Hi everybody, I'm new here so maybe this has already been discussed.
Is anyone familiar with a little green book called "The Strangest Story Ever Told" by Harry D. Colp? It was written in Alaska and sold throughout the southeastern part of the state during the 60's. I have a copy of it but I haven't yet found anyone else who has heard of it.
Anyway, it takes place in 1900-1919, in the Petersburg area. Very scary book. It's supposedly a true story about the author and his friends, who throughout those years had wierd encounters with "hairy monkey devils" and/or an inexplicable fear/insanity that strikes people who venture into this certain area. The descriptions sound a little like the typical sasquatch- hairy, nasty stench, both man-like and monkey-like- but also extremely malevolent and downright demonic. Also it's a whole pack of them, not just one.
The area (Ruth Island in Thomas Bay, by a half-moon lake) is described with great detail and should be very easy to find. Who knows, it may even be a settled subdivision by now. Over the years I've tried to recruit several friends to go on an exploration of the area but they all refuse, often without even reading the book.
Any Alaskans here who know more about this or have been to the place?

Hi Arletta, heard of it, but not familiar with it. I have some friends in Alaska.. maybe just maybe they might be of help. We'll see .

Hi Arletta,

Welcome! This sounds like a book I have to have. I am going to look on the net in a minute, and see if I can find a copy. Otherwise tomorrow I will stop by the library and see what I can scrounge up.

Glad you joined us, this in one of, if not the best bigfoot forum there is.

Coco B.

Coco, if you come up with it, please let us know. Thanks.

Sure will! I'm going off now to surf the net a bit?

Glad to know I not the only one awake, too.

good. Yep, still here but its gettin' about that time. good luck with the surf, watch out for the female great whites which recently dropped pups.
Wait, oh, the pc kinda surfin. Oh, I know that wasn't very funny but it was the best I could do tonight.

I'm on the west coast. I and my husband both prefer the mountains to the beach. But the California coast is definately beautiful.

Okay, here's what I found:

The Strangest Story Ever Told By Harry D. Colp

ISBN 1578330823

Publisher: Todd Communications (searched for this but not in great detail)

My local libraries don't have a copy.

But there is a copy on ebay for sale item #3555393095.

Barnes and Noble has a used copy but IMHO the price is outrageous. $132.00.
Also noteworthy: The book is currently in print, but B&N does not seem to have any available. If I can get away tomorrow I will go there and check myself, and order a copy if I can. If not tomorrow Monday for sure. Got a Barnes and Noble across the street from my office.

Bobbie Short has a synopsis of it on her site at http://www.n2.net/prey/bigfoot/articles/alaska2.htm.

If someone would make that into a direct link from here I would appreciate it greatly. Actually, I'd be eternally grateful.

Last but not least, Arletta will you please confirm this, it is a short book, about 30 pp.

Good night for now.
Coco B.

Edit by BFF Moderator - Linky, linky.

Welcome to BFF, Arletta.

I'm going to look for this book also, maybe one of the used bookstores here in town has a copy.

Checked the BooksAMillion web site and they have one copy, used, in very good condition. It's a steal at $187.03!! Hmmm, somehow I believe it's BooksAMillion's steal and not your steal. Did someone say this book was comprised of 30 pages?? If so, that be $6.23 a page.

The Strangest Story Ever Told.
Hard-To-Find Title: Ships within 3 weeks.
by Harry D. Colp
Attributes: 1953 First Edition
Condition: Very Good in Very Good- jacket
Our Price: $207.81 - Club Price: $187.03
Millionaire's Club Members Save: $20.78 ! (10%)

Thanks for the welcomes everybody!
Yep, Coco, my book is 32 pages long, sort of a flimsy 1/4 " thick paperback held together with two staples. I'm really surprised it's still in print. Mine was published by the Exposition Press of New York, NY, and is a second edition. Probably the super expensive one is a first edition, which was published by the Petersburg Press. I would think the Todd Communications edition would be quite cheap.
My parents spent several years in Petersburg during the 60's and my dad even did some fishing in Thomas Bay. The story of "Devils Country" was well known to locals then. I think the way the story goes from the normal woodsy pursuits of hunting or prospecting to sheer terror and complete insanity is what makes it so gripping. Anyway, good luck finding a copy. It's one of those books that should only be read in broad daylight with lots of other people around.

Abe's has got it for $125!

Hmmmm, BooksAMillion rates the condition of their book as Very Good/Very Good; Abes rates their copy as Very Good/Very Good. Me thinks we have the same book here, owned by the little bookstore in Silver Spring, Maryland (which is referenced in the Abe's listing) and is being sold on consignment...

