Village of Missing Children - Yacolt, Washington

Join Steve as he recounts how an entire village of children disappeared while picking berries in Yacolt, Washington.

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Episode Transcript

(00:13):
Hello friends, Steve Stockton here withyou. Welcome to our latest video.
In this episode, recovering the mysteriouscase of a whole village of children that
went missing while picking berries in YourCult Washington. Now Your Cult Washington strange

(00:33):
place. I've had the pleasure tovisit on many occasions. First time I
ever passed through there, before Ieven knew anything about it, I felt
that the place was off, andmy traveling companion agreed. The name you
Cult literally translates to a place ofevil spirits or haunted place in the language
of the Kligotat. And I wantit certain why the area has such a

(00:56):
mysterious name, but it speculated thata tribe that occupied the area long before
white settlers came along, the clickAtat and gave it that name. Now,
we in this community all know thatclusters of berry pickers got many of
the missing persons map. Perhaps noneare more mysterious than the story of the
missing Nicult Washington children. Now,to understand how the children went missing,

(01:19):
we must first visit the history ofthe area which the incident happened. In
nineteen oh one, a massacre betweentwo local tribes, the click Atat and
the Willamie Indians took place near alush green forest where blueberries and wild strawberries
grew in abundance. The click attackclaimed the barrier area as their own and
fiercely guarded it. Say journey there'sa tribe once a year in a pilgrimage

(01:42):
to gather berries. On one occasion, though, the click attack found a
group of Wlami tribesmen in the berryfield and a massacre ensued, with the
click Attat being the victor of thebattle. All the Willami were thought to
have been slaughtered, but a youngmaiden from the doomed tribe managed to escape
into the forest. Upon their returnthe following year, the click Atat heard

(02:05):
an ethereal female voice singing the Willamideath song from deep into the forest,
and upon entering the area where thesinging was coming from, saw the ghostly
figure of the lone surviving maiden disappearinto the woods. The singing continued,
along with the sightings of her atrandom intervals. It was surmised by the
Clickitat tribesmen that she was a ghostof her people, sent to an act

(02:30):
revenge for the slaughter of the tribe. Has mentioned previously, one of the
translations of the word you cult isspirit. In the early eighteen hundreds,
epidemics and plagues swept through this areaand much of the Pacific Northwest, leaving
the settlements that were established in theOccult area decimated. In some villages,

(02:50):
they lost up to ninety percent oftheir people from diseases like the Black plague,
influenza, smallpox, and cholera.Losing that many people at once caused
the remaining villagers to move away fromtheir homes, seeking others to form larger
establishments. There were so many deceasedrelatives and neighbors the natives were unable to
bury them all and had to leavethe bodies out, exposed to the animals

(03:13):
and elements. Over time, thehomes they built would fall into disrepair were
acclaimed by the elments. Much likethe bodies. The area would soon be
barren and perfect for a new villageto claim and build on, and that's
exactly what would happened in this case. The first Anglo settlers to move into
Your Colt were Andrew, Joseph andCharlotte Eaton. In eighteen fifty two.

(03:36):
The Eaton family left Wisconsin in searchof a better life Before landing in you
they had lived in a small settlementon the Lewis River. In eighteen seventy
three, a flood destroyed that hole. Having lost everything, the family moved
west, where they eventually ended upin Your Colt. They lived in the
area, being the only homestead untileighteen eighty seven. The next family to

(03:58):
move into the area was the guardHer family. Shortly after, more settlers
moved to Your Cult, and theonce eaton homestead was now growing as a
town. The new settlers, EdgarRotchie and the Land and Barger and McCutchen
families helped grow the town's population tofifty by the turn of the censury.
Rochi started to keep a diary ofthe happenings in the town and of its

(04:20):
residents. It's recorded that at leastthree of the residents had some type of
mental issues. Having a good populationand starting to prosper, the town of
Your Cult was becoming a popular placeto live. It's rumined that the townspeople
were very welcoming to newcomers, oftenhelping them build homes and cooking large meals

(04:40):
to feed the volunteers as well asthe youth family. As the town grew
Rotchie continued to keep a diary ofthe curious residents, even writing about a
man that claimed to be chased bylittle witches and was haunted by a spirit
that talked to him being heavily involvedin the gossip and all other news.
In Your Cult, Rachi detailed othermysterious cases that were rumored to be happening

(05:02):
around town. Another of these storieshad a residence saying that he had visions
of oil on his land and wasalso being haunted by little witches. Third
townsperson was admitted into an asylum.The reasoning for this is unknown, although
it seems there was something off aboutthe town even then. As if these

(05:23):
stories weren't weird enough, there wereseveral illnesses that swept through the small community,
affecting many citizens, such as cancer, the origin of which no one
could explain. Because was also knownas the Town of Fire, it appears
the town was cursed from the FirstBattle of the Natives until the turn of
the next century. One of theworst fires in Washington's history struck the area

(05:46):
and raged from September eleventh through thethirteenth of nineteen oh two, dry winds
upwards of sixty miles an hour,blowing through three counties, aided in the
fire that destroyed just shy of threehundred thousand acres and taking the lives of
thirty eight people. At least onehundred and forty six families homes were burned,
displacing these citizens. Many grabbed whatthey could loaded their wagons, most

(06:10):
barely escaping with their lives. Nowthat you cult proper was mostly untouched with
the fire. Buildings survived a littleto no damage. However, several farms
were leveled and their animals perished.There were only a few families left after
the fire had devastated your colt.They would not yield to the fire's terar,
rebuilding the town and deciding to stay. The circumstances surrounding the fire were

