If we have a serial killer in the area at the time, they took out a lot of people in the course of say 20 years. Bears are certainly large and strong enough to do the damage seen by the villagers, and would be attracted by the salmon canning plant, but the footprints and eyewitness accounts dispute this. There are also reports of prospectors and hunters going missing frequently to the point that it became commonplace. So, what can be said for sure about the attacks? Sasquatch, more commonly referred to as Bigfoot in the United States, is perhaps the most famous cryptid in history. In most cases the slow but inevitable decay of the population and the local businesses leaves a ghost town in its wake. Residents in the nearby villages of Seldovia, Nanwalek, and Port Graham also report that the area is haunted, including Portlock (also called Port Catham,) Catham Bay, and Chrome, the site of a chromium mine. But such stories, although consistent with the accounts from Portlock, only allow speculation as to what happened in the Alaskan settlement. Whatever or whoever was responsible obviously forced a rapid abandonment of the two fishing villages by the townspeople to other nearby communities for safety. Portlock grew steadily, with its economy fueled by fishing and the nearby chromium mine. Read on to learn more about the terrifying history of Portlock and the Portlock, Alaska murders. On the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, youll find Portlock, Alaska, a whole town that disappeared within the state, with only a few rotting houses left of the once-vibrant village. Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - John B. Perkins was well known for reciting original Tlingit poetry while drumming at the Goldbelt Tram. Thank you! Alaska is full of stunning vistas, beautiful animals, and ghost towns. Some people gave these creatures names such as the Mountain Apes or Hairy Men. The cannery was a fairly big operation, finding vast resources of fish in the unspoiled clear waters and bringing in droves of people looking for work, growing to meet the needs of the expanding population of cannery workers willing to live in this remote, wild place. Locals moved away to the surrounding villages of Nanwalek and Port Graham. By 1910 there was enough interest in opening a cannery at Portlock that the town became official with the opening of its post office in 1921. The wind chill is 31. The murdered man was only the first sign of an unknown threat in the woods surrounding the village. In the local dialect of Alutiiq, the language of the area, the creature is called a nantiinaq, half-man, half-beast. We're not talking about a dozen people. ), that man admires and often tries to exaggerate whatever characters nature may have given him, is shewn in many ways."-- The Descent of Man (1871) by Charles Darwin Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The University of Alaska today released the first in a series of informational reports designed to aid state leaders as Alaska confronts a rapidly changing Arctic and the increasingly globalized North. Although Aleut people have lived on the Southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula for thousands of years, no one had a settlement in the Portlock area until the 1780s. It made clicking noises and squeaks you could say. Do you believe the rumors about Portlock, Alaska? It was reported that people began to go missing fairly regularly, going off hunting or to their jobs to never return. I would NOT spend the night onshore, only overnighting in the boat, well offshore. Alaska, the largest state in the United States, is many things to many people. Have you been to Portlock, the whole town that disappeared in Alaska? Which effectively means that its less dangerous than covid for people who were already dying of cancer to go for a walk in the woods in certain regions of Alaska, but more dangerous than covid for young healthy people to try it. Yet this place was also at some time forsaken, the inhabitants held under siege by strange forces they could not understand and could not cope with, leading to strange phenomena, mysterious deaths, vanishings, and a mass abandonment and unsolved mystery discussed to this day. Join MU Plus+ and get exclusive shows and extensions & much more! It was an unexplored, beautiful area, filled with fish and plenty of space. In the 1920s, a man by the name of Albert Petka supposedly scared off the hairy creature with his dogs, but not before receiving a fatal blow to the chest. An expedition to the area by Bigfoot researchers has been conducted. He says that shows that take place in Alaska often do not show true Alaska and that they hope to change that with their honest depiction of exploring the state. Yet, a common pattern in the Pacific Northwest seems to manifest itself in people being chased, murdered, or vanished in the presence of what we now call, Bigfoot. Nobody lives in Portlock now. It was a true frontier of America and only the hardiest would survive. Read millions of eBooks and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. The village of Portlock was established when Captain Nathanial Portlock of the Royal British Navy landed there in 1787. A mine tunnel, house pilings, and rusted cannery equipment are all that remain of Portlock. The team's 40-day sojourn in the icy Alaskan wilderness tests their mettle . A group of hunters out stalking moose came across the giant footprints of some big animal. ", "When the 1930s incidents started to happen most of the Russian Aleuts actually moved out of town for a year. Your email address will not be published. KINY Radio, 2018. It was first inhabited in 1787 by the British Royal Navy, but wouldn't become more permanent until the early twentieth century. Those who were not part