Alaska's Abandoned Town of Portlock: Mysterious Disappearances and Sasquatch Sightings

Alaska, the final frontier, where man is confronted with the dangers hidden in the wilderness. The wild woods lurk many a creature, some small, some large, and some so big that these creatures, known as grizzly bears, could tear a man to shreds in the blink of an eye. But it's not just grizzly bears that people have to worry about in Alaska. Over 2,000 people vanish in Alaska every year, and although many are found soon after, there are still over 1,200 open cases from the last few decades of people vanishing in the Alaskan wilderness and small villages that flank the coast of this Northern Goliath state. If not grizzly bears, if not mountain lions, if not the open sea with crashing waves, then where have these unfortunate souls gone? Many point to foul play, serial killers who stalk the highways, waiting for a naive victim to pick them up while trying to hitchhike out of Dodge. But we mustn't let our imaginations run too far into the darkness of the night. It is likely true to some degree that there are bloodthirsty murderers who have taken some of these poor souls, but what about the rest? What about someone out jogging on the edge of a village? What about someone driving home from work through these wild woods in a brand new vehicle? Or someone who walks into their backyard and then vanishes into thin air, as if they fell off the face of the Earth? How do we explain these strange disappearances? Perhaps for just a moment, if you will, imagine there is a small abandoned ghost town that lies on the edge of the coast of Alaska, not just any ghost town, but a ghost town by the name of Portlock. Portlock, Alaska, was named after the British Royal Navy Captain Nathaniel Portlock in 1789. The small village became a fish cannery soon after, a place where workers would process fish on the edges of the shore in an old wooden building. Before that, the area was wilderness, near some other small Native American First Nations people hunting villages, the Uan people, the Eskimo people of the area, who had legends for what many now call Bigfoot or the Hairy Beast that lurked in the darkness amongst the trees along the shoreline, awaiting its next meal to feast upon. There are many names the natives used, such as Kushuku, after a war between two tribes in the area in which the Eskimo people were victorious. They soon after were plagued with other demons that lived in the woods they referred to as Inukun. The Inukun would sneak up behind them, crack them over the skull till they die. They claimed no one had ever actually seen Inukun as they are too quiet and clever and only come out when the sun has fallen into the ocean each night, blanketing the land with darkness and the perfect opportunity to strike and kill another victim. But those are legends, and whether or not they are real is for you to decide, not me. Let's move forward now. It is now the early 1900s, and the fish cannery and mining industry nearby is on the upswing. Although the town's population is still very small at just over 100 plus people, the little village is growing and has an economy. It's now 1905, and there are many workers at the cannery going to and fro work every day. However, at some point, going back and forth, something rather disturbing and mysterious begins to irritate the workers, making them fearful of even going outside their house. Let alone to the cannery. Within months, most of the workers abruptly quit, claiming there is something hiding in the nearby woods, trying to take people. But the village and its hardworking people went on with their lives. By 1921, the US Post Office had set up a branch to circulate mail in and out of the town, but things seemed to quiet down for a few years as the economy in the United States was booming. However, as the Great Depression rolled around in 1930, strange unexplainable dead bodies started piling up. It was precisely in this year of 1931 when a man went out into the woods and ran across a dead body that had been almost split in half with his own ax. A feat of strength impossible for a human to do. As word of the dead man's body cleaved in half spread around the sleepy village of Portlock, it was said that everyone was overcome with fear and suspicion as to who or what decided to dip their toes and act as a murderer. A group of hunters who had traveled deep into the thick brush and woods looking for moose to hunt came upon moose tracks. They were pleasantly surprised as this put them in high spirits in high hopes for a successful hunt. However, as they began to follow the moose tracks deeper into the woods, they found a second set of footprints that began to follow the moose oddly, human-shaped but barefooted. The tracks measured around 18 plus inches, and they continued the hike and search to hunt down this moose and this other mysterious human-like creature. It was then and there, just a bit deeper into the woods, where they noticed the pale white snow was painted red with pools of blood and chunks of moose flesh, but neither the carcass or the big-footed creature stalking it were anywhere to be found. Just how big was this Bigfoot creature? A male moose can be 600 tall and 1,400 lb. It begs the question, is this Bigfoot creature over 1,000 lb? Could it then snap a man in half with little effort? It was a rainy day just a few years later when there was another reported sighting of this hairy beast. A man walking down the beach on his way to do some fishing came upon a large hairy monster thirsty for blood. From the fisherman's point of view, he could see this Goliath monster ripping fish to shreds with its bare hands, then inhaling them like a slice of Domino's Pizza on a Saturday night at a bar. Frozen in fear by the sight of this monster, the man then turned around and began running for his life and his big rifle. After reaching town, the man secured his rifle; however, upon his return, the Hairy Beast had vanished, leaving nothing but once again a pool of blood that slowly soaked into the soil where the water met the Earth on the shoreline. A grim sight to behold, a sight so disturbing it would be seared into the fisherman's eyes for the rest of his life. It was also during this time in the 1930s that more bodies began washing up on the shore, many of those had headed into the woods alone