July 11, 2023 • 27 mins
In the thrilling Season 4 premiere of Bigfoot Classified, we embark on an extraordinary journey deep into the dense forests of Portlock, Alaska. Tune in to the Season 4 Part One to witness the gripping quest unfold before your eyes. Located on the southern edge of the Kenai Peninsula the ghost town of Portlock Alaska. Once boasting a very modest population of 31 residents the small cannery town was home to various shops, businesses and even a post office.
In a story of disappearances, unexplained deaths and a town abandoned; this is PART ONE of the case of the Portlock Bigfoot.
Follow Woody G. Watts on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/woodygwatts
In a story of disappearances, unexplained deaths and a town abandoned; this is PART ONE of the case of the Portlock Bigfoot.
Follow Woody G. Watts on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/woodygwatts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Bigfoot Classified contains content that is graphicin nature, and listener discretion is advised.
Bigfoot Classified relies largely on news documents, eyewitness accounts, press conferences,
and interviews. Every episode is producedwith respect the victims, families, and
(00:23):
communities involved. Some of the interviews, quotes, and broadcasts have been recreated.
Numerous hours of research have been doneregarding these stories, and if you
have a theory question or feel thatwe've missed something, we encourage you to
visit Bigfoot classified dot com. Thisis Bigfoot Classified. For countless generations,
(00:56):
the soup Piac people of the namwalikAnd program region have whispered tales passed on
through generations of a captivating, anelusive entity known as not to Knock,
whose presence is said to dwell withinthe impenetrable thickets of the southern Kenai Peninsula,
particularly the Portlock area. Passed downlike folklore, these stories speak of
(01:19):
a towering creature reminiscent of Bigfoot,renowned for its remarkable strength and uprooting trees,
and its ability to produce knocking soundsthat echo through the wilderness, and
the terrifying occurrences of individuals vanishing withouta trace in its presence. While the
tales have stood the passage of time, the town of Portlocks it's empty,
(01:44):
with the last of the residents fleeingduring the nineteen forties. This is the
story of the Portlock Bigfoot. NathanielPortlock is believed to have been born around
seventeen forty eight in Norfolk, Virginia, and hailed from a family with acestrel
(02:05):
ties to the English Southwest dating backto his grandfather's immigration around sixteen eighty five.
Tragically, Nathaniel's father passed away inseventeen fifty two, leaving behind his
wife, Rebecca previously known as RebeccaValley, who had a daughter from a
previous marriage. Following the death ofPortlock's father, Rebecca quickly remarried for the
(02:27):
third time to a man named RichardScott, who became the guardian of her
three surviving Portlock children and had additionalchildren with her. At approximately twenty four
years old, Nathaniel Portlock joined theBritish Royal Navy forcibly recruited from the Merchant
Marines. Nathaniel and his brother quicklyaligned themselves with the loyalist colonists in America,
(02:50):
commonly known as American loyalist. Helater departed the country following the conclusion
of the War of Independence. OnMarch seventeen seventy six, Portlock began serving
as a master's mate on the Discoverycaptain by James Cook. During Cook's third
and final Pacific voyage. In Mayseventeen eighty five, Nathaniel Portlock and George
(03:15):
Dixon, originally from Cumberland and aformer armorer, embarked on an expedition under
the banner of the King George SoundCompany. This venture aimed to capitalize on
the lucrative sea otter fur trade,which had been identified during Captain James Cook's
third voyage, when Cook's crew soldpelts on their return journey to Britain.
Equipped with two ships, the threehundred twenty ton King George and the two
(03:38):
hundred ton Queen Charlotte, the expeditionset sail from Britain in September seventeen eighty
five. Both vessels had crew memberswho had sailed with Cook during his third
voyage, bringing valuable experience in navigatingthe North Pacific. It has been suggested
that the choice of royal names forthe ships might indicate some form of government
(03:59):
approval, although the expedition possessed afive year license from the South Sea Company
and relied on its authority when engagingwith other traders they encountered, including John
Mears. Additionally, the expedition benefitedfrom the meticulous record keeping of William Beresford,
who documented the voyage in detail.At the Cape of Good Hope.
(04:19):
Captain John Gore released Portlock from theresolution towards the end of Cook's journey.
Copies of the ship's journals and thenews of Cook's passing were carried by Portlock
as she sailed ahead and the HMSPortlock was given his lieutenant's commission in September
of seventeen eighty Departing Britain in Septemberseventeen eighty five, the expedition sailed down
(04:45):
the Atlantic, making stops in Madeiraand Cape Verde Islands before reaching the Falkland
Islands in January of seventeen eighty six. After spending sixteen days in Port Egmont,
they rounded Cape Horn and ventured northalong the Pacific coast. On May
twenty fourth, they arrived off Hawaiinear the kaya Laikakua Bay, where Cook
(05:08):
tragically lost his life in seventeen seventynine, seeking fresh provisions to combat scurvy
which had afflicted the crew, Portlockhesitated to land due to the uncertainty about
the reception from Kameahmea, the island'soverall chief. Consequently, he decided to
bypass Malakai and nearly encountered the Frenchexplorer La Perouse, who had just arrived
(05:31):
at Maui. Eventually, Portlock anchoredat to Manlua Bay on the south coast
of Oahu, with the eastern endof the bay now known as Portlock.
