Monster or no, people abandoned Portlock en masse. Today these two ghost towns located on the Kenai Peninsula remain uninhabited. A criminalist who processed the scene where a native Alaska woman was slain in 1993 described photos he and a colleague took of the victim as jurors looked on Thursday in the murder and sexual . Portlock was an active community thriving on salmon canneries in the early twentieth century. We must live only five miles from her parents home. Hear all about it from Cassidy in this episode! Portlock, Alaska lies on the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska. Cahawba, Alabama Alabamas First Capital, Today, it is known as Old Cahawba Archaeological Park and welcomes visitors to explore its ruins, cemeteries, and streets. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. So pack your bags and hit the road for an adventure this summer! Although the sheer size of this beast draws stories of aggression and danger, it is mostly known through the traces it leaves behind: hair snagged on foliage, and of course its big footprints. "That we can establish as the facts. From that point, we'll let Wikipedia's single sentence tell the rest of Portlock's history: The residents of the town purportedly fled en masse by 1950 after a number of unsolved murders and disappearances. Nantinaq is a large Bigfoot-like creature that is believed to be a key factor in the abandonment of the Alaskan fishing village Portlock. But the stories about Portlock, Alaska, are unlike any other, with characters from a horror movie. A mine tunnel, house pilings, and rusted cannery equipment are all that remain of Portlock. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. The nearest city is Homer on Kachemak Bay. [4], Around the 1940s, it was reported that several Dall sheep hunters had disappeared in the hills outside Portlock; it was also stated in a 1973 article from the Anchorage Daily News that dismembered bodies of some of the missing had washed ashore in the lagoon. Most reviewers describe it as peaceful and relaxing. So, its more history than mystery here. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. There are lots of accounts of creatures being seen in the area. Bigfoot or no Bigfoot, you are on your own here. Lekanoff is charged with sexually abusing a five-year-old child in an Anchorage park in 1994. Sasquatch & The Nantiinaq of Portlock, Alaska Average Customer Ratings. Source: GARETH / Adobe Stock. 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. "I'm hoping to camp 3 or 4 days in the area and maybe set up some cameras just for kicks. Whatever it was, it was extremely aggressive and deadly to anyone caught out on their own. We are planning an Expedition to the place next summer. Nobody lives in Portlock now. But by 1951, he gave up too, and the Portlock post office was officially closed. Weed considered himself a skeptic and explained what the Nantiinaq could have been mistaken for. Sasquatch, more commonly referred to as Bigfoot in the United States, is perhaps the most famous cryptid in history. As for prints, She heard some days about her dad complaining about large footprints, that he'd say were bear, in the snow; but he seemed troubled about them, unduely agitated in a fearful manner, and would hurry her away from them. But with the isolation and the vast areas free from human habitation comes its fair share of spooky stories and unexplained happenings. In 1786 British captain Nathaniel Portlock sailed . This incident was scary enough to traumatize the entire village. Portluck is a ghost town located on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The villagers would hear something and then she would disappear back into the cliff face. A team is sent to reclaim an abandoned village from a murderous Bigfoot. Rating. Legend has it that it was because of a creature called the Nantiinaq, or Hairy Man, a murderous Bigfoot like creature creeping around the woods and killing people that ventured into his territory. Copyright 2008-2023. Are there any other Alaskan ghost towns that youve visited? Alaskan Killer Bigfoot: With Ash Naderhoff, Keith Seville, D.J. Rock Apes of Vietnam: Jungle Cryptid of the Vietnam War? Soon, many moved away from the small community, scared for their lives. No one has been back. Powered by Aiir. In 1949 hunters found mutilated. Perhaps, T. Lindsey Baker, author of. Rumours It terrified them, and they left as soon as possible. In most cases the slow but inevitable decay of the population and the local businesses leaves a ghost town in its wake. Other communities disappear simply because they have exhausted the natural resources which drew people to the area in the first place, mining towns come to mind. [4][1][5] Many villagers blamed the unexplained deaths and disappearances on a Bigfoot-like creature referred to locally as Nantinaq. 10 Ghostly Idaho Ghost Towns You Need to See. Wars, natural disasters, political wrangling and the like can all be reasons one community might be abandoned in favor of another. One group hunting a moose reported finding giant footprints also stalking the same animal. Resurrection Cemetery, Haynesville Woods try these for spookier road trips, Portland Trail Blazers Games at Moda Center: Fan Guide, Get Ghosted at the Six Most Haunted Airports in the US. The full story with Brian Weed can be found ON DEMAND on our website. 1887-1926. Over the years, legends told that the residents fled because they were being terrorized by a Bigfoot-like creature the local natives called Nantiinaq. Are there a lot of haunted areas in Alaska? Those people did leave the town. This thriving town remained until everyone abandoned the village in 1950, with most residents moving to nearby villages down the coast. At this time, there are no residents living in Portlock Alaska. The place takes its name from Nathaniel Portlock, a British naval captain and fur trader believed to have come ashore here. Some people gave these creatures names such as the Mountain Apes or Hairy Men. 511 Followers. Their bodies floated in with the morning tide. Giant manlike tracks, 18 inches reported closing in on moose tracks and signs of a struggle. