Haunted Inside Passage Ghosts, Legends, and Mysteries of Southeast Alaska [Hardcover]

A collection of twenty stories showcasing the supernatural legends and unsolved mysteries of Southeast Alaska, with a focus on the region between Yakutat and Petersburg, where the author has lived his entire life, writing, teaching, guiding, commercial fishing, and investigating ghost stories. Each chapter is rooted in Bjorns own adventures and will intertwine fascinating history, interviews, and his reflections. Bjorns writing, sometimes poignant and often wickedly funny, brings to mind Hunter S. Thompson and Patrick McManus.

Chapters touch on legends such as Alexander Baranov, Soapy Smith, James Wickersham, and the K?oshdaa K?a (Kushtaka) to lesser known but fascinating characters like Naked Joe Knowles and purported serial killer Ed Krause. From duplicitous if not downright diabolical humans to demons of the fjords and deep seas and cryptids of the forest, Bjorn presents a lively cross-section of the haunter and the haunted found in Alaskas Inside Passage.

The story begins with founding of Sitka, one of the most beautiful and interesting small cities in North America. Situated at the ramparts of the rugged mountains of Baranof Island and looking out toward the big ocean, it's considered the second capital of Alaska. Kodiak was first. The Shee Atika' Tlingit were the masters of the area, including the sea otter pelt trade, when Alexander Baranov showed up with his fleet of Aleut hunters in 1799 to try to establish the small settlement, New Archangel, nearby. The Tlingit attacked the fort and massacred its inhabitants in 1802. Two years later, Baranov returned with a flotilla of nearly 1,000 men, mostly Aleut hunters. Before attempting to reestablish New Archangel, Baranov paraded his force through much of Southeast Alaska to strike fear and respect into the different Tlingit clans. In late September of 1804, after a series of failed negotiations and hostilities, the Russian began bombarding the Tlingit fort near Indian River just outside of wl³,