Portlock // Part Two

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 TWO of the case of the Portlock Bigfoot.

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Episode Transcript

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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

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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. Located on the southern

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edge of the Keeneie Peninsula, theghost town of Portlock, Alaska. Once
boasting a very modest population of thirtyone residents, the small cannary 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

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two of the case of the portLock Bigfoot. In nineteen oh five,
indigenous Alloute fishermen working during salmon seasonstarted reporting harassment by a large animal.
They referred to this creature as thehairy Man and believed it to be the

(01:38):
ninety Knock, an evil sasquatch likebeing from their folklore. The fishermen claimed
that the ninety Knock wanted them toleave the settlement as retribution for the human
destruction of its habitat. The reportsof the ninety Knock persisted for months,
leading to disruptions in the canneries operations. The Alliute workers even quit their jobs,
attributing it to the interference. Eventually, supervisors negotiate a better pay with

(02:04):
the indigenous workers and they returned thefollowing season. However, the whispers and
fears of the mysterious Natanok remained amongthe community. In nineteen twenty, a
group of bow hunters made a gruesomediscovery along the banks of the Yukon River.
They stumbled upon a drifting houseboat coveredin what appeared to be blood.
Inside the boat, they found AlbertPetka, the owner, gravely injured and

(02:28):
near death. Albert managed to recounthis encounter with the creature to the bow
hunters before succumbing to his injuries.He described a terrifying creature standing at seven
feet tall, covered in fur,and capable of attacking with incredible speed and
strength. His injuries were so severethat they couldn't be attributed to any known

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animal or human. Following Albert's death, the incidents of deaths linked to the
Natio continued to escalate. Miners andhunters went missing and their body were found
in creeks or scattered in the woods. With authorities unable to determine the cause
of the casualties, the locals firmlybelieved that they were being targeted by the
eventual ninety nine. In one chillingincident, a miner named Thomas Weene Larsen

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confronted the creature as it destroyed fishwheels on the beach. Larsen prepared to
defend himself, but suddenly felt anoverwhelming force compelling him not to harm the
creature. Helpless against this interference,he walked away, haunted by his decision
for the rest of his life.As the attacks and disappearances persisted, the

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community felt like they were being pickedoff one by one. Cannery workers ventured
out in groups but never returned,only to have their mutilated bodies discovered months
later. Hunters discovered footprints resembling thoseof humans, but much larger, measuring
eighteen inches in length. They attemptedto track the creature into the dense forests,

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but were unsuccessful. Deaths continued.The search party eventually found the disfigured
corpse of a missing hunter in acreek, with injuries that didn't resemble typical
bear attacks. The frequency of deathsand eerie discoveries deeply unsettled the community,
prompting fear and causing many to retreatindoors. By the late nineteen forties,

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the fear and casualties had driven amass exodus from Portlock. Settlers and indigenous
inhabitants fled to neighboring towns in searchof safety. Homes and structures were abandoned,
leaving behind a desolate ghost town.By the nineteen fifties, the town
had become a forsaken place, andonly remnants of civilization remaining. For the

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next fifty years, Portlock stood abandonedand was eventually erased from the maps entirely.
Locals spoke in a hushed tone aboutthe angered ninety knock who terrorized this
town, but only a few bravehunters would dare to take a stroll to
the fold. Milania Helen Kell,the oldest living resident who once lived in

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Portlock, now lives in nan Wallack, Alaska. She recalls various aspects of
the past, such as traditional medicinesused for healing and techniques for preserving sea
lion meet in barrels during the winter. Additionally, she is one of the
few remaining individuals who can recount theghostly tale of the deserted village of Port

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Chatham and why was abandoned and avoidedby its former inhabitants. She was born
on January twenty fifth, nineteen thirtyfour, in Port Chatham, a small
village. In its early days,the village provided shelter for numerous people,
including Captain Nathaniel Portlock's ship during hisseventeen eighty six Alaska expedition. However,

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when she was a baby, herfamily abruptly left Chatham, leaving behind their
house in every trace of its existence. The reason behind John and Helen Romanov's
decision to flee nan Wallick with theirchildren was a series of frightening incidents had
occurred over an extended period. Accordingto the reports, a ninety knock,

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a large and hairy creature terrorized thevillagers. Kill also mentioned the presence of
a spirit, a woman dressed ina flowing black garment who would emerge from
the cliffs. This spirit had anextraordinary long dress and a pale face,
disappearing back into the cliffs. Encounteringthese spirits caused great fear among the villagers,

