WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:01.600 Today, I want to tell you about a journey that 2 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:03.879 I've been on for most of my life. Ever since 3 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.799 I was a kid, I've heard tales of bigfoot and 4 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.320 wild men while spending time with my friends and family. 5 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:11.439 As I grew older and read more about the paranormal, 6 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.679 my interest in encryptids and other things strange only deepened. 7 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.160 That's why I'm so excited to share with you what 8 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.640 I've personally become involved with the Untold Radio Network. The 9 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.280 Untold Radio Network is a live streaming podcast network that 10 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.359 airs a new show every day across all podcast platforms, YouTube, 11 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.119 and more. They have eight different shows on all sorts 12 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:36.119 of exciting topics such as bigfoot, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, and 13 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:39.479 much more. I even have my own show called Weird Encounters, 14 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.439 where I talk about all things strange. This is more 15 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.280 than just a podcast network. It's a community that allows 16 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.759 me to meet so many amazing people who share their 17 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.520 stories and experiences with strange. If you're interested in hearing 18 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.880 more of these stories and learning more about the paranormal 19 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.679 and encryptids, make sure you check out the Untold Radio 20 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:58.960 Network for all kinds of exciting shows. 21 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:01.600 It's free to subscribe. So what are you waiting for? 22 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:06.560 Visit www dot untold radionetwork dot com today. 23 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.680 Now, what are your reporting? I got a screen going 24 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:12.120 on here. Something just kid with my dog, something to 25 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.000 kill your dog? My dog. We're flying through the here 26 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:20.079 over the tree. I don't know how it did it? Okay, Damn, 27 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:22.640 I'm really confused. All I saw was my dog coming 28 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:24.480 over the fence, and they was dead once you hit 29 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:26.560 the grill. I didn't see any cars. All I saw 30 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:28.000 was my dog coming over the fence. 31 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:44.680 Happen? 32 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:48.000 What are you reporting? We got some wonder or something 33 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:58.640 crawling around out here? Did you see what it was? 34 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.359 It was enough here. Look, I'm new to window now 35 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:08.800 and I don't need anything. I don't want to go outside. Hello, 36 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:12.719 hit the boddy out here? What quent on out there? 37 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.520 It's thought of a venus about text nine? I don't 38 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.199 know easy out there? Yeah, I'm walking right, heady. 39 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.879 The forest breathes differently when you're alone. Every rustling leaf 40 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:27.319 becomes a footstep, every creaking branch a warning. For most 41 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:31.879 of us, the wilderness represents freedom, adventure, perhaps a spiritual 42 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:36.120 connection to something larger than ourselves. But for others, those 43 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.039 who have delved too deeply into the mysteries that lurk 44 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:43.759 between the trees. The forest holds darker secrets, secrets that 45 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.439 walk on two legs, leave massive footprints, and may not 46 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.719 always be as gentle as we'd like to believe. 47 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:51.280 Each week on the. 48 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:54.759 Podcast, I share episodes where Fred from Alaska recounts some 49 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:58.520 of the most terrifying and aggressive Sasquatch encounters from across 50 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:03.080 the Alaskan wilderness. These aren't the peaceful, camera shy giants 51 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:07.280 of popular documentaries, but creatures capable of genuine menace and 52 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:11.759 shocking violence. I've also produced an entire series examining the 53 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:16.240 strange disappearances that occur with disturbing frequency in our national parks, 54 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.759 cases where experienced hikers and campers simply vanish without a trace, 55 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.080 leaving behind only questions and the lingering possibility that something 56 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.599 unknown was responsible for their fate. These investigations have forced 57 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.000 me to confront an uncomfortable question that challenges everything we 58 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.439 think we know about the sasquatch phenomenon. Could these mysterious 59 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.680 creatures be responsible for at least some of the unexplained 60 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.759 disappearances that plague our wilderness areas. The answer may be 61 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.360 more disturbing than we're prepared to accept. When we think 62 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.159 of bigfoot sasquatch, or whatever regional name we assign to 63 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.000 these legendary creatures, the image that typically comes to mind 64 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:00.360 is that of a shy, reclusive being, a gentle giant, 65 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.800 more frightened of us than we are of it. Popular 66 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.439 culture has largely painted these mysterious hominids as peaceful forest dwellers, 67 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.479 content to live their lives in the shadows, occasionally leaving 68 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:15.680 behind a blurry photograph or an enormous footprint as the 69 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:19.040 only evidence of their passage. But what if that image 70 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:23.279 is incomplete? What if, buried beneath decades of folklore and 71 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.519 wishful thinking, there exists a darker narrative, one where these 72 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.839 creatures are not always the benevolent guardians of the forest 73 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:33.959 we imagine them to be. The cases you're about to 74 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:37.600 read challenge everything we think we know about the bigfoot phenomenon. 