Rob Alley talks a bit about Harry Colp and his "Strangest story" in his book, "Raincoast Sasquatch", but only covers the parts that might pertain to the sasquatch. It is definitely a little bit hair-raising. If I remember correctly, that area was the site of a massive catastrophe to an Native village sometime in the past. There was a great land/mudslide that wiped out the whole village. Definitely some bad vibes around that place. I'll look in "Raincoast Sasquatch" again for more details.

Susan is right because I just read it in Raincoast Sasquatch. It was kinda creepy.

A little bit more info on "The Strangest Story Ever Told" for those that may not know about it:

The account is also known as "The Apemen of Thomas Bay"

In the years between 1900 and 1919 various men visited the bay in Spring 1900, July 1900, 1903, 1906, 1908, 1911, 1914 and finally 1919.

Recounted in 1900 by one individual: "Swarming up the ridge toward me from the lake were the most hideous creatures. I couldn't call them anything but devils, as they were neither men nor monkeys--yet looked like both...their bodies covered with long, coarse hair, except where the scabs and running sores had replaced it. Each one seemed to be reaching out for me and striving to be the first one to get me. The air was full of their cries and the stench from their sores and bodies made me [feel?] faint. I forgot my broken gun and tried to use it on the first ones, then I threw it at them and turned and ran. God, how I did run! I could feel their hot breath on my back. The smell....was making me sick; while the noises they made, yelling, scraming and breathing, drove me mad..." (this person obviously managed to escape to tell his tale)

Each trip after that was made by different people (some were the same, Colp himself went a few times, both alone and with others) and consisted mainly of the other person feeling uneasy or having a strange experience when left alone.

An abandonded camp was found by Colp on one of his trips, and it unnerved him enough to leave and not come back alone after that.

The final story from 1919 involves a trapper who told a strange story to a dairy farmer who lived near the bay of his dog going missing and strange tracks seen following his dog and then the dog just dissappearing. As if the dog were lifted up and carried away. This trapper went back to his camp and was never seen again. Three weeks afterward, his camp was found but not a trace of the trapper was ever discovered. The weird thing about the tracks seen with the dog's is that they were the size of a small bare-footed man's tracks. Doesn't fit with the typical sasquatch size.

150 years ago it was the scene of a terrible tragedy as an entire Tlingit village was wiped out by a landslide, killing 500 people. It's been known as "The Bay of Death" since then.

Another interesting note, on a map just a bit east of Thomas Bay is a peak called Devil's Thumb. (cue creepy music......)

I remember reading about the ape/men with the sores on their bodies in Raincoast Sasquatch and thinking, hummmmm, sounds like somebody's been sippin' on the yak!

Anyway, I wonder if it's just because the book is so rare that the few available copies are so pricey, or is it really that good of a book?

Jaylee, I would guess that it's expensive because it's so rare.

I will let you all know how creepy the book is as I just won the auction on ebay. Maybe I can scan it and convert it to text for easy distribution.

Branded, are you willing to share with us what you had to pay for it? Just curious.

I paid 10.50 + 1.50 shipping.

Very, VERY good!

Actually I was surprised only 3 people bid on it. Ebay stuff can go very cheap if its not well known, but I assumed that there would be more people people bidding who had read about it on this forum.

So you're the one that out bid me. Grrrrrrrr no really I hope you enjoy the book. goldie

I'm glad one of us got that from ebay. I found that Friday night and was going to bid but my internet/auction fear got the better of me. I really hate to order anything over the net. Just a weird hangup I have.

I've checked some local used bookstores in my area and they don't have it. But I am going to try the library next.

Does anyone know if there is a legal way to scan that book and send it e-mail. I'd be willing to "compensate accordingly" if no copywrite laws are broken.

Maybe this next thought needs to be in another thread altogether but I have a feeling that bigfoot is more prevalent in American literature than we think. I know of an Ambrose Bierce story called "The Beast" that discribes what could be a bigfoot attack. I know there are others but I can't think of them now. See what you all can come up with. This too can become a valuable piece of evidence.

Mr. Bipto, if you think this its own thread feel free to do what is necessary.

Curious you should say that. Just yesterday I read a 1924 novel by the noted Bloomsbury writer David Garnett, titled A Man in the Zoo. It's about a man who has a tiff with his girl-freind; she accuses him of being the missing link and belonging in a zoo. So he gets the zoo to give him a cage and moves in. (I was prompted to read this by someone's comment over the weekend, on another thread, that he'd like to see certain BF buffs in zoos, rather than BF himself.)

Anyway, on pages 105-06 there is a translation of an unnamed Chinese poem by Wang Yen-shou, taken from Arthur Waley's The Temple and Other Poems. It describes how an unnamed, monkey-like critter is captured and put on exhibit. It is trapped by being left a bowl of liquor sweetened by sugar to drink, which puts it to sleep. (I recall reading somewhere how a grandfather showed a child that this was how one trapped a Yeti--I think it was in a large-format book on BF meant for children, containing ficitonal episodes.) I suggest some dedicated researcher locate the Waley book and see if there is more to the poem than the fragment I read, in which the critter might possibly be identified as a Yeren or wild-man.