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but the extent of terror escalated whenKill's godfather was fatally struck on the
head with a wench while working ona boat in nineteen thirty one. Kill
is not the only one with talesof strange occurrences in Port Chatham. An
elder from Port Graham shared his recollectionof a gold miner who was seriously disappeared,

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with ninety knock being blamed. Anotheraccount involved a sawmill owner named Tom
Larson who encountered the cree you're onthe beach, but chose not to fire
his gun after a brief exchange ofgazes. In an article from April fifteenth,
nineteen seventy three, published in theAnchorage Daily News, the story of

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the abandoned cannery town of Port Locknear Port Chatham was recounted. Rumors spread
during the early years of World WarTwo that something was amiss in Port Lock.
Men who ventured into the hills forhunting never returned, and stories circulated
about mutilated bodies found in the lagoon. Displaying signs of dismemberment that couldn't be
attributed to bears. The article describedvillagers tracking moose and discovering large manlike footprints.

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Closing in on the moose tracks,they would find evidence of a struggle,
flattened grass, and then only thetracks of the manlike creature, retreating
toward the fall covered mountains. Eventually, the town's residents decided to collectively move
away, leading to the closure ofthe US post office in nineteen fifty.

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While Sasquatch has gained popularity in thenineteen sixties and seventies in the lower forty
eight States, the ninety Knock haslong been a part of their culture.
According to the culture, the ninetyKnock may be a different kind of creature,
a tragic figure that was once fullyhuman transformed into a half man,
half beast. Older Nick Tanapey acknowledgesthe validity of the ninety Nick stories,

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although he has never personally encountered one. Kill mentioned that after her family moved
to Naiwalak, the ninety Knicks stayedfar away, granting them peace. It
did not follow them, and theywere grateful for that. Kill grew up
raised thirteen children and remains one ofthe few individuals in Niwalack who can pass
down the old traditions. In twentytwenty one, Alaska big Footkiller was released,

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a forty day expedition that follows KeithSaville, a resident of nearby nan
Wallick and descendant of Portlock's residents,and his team. The group of five
men aimed to track down the mysteriouscreature while searching the town for its hidden
history. Growing up, Seville heardstories from his ancestors and elders about the
eerie happenings in Portlock, the townfrom which his family had fled. Although

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he initially didn't consider himself a believer, his involvement in the show opened his
eyes to the unsettling nature of Portlock. In the TV show Alaska Killer Bigfoot,
Keith Saville and his team embark ona captivating expiration of the mysterious town
of Portlock. As they delve deeperinto their investigation, they encounter a series
of unsettling discoveries and experiences that addto the suspense and intrigue surrounding a legendary

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creature known as ninety nine. Hereare the key aspects they encountered during their
exploration. The team begins by delvinginto the haunting stories and testimonies shared by
local history orients, elders, andcommunity members. These accounts paint a chilling
picture of Portlock's past and the presenceof ninety nine, instilling a sense of

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fear and intrigue within the team insetting the stage for their exploration. As
the team ventures further into Portlock,the experience unexplained and supernatural phenomena. They
hear eerie noises, catch glimpses ofshadowy figures, and since a palpable presence
lurking among the abandoned buildings and denseforest. These encounters heightened the suspense and

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raised questions about the true nature ofninety Nock. While investigating the connections between
Portlock and the nearby community of naWallick, the team learns that the unsettling
incidents have also occurred in Nanwalack.This suggests that Naughty Knock's influence may extend
beyond the boundaries of Portlock, leadingthe team to confront the possibility that the

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legendary creature has followed the residence totheir new homes. Throughout their exploration,
the team discovers mysterious artifacts, crypticsymbols, and intrigue markings scattered throughout port
Lock. These findings offer glimpses intothe talent's hidden history and potentially hold clues
about the true nature of ninety Knockand its connection to port Lock. As

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the team witnesses the impact of theirinvestigations on the local community, their initial
skepticism begins to waver. They undergopersonal transformations as their first hand experiences and
the compelling stories they uncover challenge theirbeliefs. Their encounters with the unknown leave
them with questioning the existence and truenature of ninety Knock, blurring the lines

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between myth and reality. Reception tothe show was harsh. Viewers pointed out
how a lot of the scenes seemedlike a setup. Critics also complained about
how when danger seemed close, theteam ran away instead of confronting the being,
which was the whole premise of theshow, and the show wasn't the

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only cause for concern for skeptics andvince sitters. In recent years, a
super piac woman of Russian Alute descent, Sally Ash, has been speaking out
against the falsehoods that have come outof the Portlock mystery. Sally has deep
roots in nan Wally and speaks hernative language. Her ancestral connection stretches to
various places in Alaska, including PortLock, where her mother was born.