75 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:42.040 They speak of creatures capable of immense violence, beings that 76 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.000 may view human presence in their territory as an unacceptable 77 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.879 intrusion worthy of elimination. While skeptics will rightfully point to 78 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.240 lack of concrete evidence, and believers will argue about the 79 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:59.160 true nature of these encounters. One thing remains undeniable. People 80 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:01.319 have gone into the wor woods and never come back, 81 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.879 leaving behind only questions, blood, and the lingering suggestion that 82 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:10.279 something immense and powerful was responsible for their fate. This 83 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.879 is not a story for the faint of heart. It's 84 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:16.959 a journey into the darkest corners of cryptozoology, where legend 85 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.720 and reality blur into something far more sinister than weakend 86 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.120 campers and hiking enthusiasts might care to contemplate. The Oklahoma 87 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.160 Territory in the nineteen twenties was still a place where 88 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:32.199 the old ways held sway, where Native American traditions ran 89 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:36.199 as deep as the red Earth itself. In Okfusky County, 90 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.160 the Creek tribe maintained their connection to the land and 91 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:43.160 its spirits, understanding better than most that the wilderness was 92 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:47.040 home to forces both benevolent and terrible. It was in 93 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.959 this context that one of the earliest documented cases of 94 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.399 alleged Bigfoot violence occurred, though the details remained shrouded in 95 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.439 the mists of time and tribal reluctance to speak of 96 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.920 such dark matters to outsiders. According to researcher Jim Porter, 97 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.079 who spent years collecting accounts from various sources. The incident 98 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:09.399 began with the disappearance of a Creek Indian man whose 99 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:12.199 name has been lost to history, but whose death would 100 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:15.839 haunt the tribe for generations. The man had been known 101 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:20.560 as a devout individual, someone who took his spiritual responsibilities seriously. 102 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.720 He often ventured into the forest alone for prayer and meditation, 103 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:28.480 following paths that had been sacred to his people for centuries. 104 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:31.519 It was during one of these solitary journeys that he 105 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.759 encountered something that would cost him his life. When the 106 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.040 search party finally found him, the scene was unlike anything 107 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.120 they had witnessed before. The man lay in a clearing, 108 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.560 his legs drawn up beneath him, hands folded under his 109 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:48.040 head in what unmistakably appeared to be a position of prayer. 110 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.839 But this was no peaceful death. His body bore the 111 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.639 evidence of a savage beating, terrible blunt trauma wounds to 112 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.600 his head and torso that spoke of immense strength and 113 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:03.160 barely contained fury. What truly sent chills through the search party, however, 114 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:06.959 was the evidence scattered around the body. The soft earth 115 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:10.680 was covered with massive footprints, far larger than any human 116 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:15.319 could have made. Equally disturbing were the enormous handprints pressed 117 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.920 deep into the soil, as if some giant had braced 118 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:21.680 itself during the attack. The signs of struggle were everywhere, 119 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.040 but they told a story that conventional wisdom couldn't explain. 120 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.959 The Creek elders knew of the legends for generations. Their 121 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.480 people had spoken of the forest spirits, beings of immense 122 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.079 power who demanded respect and maintained the balance between the 123 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:40.399 human and natural worlds. These spirits could be benevolent, but 124 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:43.800 they could also be terrible in their wrath, had this 125 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.959 man somehow offended one of these ancient guardians. Adding to 126 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.759 the horror of the discovery were the bone piles found 127 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.000 scattered throughout the area, human bones mixed with those of animals, 128 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.680 arranged in patterns that suggested some form of intelligence, some purpose. 129 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.519 Being on simple predation, the Creek began to whisper that 130 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.079 the forest spirit had been collecting trophies, perhaps for reasons 131 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.240 that mortal minds could not comprehend. The most chilling aspect 132 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:14.519 of the scene, however, was the position of the body itself. 133 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.120 The man had clearly been praying when he died, but 134 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.240 the question that haunted everyone who saw the scene was simple. 