(06:34):
mysterious, but it did provide aunique opportunity for their remaining residents. There
were a lot of scorched and dangeroustrees, known as widow makers. A
man of the name of Frederick Weierhauserdecided to make a business using the trees
for timber to help rebuild the town, and business was good. Defected trees

(06:55):
covered much of the surrounding lands,and they were there for the taking This
also helped keep people safe, asthese trees were dangerous and could fall at
any moment. Building so many treesrequired a lot of help. Loggers came
from far and wide, hoping towork for Wirehouses company. The town was
rebuilt and the surface of trees weresold to paper mills. About the same

(07:17):
time the lumber business was taking off, the Yakima Railroad finished an extension of
track running from Battleground to Your Cult. This caused the population to explode,
and it was now easier to movethe trees on trains across the country.
In nineteen oh eight, Your Cultbecame an incorporated town. Now let's visit

(07:39):
more about Your Cult and the supernatural. As we've explained, it's no secret
that Your Cult is a mysterious areaand has had many tragic events in its
history. One resident, just elevenyears old named Chloe Zafont started to see
apparitions in her home. It startedwith a ghostly woman that would visit her

(07:59):
bed room and a red eyed manthat would thump up and down the family's
home stairs and stand at the footof her bed staring at her while she
slept. Another tale talks of aghost that likes to shake the tables of
a town pub right in front ofcustomers. I've been in this establishment and
it does indeed have a strange feeling. Fact to, the owner at the

(08:20):
time told me that she often heardchildren laughing and running up and down the
stairs at night when there was noone in the restaurant downstairs. I talked
to another lady who claims that onher way home from school as a child,
she would often be chased by NativeAmerican braves that were only about three
feet tall in an empty field behindher house. Now, these stories pale

(08:43):
in comparison to the children that wentmissing while picking berries in the forest.
So what happened to these children?And where do they go? On a
misty, rainy day As many arehere in the Northwest Territory, the click
Atat tribes their children out to pickberries. They often used these berries to

(09:03):
barter with other tribes for items theyneeded or wanted. As the children picked
up their baskets and said their goodbyes, the adults would have no way of
knowing this would be the last timethey saw their children. Off into the
forest. The kids went singing songsand talking amongst themselves. They needed to
get back before dark, and theberry patch was a couple miles away.

(09:26):
The rain made from Israel walk andthere was no time to play as they
usually liked to do. Reaching theberry patch, they focused on filling their
baskets when in the distance there wasa woman singing a song, a woman
from the legend. The children allsimultaneously dropped their baskets full of the wonderful

(09:46):
juicy berries and walked towards the singing. One by one, they disappeared into
the forest. Hours passed, andthe elders of the tribe began to worry.
The children never took this long,and especially on a dreary day like
this. Some of the native youngermen formed a group and started toward the
berry patch in search of the children. On reaching the bery patch, the

(10:09):
ministry deepened. They looked all aroundand called out for the children by name,
but received no answer. The forestwas eerily silent. The men decided
to split up into two groups.One would stay in search and one would
return to the settlement to tell theelders of the trouble. They also needed
to tell their medicine man. Thesemedicine men were often used to find lost

(10:33):
members or attrack the missing well.While the others were gone, the first
group continued to search. One ofthe men heard a faint crying sound coming
from the trees in the distance.As the men cautiously approached, they could
tell it was a child's sobbing.In fact, they seemed to recognize the
voice of a boy from the village. The boy's father was fetched, and

(10:56):
he was able to lure the childfrom the trees. Was found to be
in shock. They rushed him backto the settlement and for days tried to
get him to tell what had happenedand where the other children were. But
all the boy would say was theyleft me for the singing woman. The
tribe members at this point knew thechildren were most likely lost to a churl.

(11:18):
She's the type of spirit in theforest that likes to sing to lure
her unsuspecting souls, where she suckstheir life force or kills them. She
can shape shift and latches onto trees, which she can become one with.
She's said to be the spirit ofa woman that had died during childbirth.
Blaming men for her plight, shetargets them or the children, as the

(11:39):
men are strong and the children youth. She's an extremely ugly creature with a
forked tongue that's also black and usesit to cast spells to lure kids,
which also has a pot belly andcloss her hands. However, she can
make herself beautiful through shape shifting.This is how she lures people in children,
she lures by singing. Not longafter the tragedy of that rainy,

(12:03):
miserable day, the click Atat tribecompletely vacated the area, calling it evil
and cursed. Every settlement that cameto the land there after was doomed to
suffering. Each turn of a centurysaw the town people go missing, but
unlike the group of children, theywould just disappear one at a time.
Many more tragic circumstances would ensue,strange deaths, crop failures, and as

(12:28):
we spoke of, the fire knownas the Occult Burn that threatened to destroy
the entire town. Today, yourCult Washington is a thriving little town,
having tripled in size since the nineteenhundreds. Their stores, coffee shops,
places where you can purchase art.You can even visit local farms for fresh
meat and produce. Although there havebeen some big foot sightings in the area,

(12:52):
recently, but your cult will alwaysbe known for the mystery of the
missing children of the click Atat tribewho disappeared while picking berries. Well,
there you have it, folks,what a strange tale. If you're in
this area of the Pacific Northwest,be sure and visit your cold see if
you don't get a strange feeling insidethe town. I look forward to your

(13:16):
comments to please keep it friendly andrespectful. In the meanwhile, be good
to yourselves and each other, andI'll see you just a little farther on
down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton, and I'll talk to you next time.
Tell your animal, Steve, saysHi.