Some of his men rode westward,catching a glimpse of Pearl Harbor's entrance beyond
Wakiki. From there, the expeditionmade its way to Waimia in Kawaii,
where they obtained supplies of yams andpigs. They then proceeded to Kneehow,
(05:57):
renowned for its abundance of these resources. Departing the Hawaiian Islands on June thirteenth,
King George and Queen Charlotte set theircourse for Alaska. Here, Nathaniel
and his crew stumbled upon what wouldlater be Port Lock. The area had
been inhabited for centuries by the Alayucommunity, who were divided between the US
(06:21):
state of Alaska and the Russian Administrativedivision of Kumkachi Krai. The Aliute are
indigenous to the islands and the westernpart of Alaska Peninsula in present day Alaska.
Picture of land of rugged coastlines,towering volcanoes, and a maritime climate
that has shaped the lives of theseresilient individuals for centuries. For the Alau
(06:45):
people, the ocean has always beentheir lifeline. They were skilled hunters,
fishermen, and gatherers with an intimateconnection to the sea. Their survival dependent
on the abundant resources found in thewaters surrounding their homeland. Seals, sea
otters, and other marine mammals providedthem with not only sustenance, but also
materials for clothing, tools, andcrafts. Their cultural heritage is a tapestry
(07:11):
of artistry and craftsmanship, from intricatelywoven baskets to beautifully carved ivory and wood.
The Alloyou people expressed their creativity throughvarious mediums. Their distinctive parkers,
adorned with sea otter fur, area testament to the mastery of their environment.
The Alloute society thrived through close knitcommunities and complex social structures. Kinship
(07:33):
systems played a significant role in theirorganization, with extended family networks forming the
backbone of their communities. After Nathanielleft, the small settlement, Portlock continued
to thrive and was later named afterthe commander. Settlers discovered an abundance of
salmon in the bay and exploited thecatch long enough to establish a successful cannery
(07:56):
operation, working with the natives toshare resources. This attracted seasonal workers and
brought economic prosperity to the community.Soon enough, by the turn of the
nineteen hundreds, the community was thriving, but this is when things started to
go horribly wrong. In nineteen ohfive, Indigenous Allute fishermen working during salmon
(08:24):
season began claiming they were being harassedat night by a large animal. A
cannery supervisor would note how the menquit their jobs over the hairy man bothering
them and refused to come back towork. The Aute workers began speculating that
the hairy man was nothing less thanthe angered ninety knock, directly translating to
(08:45):
big hairy man in the Alloute Nativeslanguage. The ninety knock was described as
an evil sasquatch like creature. Coveredin hair and walking on two legs,
who wanted them to leave the settlement, angered that humans had destroyed his habitat.
After months of back and forth andceased operations at the cannery, eventually
(09:07):
supervisors were able to negotiate with thealleutes for better pay, and the indigenous
workers returned the next season. However, whispers of a mysterious creature they called
the ninety nine remained. In nineteentwenty, a group of bow hunters made
a disturbing discovery on the banks ofthe Yukon River. The group were out
(09:28):
hunting when they stumbled upon a houseboatthat had drifted down streaming become stuck.
Going over to see what they coulddo to help, they quickly noticed the
boat was covered in what looked likeblood. Fearing the worst, they hid
it inside, armed and ready forwhatever had made the mess to strike.
Inside the boat, they found theowner, Albert Petka, covered in his
(09:52):
own blood and nearing death. Despitehis injuries, Albert was able to tell
the bow hunters what had happened tohim. Between gasp He told them in
how the night before he was insidethe boat when he heard howling nearby,
going out to investigate, Albert armedhimself with a rifle and stirred his dogs
(10:13):
to come along with him, searchingthe darkness for the source of the noise.
Within minutes, he found himself faceto face with a terrifying creature,
standing at seven feet tall and coveredin fur. The creature shrieked at him
as he approached, and Albert raisedhis rifle to strike at the beast.
Within the blink of an eye,the creature attacked him, battling his rifle
(10:37):
away with ease and lashing out atAlbert, penning him against his boat.
The dogs managed to scare the creatureoff, but the damage was done.
Albert lay for hours, slowly dying, until the group came across him and
rushed him to a nearby doctor.Sadly, Albert would die from his injuries,
and a doctor would later a notethat he could not attribute any animal
(11:00):
or human known to man for beingresponsible for causing such catastrophic injuries, and
from there fear of the nineteen knockbegan to grow. Months after Albert's death
came a rise in miners and huntersgoing missing from the Portlock area. Bodies
would be discovered in the creek orstrown in the woods, with authorities having
(11:22):
no idea who or what was causingthe casualties, serial killer encrypted well,
the locals had already decided they werebeing plagued by an angry nineteen knock.
By nineteen thirty one, deaths werealready at an all time high when Longer
Andrew Camlock was found dead in thewoods. Andrew and his extended family had
(11:45):
lived in Portlock, with the longerpreferring solitude out in the wilderness. One
day after Andrew failed to return home, a search party was sent out,
and after scouring the dense wilderness,they came across him, face down in
the with the back of his headcompletely shattered, close by a large piece
(12:05):
of logging equipment covered in blood.Initially a thirties work to peddle the story
of a logging incident gone wrong,but the community knew better. Andrew was
known for his safety precautions and hadbeen on the job long enough to not
make mistakes like this. His familyargued that if an accident had happened involving
the logging machine, Andrew would havebeen found next to it. Instead,
(12:28):
he was over fifteen feet away withinjuries that would have killed him. Instantly,
How was Andrew so far from themachinery if he had simply fallen foul
of his bad planning. The distancebetween the body and the equipment strongly indicated
that the machinery had been deliberately wieldedto brutally strike his head before being cast
(12:50):
aside. The sheer weight and sizeof the equipment required the strength of three
to four men to lift and moveit. So who or what killed him?