135 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.000 Had he been praying for mercy from his attacker or 136 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.720 had he been praying to it. In Greek tradition, certain 137 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:32.000 forest spirits were both feared and revered. They were not 138 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.279 evil in the human sense, but they operated by rules 139 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.720 and motivations that transcended human understanding. If this man had 140 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.919 encountered such a being, his final prayers might have been 141 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.200 an attempt to appease it, to acknowledge its power, and 142 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:50.799 seek forgiveness for whatever transgression had triggered its wrath. The 143 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.120 tribal council made a decision that would echo through the generations. 144 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.080 The area where the man died was declared sacred and forbidden. 145 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.879 No one was to venture there alone, and certain rituals 146 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.440 were established to honor both the dead man and the 147 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:08.440 spirit that had claimed his life. The Creek understood something 148 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:12.879 that modern investigators often miss. Sometimes it's better to acknowledge 149 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.440 a mystery and treat it with respect than to seek 150 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:19.159 answers that might be too terrible to bear. Years later, 151 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.559 when white settlers began moving into the area in greater numbers. 152 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.360 They brought with them different explanations for the strange occurrences 153 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.200 in the forest. They spoke of bears, of wild men, 154 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.000 of anything that would fit into their more rational worldview. 155 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:37.720 But the Creek knew better. They had seen the evidence 156 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.679 with their own eyes, had felt the presence that lingered 157 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:44.240 in those woods long after the man's death. The case 158 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:46.720 of the Creek Indian's death represents more than just an 159 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:50.279 early Bigfoot encounter. It's a window into a different way 160 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:53.440 of understanding the world, one where the boundary between the 161 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.559 physical and spiritual realms is far more permeable than we 162 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:00.519 might be comfortable accepting. Whether the creature respond conable was 163 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.759 a sasquatch in the modern sense, a forest spirit in 164 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:08.279 the traditional understanding, or something else entirely, the fundamental truth 165 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.200 remains a man died violently in the woods, and the 166 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:16.679 evidence suggested something far beyond normal human or animal capabilities 167 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.480 was responsible. This incident would set a pattern that would 168 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.759 repeat throughout the twentieth century and beyond, encounters with massive, 169 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:27.919 powerful beings that seemed to operate by their own rules, 170 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.480 beings that were capable of both incredible stealth and shocking violence. 171 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:35.720 The Creek Indian's death was just the beginning of a 172 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:40.320 much larger, much darker story. If the Creek Indian incident 173 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:43.919 was a single tragic encounter between man and monster, the 174 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.159 story of Port Chatham, Alaska represents something far more systematic 175 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.360 and terrifying, the apparent systematic terrorization and ultimate abandonment of 176 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:58.200 an entire community by something that defied explanation. Port Chatham, 177 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.279 also known as Port Locke, sits on the very tip 178 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:05.120 of the Knai Peninsula in southern Alaska, a remote outpost 179 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.799 that has always existed at the mercy of the elements 180 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:12.320 and whatever wild creatures called the Alaskan wilderness home. In 181 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.480 the nineteen twenties, it was a thriving, if small community 182 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:19.279 of Russian and Native fishermen, lumberjacks, and miners who had 183 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.679 carved out a living from the harsh but bountiful landscape. 184 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:27.679 The troubles began, as they often do, with sightings. Workers 185 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.919 returning from the logging camps began reporting encounters with a 186 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.840 wild man, something enormous covered in dark hair, that watched 187 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:38.200 them from the tree line, with an intelligence that was 188 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:43.399 distinctly unsettling. Unlike bears, which the locals knew well this 189 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:47.080 creature walked upright and seemed to study human activity with 190 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.799 a purpose that set everyone on edge. The sightings might 191 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.200 have been dismissed as typical frontier tall tales, but they 192 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:57.639 were accompanied by physical evidence that was harder to explain away. 193 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:02.759 Massive footprints appeared regularly around the outskirts of town, pressed 194 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:06.000 deep into soil that would barely register a normal human's weight. 195 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:10.759 Trees were found completely uprooted, not broken or cut, but 196 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.639 pulled from the ground with the entire root system intact, 197 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:18.080 a feat that would have required industrial equipment. But sightings 198 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:22.000 and strange evidence were just the beginning. In nineteen thirty one, 199 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.799 the situation escalated dramatically with the death of Andrew Kamluck, 200 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.480 an experienced lumberjack who knew the dangers of his profession 201 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:32.919 as well as anyone. Kamluck was found dead at his 202 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.679 work site, apparently killed by a blow to the head 203 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:39.879 from a piece of heavy logging equipment. Under normal circumstances, 204 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.559 this might have been written off as an industrial accident, 205 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.039 but the details of the scene made that explanation impossible. 