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Sally describes her people as nomadic,following the seasons and moving from one place
to the other, including Port Chatham, Dark Fish Bay, Sedovia, Homer,
and even Kodiak. In the contextof Portlock, Sally introduces the local
legend of Nainti Nock, a formof Sasquatch known in their community. Unlike
the traditional depiction of Sasquatch as abrute, ninty Knock is regarded as a

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supernatural being. Sally believes that nintyKnock was once part human and chose to
separate from human society, treating tothe forest. Over time, he transformed,
growing hair and resembling a bigfoot.Sally's relatives, including her uncles and
grandfathers, have shared stories about ninetynine, emphasizing that he lives far away

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from people and does not interact withthem. Sally recounts a chilling incident involving
her brother at a lake. Whiletying off his skiff, her brother detected
a foul odor emanating from the bushesAs he investigated further, he discovered a
hairy and intimidating figure. Sally's brotherand their cousin fled the scene in fear,

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uncertain whether it was a bigfoot,but disturbed by the strong smell.
When asked about ninety nine, Sallysuggests that he is a solitary being who
has lived for a long time.He has described as old, tall,
strong, and covered in hair.Ninety Knock resides in the woods and people
can sense his proximity through the distinctodor he emits. Sally's mother spoke about

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ninety nine and shared stories about encounters, particularly in the dog Fish area.
Sally explains that her family was awareof ninety Nick's presence but maintained a respectful
distance, treating him with kindness butavoiding close interaction. Ninti Nick was agile
and quick, often moving to differentlocations. Sally served as a translator for

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her cousin Milannie, killed during aninterview in two thousand and nine. They
gained attention in the world of bigfootenthusiast Milania claimed that the entire town of
Port Chatham had evacuated in nineteen fortynine due to a murders Naughty nine.
However, Sally clarifies that Melanie Afabricated this story to address persistent inquiries and

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that the account was not true.Sally's family and community were aware of the
invented story, but chose not toconfront her due to the cultural values that
discouraged challenging elders. According to Sally, the decision to leave Port Chatham and
relocate to Sadovia and now Walack wasprimarily driven by practical factors such as the

(15:03):
economy, access to schools, andthe presence of a church. Additionally,
the construction of the Alaska Highway Routeone to Kenai and Homer redirected traffic away
from Port Lock. Sally suggests thatMilanie's fabricated stories may have stemmed from a
desire to protect the area and preserveits significance. Port Chatham holds cultural importance
for the Suppiak people as a placewhere their ancestors lived and were buried.

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While there have been reports and investigationsconcerning Natiock, Sally advises against actively searching
for him. She states that NatoNack is elusive and can transform into different
animals, making it difficult to trackhim down. Sally warrants against shooting at
him, as is believe that hecan not be killed. Sally and her

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community approached the topic with caution,respecting Nati knock space and avoiding disturbances in
the areas where he may reside.Although Nantinok is no longer seen in Nawalick,
Sally affirms that they no longer counterhim there. She states that ninety
Knock and others like him have movedfar away from human settlements seeking solitude.

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Sally's account highlights the difference between thestories of ninety Knock causing harm and the
reality experienced by her community. Thereis no substantiated evidence of the dozens of
reported murders and disappearances attributed to ninetyn import Chatham. The only documented death
in the town was an accident involvinga logger and logging equipment. Sally's perspective

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emphasizes that while the legend of nineteenKnock has always been known among the sup
Biac people, the notion of abloodthirsty creature causing mayhem is a misrepresentation.
Ninety Knock is regarded as a reclusivebeing, preferring to keep his distance from
humans rather than engage in violence,Sally costs against the intrusive pursuit of ninety

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knock and emphasizes the importance of respectand understanding their ancestral ties to the land
and as far as the legend ofPortlock. We, like many other podcasts
covering this topic, used an articlewritten in two thousand and nine by Naomi

(17:11):
Cluta and the information she gleaned fromspeaking to residents in and closed by the
town as the main source. Herprimary source was in nineteen seventy three article
from the Anchorage Daily News. Unfortunately, only an expert of the article remains,
which was included in John Green's bookSasquatch, the Apes among Us.
This provided basic stories about bigfoot attacksin Port Chatham, but lack specific details.