In one incident, Thomas Wyene Larson, who moved to Portlock in nineteen
twenty five to work on the mines, came face to face with the beast
(13:11):
as the creature destroyed fish wheels onthe beach. Tall standing on two feet
and covered in hair, the creaturesstared down the miner, daring him to
strike, as Larson mustered up thecarriage to raise his weapon, But just
as he was about to strike,an overwhelming force came over him, telling
(13:31):
him not to kill the beast.Powerless to stop himself, he lowered his
weapon and walked away, spending theyears up until his nineteen ninety four death
questioning what had compelled him to sparethe creature that had terrorized his town With
instances continuing to ramp up. Townsettlers felt like they were being picked off
(13:52):
one by one. Cannery workers wouldgo out in groups, never to return,
and only for their mutilated bodies toturn up months later. Hunters began
tracking the beast and found footprints thatresembled humans, the difference being this one
was eighteen inches long, stretching outinto the dense forest. The hunters attempted
(14:13):
to find where the beasts sheltered,but the prince eventually trailed off and the
deaths only continued. During a searchoperation, a hunting party stumbled upon a
disfigured corpse of a missing hunter ina creek. The injuries inflicted on the
body were not typical of a bearattack, raising suspicions of a different culprit.
(14:33):
Similar gruesome discoveries unfolded as bodies cascadeddown from the mountains into a nearby
lagoon or washed up on the shoresof poor Chat, bearing unmistakable signs of
being torn apart by an extraordinary,powerful creature. The alarming frequency of deaths
and disappearances sent waves of unease throughthe local community. The lagoon became a
(14:56):
haunting spectacle, with lifeless body surfaceon a regular basis, causing residents to
retreat indoors, gripped by fear ofthe eerie forest that surrounded them. These
unsettling events coincided with a surge insightings of towering, hairy beings and shadow
(15:16):
entities. Settlers referred to these creaturesas mountain apes, hairy men, or
devils, while the indigenous population identifiedthem as the ninety nine. These entities
became synonymous with the area's atmosphere ofstrangeness and death. As the incidents intensified,
(15:41):
a mass exodus from Port Lock ensued. In the late nineteen forties.
Settlers and natives combined all fled thearea, searching for safety in neighboring towns.
Homes were abandoned, with personal effectsleft untouched for decades. One by
one, families picked up and left, and by the close of the nineteen
fifties, the post office, oneof the last remaining hints of civilization,
(16:06):
closed, with the postmaster fleeing hispost. By nineteen fifty one, the
town stood desolate and forsaken, leavingbehind structures, equipment, and even an
abandoned cannery. The god daughter ofAndrew Camlock and the local elder from Nawallack,
Milania. Helen Kell gave an insightfulinterview that was published in the Homer
(16:30):
Tributes October two thousand and nine issue. She gave light on the causes of
the village's disappearances because she was bornthere in nineteen thirty four. According to
her, her parents and the othervillagers were wary of experiencing the dread brought
on by a creature known as theninety nine, which translates to half man,
(16:52):
half beast. Numerous locals eventually cameto the point of refusing to go
into the nearby woodlands, and overtime they left their homes, the local
school, and moved up the coastto Port Graham. Though Portlock now stood
abandoned, that didn't stop tales ofstrange encounters from the area emanating. In
nineteen sixty eight, a hunter whowas in search of goats claimed to have
(17:15):
been pursued by a mysterious creature whileout in the hunting grounds. Another incident
occurred in nineteen seventy three, whenthree hunters sought refuge in the same area
during a severe three day storm.They reported that each night something circled their
tent, producing the distinct sound ofwalking on two feet. Fast forward to
(17:37):
nineteen ninety, when the Anchorage paramedicwas called to provide medical assistance to a
seventy year old Native individual who hadsuffered a heart attack while incarcerated in the
Eagle River Jail. During the treatment, the paramedic mentioned previous hunting experiences near
Portlock. To the paramedic surprise,the elderly man abruptly sat up, grasped
(17:59):
the medic shirt, and urgently inquired, did it bother you? Did you
see it? The paramedic ed latershared his encounter on the Bigfoot Encounter's website,
documenting this intriguing interaction. I don'tbelong to any UFOL group or anything
like that, but this actually happenedto me. I've told a few trusted
(18:22):
friends about it, but never botheredto write it down, So I'll try
to relate it as accurately as memoryallows. In ninety ninety, while I
was working as a paramedic in Anchorage, we got called out on an alarm
for a man having a heart attackat the state jail in Eagle River.
He was a Native man in hisseventies, and after I got him stabilized
(18:45):
with IVS, O two and cardiacdrugs. My partner and I began to
transport him to the Native hospital inAnchorage. En route to the hospital,
I had time to talk to thisgentleman, who was a Elliott from the
Native village of Port Graham, aremote village on the lower end of cook
Inlet. Well, as usual withme, the topic eventually drifted to hunting
(19:08):
and fishing, and I casually mentionedto him that I and two other hunting
buddies were once weathered in at theUpper Lagoon at Dogfish Bay, only a
few miles from his home in PortGraham. The lagoon was about as beautiful
and wild a place as I everseen in my thirty five years in Alaska.
