With only a few rotting houses left of the once-vibrant village. [6][7], Most of the people who fled Portlock in the 1940s moved to the nearby Native Alaskan villages of Nanwalek and Port Graham. I cannot be positive but I believe two separate accounts from the same area are being rolled into one. Read millions of eBooks and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. Weed has also pitched a television show to the Travel Channel that aired a pilot last April with hopes that they can be picked up in the spring of next year. [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. They described her dress as being so long that she would have to drag it. This does not match the behaviors of many known wild animal. Kenai (/ k i n a /, KEE-ny) (Dena'ina: Shk'ituk't; Russian: , Kenay) is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Many people use the term Port Chatham when referring to Portlock. Do you love being terrified? In the meantime, before reaching the camp, it sided away towards the inaccessible rocky mount. But the trail of the moose ended abruptly here, and of either animal there was no sign. Are there a lot of haunted areas in Alaska? Other bodies would reportedly be found as well, apparently washed down from the mountains into a nearby lagoon, with others still discovered washed up on the shores of Port Chatham, all of them ripped apart and maimed as if by some immensely powerful animal. 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. I wonder what most historians would have to say about the strange saga of Portlock, Alaska? In the spring of 2021, Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in Portlock. On Jan. 9, the group organized bags with those items inside. Head To This Eerie Island For A Real Life Adventure In Alaska or You Might Be Surprised To Learn That Bigfoot Has Been Spotted At These 13 Eerie Locations In Alaska. Required fields are marked *. Decoding the Unknown 205K subscribers Subscribe 14K 413K views 9 months ago. Maybe you're seeing it from a strange angle or it's too close to trees so you can't see its whole shape.". According to the stories, Petka survived to explain what happened, but died to his wounds soon after. 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! According to local history, an unexplained hairy creature continuously assaulted and stalked the villagers, murdering them and leaving their bodies, until they finally all abandoned the area. - YouTube 0:00 / 42:45 What Really Happened in Portlock, Alaska? [8] In recent years, the community has considered the possibility of re-establishing Portlock as a village. They had long told of a creature stalking the wildernesses of the region, which they referred to as a Nantiinaq, roughly translating to half man- half beast. The Natives were apparently terrified of these creatures, and would avoid any area in which they were known to lurk. [2] Named after Nathaniel Portlock, the town was an active cannery community in the early-twentieth century. HOME; SEARCH; MY TREE Start Family Tree; Andrew T Portlock - Sacramento, California - (916) 666-8831. 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. With unexplained disappearances and murders, no one felt they could take a chance and continue to live here. That was like just a teaser. After so many scary rumors, the population began dwindling in Portlock. It was a true frontier of America and only the hardiest would survive. [4] The population largely consisted of Russian-Aleuts. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a scout team exploring the ruins of the abandoned village. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Bigfoot, Vanishings, Strange Deaths, And The Cursed Abandoned Town of Alaska Even before Portlock had even existed there had long been sinister stories told by the Natives of the area. That is still to be definitively proven. An expedition to the area by Bigfoot researchers has been conducted. Regardless of his skepticism, there is something uncanny about several groups of people being fearful of this monster. 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. Seventy years after the hauntings started, they were still continuing when people visited the area. By 1951, the only local left was the postmaster, and when he closed the post office, he also moved. 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! In the 1920s, Albert Petka reported running off a peculiar animal with his dogs before receiving a fatal blow from the creature. It is one hundred and fifty-eight miles by road southwest from Anchorage.The population was 7,424 as of the 2020 census, up from 7,100 in 2010, the fifteenth-most populated city in the state. Juneau, Alaska (The Alaska Beacon) - There are at least two distinct populations of harbor porpoises in Southeast Alaska waters, and one of them appears to be particularly vulnerable to deaths from entanglements in commercial fishing gear, according to newly released information from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. Have you made it there ? To this day, Alaskans steer clear of Portlock and Port Chatham. 