206 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.720 The piece of machinery that had killed Kamluck a tool 207 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:52.919 that would normally require two men to lift safely. Had 208 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.759 been thrown approximately ten feet from his body, with such 209 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:59.480 force that it had embedded itself in the ground. The 210 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:02.960 angle and distance of the throw suggested strength far beyond 211 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:07.519 human capabilities. More disturbing still were the massive footprints found 212 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.879 around the scene, prints that dwarfed those of the largest 213 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.879 men in the logging crew. The Native workers had a 214 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.519 name for what they believed was responsible, the Nanti Knock, 215 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.480 a creature from their oldest legends, a being of immense 216 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:24.879 size and strength that was generally avoided by anyone with sense. 217 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:28.919 As word of Kamluck's death spread through the community, the 218 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:34.240 Nanti Knock transformed from folklore into immediate, terrifying reality. What 219 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.159 followed was a decade long campaign of terror that would 220 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.360 ultimately drive every living soul from Port Chatham. Bodies began 221 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.840 appearing in the remote areas around town with disturbing regularity, 222 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:49.399 usually described as having been horribly mangled or torn to shreds. 223 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.120 The injuries were unlike anything the local doctor had seen, 224 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:57.519 suggesting an attacker of extraordinary size and strength, but also 225 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.440 one with an almost deliberate cruelty in its mane methods. 226 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.519 The psychological impact on the community was devastating cannery workers 227 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.960 upon whom the town's economy depended, began refusing to come 228 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.639 to work. The nineteen forties saw entire seasons where the 229 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:16.840 canneries sat empty, their owners desperately offering armed guards and 230 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.360 increased wages to anyone brave enough to work the processing lines. 231 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.919 But even armed protection couldn't ease the growing sense that 232 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.679 something was hunting the people of Port Chatham. One incident 233 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:31.720 that particularly unnerved the hunters and trappers involved the discovery 234 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:35.240 of a moose with its head completely twisted off, not cut, 235 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:38.799 not torn, but twisted off with such force that the 236 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:42.279 neck vertebrae were ground to powder. The hunters who found 237 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:46.240 the carcass fled immediately, understanding instinctively that whatever could do 238 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:48.960 that to a twelve hundred pound moose would have no 239 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:52.879 difficulty doing the same to a human being. The disappearances 240 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:56.519 were perhaps even more frightening than the deaths. People would 241 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.120 leave their homes in the morning and simply never return. 242 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.720 Stay tuned for more sasquatch otta see, We'll be right back. 243 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:11.840 After these messages, search parties would find no trace, no 244 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:16.120 signs of struggle, no blood trail, just empty wilderness where 245 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.600 a person had once been. The absence of evidence was 246 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.360 almost more terrifying than finding a body would have been, 247 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.240 because it suggested a level of efficiency and planning that 248 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.360 challenged fundamental assumptions about what kind of creature they were 249 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:33.440 dealing with. By the mid nineteen forties, the situation had 250 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:38.320 become unbearable. Children were kept indoors after dark, workers traveled 251 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.360 in groups, and everyone went armed, but the precaution seemed 252 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:45.759 to make little difference. The Nanti Knock, whatever it was, 253 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.440 appeared to be escalating its campaign against the human presence 254 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:53.960 in its territory. The end came suddenly in nineteen forty nine, 255 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.639 in what can only be described as a mass exodus, 256 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:02.080 The remaining residents of Port Chatdam simply packed up and left. 257 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.200 There was no official announcement, no government evacuation order. The 258 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.639 people just collectively decided they'd had enough. Houses were abandoned 259 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.440 with furniture still inside. Businesses were left with inventory on 260 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.759 the shelves, and an entire community that had thrived for 261 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:23.919 decades was suddenly eerily empty. Modern skeptics have offered alternative 262 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:27.840 explanations for Port Chatham's abandonment, pointing to the completion of 263 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.360 Alaska Route Ie during the nineteen forties, which made other 264 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.879 Peninsula towns more accessible and economically viable. It's true that 265 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:40.559 improved transportation infrastructure led to population shifts throughout Alaska during 266 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:44.399 this period, and it's certainly possible that economic factors played 267 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:48.039 a role in the town's decline, but this rational explanation 268 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:50.840 doesn't account for the testimonies of the people who lived 269 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:55.600 through the terror. Native Sally Ash, interviewed decades later, spoke 270 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:59.120 