(19:29):
Well, when I said that Ihad spent some time in Dogfish the
salt Man sat up on the gurneyand grabbed me by the front of my
shirt. He got right up tomy face and said, did it bother
you? Well, with that question, the hair just stood up on the
back of my head. I saidyes, did you see it? Was
(19:51):
his next question. I said,no, did you see it? He
said no, but my brothers seenit. It chased him. A salt
Elliott and I were talking about thesame thing. But we never mentioned the
word bigfoot or legend or anything likethat. But we both knew what we
were talking about. You see,in August of nineteen seventy three, three
(20:15):
of us were bow hunting for goatsand blackies and what was then the remote
wilderness of Lower cook Inlet when astorm forced us to take shelter in Darkfish
Bay Lagoon. We beached our skiffand let the tie run her dry.
After a dinner of broiled salmon,we turned into our tent. Back in
those days, the best tent Ihad was a dark green canvas job with
(20:37):
a center pole and no windows orfloor. We left the fire burning and
cleaned the pots and pans so asnot to attract bears during the night,
and turned in. The sky wasclear, but the wind was howling through
the old growth timber that lined ashore. Sometimes around two AM, my friend
Dennis woke me up by squeezing myleg and I could dimly see his face
(21:00):
in the tent. His finger wasacross his lips. I listened. Then
I heard it a step. Aman was quietly walking outside of our tent,
taking very deliberate steps. Not abear. Scenes from the movie Deliverance
flashed through my mind. So wewoke Joe, the third member of our
(21:21):
party, with the same leg graband finger to the lips. The walking,
or rather the sneaking, continued untilit half circled our tent, and
then all was quiet except for thewind. We had our bows and the
O six leaning against the tree outsideof the tent, so somehow we talked
Joe into belly crawling out the tentto get the rifle. We were scared
(21:45):
shitless, I tell you. Thenext day and night, the storm continued
to blow. We saw several blackbears on the salmon stream at the end
of the lagoon during the evening hunt, but had no chance for a shot.
We didn't talk about what had happenedlast night, too embarrassed, I
guess, to be scared by ablack bear that sounded like a man.
(22:06):
We got back to camp early,built a big fire, sat around it,
and ate dinner until around midnight inAugust. There were still some light
in the sky until about ten oreleven. I recall that we all were
embarrassed about being afraid about the comingnight. We had a flashlight and a
rifle and the tent between us lockedand loaded. I finally dozed off,
(22:30):
but woke right up when Dennis squeezedmy leg. The illuminated hands of my
watch showed it was two thirty.Joe was already sitting up and had a
rifle in hand. I heard thefirst step not more than about ten feet
from the back of the tent,slowly, then another and another. Whatever
this was, it sounded like itwas walking on two feet. It made
(22:53):
the same semicircle around the tent.When we finally got enough courage to crawl
out of the tent and turned theflashlight on, we saw nothing, no
tracks, nothing. The third night, we've decided if it bothered us again,
we would come out of the tentshooting. We were actually scared.
(23:14):
It never came back the third night, and the following day we had a
break in the weather and got theheck out of there. Never told anybody
about the experience for several years untilabout nineteen seventy nine, when I happened
to be reading an old Alaska Sportsmanmagazine published in nineteen thirty five. In
the letters to the editor, awoman wrote that she recently found a letter
(23:37):
written by some distant relative of herswho was a schoolteacher at a canary in
Portlock Bay, a rugged ford adjacentto Dogfish Bay. The year was nineteen
o five. She quoted from theletter. It said that the Canary employed
a small group of alliots from asmall village in Portlock Bay during salmon's season.
(23:57):
Their camp was about a mile awayfrom the canary buildings. One day,
all the alliots moved out of thevillage and paddled there by darkness back
to Port Graham. The letter saidthat the alliots claimed that a hairy man
was bothering and frightening them to thepoint where they had to leave. I
(24:18):
have since done some research into thesubject and found written histories of natives from
Sildovia to Port Graham being frightened andbothered by something. They even have a
native name for it. It doesn'ttranslate into English very well. These accounts
mostly take place during the first halfof the nineteen hundreds and a native related,
(24:41):
but not all. I talked toone white guy who in nineteen sixty
eight got the bejeebers scared out ofhim while coming down an all their choked
gully while on a goat hunt inPort Clark, Alaska. Most of These
accounts proceed the big foot hype thatbegan to appear in the sixties and seventies
in the Northwest. Well, anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to
(25:07):
it. Native American cultures have along history of creating hybrid creatures that are
equal parts and human. The Allutepeople sincerely believed that, in the instance
of the ninety knock, this monsterwas once an ordinary human who sadly underwent
(25:27):
a hideous transformation that were cruel cursewrought by dark spirits. The evil being
is not the only unexplained occurrence connectedto the Kenai Peninsula's wind battered cliffs.