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The article claimed that the people leftthe area solely due to these big
foot attacks in nineteen forty nine andrefused to return. Clutah's second source involved
interviews with two elderly Alaska Natives whogrew up in Portlock and we're living in
Port Graham at the time of theinterview. One of the interviewees, Milania
Helen Kell, was born in Portlockin nineteen thirty four, and added additional

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details to the story, Kel sharethe names of the men who were either
killed or went missing. She statedthat her parents left Portlock because they could
no longer tolerate the concert attacks bythe ninety nine. To verify the claims
made by these sources, researchers neededto seek corroborating evidence. They turned to
the Alaska Digital Newspaper Program, whichprovided access to a large collection of scan

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newspaper pages from the late seventeen hundredsthrough nineteen sixty three. However, they
found no reports of extraordinary killings ordismemberments in the news articles related to Portlock.
Most of the articles were focused oncommercial fishing, with only a few
deaths reported and mostly due to accidents. Regarding crimes, only one notable incident

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was reported in nineteen twenty four,the Portlock postmaster, George Henck, was
arrested by the Probation Enforcement Bureau forpossessing moonshine. There were no records of
any murders or dismemberments. As formissing person reports, only one was found,
which involved two hunters named Ben Swayzeand Bill Weaver from Seaward. They

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went on a two week trip bydory boat in nineteen seventeen and were never
seen again. The mentioned of Portlockin the story was only because the report
came from there about the discovery ofa dory that seemed similar to theirs.
However, Seaward and Portlock are geographicallydistant, making it unlikely that bigfoot attacks
in Port Chatham are responsible for thedisappearance. Regarding the word nati nock associated

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with the Portlock creature, it provedchallenging to pinpoint the exact origin. Native
language preservation groups that were contacted toinvestigate its existence in different languages, but
no record of nat ENaC was found. However, there's a word similar to
it, Ninetina in the Denia Alaskanlanguage, refers to a focalore character that

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kidnaps children and is used to cautionthem against wandering into the woods. It
is speculated the ninety knock is aversion of nineteen na due to the linguistic
connections between the languages in the Portlockarea. The ultimate reason for the abandonment
of Portlock was probably unrelated to bigfootor any violent creatures. It was primarily

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due to the completion of Alaska Routeone during the nineteen forties, which provided
efficient transportation between Anchorage and the townsalong the Kenal Peninsula. This led to
the rapid growth of the other townsthat could be easily accessed through the highway,
while isolated places like Portlock became lessviable. The convenience and cost saving

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factors prompted the relocation of the town'spopulation. The closure of the Portlock post
office in nineteen fifty marked the finalchapter in the town's history. Despite the
claims of the Bigfoot attacks and theuse of the word ninety knock and the
Portlock monster story, available evidence mightsuggest otherwise. The accounts from the Anchorage

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day of the news article and theinterviews do not align with the historical records
of the newspaper articles from the time. The town of port Lock was likely
abandoned for noncryptid reasons, but that'snot to say a sasquatch isn't lurking in
the Alaskan landscape. As recently astwo thousand and twenty three, sightings of
sasquatch like creatures have been reported aroundAlaska. Over the last decade, more

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and more sightings have been reported,with the creatures seemingly less concerned about being
spotted. In the summer of twothousand and nine. The following report was
made to the BFRO, which standsfor Bigfoot Filled Researchers Organization. It was
the month of July two thousand andnine in Fairbanks, Alaska. I was

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heading south on Abon Drive toward Farmer'sLoop, which was about one mile away.
It is a wooded area frequented byhomes, and in general would be
considered a populated area. Houses arein an average of about one hundred to
two hundred feet apart, with onlythe general area around and close to the
homes cleared out. Most of thearea by far is wooded, and while

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the section of the road where itpasses by Pearl Creek Elementary School the school
can be seen through the woods.Some of the woods in the area are
quite thick and in some places canbe seen into more than about ten to
fifteen feet, but in this areait had apparently been cleaned out quite a
bit and siding less into the sectionof the siding were very open. The

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school and vegetable garden could be seenoff to the right from the road I
was on. It was about sixpm and I was heading home after a
day of working on a deck Iwas building The weather was clear, with
the sun high and the sky.As I was driving, I happened to
notice a man standing by the rightside of the road about hundred yards ahead.