of a community living in constant fear of warnings passed 271 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:03.000 down through generations about creatures that could turn into different 272 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.839 animals and couldn't be killed by conventional weapons. Her description 273 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.759 of shape shifting beings that could take bullets without dying 274 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.400 suggests either a supernatural element to the encounters or a 275 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:18.559 fundamental misunderstanding of what the residents were dealing with. The 276 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.279 Truth about Port Chatham may lie somewhere between folklore and fact, 277 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:28.440 between economic reality and cryptozoological nightmare. What cannot be disputed 278 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.039 is that a thriving community abandoned their homes and livelihoods 279 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.400 rather than continue living with whatever was sharing their wilderness. 280 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:40.240 Whether that something was a particularly aggressive population of sasquatch 281 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:45.799 A surviving population of Gigantopithecus or something else. Entirely, the 282 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.559 people of Port Chatham made a collective decision that their 283 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.519 lives were worth more than their property. Today, Port Chatham 284 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:57.000 remains largely abandoned, accessible only by boat or small aircraft. 285 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.519 Visitors to the area report an oppressive atmosphere, a sense 286 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.880 of being watched, and an almost tangible feeling of menace 287 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.559 that hangs over the empty buildings and overgrown streets. Some 288 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:12.519 say the Nante Knock is still there, still guarding its territory, 289 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:15.759 still waiting for humans foolish enough to try to reclaim 290 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:19.599 what was once theirs. The story of Port Chatham serves 291 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.839 as a chilling reminder that the North American wilderness is vast, 292 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:27.400 largely unexplored, and potentially home to things that our rational 293 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:32.519 modern minds are unprepared to accept. It also raises uncomfortable 294 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.880 questions about the nature of territorial behavior and whether some 295 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:40.519 places might simply be too dangerous for human habitation, regardless 296 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:44.480 of their economic potential. Mount Saint Helen's has always been 297 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.559 a place where the extraordinary becomes routine, even before its 298 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:53.000 catastrophic eruption in nineteen eighty reshaped the landscape forever. The 299 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:56.519 mountain was known for its unpredictable nature, its ability to 300 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:01.279 surprise and humble even the most experienced outdoors enthusiasists. But 301 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.400 for the skiing party that gathered there in May nineteen fifty, 302 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.160 the mountain had a surprise in store that none of 303 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:10.880 them could have imagined. Jim Carter was, by all accounts, 304 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.920 exactly the kind of person you'd want on a backcountry 305 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:17.759 skiing expedition. At thirty two, he was in his prime, 306 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.319 an accomplished skier with years of experience navigating challenging terrain. 307 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:26.359 He understood mountain weather, knew how to read snow conditions, 308 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:28.759 and had the kind of steady nerves that made him 309 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:33.039 a natural leader in dangerous situations. When he suggested joining 310 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.640 the group of twenty skiers heading to the Ape Canyon 311 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.119 area of Mount Saint Helen's, no one questioned his judgment. 312 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.279 The conditions that May morning were perfect, clear skies, calm winds, 313 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.279 and snow that promised excellent skiing. The group made good 314 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:52.039 time reaching Dog's Head, a well known landmark at approximately 315 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:55.680 eight thousand feet elevation. It was here during what should 316 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.519 have been a routine rest break that the expedition took 317 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.440 a turn into nightmare. Carter's suggestion that he ski ahead 318 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.559 to get a good photograph of the group was perfectly reasonable. 319 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:09.279 He was known for his photography, and the scenic opportunities 320 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:13.279 at that elevation were spectacular. The other skiers watched as 321 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:16.799 he glided away toward the timberline, his form confident and 322 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:21.079 controlled as he navigated the familiar terrain. What happened next 323 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:24.640 defied every assumption about Carter's skill level and mental state. 324 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:30.160 According to multiple witnesses, Carter suddenly erupted into frantic, desperate motion, 325 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.799 skiing with a recklessness that was completely out of character. 326 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.839 One witness later described it as watching someone taking chances 327 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:40.960 that no skier of his caliber would take unless something 328 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.240 was terribly wrong or he was being pursued. 