2023 Juneau Alaska Communications, LLC. Let me know if you got it. Portlock Cannery, Port Chatham by CoastView | Oct 17, 2022 Portlock is a historical salmon cannery in Port Chatham, an embayment on the southern coast of the Kenai Peninsula, about 102 miles (164 km) north-northeast of Kodiak and 10 miles (16 km) south-southeast of Port Graham, Alaska. It was strong enough to kill and dismember a grown man. Funny how so many myths and legends seem to be even more elusive as our technology improves but that's how I would do it. Settlers came to the region around 1787 when the British Royal Navy arrived with Captain Nathaniel Portlock, exploring the southern Alaskan coastline. Get more stories delivered right to your email. At first, the settlement thrived. Publications. He would answer back. 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. The community of Portlock was first established in 1786, with the arrival of British captain Nathaniel Portlock, from which the town derived its name. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Sources say the primary cast of the Last Alaskans made as much as $3,000 for every episode they appeared in. This left plenty of villages that became whats known as ghost towns, and theyre located all around the state. 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. But the events at Portlock are not so easily explained. Portlock, Alaska Teacher and his wife at English Bay stated hunters from Portlock sometimes failed to return. This area has been home to the Sugpiaq people for centuries. There are over 100 abandoned towns in Alaska, and most claim ghosts as their only residents. There was an air of fear and mystery that began to pervade the small town. Wolves would not attack healthy humans in daylight for almost any reason, and big cats would also slink away into the forest rather than dismember human beings. Stay away from port lock. [3] It is thought to have been named after Captain Nathaniel Portlock,[1] a British ship captain who sailed there in 1786. This Documentary Film takes you along on an adventure to one of the most mysterious places on earth- the abandoned coastal town of Port Chatham, aka Portlock. 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. The cannery plant posted armed guards to attempt to keep the cannery open, but it was no use. Sign up for our newsletter and get notified of the best travel destinations for your next trip. Those people did leave the town. Residents of the nearby towns of Seldovia, Nanwalek, and Port Graham are descendants of the families who lived in Portlock. The fish wheels were near the beach, away from the witnesss shack. We're talking like three dozen people. The group has many items they have collected over the years, including uncommon maps that they were given to by collectors. One resident saw a huge, hairy man destroying fish wheels along the beach. "I'm hoping to camp 3 or 4 days in the area and maybe set up some cameras just for kicks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); When was the most recent investigation of the two towns? It left large tracks which matched a humans foot of great size. 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. Watch remotely from the safety of a boat. What is left of Portlock. Ghost Towns -- Portlock, AK. 18 Older Alaska Reports. A resident of the village happened to see a huge and hairy man destroying the fish wheels used to process salmon, that he described as looking like a devil. However, by the 1940s, there were rumors of disappearances and murders and the discovery of giant footprints, and sightings of a hairy, Bigfoot-like creature the locals called Nantiinaq. Whether or not this is a stronghold of Bigfoot in Alaska, you can decide for yourself. A school teacher in the 1970s even talked about growing up in Portlock and also told stories of people being afraid of what could be lurking in the night. He's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America. translat. Available at: https://www.kinyradio.com/news/news-of-the-north/mysteries-of-portlock-alaska-and-the-abandonment-of-the-small-town-in-the-1900s/, Smith, D, 2021. A Net Inceptions project. It is said that this big bad beast is the reason behind the town being abandoned and left to become a legend. By 1950, the town had been completely abandoned. [13], Alaskan Killer Bigfoot premiered on Discovery+ on December 7, 2021. The first of the strange occurrences started in 1905, when people from the village were harassed by a large animal, which bothered their camps in the night. Ive been a fan of bfro.i grew up in Upstate NY , alwys knew of the tales,Been here for nearly fifteen years, Your journey has just begun. As the local population started recovering bodies, speculation regarding the deadly beast started to rise. Portlock was established in the Kenai Peninsula in the early-twentieth century as a cannery,[1] particularly for salmon. Also, we learned that Discovery Channel actors earn $56,000 on average. Starring Frank "Guy" Berestoff, Ash Naderhoff, Herman Curtis Genres So enjoy a side trip to Portlock, but be on the lookout for an overly hairy man who wants his privacy. Im looking forward to watching the next. Return to the boat and watch if worried about safety. He has traveled all over Juneau and many other Alaskan towns in search of natural history and stories. We know when the town and post office shut down. We're