of the main cast and only have recurring roles make $1,500. It was dissolved as a CDP by the 1990 census and has not reported again. By 1950, every single resident had left the town, leaving it abandoned. Most were eventually coaxed into coming back, but this was not nearly the end of the weirdness. Dont Miss the Frankenmuth Snowfest This Year, Youll Never Guess Where the Ice Cream Capital of the World Is, Everything You Need to Know About Neahkahnie Viewpoint, Sip Sophistication at the Best Wineries in Colorado, The Creepiest Abandoned Places in Colorado, The Best Hot Springs in Alaska to Warm Your Bones, Feast Your Eyes on These Unique New Mexico Mountains, Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting Killpecker Sand Dunes, The History of the Haunted Captain Grants Inn, Well Never Know Why the Bells Mansion Was Abandoned, Add Brandywine River Tubing to Your Bucket List, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. but i also believe in good and evil, god and the devil. :-). The community of Portlock was first established in 1786, with the arrival of British captain Nathaniel Portlock, from which the town derived its name. Top Image: The deaths were very real was the Portlock Sasquatch real as well? The disappearances and the bodies found were too horrible for anyone to continue living in this small town. On the southernmost region of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula lies the remnants of a small village called Portlock. Over 20 years, people claimed to find more than 30 bodies in the same state. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Thank you for recommending it ???? Maybe you're seeing it from a strange angle or it's too close to trees so you can't see its whole shape.". Excellent worker. Fear took root in the population at the loss of so many lives, and people started to leave the village. They fit the facts, but require the existence of a sustainable population of huge apes, sharing a landmass with hundreds of millions of people without a single piece of concrete evidence as to their existence. Several residents who grew up there and moved out still talk about its beauty. Rumors like this persisted for years, only further bolstered by stories of miners, loggers, hunters, or cannery workers finding huge tracks in the woods, or of seeing fleeting large dark shapes and sometimes hearing eerie howls at night. Alaskan Killer Bigfoot allegedly prowls Portlock killing humans and its prey After the British Navy docked in Southcentral Alaska in 1787, Captain Nathanial Portlock named the fish-rich area Portlock. However the locals had a name for it: the Portlock Sasquatch. I dont personally care about the entertainment value of the show, just hope that if things actually start happening there that theyll actually convey it to us. There are plenty of areas that have unexplained happenings in them, including tales of ghost stories or people that disappear. Its a hike to get to Portlock, Alaska, these days, but if you have the opportunity, dont pass it up. In the meantime, before reaching the camp, it sided away towards the inaccessible rocky mount. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. In some cases, the town was bypassed by a railroad or highway. Stay away from port lock. Winds are East at 5.8 MPH (5 KT). Although Aleut people have lived on the Southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula for thousands of years, no one had a settlement in the Portlock area until the 1780s. Occurrences like these began to show up regularly. The fish wheels were near the beach, away from the witnesss shack. Then the beast suddenly walked away without harming the resident. Was this a serial killer on the loose, wild animals, Bigfoot, spirits, demons, or something else altogether? by with a free trial. After this, things began to get rather sinister. In 1949 hunters found mutilated. His group plans frequent hikes in the area to places that have some sort of story to tell or just to see the natural beauty of the state. Feels like a perfect followup to my story, ECHOES, and I've always been meaning to write something along these lines. We know when the town and post office shut down. This thriving town remained until everyone abandoned the village in 1950, with most residents moving to nearby villages down the coast. Also, we learned that Discovery Channel actors earn $56,000 on average. Today these two ghost towns located on the Kenai Peninsula remain uninhabited. Perhaps, T. Lindsey Baker, author of. Is this someplace you would ever visit to explore, now that you know this bone-chilling piece of Portlock, Alaska history? they appear as so,but are not. We think we understand everything through science but we arent close. Port Chatham, Alaska was once a busy fishing village. Ten years later, a piece of logging equipment hit a logger in the head, even though it would have taken more than one person to lift it. Required fields are marked *. Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, wrote stories of his childhood that include an encounter with Bauman, a seasoned trapper in Idaho. The Maxim gun was first used by Britain's colonial forces in the First Matabele War in 1893-1894. And people disappear annually from certain regions at a rate that makes just being there more deadly than actually catching covid was in its first wave without vaccination or any level of medical attention at all. translat. I wonder what most historians would have to say about the strange saga of Portlock, Alaska? I knew her as a fellow artist with me, a hard worker at the interior decorators in Mountain City, an unusually mature 18 year old. Looking for Richard Boutte online? The two communities of Portlock and Port Chatham managed to endure the years of World War II as if being within striking distance of the Imperial Japanese Fleet wouldnt have been daunting enough! Remnants of what once was can often still be found; old schools, churches or other buildings, usually in a ramshackle state of decay, stand, albeit perilously, serving as the only reminder that a community once thrived on the spot. He's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America. Bipin Dimri is a writer from India with an educational background in Management Studies. After the establishment of a cannery due to massive salmon runs in the area, the citizens of Portlock experienced strange disappearances and deaths. Around 1900, an American firm brought in a fleet of fishing boats and built a cannery to take advantage of the calm waters and the healthy run of salmon. Yet, for numerous reasons many of these once flourishing towns met with hard times and gradually lost population and retail services that made living there impossible. A few scarier ones would be Ukivok near Nome, the Kennicott Mine in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Portage, near Whittier, the Slide Cemetery in Skagway, and the Treadwell Gold Mine near Juneau. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a scout team exploring the ruins of the abandoned village. The family dog also disappeared. ASL-PCA-66 | Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, UAF-1991-18-155 | Arnold Granville photographs | Alaska Digital Archives, ASL-P237-1-18 | Carl L. Hubbs Photograph Collection, 1939, ASL-PCA-237-1 | Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, UAF-1991-18-153 | Arnold Granville photographs | Alaska Digital Archives, ASL-P237-1-17 | Carl L. Hubbs Photograph Collection, 1939, ASL-PCA-237-1 | Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, Head To This Eerie Island For A Real Life Adventure In Alaska. Natives at the time saw this as a bad sign, believing it to be evidence that a Nantiinaq had come to haunt the area. Whatever lived in the woods above Portlock, and whatever had killed all the people, it had won. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); When was the most recent investigation of the two towns? He was a good ten feet from the logging equipment, so it's not like he slipped, fell, and hit his head. Portlock first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village of 31 residents. Sign up for our newsletter and get notified of the best travel destinations for your next trip. She has a violent temper at times, but did her job without fail. . Hey Mike, wow this is certainly a fascinating tale. Weed told us that he hopes to visit Portlock to do some exploring. Portlock was established in the Kenai Peninsula in the early-twentieth century as a cannery,[1] particularly for salmon. Footprints over 18 inches long headed from that spot into the foggy mountains. It terrified them, and they left as soon as possible. The cannery workers returned the next season, but unexplained events were continually reported. The Aleuts inhabited the area for centuries. There needs to be a movie made about this story. i believe people are seeing and hearing and smelling exactly what they say they are. The Yowie: More Than Just Australias Bigfoot? He had sworn that if he had not had time to row out into the coastal waters they would have killed him with ease in short order! #1Portlock, AlaskaSettlementUpdated: 2020-02-29Portlock is a ghost town in the USA state of Alaska, located on the southern edge of the Kenai Peninsula, around 16 mi south of Seldovia. In the early 1900s there were a series of deaths and disappearances in the town. Would any of you out there risk it? The man had been killed by a single ferocious blow, far more devastating than could have been inflicted by a single human being. Their bodies floated in with the morning tide. Weed has said of this: Those people did leave the town. Source: GARETH / Adobe Stock. they are from a demonic realm which cannot be physically discovered. The Disturbing Incidents at Portlock, Alaska. And there are some truths we dont want to know. The loss of these lives took a toll on the small community and fear set in. All rights reserved. Something had partially dismembered and beaten them. Isn't this the place to be if you want to settle the question whether Bigfoot exists or not--Portlock, Alaska. If you travel to the southern side of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula today, you'll find little more than ruins and wildlife. Those rotting wooden structures remind us of good times past that once brought citizens to that point in time when living there was an attractive prospect. [4] The population largely consisted of Russian-Aleuts. One might recall that a number of very strange paranormal events occurred in Nome, Alaska, also a coastal town further north on the shores of the largest and most wild of the 50 states. By then, locals spoke of a Yeti-like monster that walked the beaches of Portlock, destroying fish wheels and leaving giant 18-inch-long footprints. Mountains, forests, and wilderness stretch for endless miles, the scene of many stories happening here. Just watched the first episode. Last Name. People continued to disappear without a trace, and sometimes the missing were found in quite the gruesome state. At this time, many of the workers at the cannery suddenly stopped coming to work and refused to come back, but this wasnt due to poor pay or working conditions, but rather because the men were deeply spooked. These stories point to a large hairy beast, smaller hairy devils that travel in packs, a wailing spirit that wandered the wilderness, and many deaths that were hard to explain. Nanwalek and Port Graham they left as soon as possible spend the night onshore, only allow speculation as what. 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