The Allute tribe also tells tales ofa vengeful spirit and a young woman who
(25:48):
was attacked and killed by an unidentifiedassailant. Returning hunters would tell stories of
meetings with a pale faced woman withflowing black hair who tried to trap them
with see hands and drag them intothe grasp of death. With new technology
and a thirst for answers, intwenty twenty one, and expedition took place
(26:10):
in the abandoned towns, with searchershoping to catch a sight of the ninety
nine when modern myths meet native folklore, what did they discover that sent searchers
fleeing? In Part two, wewill explore the recent events surrounding Portlock,
including the infamous Alaskan Bigfoot Killer expedition, as well as sightings out of town.
(26:33):
This is Bigfoot classify as the Boy
Bigfoot Classified contains content that is graphicin nature, and listener discretion is advised.
Bigfoot Classified relies largely on news documents, eyewitness accounts, press conferences,
and interviews. Every episode is producedwith respect the victims, families, and
(00:23):
communities involved. Some of the interviews, quotes, and broadcasts have been recreated.
Numerous hours of research have been doneregarding these stories, and if you
have a theory question or feel thatwe've missed something, we encourage you to
visit Bigfoot classified dot com. Thisis Bigfoot Classified. For countless generations,
(00:56):
the soup Piac people of the namwalikAnd program region have whispered tales passed on
through generations of a captivating, anelusive entity known as not to Knock,
whose presence is said to dwell withinthe impenetrable thickets of the southern Kenai Peninsula,
particularly the Portlock area. Passed downlike folklore, these stories speak of
(01:19):
a towering creature reminiscent of Bigfoot,renowned for its remarkable strength and uprooting trees,
and its ability to produce knocking soundsthat echo through the wilderness, and
the terrifying occurrences of individuals vanishing withouta trace in its presence. While the
tales have stood the passage of time, the town of Portlocks it's empty,
(01:44):
with the last of the residents fleeingduring the nineteen forties. This is the
story of the Portlock Bigfoot. NathanielPortlock is believed to have been born around
seventeen forty eight in Norfolk, Virginia, and hailed from a family with acestrel
(02:05):
ties to the English Southwest dating backto his grandfather's immigration around sixteen eighty five.
Tragically, Nathaniel's father passed away inseventeen fifty two, leaving behind his
wife, Rebecca previously known as RebeccaValley, who had a daughter from a
previous marriage. Following the death ofPortlock's father, Rebecca quickly remarried for the
(02:27):
third time to a man named RichardScott, who became the guardian of her
three surviving Portlock children and had additionalchildren with her. At approximately twenty four
years old, Nathaniel Portlock joined theBritish Royal Navy forcibly recruited from the Merchant
Marines. Nathaniel and his brother quicklyaligned themselves with the loyalist colonists in America,
(02:50):
commonly known as American loyalist. Helater departed the country following the conclusion
of the War of Independence. OnMarch seventeen seventy six, Portlock began serving
as a master's mate on the Discoverycaptain by James Cook. During Cook's third
and final Pacific voyage. In Mayseventeen eighty five, Nathaniel Portlock and George
(03:15):
Dixon, originally from Cumberland and aformer armorer, embarked on an expedition under
the banner of the King George SoundCompany. This venture aimed to capitalize on
the lucrative sea otter fur trade,which had been identified during Captain James Cook's
third voyage, when Cook's crew soldpelts on their return journey to Britain.
Equipped with two ships, the threehundred twenty ton King George and the two
(03:38):
hundred ton Queen Charlotte, the expeditionset sail from Britain in September seventeen eighty
five. Both vessels had crew memberswho had sailed with Cook during his third
voyage, bringing valuable experience in navigatingthe North Pacific. It has been suggested
that the choice of royal names forthe ships might indicate some form of government
(03:59):
approval, although the expedition possessed afive year license from the South Sea Company
and relied on its authority when engagingwith other traders they encountered, including John
Mears. Additionally, the expedition benefitedfrom the meticulous record keeping of William Beresford,
who documented the voyage in detail.At the Cape of Good Hope.
(04:19):
Captain John Gore released Portlock from theresolution towards the end of Cook's journey.
Copies of the ship's journals and thenews of Cook's passing were carried by Portlock
as she sailed ahead and the HMSPortlock was given his lieutenant's commission in September
of seventeen eighty Departing Britain in Septemberseventeen eighty five, the expedition sailed down
(04:45):
the Atlantic, making stops in Madeiraand Cape Verde Islands before reaching the Falkland
Islands in January of seventeen eighty six. After spending sixteen days in Port Egmont,
they rounded Cape Horn and ventured northalong the Pacific coast. On May
twenty fourth, they arrived off Hawaiinear the kaya Laikakua Bay, where Cook
(05:08):
tragically lost his life in seventeen seventynine, seeking fresh provisions to combat scurvy
which had afflicted the crew, Portlockhesitated to land due to the uncertainty about
the reception from Kameahmea, the island'soverall chief. Consequently, he decided to
bypass Malakai and nearly encountered the Frenchexplorer La Perouse, who had just arrived
(05:31):
at Maui. Eventually, Portlock anchoredat to Manlua Bay on the south coast
of Oahu, with the eastern endof the bay now known as Portlock.
Some of his men rode westward,catching a glimpse of Pearl Harbor's entrance beyond
Wakiki. From there, the expeditionmade its way to Waimia in Kawaii,
where they obtained supplies of yams andpigs. They then proceeded to Kneehow,
(05:57):
renowned for its abundance of these resources. Departing the Hawaiian Islands on June thirteenth,
King George and Queen Charlotte set theircourse for Alaska. Here, Nathaniel
and his crew stumbled upon what wouldlater be Port Lock. The area had
been inhabited for centuries by the Alayucommunity, who were divided between the US
(06:21):
state of Alaska and the Russian Administrativedivision of Kumkachi Krai. The Aliute are
indigenous to the islands and the westernpart of Alaska Peninsula in present day Alaska.