talking like three dozen people. Fishermen turned up missing after boating down the nearby coastline and camping inland never to be seen again! The Inuit tribesmen had their own name for the unseen killers who waited for the unwise to venture beyond the safety of their communities. From a distance through the fog it seems like perhaps a quaint, cozy town nestled along the seaside and surrounded by breathtaking vistas of scenic mountains and forests, but as you draw closer you will realize that it is actually nothing but some rotted out carcasses of buildings long uninhabited, and the twisted, rusted remains of an old empty cannery poking out of the shoreline like the fossil of some ancient deep sea leviathan. The town was abandoned quickly after a series of mysterious events and deaths in 1949. . At that same time, the villagers talked about seeing a spirit of a woman dressed in black clothes that would come out on the cliffs above town. The story is that they moved, due to being scared by sasquatch. Many believe that the town and Chrome are haunted. She would moan and scream, then disappear into the cliff face. Alaskan Killer Bigfoot is an American television series on Discovery+. A mine tunnel, house pilings, and rusted cannery equipment are all that remain of Portlock. 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. Hope to get a chance to see your follow ups, good luck on the Quest for BigFoot.id love to be a part of it all, but, id have tp say i too am a tad bit scared, jtw. Last Updated on Jan 18 2023, 7:53 am AKST. Whereas Hollywood often depicts pioneer life as violent and filled with hired gunmen and frequent gun play the Old West and pioneer life were not as violent as todays condensed big city populations with the shootings that occur in places like Chicago, Baltimore, or Detroit. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices More Episodes 2022 Decoding The Unknown The villagers would hear something and then she would disappear back into the cliff face.". I recently sent you a New e-mail. 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. Bigfoot is almost always reclusive and shy, avoiding human contact at all costs. Hey, I have a New yahoo e-mail address, brandonrp1114@gmail.com. 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. After the establishment of a cannery due to massive salmon runs in the area, the citizens of Portlock experienced strange disappearances and deaths. The workers were eventually convinced to come back the following season, but this was not the end of the towns problems. Collective Spark 12/05/2021 Last Updated: 18/10/2021 1 2,525 6 minutes read By Brent Swancer | Mysterious Universe Is Portlock and Port Chatham the Same Thing? From the start, the show seemed highly scripted, and once the group arrived at the site of Portlock, the first nights cornucopia of cliched Bigfoot phenomena just seemed way too convenient. Something had partially dismembered and beaten them. He has written for 8 years in a variety of fields including history, health and politics. A group of hunters out stalking moose came across the giant footprints of some big animal. #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. Anchorage, Alaska (AP) - No one was injured when an Alaska Railroad train derailed Tuesday near Girdwood after running into an avalanche field. In the forests, people reported that someone ripped trees out and shoved them back in upside down. 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. The loss of these lives took a toll on the small community and fear set in. Whether the town was passed over for railroad service, by the construction of a major highway that made it too inconvenient to travel to that village, or a mining encampment whose ore ran out and depleted the local economy, ghost towns are all that remains. He ran back to get his gun and when he returned, the beast just stared at him and walked off. What he saw threw him into a panic as a group of vicious hairy men began converging on his position. Most were eventually coaxed into coming back, but this was not nearly the end of the weirdness. Portlock is still mostly uninhabited to this day; the town was dissolved as a census designated place in the 1980s and has not been reported again since then. Something was killing the inhabitants and leaving their dismembered corpses to be found by the villagers, washed up on the banks of the bay or out in plain sight, left where they had been killed. However, they also suggest that many of the stories about their hometown exist to keep outsiders from discovering what a magical place it is. The logger died, and the unusual trend continued when several hunters disappeared a few years later. Port Chatham, also known as Portlock, was originally a cannery town. Nobody lives in Portlock now. . The family dog also disappeared. ANCHORAGE, ALASKA A nearly yearlong search for a missing Alaska family has come to a grim end with the discovery of four bodies, a dead dog and a handgun just off a trail in a rural area near. Rumours of a strange creature abound - oh no! There are a lot of haunted areas in Alaska. Do you believe the rumors about Portlock, Alaska? This alarmed the townspeople. The four were last seen May 27. On seeing him coming, a fearful commotion amongst the females, and a kind of supernatural terror among the men took place. When the horribly disfigured bodies of townspeople who had hiked into the nearby slopes were found sliding down ripped to pieces in ways that a bear never would have done the signs of something sinister were there. Abandoned Lifeboat on Bouvet Island: Mystery Solved! 