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Bipin Dimri is a writer from India with an educational background in Management Studies. Alaska is Sasquatch land or Nantinaq, as Bigfoot is locally known around Portlock. The once bustling cannery community of Portlock, Alaska now lies unoccupied on the Kenai Peninsula. Credit: KREM. Throughout the 1920, 30's, and 40's strange things happened in a small, oceanside town on the Alaskan Kenai Peninsula known as Portlock (Port Chatham). Port Chatham is the bay that separates Elizabeth Island from the southern portion of the Kenai Peninsula. Feels like a perfect followup to my story, ECHOES, and I've always been meaning to write something along these lines. It looked more like someone picked it up and bonked him over the head.". Many people use the term Port Chatham when referring to Portlock. In the late 1920s, Spokane made its best profits ever, but everything went downhill in the following years. In her interview Malania said her godfather (whom she never named) was killed after being hit on the back of his head with a winch while on a boat. Sign up for our newsletter and get notified of the best travel destinations for your next trip. The Chilling Stories Behind Portlock, Alaska. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced her Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Appropriations Request Page going live. Whatever or whoever was responsible obviously forced a rapid abandonment of the two fishing villages by the townspeople to other nearby communities for safety. According to its promotional materials, "Alaskan Killer Bigfoot" follows four men as they explore Portlock, near the tip of the Kenai Peninsula, and try to "reclaim" the land . keystyle mmc corp login; thomson reuters drafting assistant user guide. Many were washed into the bay from the rivers that fed it, suggesting the people, trappers and miners, had been surprised and killed in the hills and forests above Portlock. Cahawba is Alabamas most famous ghost town. It reads like a Scooby Doo plot. Eventually, the mine closed by 1940. Israel Keyes. :-). 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! They . What is left of Portlock. The village of Portlock was established when Captain Nathanial Portlock of the Royal British Navy landed there in 1787. So, where can you use these images? But even when the cotton trading and transport thrived, seasonal floods were the towns bane. And then came stories about hauntings in Chatham Bay and the mine in Chrome. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Only the postmaster remained. It would not report again on the census until 1980, when it was made a census-designated place (CDP), again reporting 31 residents. 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. John Straley, the Shamus Award-winner and author of The Woman Who Married a Bear,has returned with another dark, enticing, and humorous Cecil Younger novel.The seventh novel of the series, Baby's First Felony, continues Cecil's story as a local investigator in Sitka, Alaska.The abundance of darkness, isolation, and cold is accompanied by the strange mystique that Alaska embodies, which . The BFR is all stainless and has a precision grade barrel that delivers unmatched accuracy with lead or jacketed bullets. Port Chatham, Alaska was once a busy fishing village. After the gold rush, many booming small towns were abandoned as miners left to follow gold claims in other areas. Anyways, the show goes into detail about the abandoned village of Portlock, AK. Mysterious Portlock At the tip of the Kenai Peninsula in Port Chatham Bay, sixteen miles south of Seldovia, sits the mysterious ghost town of Portlock, Alaska. Are there many abandoned towns in Alaska? This could not be some bear or else they would have identified it as such. History writes "Seventy years ago, a murderous Bigfoot-like creature sent residents fleeing from Portlock, Alaska. From a distance of say a hundred feet, your brain has never seen a bear that big, so you put together an idea of what you think you saw. A Net Inceptions project. Interesting history topics are just a click away. TV14. 8. Morgan has never been so alive! Portlock was established in the Kenai Peninsula in the early-twentieth century as a cannery,[1] particularly for salmon. You Might Like Horror road movies where trips went south quickly! Winds are from the East at 38.0 gusting to 47.2 MPH (33 gusting to 41 KT). The boat would need to be out farther than the giant could walk in the water, and the boat itself would need to obscure your view so it's eyes don't lay sight on you. Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes - Sunday, December 12. Keyes sexually assaulted and murdered Koenig, leaving the teenager's corpse in a shed on his property while he went on a cruise. She scrambled back in her window, cutting herself on the window edge, but came back to hold her head out and mimic the beast. The size of the found footprints was more than 46 cm (18 inches) long. Maybe you're seeing it from a strange angle or it's too close to trees so you can't see its whole shape.". MySpace Facebook Alaska is full of stunning vistas, beautiful animals, and ghost towns. Bigfoot or no Bigfoot, you are on your own here. It was the only town in the region of Port Chatham Bay, and people sometimes use the terms interchangeably. There are plenty of areas that have unexplained happenings in them, including tales of ghost stories or people that disappear. Evil forces driving the inhabitants away from their sacred ancestral lands. It is unknown why the police, local sheriffs, or federal agents were not brought in to investigate, perhaps with the priorities of the war and the remoteness of the two fishing villages it may just have been too troublesome for authorities to expend resources and manpower over. 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. But the events at Portlock are not so easily explained. Even the postmaster couldnt continue on in this town. In the forests, people reported that someone ripped trees out and shoved them back in upside down. One of them is from the Portlock village, in Port Chatham Bay only 200 km (124 miles) south of the state's most populous city, Anchorage. is one of St. Elmos original residents and now its most famous ghost. I think there might be a mix up. This way, you can create truly unsettling designs. Disappearing Dall Sheep hunters, dismembered bodies in the lagoon, 18-inch giant footprints in the snow, and even lady-in-black sightings. Pelkey was 19 at the time of . Portlock, Alaska Teacher and his wife at English Bay stated hunters from Portlock sometimes failed to return. "Maybe they were seeing an extremely large bear in the area. However, these stories generally paint a very different picture to what happened at Portlock. I'm not trying to do like a Ghost Hunter special or anything, but I would like to see if there are some big brown bears in the area and what might have been seen that would cause people to be spooked.". When they found his body, there was blood on the equipment and there was no way that one person could have done it. Stories of mutilated bodies, missing hunters and strange . People use the term port Chatham, Alaska now lies unoccupied on the southern portion of the War! 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