Picture of land of rugged coastlines,towering volcanoes, and a maritime climate
that has shaped the lives of theseresilient individuals for centuries. For the Alau
(06:45):
people, the ocean has always beentheir lifeline. They were skilled hunters,
fishermen, and gatherers with an intimateconnection to the sea. Their survival dependent
on the abundant resources found in thewaters surrounding their homeland. Seals, sea
otters, and other marine mammals providedthem with not only sustenance, but also
materials for clothing, tools, andcrafts. Their cultural heritage is a tapestry
(07:11):
of artistry and craftsmanship, from intricatelywoven baskets to beautifully carved ivory and wood.
The Alloyou people expressed their creativity throughvarious mediums. Their distinctive parkers,
adorned with sea otter fur, area testament to the mastery of their environment.
The Alloute society thrived through close knitcommunities and complex social structures. Kinship
(07:33):
systems played a significant role in theirorganization, with extended family networks forming the
backbone of their communities. After Nathanielleft, the small settlement, Portlock continued
to thrive and was later named afterthe commander. Settlers discovered an abundance of
salmon in the bay and exploited thecatch long enough to establish a successful cannery
(07:56):
operation, working with the natives toshare resources. This attracted seasonal workers and
brought economic prosperity to the community.Soon enough, by the turn of the
nineteen hundreds, the community was thriving, but this is when things started to
go horribly wrong. In nineteen ohfive, Indigenous Allute fishermen working during salmon
(08:24):
season began claiming they were being harassedat night by a large animal. A
cannery supervisor would note how the menquit their jobs over the hairy man bothering
them and refused to come back towork. The Aute workers began speculating that
the hairy man was nothing less thanthe angered ninety knock, directly translating to
(08:45):
big hairy man in the Alloute Nativeslanguage. The ninety knock was described as
an evil sasquatch like creature. Coveredin hair and walking on two legs,
who wanted them to leave the settlement, angered that humans had destroyed his habitat.
After months of back and forth andceased operations at the cannery, eventually
(09:07):
supervisors were able to negotiate with thealleutes for better pay, and the indigenous
workers returned the next season. However, whispers of a mysterious creature they called
the ninety nine remained. In nineteentwenty, a group of bow hunters made
a disturbing discovery on the banks ofthe Yukon River. The group were out
(09:28):
hunting when they stumbled upon a houseboatthat had drifted down streaming become stuck.
Going over to see what they coulddo to help, they quickly noticed the
boat was covered in what looked likeblood. Fearing the worst, they hid
it inside, armed and ready forwhatever had made the mess to strike.
Inside the boat, they found theowner, Albert Petka, covered in his
(09:52):
own blood and nearing death. Despitehis injuries, Albert was able to tell
the bow hunters what had happened tohim. Between gasp He told them in
how the night before he was insidethe boat when he heard howling nearby,
going out to investigate, Albert armedhimself with a rifle and stirred his dogs
(10:13):
to come along with him, searchingthe darkness for the source of the noise.
Within minutes, he found himself faceto face with a terrifying creature,
standing at seven feet tall and coveredin fur. The creature shrieked at him
as he approached, and Albert raisedhis rifle to strike at the beast.
Within the blink of an eye,the creature attacked him, battling his rifle
(10:37):
away with ease and lashing out atAlbert, penning him against his boat.
The dogs managed to scare the creatureoff, but the damage was done.
Albert lay for hours, slowly dying, until the group came across him and
rushed him to a nearby doctor.Sadly, Albert would die from his injuries,
and a doctor would later a notethat he could not attribute any animal
(11:00):
or human known to man for beingresponsible for causing such catastrophic injuries, and
from there fear of the nineteen knockbegan to grow. Months after Albert's death
came a rise in miners and huntersgoing missing from the Portlock area. Bodies
would be discovered in the creek orstrown in the woods, with authorities having
(11:22):
no idea who or what was causingthe casualties, serial killer encrypted well,
the locals had already decided they werebeing plagued by an angry nineteen knock.
By nineteen thirty one, deaths werealready at an all time high when Longer
Andrew Camlock was found dead in thewoods. Andrew and his extended family had
(11:45):
lived in Portlock, with the longerpreferring solitude out in the wilderness. One
day after Andrew failed to return home, a search party was sent out,
and after scouring the dense wilderness,they came across him, face down in
the with the back of his headcompletely shattered, close by a large piece
(12:05):
of logging equipment covered in blood.Initially a thirties work to peddle the story
of a logging incident gone wrong,but the community knew better. Andrew was
known for his safety precautions and hadbeen on the job long enough to not
make mistakes like this. His familyargued that if an accident had happened involving
the logging machine, Andrew would havebeen found next to it. Instead,
(12:28):
he was over fifteen feet away withinjuries that would have killed him. Instantly,
How was Andrew so far from themachinery if he had simply fallen foul
of his bad planning. The distancebetween the body and the equipment strongly indicated
that the machinery had been deliberately wieldedto brutally strike his head before being cast
(12:50):
aside. The sheer weight and sizeof the equipment required the strength of three
to four men to lift and moveit. So who or what killed him?