Aha. I have often wondered if alcohol might work. I bet with sugar it would be really irresistable to them. It seems kind of cruel in a way, but it would solve the problem of gathering "real" evidence. One does have a vague dread of the entire sasquatch population becoming lushes and terrrorizing liquor stores from coast to coast.
I can also imagine sitting in a deer stand waiting for a big hairy ape-like creature to appear from the forest and drink the case of MGD I've left sitting on a stump...and twelve hours later still sitting in the deer stand waiting for 20 tipsy deer hunters to accept that it isn't a magic wishing stump and go away.
The title of the Waley book sounds really familiar. I'll look for it in the library.
According to my "Forbidden Archeology" book which I'm rapidly getting sick of lugging around, there's a Chinese/Mongolian/Russian creature called the "Almas" which is smaller than our garden variety sasquatch (about 5'6) but equally hairy. Supposedly Przewalski (he of horse fame) saw one and reported it ten years before he saw the little horses. The creatures seem to be more "human" than ape and are referred to as "wildmen".
Anyway the book continues on to describe a bunch of other such critters in Chinese historical records, which also seem to have more serious modern scientific documentation than usual. Maybe, being such an ancient yet compressed civilization, they were able to study them more closely and over time learned how to trap them.
I think it's an idea worth trying. Now what wine goes well with arboreal foilage and assorted small mammals?

I have this book and love it! It is very spooky!

The Alaskan Ferry system bought thousands of these for sale on the inland passageway trips. They sold for $3.95 in 1980. They may still have a bunch.

I'm glad you'll check into it. Most likely only a monkey was being described, but we have to track down every possible lead.

Here is a link to a post I made a few weeks ago in which part of a survey article is quoted in which many foreign varieties of BF-like hominid are described. If you go to an earlier page in the thread you'll find my run-down of 15 possible mystery hominids.
http://www.bigfootforums.com/index.php?act...=60&#entry41488

I bet they'd love it, but there you'd have the same problem as you would with trying to tranquilize one...how much is enough, and how much is too much? How do you give him enough to knock him out without going overboard and killing him?

Suddenly I have this picture of a squatch dancing around a campfire with a lampshade on his head.

Seriously though, it might be interesting to see what just a little bit would do...could possibly make him a little less cautious and easier to observe or approach? Hmmmm....any of you field folks ever try a little booze to see what would happen??

Cool, DDA.

Thanks for the tip.

I also have Forbiden Archeology, and find it a fascinating book.
While the Hindu religious theory/aspect of the book does nothing for me, the reports of all manner of interesting nature, when taken without the religious overtones, are amazing.
(please note, I am not knocking religion, Hindu or otherwise, but just saying that I was much more interested in the reported findings in the book, then the authors religion-based theories on how they came about).
It is a HUGE book, and anyone interested in human antiquity should give it a look. Some really, really interesting findings reported in it.

I couldn't quite figure out the Hindu aspect thing. They make occasional references to a "forthcoming book" in which they will reveal their great idea about the origins of the species, but exactly what they have in mind is pretty unclear. Obviously they believe that anatomically modern man has existed alongside other hominids since the beginning, that the theory of evolution is ridiculous, and that modern science has become a sort of cult in which true science is considered heresy- all of which I think is probable...beyond that, who knows what they're trying to prove. Like you said, Nightwing, lots of very interesting findings.
I agree with StacyInMI, the problems would be getting a Sasquatch to drink alcohol from a beer can, dish, or whatever in the first place, and then figuring out how much it would take to knock them out temporarily. Do we know how they drink? There must be some way of desensitizing them to the foreign aspect of a container. Perhaps wine coolers, which smell sweet, would be the way to go. Since they're not used to alcohol, it may not take much at all. On the other hand, 8 feet tall and 400 lbs could take some knocking out. Even if it didn't work fast enough, at least hopefully our furry friend would temporarily lose its inhibitions about cameras.
If I lived in Sasquatch country, I'd be setting up bait stations!

Oh it wasn't enough to give it to the indians?

Now we're gonna give the hairy guys firewater too?

And where will that lead? Hmmmm?

(said with tongue very much in cheek)

Their site is down at the moment, but I visited it last week: http://www.humandevolution.com

Their new book, Human Devolution, is just out. (Its theories are what some would call "interventionist," what others would call "get out the net.")

You ever hear the expression."Ten feet tall and bullet proof"

How tall do you think a sasquatch would feel with a couple of tequila shooters?

He might try to walk away and get clotheslined by the bottom branch of a giant cedar.