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It was more of an unconscious recognition. There is nothing unusual about a
man standing on the side of theroad in this area. As I got
within about fifty yards, I lookedcloser. That's no man, I said
to myself. I was alone inthe car. Shortly after that, one
or two seconds he bolted into thewoods towards the school. He did it

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like a wild animal would do ifspooked. I didn't slow down until I
got to the place where I sawhim go into the woods, which is
where I stopped. I could seehim running away from the road, and
when he was into the woods,about thirty yards or so, he turned
left and was now running parallel tothe road in the same direction I was

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heading. I got a good lookat him, but not his face.
I could I have probably seen hisface had I not been so mesmerized and
had the presence of mind to lookat it. I was busy noticing other
things. His fur or hair lookedto be about three to four inches all
over the main part of his body. It was a reddish, rusty color.

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I was mildly struck by how redit was, but it definitely had
some rustiness to it. He wasabout six feet tall and looked a weigh
about two hundred pounds. He ranwith a strange, hoppy kind of run.
It wasn't a limp with one foothe pushed off with was more a
normal running move, but the otherfoot he pushed off with propelled him upward

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about a foot or less and forward. I watched him until he disappeared into
the woods. There was a roadabout one hundred yards ahead, and I
took off to get to it soI could turn right, and in twenty
yards turned right again to the roadthat led to the school parking lot.
So the wooded area he was inwas sort of a peninsula, and he

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seemingly had to be in there somehowsomewhere. The woods I was looking into
from that angle were quite thick,and I didn't see him and haven't seen
him since. A little farther upon the right was the school garden that
had people in it about seven toten, which I'm now sorry I didn't

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stop to go talk to them aboutit. The next day, as I
was driving into work on the deck, I naturally slowed down in the area
I saw him. I stopped,actually and was surveying the area when a
couple walking their dogs were approaching.I flagged them down and told the story
of what happened the evening before,and they told me that about a week

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before, they were with their dogsand were on the way to the other
side of the school property by thesoccer field, and three kids came running
over to them, saying, didyou see the SaaS squatch. He also
said that what appeared to be adad was with them, who didn't seem
too excited about it. My conclusionto whether it was real or not is

(26:11):
summed up by saying it was eitherreal or there was a man in a
very very convincing costume. I reportedit to the Fish and Game office in
Fairbanks a couple of days later.The person who was taking the report was
sort of rolling his eyes through thewhole thing, as he seemed to be
writing it down on a piece ofscrap paper. I even had to ask

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him to take my phone number justin case. The report noted that the
weather conditions were clear and sunny,and that there were other witnesses who had
possibly seen the creature. Responding tothe report bfr A researcher, Charles Lamaca
wrote, I was intrigued by thisreport because I used to live very new

(26:53):
the area where the siding occurred.I interviewed the witness telephonically and found his
story to incredible. The interview resultedin the following additional information. First,
the entire sighting from first glance tolast scene was under thirty seconds in duration.
The creature was about one hundred yardsaway when first seen, but as

(27:17):
the sighting progressed, the distance wasreduced to about twenty to thirty yards.
Second, the witness didn't get agood look at the creature's face or its
feet. He described the shape ofthe head as being a cross between that
of a human and a gorilla.The hair on the body seemed to be
fairly uniform in length about three tofour inches, and was not met at

(27:41):
or scruffy looking. Third, hehas no explanation for the unusual gait of
the creature and could not speculate asto the possibility of an injury or deformity
that might cause it. Fourth,the witness says he is inclined to believe
what he saw was a real nonhuman animal, but it was definitely not

(28:03):
a bear. He recognizes that thereis a remote chance that someone could have
been carrying out a hoax, buthe indicated that if it was someone in
a costume, it was so convincingthat it would have to be a costume
of Hollywood professional quality. The mystiquaBigfoot continues to captivate the hearts and minds

(28:27):
of countless individuals in and around Alaska. In Despite the skepticism and the lack
of concrete evidence, there remains acompelling case for the existence of this elusive
creature. While the specific accounts andstories discussed may not provide conclusive proof,
they serve as a reminder of therich tapestry of folklore and cultural beliefs that

(28:48):
surround Bigfoot. The enduring nature ofthese legends, passed down through generations,
speaks to a collective human yearning forthe unknown in the extraordinary. While this
search for Bigfoot may be challenging,it is through open mindedness, expiration,
and a willingness to consider alternative perspectivesthat we can deepen our understanding of the
natural world and the hidden wonders itmay hold. In the third part of

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this season, we dive into themysteries surrounding the Alaska Triangle and explore the
possibility that the Sasquatch is responsible forthe high death count the state faces.