In one incident, Thomas Wyene Larson, who moved to Portlock in nineteen
twenty five to work on the mines, came face to face with the beast
(13:11):
as the creature destroyed fish wheels onthe beach. Tall standing on two feet
and covered in hair, the creaturesstared down the miner, daring him to
strike, as Larson mustered up thecarriage to raise his weapon, But just
as he was about to strike,an overwhelming force came over him, telling
(13:31):
him not to kill the beast.Powerless to stop himself, he lowered his
weapon and walked away, spending theyears up until his nineteen ninety four death
questioning what had compelled him to sparethe creature that had terrorized his town With
instances continuing to ramp up. Townsettlers felt like they were being picked off
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one by one. Cannery workers wouldgo out in groups, never to return,
and only for their mutilated bodies toturn up months later. Hunters began
tracking the beast and found footprints thatresembled humans, the difference being this one
was eighteen inches long, stretching outinto the dense forest. The hunters attempted
(14:13):
to find where the beasts sheltered,but the prince eventually trailed off and the
deaths only continued. During a searchoperation, a hunting party stumbled upon a
disfigured corpse of a missing hunter ina creek. The injuries inflicted on the
body were not typical of a bearattack, raising suspicions of a different culprit.
(14:33):
Similar gruesome discoveries unfolded as bodies cascadeddown from the mountains into a nearby
lagoon or washed up on the shoresof poor Chat, bearing unmistakable signs of
being torn apart by an extraordinary,powerful creature. The alarming frequency of deaths
and disappearances sent waves of unease throughthe local community. The lagoon became a
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haunting spectacle, with lifeless body surfaceon a regular basis, causing residents to
retreat indoors, gripped by fear ofthe eerie forest that surrounded them. These
unsettling events coincided with a surge insightings of towering, hairy beings and shadow
(15:16):
entities. Settlers referred to these creaturesas mountain apes, hairy men, or
devils, while the indigenous population identifiedthem as the ninety nine. These entities
became synonymous with the area's atmosphere ofstrangeness and death. As the incidents intensified,
(15:41):
a mass exodus from Port Lock ensued. In the late nineteen forties.
Settlers and natives combined all fled thearea, searching for safety in neighboring towns.
Homes were abandoned, with personal effectsleft untouched for decades. One by
one, families picked up and left, and by the close of the nineteen
fifties, the post office, oneof the last remaining hints of civilization,
(16:06):
closed, with the postmaster fleeing hispost. By nineteen fifty one, the
town stood desolate and forsaken, leavingbehind structures, equipment, and even an
abandoned cannery. The god daughter ofAndrew Camlock and the local elder from Nawallack,
Milania. Helen Kell gave an insightfulinterview that was published in the Homer
(16:30):
Tributes October two thousand and nine issue. She gave light on the causes of
the village's disappearances because she was bornthere in nineteen thirty four. According to
her, her parents and the othervillagers were wary of experiencing the dread brought
on by a creature known as theninety nine, which translates to half man,
(16:52):
half beast. Numerous locals eventually cameto the point of refusing to go
into the nearby woodlands, and overtime they left their homes, the local
school, and moved up the coastto Port Graham. Though Portlock now stood
abandoned, that didn't stop tales ofstrange encounters from the area emanating. In
nineteen sixty eight, a hunter whowas in search of goats claimed to have
(17:15):
been pursued by a mysterious creature whileout in the hunting grounds. Another incident
occurred in nineteen seventy three, whenthree hunters sought refuge in the same area
during a severe three day storm.They reported that each night something circled their
tent, producing the distinct sound ofwalking on two feet. Fast forward to
(17:37):
nineteen ninety, when the Anchorage paramedicwas called to provide medical assistance to a
seventy year old Native individual who hadsuffered a heart attack while incarcerated in the
Eagle River Jail. During the treatment, the paramedic mentioned previous hunting experiences near
Portlock. To the paramedic surprise,the elderly man abruptly sat up, grasped
(17:59):
the medic shirt, and urgently inquired, did it bother you? Did you
see it? The paramedic ed latershared his encounter on the Bigfoot Encounter's website,
documenting this intriguing interaction. I don'tbelong to any UFOL group or anything
like that, but this actually happenedto me. I've told a few trusted
(18:22):
friends about it, but never botheredto write it down, So I'll try
to relate it as accurately as memoryallows. In ninety ninety, while I
was working as a paramedic in Anchorage, we got called out on an alarm
for a man having a heart attackat the state jail in Eagle River.
He was a Native man in hisseventies, and after I got him stabilized
(18:45):
with IVS, O two and cardiacdrugs. My partner and I began to
transport him to the Native hospital inAnchorage. En route to the hospital,
I had time to talk to thisgentleman, who was a Elliott from the
Native village of Port Graham, aremote village on the lower end of cook
Inlet. Well, as usual withme, the topic eventually drifted to hunting
(19:08):
and fishing, and I casually mentionedto him that I and two other hunting
buddies were once weathered in at theUpper Lagoon at Dogfish Bay, only a
few miles from his home in PortGraham. The lagoon was about as beautiful
and wild a place as I everseen in my thirty five years in Alaska.
