The earliest account we have of the island comes from one Sergei Bobrik, a Russian naturalist who was assistant to Georg Steller on Vitus Bering's ill-fated voyage of 1741. During the one day visit to Kayak Island (near Cape St. Elias), Mr Bobrik went ashore to collect and document various flora and fauna for his now famous mentor. Somehow, he got lost and failed to rendezvous with the ship's boat at the appointed time, so the ship sailed without him. Eventually, he made contact with some native (Eyak) hunters, who took him to the mainland and allowed him to live with them in their village on Eyak lake. His tale is passed on to us through Spanish explorers on the Princesa under Bodega y Quadra on their 1779 voyage to the region. By this time Bobrik was in his 60's, and had happily married an Eyak woman, who bore him a number of children. Conversing in French, Mr Bobrik described an island in the lake on which the Eyak buried their dead. He further described a unique and gruesome custom of the clan, in which they decapitated the dead and burned the flesh off the skulls. This burning was done in a partially hollowed tree, which is instantly recognizable today, as one side of the tree only blackened, and would not burn down like the other sides. It should be noted that at this time there was no mention of any trouble on the island. We can probably attribute the name 'Skull Island' to Bobrik, as the native name for the island at the time simply translates as 'place of the dead.'
The next mention of the place we find in 1790, from Spanish sailors under Salvador Fidalgo, who gave the Sound most of its Spanish names. Making contact with the Eyaks, they learn that Bobrik has died, but his eldest son had learned French from his father (it was the language of the educated at the time), and was able to converse with the Spaniards. It seems that something had 'happened' to the island in the previous decade, and the natives would no longer go near the place. In fact, murky accounts of Bobrik's passing suggest that he did not die of old age, but rather of something terrible which happened on that island. It is not clear what had occurred, only that it was deemed to be supernatural in nature, and very evil. It is at this time the Spaniards take the Eyak name for the island with all the negative connotations of 'Isla de los muertos' or 'Island of the Dead'.
Reports from various Russian traders in the area through the early and mid 1800's suggest that very little had changed - the natives never approached the island, even in daylight. They said 'something terrible' lived there, and even the salmon seemed to avoid that section of the lake. One Russian trapper ran some strings on the mainland near the island, until one day his badly mutilated corpse was found floating on the lake without its head. Village elders insisted this could not possibly have been done by an animal, and the trapper was universally liked in the village, so it doesn't seem likely that a member of the tribe did it.
In 1867, the United States bought Alaska from Russia, and Americans began to explore the region with purpose. Prospectors exploring area glaciers in 1886 stopped and spent a few days with the Eyak, and were impressed by the vehemence with which they were told to avoid that island. One young man with a chip on his shoulder (he was 19) decided to prove his bravery and stole a native canoe to paddle over to the island. He was never seen or heard from again, but it doesn't sound like his traveling companions were very sorry to see him go.
The latter part of the 19th century brought big changes to the area, with canneries established at Odiak (also on Lake Eyak) in 1887 and 1888. By this time, disease had decimated much of the native Eyak population, and they began to assimilate into the European-American population. Most villagers moved to Odiak and worked in the canneries, where they told scary stories about that island on the lake. The European workers dismissed these tales as 'native superstitions', and finally one day in 1896 a group of 5 men decided to spend a night on the island to show the Eyak how foolish they were being. The sole survivor of that event was so frightened that he could not speak for the rest of his short life. Only 22 years of age, his hair turned white and his teeth fell out within hours of his washing up ashore on the mainland near Odiak. Not only was he unable to speak, but he refused to even write about his experience on the island.
The turn of the century brought the discovery of copper up the river, and the ensuing rush to build a railroad turned Cordova into a boom town. Literally thousands of people came to the area, and the few remaining Eyak were all but lost in the shuffle. Nevertheless, they insisted that the island was haunted, and did so loudly enough that it got the attention of Michael J. Heney, the man who was ramrodding the railroad. Heney passed this off as mostly superstition, but remembering the story of the cannery workers, he ordered his junior partner Bartholomew 'Black Bart' O'Malley to investigate in June of 1908. Thus begins one of the strangest tales of the Island of the Dead.
O'Malley decided that the only way to properly investigate was to go camp on the island, bringing an arsenal of weapons and additionally renowned psychic Leon Strout, a contemporary of Edgar Cayce. The first night on the island, Strout complained of hands on his throat and wings beating in his face. He also said there was a deep, 'resident evil' in that place, and kept seeing visions of burning skulls. When he neared the 'burning tree' he collapsed and could not get up. He said it was like being hit with an overwhelmingly malevolent force. Strout left the next day, claiming he was too unnerved to investigate further. O'Malley, on the other hand, prided himself on his fearlessness, and justifiably so. He got the name 'Black Bart' because he was a ruthless driver of men, in an age when violence spoke louder than words. A heavy drinker of Jameson whiskey, O'Malley was known to take on 5 or 6 men at a time, reducing them to bloody beggars of mercy in a few minutes flat. When Black Bart decided to do something, heaven help anyone who stood in his way.
So Black Bart O'Malley decided this was 'his island' and no ghost was going to stop him from claiming it. He even had a box (ammo can) of his most treasured possessions sent out to the island by boat, so he could 'feel more at home' while he prepared to hold the island. Nobody is quite sure what exactly happened next. For 2 more days and nights, O'Malley drank prodigious amounts of Jameson, and could be heard singing, shouting, screaming and firing off various weapons from across the lake. On the third night, however, things grew strangely silent, and people thought perhaps he had finally gone to sleep. Suddenly, in the time of night that approached some semblance of darkness, a huge blaze was seen at the highest point of the island, some distance from the 'burning tree.' As the blaze grew, horrible shrieks of pain and terror could be heard, although they weren't recognizable as human. A couple of railroad workers out in a boat for a row decided to investigate. As they approached the island, they could see O'Malley's burning body, apparently tied to a tree which was also ablaze. He was screaming and struggling, but they could see it was too late to help him. By the time they got up the nerve to step on the island, there was nothing left of the tree except a charred and hollow stump, and nothing left of Black Bart but a charred and smoking skull. The workers stashed O'Malley's treasure box in the roots of a smaller tree next to his charred stump, buried his skull nearby, and left the island for good.
After O'Malley's horrific death, the island was declared 'unsafe' and local authorities forbade anyone from stepping foot on Skull Island. Nobody really wanted to go there anyways, until 1979, when a group of teenagers celebrating their recent graduation from high school decided to boat over and party on the island, knowing they wouldn't be disturbed, and not really believing those old stories anyways. A friend who was invited but declined to go tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't listen. They were never seen or heard from again, although their boat washed ashore at Skater's Cabin a few days later.
Today's kids, being who they are, don't listen to their parents about the dangers of the island. They picnic over there, and someone even set up a hammock. The benign name it is called by - Picnic Island - proves they don't believe 'those superstitions.' Nobody has died or gone missing lately, but some nights a huge fire can be seen burning at the high point of the island, and the sound of screams carries across the water.
Do you dare to find Black Bart's treasure???
Update: Due to high muggle activity at the location of the original hide, cache has been relocated to the roots of one of the largest trees on the island, 40-50' in an easterly direction from Black Bart's stump, and about 15' from the original burning tree
Please rehide EXACTLY as found!
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Congratulations akcarroll for the FTF!!!
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