passing of a Friend and Legend
The definition of a legend is someone who “Has achieved extreme fame or notoriety, particularly in a specific field. The use of the term often denotes respect and admiration.” I know of nobody better who defines the term than Harvey Pratt. Harvey was born in El Reno, Oklahoma, and made his life in the Sooner State.
Harvey was a Father, Uncle, Husband, Patriot, friend, and Native American Chief. To understand this man's contributions to our society, I’ll start with 1962, when he joined the United States Marines, was shipped to Da Nang, Vietnam, and served as a member of the Air Rescue and Security Team at the Da Nang Air Base. His team rescued countless pilots who had been shot down.
Harvey came home to Oklahoma in 1965 and joined the Midwest Police Department. He had the innate ability to draw portraits of people from witness descriptions. While at Midwest, he drew his first witness drawing, and that resulted in the arrest and conviction of a Homicide suspect.
The yearning to learn took Harvey to Oklahoma State University where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. As his life progressed, Harvey took numerous classes and taught many in the law enforcement arena. He was a graduate of the FBI academy!
In 1972, Mr. Pratt’s life changed; he joined the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) as a Special Agent. It was at OSBI that Harvey’s art came to life. He became the state's Chief Forensic artist, drawing thousands of forensic witness sketches that led to countless apprehensions and convictions. He was also an innovator in soft-tissue reconstruction, working with bodies that needed to be identified. Harvey Pratt was quickly recognized within OSBI, and they honored him by allowing him to design the OSBI Badge, flag, and seal. His artwork can also be found inside the Oklahoma Supreme Court and many other state buildings.
While at OSBI, Harvey worked the Sirloin Stockade Murders, Green River Killer, Ted Bundy, Henry Lucas and Otis Otoole. His calm, insightful, and investigative techniques made Harvey a valuable contributor in major crime investigations.
After over 40 years in law enforcement, Harvey retired from OSBI as Assistant Director.
The Native American community recognized Harvey by making him a Cheyenne Arapaho Native American Chief, sitting on the Chiefs Council. He was also recognized as an “Outstanding Southern Cheyenne” and was inducted into the Southern Cheyenne Chiefs Lodge, a huge honor. Harvey was inducted into the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Bureau Hall of Fame. Harvey served as the chairperson of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the United States Department of the Interior.
As the years progressed, so did Harvey’s notoriety for his art. He became known for his oil, watercolor, metal, clay, and wood.
One of Harvey’s biggest and most famous works of art was the design of the Smithsonian's National Native American Veterans Memorial for the National Museum of the Native American Indian. The design won after a competition amongst world famous artists. It is a centerpiece at the Native American Museum.
I first met Harvey and his wife, Gina in 2005 when I was doing a research project in Hoopa, California. I had located a series of witnesses who described something they called Bigfoot. I needed an FBI trained Forensic artist who could integrate into the Hoopa Reservation and relate to the witnesses. I did a search and found Harvey Pratt, an absolute perfect fit. We first spoke by phone, and he and Gina agreed to fly to Northern California, meet with the witnesses, and draw the sketches.
Harvey had told me that he grew up with Bigfoot as part of his Native teachings. It was in their woods, around them most of the time, and he was quite interested in the topic. Harvey and I were meant to believe that Bigfoot was a wild ape or gorilla. After that first day of Harvey drawing seven facial sketches, the biped looked nothing like a Gorilla; each sketch had a distinct human quality. The result of the research in Hoopa and Harvey’s sketches was, “The Hoopa Project.” The book's success prompted us to conduct similar research in Oklahoma. Harvey and I located several Bigfoot witnesses and stories. Again, Harvey drew the forensic sketches, which resulted in the book “Tribal Bigfoot.”
In conjunction with the History Channel, I was asked to produce a movie called Vanished in 2019, stories of missing people I had chronicled in my books, Missing 411. Harvey and Gina played major roles in that production, which took us across the four corners of the United States to investigate unusual disappearances.
In 2024, I went into production on a new documentary called American Sasquatch: Man, Myth or Monster. Harvey interviewed many Bigfoot witnesses and later drew a forensic sketch of them. Many of these drawings appear in the movie; the remaining appeared in my book by the same title. Harvey was interviewed in the movie and provided significant insight into the topic's background.
In total, Harvey and I worked together on two Documentaries and three books and countless conferences:
Documentaries:
Vanished
American Sasquatch, Man, Myth or Monster
Books:
The Hoopa Project
Tribal Bigfoot
American Sasquatch, Man, Myth or Monster
My friendship with Harvey was very different from any of the others I have had for decades. When my son (Ben) took his life, there were only two people who called me regularly, counseling and checking in on my welfare; Harvey was one of those. These weren’t easy conversations. Harvey knew Ben; they had met several times, and Ben had told me what a special friend I had. Harvey walked a line between the spiritual world, reality, and tragedy. He was one of the very few people who could help me come to terms with what had happened. Each time he called, I had a sense of calm and well-being. In the last several years, we have talked more and more frequently, thankfully.
In the last year, Harvey had a series of medical issues that seemed to be benign. A few months ago, his health took a horrific turn, and he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He was in terrific pain, had several surgeries, and there did not seem to be a lifeline. Over the last two decades, I have become good friends with his two sons, Nathan and Judson. Between the two boys and Gina, I got a deeply sad view of what was coming. In the last month, Harvey and I had spoken several times; sometimes Harvey seemed aware, sometimes not.
On December 23, I was contacted by the boys and told that their dad had taken a turn for the worse. I spoke to Gina, and we decided I would fly to Oklahoma City on Christmas Eve and spend Christmas Day with Harvey, Gina, Judson, and Nathan. They warned me that we was not very cognizant of his surroundings, I didn’t care.
Christmas morning at 8:30am, I walked into Harvey’s room at Mercy Hospital. He was asleep, alone, and the room was quiet. I gently held his hand and told him how much he was loved. Harvey woke, stared at me, and said, clear as day, “Damn, I heard you were coming Davey.” I was stunned, he was aware, engaging, and funny!. A short time later, Gina arrived, and then a few hours after that, the boys arrived. I was fortunate to be there when the two doctors arrived and discussed Hospice, and how they would allow Harvey to go home the following day, he was very happy about that.
Late Christmas Day, everyone had cleared from the room, and it was just Harvey and me. I again held his hand, looked straight into his eyes, and told him what a great contribution he made to this world. I explained that I felt blessed he had been in my life and how he had helped me with Ben’s death. I admit, I had tears streaming down my face. I knew I was losing a best friend. I kissed his forehead, told him I loved him. His last words to me were, “We had a good ride.” Yes, we did, Harvey.
I got a text at 2am this morning from Harvey’s son, Nathan, that his dad had passed. I got a call from Gina later in the day. I asked how she was doing and about the specifics of Harvey’s passing; it was peaceful. I want to personally thank Gina for the great care she gave to Harvey, he was blessed to have her.
I know I was a blessed person to have Harvey in my life for twenty years. His spiritual view of the world, his humble demeanor, and his acts of kindness made a lifelong impression on me. I pray that Ben and Harvey meet up, hug, and exchange warm greetings. Our world lost a legend.