The only way is to somehow get it to drink a whole bottle of lemon gin at once.Hey,worked for me once.Still cant remember the rest of the 15 minute night out after that.

Instead of trying to get the creature to drink a bowl of liquor, couldn't you just ferment some fruit, and then place it in the area for the Sasquatch to ingest.

Just a thought.

I have also heard of this tale, and after doing a search have found a website that has excerps(sp) from several chapters of the book, as well as the name of a bookstore in Alaska which states they have copies of the book "The Strangest Story Ever Told".

http://www.wildsalmon.com/tales/story1.html

I'll be calling them later today to see if they still have any and let ya'll know. Right now, there's a tractor calling my name so I guess I better do some "field work"

Okay everyone, I called Sing Lee Alley Books (907) 772-4440 and they do have copies of the book "The Strangest Story Ever Told" at a price of $5.00. Estimated shipping is $4.00 and they accept credit cards, etc. The book itself measures 5X7 and is 30 pages, soft cover.
Hope this helps anyone interested.

good work fay, if I had not already bought a copy I would be all over this.

Hi everyone,

A big special thank you to Fay, from me. I ordered that book yesterday morning.
I had found that bookstore on the web late the night before but did not have the patience to get to where Fay did.

Hats off to you Fay.

I am anxiously awaiting my copy. I called and spoke with the clerk but never mentioned why I was ordering that book. I wonder if they got a bunch of orders?

I received my copy the other day and have read it. Sorry but it was not that impressive a story.

However it does lead me to one conclusion. Based solely on reports that I have read, the Alaska variety of bigfoot are the meanest and nastiest by far. Furthermore, although the remoteness and sense of isolation one must get when in Alaska may be a factor, it seems that the Alaskan bigfoot is good at mind games as well. Sorry but this qualifies as scary to me. Personally though I think a grizzly could stalk a person as well.

Okay anyone else have a book report to share?

Hi guys, I was searching through Google for info on the Strangest Story Ever Told and found this thread. I read this story a lot when I was younger, because a lot of my family grew up in the areas that this book takes place. My family has even knows people that had run ins with the Kushtaka, the creature described in the book. It's pretty funny actually, my sister to this day refuse to go around the area of S lake and Moon lake just because of everything that has happened there. If anybody has any more questions about this story and the area or the events surrounding it, let me know. I may not know the answer, but I'm sure I can get one from my relatives in the area. Hahaha, sorry for drudging up such an old thread, I just though some of you may find this information useful.

Funny you should mention it. I think of that story often, and having some experience in Southeast Alaska kayaking and hiking over the years, I found it's depiction of those characters and conditions for travel back in the days after the Klondike Gold Rush to be interesting and oddly fascinating. So, I re-read the direction Mr Culp's story gives for his travels while following them via Google Earth and to my utter surprise, it is all accurate right down to the "s" shaped lake. How truthfull the rest of the story is would be hard to tell, but I wonder why a story made out of the whole cloth as no doubt some will see Mr Culps story to be, would be so accurate in its geography regarding an area that even by today's Akaskan standards would be in the middle of no-where. You said your sister refuses to go there. I did see some road scar but no landing...is this area (Iguess it would be part of the Tongas Nati'l Forest) currently supporting any kind of economic activity like mining? Were his frightening encounter true, once you remove the aura of tall-tale from it, it would leave one to speculate about what the heck was living around there and then the imagination runs riot.

Fill me in.

Yup. It's the dead-center of no-where.

There could still be a virtual army of scabby monsters there, and the world would never know it.........



Yes it's Tongass, and no there's absolutely, positively no "economic activity" going on in Thomas Bay.

Southeast Alaska is dying economically.

Biologically it's thriving. Always has been..........

That's how my wife caught me.

LOL! :drunkard:

I think the story is included in the book Haunted Alaska: Ghost Stories from the Far North.
I found it searching amazon.com.

Hello, first time poster here!
I thought i'd let people know that a local store here in Juneau, Alaska sells copies of this book. On the downside i tried to find out if they sell it online (website is www.hearthsidebooks.com) i did a search on their site and came up w/nothing. But i picked up a copy of this book at the store for $5 infact i picked up two copies one for me (this is like the 4th copy i've owned they keep disappearing from my house!) and one for a friend who had mentioned interest in the story when the subject of Kushtaka's came up the other day.

My brother and I are very interested in visiting the Thomas Bay area and have come close to putting together a trip out to the area, on the other hand he just had his first child back in november, my guess is he wont want to risk going crazy or much else now, i cant blame him for that!

Anyhow i figured i'd post this to let people know the book is still out there and in print.

Sabrina

Welcome, Jumper!

Wait; is this, like, a novel or a short story? Should I see if I can't find it at the library, or should I prepare for a 20 minute read on the internet?