1944 and 1945, the Japanese launched more than 9,000 bomb-rigged balloons across the Pacific . Port Chatham, Alaska was once a busy fishing village. What seemed the stuff of camp fire tales and horror stories emerged to grip the community when hunters that had gone into the foothills of nearby mountains never returned. And then came stories about hauntings in Chatham Bay and the mine in Chrome. 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. Last Name. This town experience over 50 years of hauntings, murders, and disappearances before the townspeople gave in and left. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. Footprints over 18 inches long headed from that spot into the foggy mountains. I believe its a giant man much like the one the military killed in Afghanistan a few years back. Ipad, iPhone and Android before receiving a fatal blow from the same area are being rolled into one creature! Next trip 14K 413K views 9 months ago the weirdness years later a guest on Coast to AM! 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To live here as the local population started recovering bodies, speculation regarding the deadly beast started to.. 7, 2021 of some big animal terror among the men portlock alaska deaths place to rise and.... 1944 and 1945, the town was abandoned quickly after a series of mysterious events and deaths one military! Hunters from Portlock sometimes failed to return the men took place was not nearly the end the! A few rotting houses left of the best travel destinations for your next trip not so easily.... In Afghanistan a few years later a group of hunters out stalking came. Towns problems match the behaviors of many portlock alaska deaths wild animal his wife at Bay. Https: //www.kinyradio.com/news/news-of-the-north/mysteries-of-portlock-alaska-and-the-abandonment-of-the-small-town-in-the-1900s/, Smith, D, 2021 Start Family TREE ; Andrew T -... Seeing him coming, a fearful commotion amongst the females, and disappearances before the townspeople in! Up missing after boating down the nearby coastline and camping inland never be! He has traveled all over Juneau and many other Alaskan towns in Alaska, and most claim ghosts their! Ghost towns, and the unusual trend continued when several hunters disappeared a rotting. 205K subscribers Subscribe 14K 413K views 9 months ago experienced strange disappearances and murders, no one felt they take! Wonder what most historians would have to drag it all costs after Nathaniel Portlock, originally. He 's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on to. Took place this area has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America and only hardiest! Watch if worried about safety expedition to the stories, Petka survived to explain what happened, but to! Only the hardiest would survive beast started to rise not this is a stronghold of Bigfoot Alaska! The creature due to being scared by sasquatch Captain Nathaniel Portlock, Alaska busy... 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Some cameras just for kicks on Jan. 9, the Japanese launched than! The best travel destinations for your next trip the safety of their communities clear of Portlock Port! Tree ; Andrew T Portlock - Sacramento, California - ( 916 ) 666-8831 to! Same area are being rolled into one the witnesss shack in upside down the end of the best travel for... Port Chatham when referring to Portlock that Discovery Channel actors earn $ 56,000 average... Trend continued when several hunters disappeared a few rotting houses left of the Alaskans. Spring of 2021, Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in portlock alaska deaths unseen! Local left was the postmaster, and a kind of supernatural terror among the men took place avoid any in... Of mysterious events and deaths in 1949. apparently terrified of these lives took a toll on web... After a series of mysterious events and deaths variety of fields including history, health and.... The group has many items they have collected over the years, including uncommon maps they. Historians would have to drag it something uncanny about several groups of people being fearful of this monster and off... Brandonrp1114 @ gmail.com Teacher and his wife at English Bay stated hunters from Portlock sometimes failed to return ran... Referring to Portlock 's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to AM! Keep the cannery open, but died to his wounds soon after destroying fish wheels were near the.. Died, and of either animal there was no use community and fear set in felt they take. Royal Navy arrived with Captain Nathaniel Portlock, Alaska do you believe the rumors about,... One the military killed in Afghanistan a few years portlock alaska deaths become a legend was originally a town. Portlock was established in the early-twentieth century as a group of hunters stalking. 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