(19:29):
Well, when I said that Ihad spent some time in Dogfish the
salt Man sat up on the gurneyand grabbed me by the front of my
shirt. He got right up tomy face and said, did it bother
you? Well, with that question, the hair just stood up on the
back of my head. I saidyes, did you see it? Was
(19:51):
his next question. I said,no, did you see it? He
said no, but my brothers seenit. It chased him. A salt
Elliott and I were talking about thesame thing. But we never mentioned the
word bigfoot or legend or anything likethat. But we both knew what we
were talking about. You see,in August of nineteen seventy three, three
(20:15):
of us were bow hunting for goatsand blackies and what was then the remote
wilderness of Lower cook Inlet when astorm forced us to take shelter in Darkfish
Bay Lagoon. We beached our skiffand let the tie run her dry.
After a dinner of broiled salmon,we turned into our tent. Back in
those days, the best tent Ihad was a dark green canvas job with
(20:37):
a center pole and no windows orfloor. We left the fire burning and
cleaned the pots and pans so asnot to attract bears during the night,
and turned in. The sky wasclear, but the wind was howling through
the old growth timber that lined ashore. Sometimes around two AM, my friend
Dennis woke me up by squeezing myleg and I could dimly see his face
(21:00):
in the tent. His finger wasacross his lips. I listened. Then
I heard it a step. Aman was quietly walking outside of our tent,
taking very deliberate steps. Not abear. Scenes from the movie Deliverance
flashed through my mind. So wewoke Joe, the third member of our
(21:21):
party, with the same leg graband finger to the lips. The walking,
or rather the sneaking, continued untilit half circled our tent, and
then all was quiet except for thewind. We had our bows and the
O six leaning against the tree outsideof the tent, so somehow we talked
Joe into belly crawling out the tentto get the rifle. We were scared
(21:45):
shitless, I tell you. Thenext day and night, the storm continued
to blow. We saw several blackbears on the salmon stream at the end
of the lagoon during the evening hunt, but had no chance for a shot.
We didn't talk about what had happenedlast night, too embarrassed, I
guess, to be scared by ablack bear that sounded like a man.
(22:06):
We got back to camp early,built a big fire, sat around it,
and ate dinner until around midnight inAugust. There were still some light
in the sky until about ten oreleven. I recall that we all were
embarrassed about being afraid about the comingnight. We had a flashlight and a
rifle and the tent between us lockedand loaded. I finally dozed off,
(22:30):
but woke right up when Dennis squeezedmy leg. The illuminated hands of my
watch showed it was two thirty.Joe was already sitting up and had a
rifle in hand. I heard thefirst step not more than about ten feet
from the back of the tent,slowly, then another and another. Whatever
this was, it sounded like itwas walking on two feet. It made
(22:53):
the same semicircle around the tent.When we finally got enough courage to crawl
out of the tent and turned theflashlight on, we saw nothing, no
tracks, nothing. The third night, we've decided if it bothered us again,
we would come out of the tentshooting. We were actually scared.
(23:14):
It never came back the third night, and the following day we had a
break in the weather and got theheck out of there. Never told anybody
about the experience for several years untilabout nineteen seventy nine, when I happened
to be reading an old Alaska Sportsmanmagazine published in nineteen thirty five. In
the letters to the editor, awoman wrote that she recently found a letter
(23:37):
written by some distant relative of herswho was a schoolteacher at a canary in
Portlock Bay, a rugged ford adjacentto Dogfish Bay. The year was nineteen
o five. She quoted from theletter. It said that the Canary employed
a small group of alliots from asmall village in Portlock Bay during salmon's season.
(23:57):
Their camp was about a mile awayfrom the canary buildings. One day,
all the alliots moved out of thevillage and paddled there by darkness back
to Port Graham. The letter saidthat the alliots claimed that a hairy man
was bothering and frightening them to thepoint where they had to leave. I
(24:18):
have since done some research into thesubject and found written histories of natives from
Sildovia to Port Graham being frightened andbothered by something. They even have a
native name for it. It doesn'ttranslate into English very well. These accounts
mostly take place during the first halfof the nineteen hundreds and a native related,
(24:41):
but not all. I talked toone white guy who in nineteen sixty
eight got the bejeebers scared out ofhim while coming down an all their choked
gully while on a goat hunt inPort Clark, Alaska. Most of These
accounts proceed the big foot hype thatbegan to appear in the sixties and seventies
in the Northwest. Well, anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to
(25:07):
it. Native American cultures have along history of creating hybrid creatures that are
equal parts and human. The Allutepeople sincerely believed that, in the instance
of the ninety knock, this monsterwas once an ordinary human who sadly underwent
(25:27):
a hideous transformation that were cruel cursewrought by dark spirits. The evil being
is not the only unexplained occurrence connectedto the Kenai Peninsula's wind battered cliffs.
The Allute tribe also tells tales ofa vengeful spirit and a young woman who
(25:48):
was attacked and killed by an unidentifiedassailant. Returning hunters would tell stories of
meetings with a pale faced woman withflowing black hair who tried to trap them
with see hands and drag them intothe grasp of death. With new technology
and a thirst for answers, intwenty twenty one, and expedition took place
(26:10):
in the abandoned towns, with searchershoping to catch a sight of the ninety
nine when modern myths meet native folklore, what did they discover that sent searchers
fleeing? In Part two, wewill explore the recent events surrounding Portlock,
including the infamous Alaskan Bigfoot Killer expedition, as well as sightings out of town.
(26:33):
This is Bigfoot classify as the Boy
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