The Murky History of Alaska's Haunted Island

03/10 11:15 - The Murky History of Alaska's Haunted Island
Chirikof Island (at the bottom of the map above) has no trees but plenty of grassland, and a small population of feral cattle. It was once a productive part of the fur trade with plenty of seals and sea otters, and is now part of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge. It also carries the reputation of being haunted by the ghosts of Russians exiled there for lifetime sentences. The US bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. In 1908, a newspaper account told the story of Philip Graham, a Scottish immigrant to Alaska who was determined to debunk the persistent stories of ghosts on Chirikof Island. He arranged to be dropped off there alone, and was picked up ten days later, traumatized, with his hair turned white. When Graham regained his wits, he related a tale of strange noises, being locked out of his cabin, found skulls, and the shackled skeletons of the prisoners who died in the Russian penal colony. There is scant documentation on Philip Graham, but the haunting stories persist. Chirikof Island has been occupied by humans for most of written history, and no real evidence exists that there was ever a Russian penal colony there. However, Russians have a long history of subjecting native Alaskans to forced labor for the fur trade, and there is one better-documented account of an overseer shackling an employee on Chirikof Island until his death. Read the history of haunted Chirikof Island at American Strangeness. -via Strange Company (Image credit: Kmusser) ...