329 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:46.039 The word pursued would prove to be. 330 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:50.200 More significant than anyone realized at the time. Carter wasn't 331 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:53.319 just skiing fast. He was skiing like a man running 332 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.720 for his life. He launched himself over crevasses that a 333 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.720 sensible skier would have carefully navigated around, took drops that 334 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:03.759 could have easily broken bones, and maintained a pace that 335 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:08.559 suggested panic. Rather than sport. The most shocking moment came 336 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:12.880 when Carter approached the steep canyon wall. Under normal circumstances, 337 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.599 any skier would have stopped, assessed the situation, and found 338 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:20.640 a safer route. Instead, Carter went straight over the edge, 339 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.359 disappearing from view and what appeared to be an act 340 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:28.480 of either complete madness or absolute desperation. The other skiers 341 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.279 rushed to the edge, expecting to see Carter's broken body 342 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.680 at the bottom of the canyon. Instead, they found nothing. 343 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.839 A box of film marked the only evidence that he 344 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:40.960 had ever been there at all. The absence of any 345 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.759 trace of Carter or his equipment launched one of the 346 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:47.680 most extensive search operations in the mountain's history. What the 347 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:52.000 searchers found, or more accurately, what they experienced, would haunt 348 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.160 many of them for the rest of their lives. Professional 349 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:59.279 mountaineer Bob Lee, a member of the exclusive Worldwide Alpine 350 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:03.680 Club and a veteran of multiple international expeditions, later described 351 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.319 the search as the most eerie experience I have ever had. 352 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:12.039 The search teams reported a consistent pattern of disturbing encounters, 353 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.440 strange noises echoed through the forest, sounds that didn't match 354 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:20.519 any known wildlife. Dark shapes moved through the trees at 355 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.720 the periphery of vision, always just out of clear sight, 356 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:27.880 but substantial enough to be noticed by multiple observers. Perhaps 357 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.680 most unsettling was the overwhelming sense of being watched, a 358 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.200 feeling so intense that it raised the hair on the 359 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:37.640 backs of seasoned outdoorsmen who had spent decades in the wilderness. 360 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.400 Bob Lee's account of his experiences during the search provides 361 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.880 perhaps the most credible testimony of the strange circumstances surrounding 362 00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:50.599 Carter's disappearance. As someone with impeccable credentials and mountaineering and 363 00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:56.039 search and rescue operations, Lee's observations carry significant weight. He 364 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.000 described moments when he became separated from the main search 365 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:02.359 group and fell an almost overwhelming presence in the forest 366 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:06.880 around him, a sensation he characterized as having somebody watching 367 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:10.039 me that was so intense it made the hair on 368 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:14.119 my neck stand up. The mysterious odors reported by some 369 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:18.279 searchers added another disturbing element to an already bizarre situation. 370 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:23.279 The descriptions varied, but most centered around an overwhelming, nauseating 371 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.559 stench that seemed to appear and disappear without any identifiable source. 372 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:32.440 For experienced outdoorsmen familiar with the smells of decomposing animals 373 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:36.359 and natural forest odors, this particular stench was described as 374 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:40.480 unlike anything they had encountered before. After five days of 375 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:44.480 intensive searching involving seventy five people, the official search was 376 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:47.240 called off with no trace of Carter ever being found. 377 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:51.559 But the story was far from over. Bob Lee's subsequent 378 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:55.079 research into the area's history revealed a pattern of encounters 379 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:58.799 that placed Carter's disappearance in a much more disturbing context. 380 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.799 To Lee, there had been approximately twenty five reports of 381 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.880 people being attacked by ape like men in the mount 382 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.240 Saint Helens and Cascade areas over a twenty year period. 383 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:14.279 One particularly significant incident involved a Boy Scout troop from Centralia, 384 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:18.079 where several Scouts were reportedly attacked by what they described 385 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:21.799 as mountain devils, with some of the boys requiring evacuation 386 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:25.400 from the mountain in a state of severe psychological trauma. 387 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.400 The verification of this Boy Scout incident by Dick Whitney 388 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.839 of the regional Boy Scout Office in Olympia provided crucial 389 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:37.440 corroboration for Lee's claims The fact that official records existed 390 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:39.799 of the incident, complete with the name of the troop 391 00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:43.519 leader and specific details about the event, suggested that whatever 392 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.200 was happening on Mount Saint Helen's was more than just 393 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:50.839 folklore or isolated incidents. Lee's conclusion that Carter had been 394 00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:54.960 kidnapped and perhaps even killed by the legendary Sasquatch might 395 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:58.559 seem fantastic, but it was based on years of investigating 396 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:02.319 similar incidents in the region. His theory that these creatures 397 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:06.759 might be territorial and potentially aggressive challenged the prevailing image 398 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:10.759 of Sasquatch as a gentle, reclusive being. The question of 399 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.880 what drove Carter to such desperate action remains at the 400 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:18.079 heart of the mystery. Experienced skiers don't suddenly abandon all 401 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:22.039