Episode 7: In the Woods

This is the story of the one.

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Nothing can be as isolating or confining as the woods.

They seem to cut us off from the rest of the world.

leaving us alone, balanced on the edge of being lost.

Even in these thoroughly modern times, the woods seem to exist as a reminder that so much of the world is outside of our control.

Sure, we could stay on the path, but those narrow routes between the trees only give us the illusion of control, like a trail of breadcrumbs.

They're fragile and fleeting.

And somewhere in the back of our minds, we understand

that if we were to leave the trail, we would be stepping into the unknown.

The woods hide things from us.

For centuries, criminals have used the dark cloak of the forest to conceal everything from bootlegging and poaching to drug use and murder.

They hide wildlife from us.

and instill just enough doubt and mystery that we end up believing that anything could be living out there.

Anything.

Some areas though are darker than others.

In some places the woods are more than just a gathering of trees and undergrowth.

There are locations in our world that are consistently avoided, plagued by a rumor, and dense with fear.

To step into one of these places is to abandon all safety, all reason,

and all hope.

I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore.

Between the three Massachusetts towns of Abington, Rehoboth, and Freetown exists a triangular slice of land that has become home to hundreds of reports of unexplainable phenomenon.

It's known as the Bridgewater Triangle, though some call it the Black Triangle or the Devil's Triangle.

It might not be swallowing up fighter jets and colonial era ships like the Bermuda Triangle to the south, but its history is just as storied and mysterious.

One of the areas within the triangle is the Hockamock Swamp.

It's a 17,000-acre wetland near Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

In the 1600s, it was inhabited by the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans, and the fort they built inside it became a strategic location for them during King Philip's War in 1674.

One legend tells how, during those times of upheaval and invasion by the colonies, a powerful artifact was lost in the swamp.

Now, I can't find anything beyond a small Wikipedia entry to confirm this, but the story tells of how an object known as the Wampum Belt was lost during the war.

And as a result, the swamp became a home to restless spirits.

Ever since, the swamp has been the source of a nearly endless supply of unexplainable sightings.

One of the most dramatic and best documented reports was made by a local police officer, Sergeant Thomas Downey.

On a summer night in 1971, Downey was driving home toward the town of Easton near a place known as Bird Hill that sits at the edge of the swamp.

As he approached the hill, he caught sight of an enormous winged creature.

Downey claims it was over six feet tall and had a wingspan of almost 12 feet.

After reporting the sighting to the Easton police, he quickly earned the nickname of the Birdman.

Now, I don't know about you, but it seems odd that a police officer would risk his reputation on such an unusual claim if it was just a joke.

Officer Downey clearly saw something that night.

Just what that thing was, though, is open to debate.

Decades earlier, in 1939, the civilian conservation corps were working on the edge of the swamp near King Philip Street.

While there, workers claimed to have seen a huge snake as large around and as black as a stovepipe.

According to the report, the snake coiled for a moment, raised its head, and then vanished into the swamp.

And what wooded area would be complete without Bigfoot sightings?

Although a tall hairy creature has been sighted dozens of times over the years in various parts of the Bridgewater Triangle, the most common appearances have been near the swamp.

In 1983, John Baker, a local fur trapper, had a similar experience.

He was on his canoe in the swamp when he heard a splash.

He turned to see, and I quote, quote, a hairy beast slog into the river and pass within a few yards of his boat.

In 1978, a local man, Joe DeAndrade, was standing on the shore of a pond known as Clay Banks.

He claimed that he turned and saw what he described as a creature that was all brown and hairy, like an apish man thing.

Oddly enough, I went to high school with a guy who fits that description.

But there's been more than just weird animal sightings in the swamp.

As far back as the late 19th century, locals have reported seeing unusual lights.

One report was made by two undertakers who were traveling past the swamp on Halloween night in 1908.

They claimed to have seen a light that hovered in the sky for almost an hour.

Whether the reports of creatures and lights are true or not, it might be worth mentioning that the Wampanoag word hackamok literally means the place where the spirits dwell.

Another hotspot in the southeastern corner of the triangle is the Freetown State Forest.

If all the stories are to be believed, it's the quintessential haunted forest.

Deep inside the park is a cliff known as the Asanat Ledge that overlooks an old quarry.

There have been reports of hauntings near the ledge of visions and ghostly figures.

Some stories tell of a woman in white who lingers near the precipice.

Others claim to have heard voices while visiting there.

The most common common report is of mysterious lights.

Some researchers think they know exactly where those lights come from too.

They're the tools of a creature known as the Pukwudgie.

In ancient Wampanoag folklore, the Pukwudgie is a small forest-dwelling creature, something like a troll or a goblin, that lives in the wooded areas around the swamp.

Aside from having one of the most entertaining names to say out loud, they are said to be small, hairy people, roughly three feet tall, who hide in the woods and cause trouble to people who discover them.

What kind of trouble?

Well, Wampanoag folklore tells of how the Pukwajis used lights to lure travelers into the woods where they would kill them.

These lights, according to legend, are known as the Taipewankas, a North American version of the English will-o-the-wisp, sometimes referred to as ghost lights.

The Pukwudgies use the lights as bait, luring people to their death.

Rather than attacking hikers outright, apparently these creatures prefer to let the land itself kill their victims.

Coincidentally, one of the most common experiences reported by visitors to the ledge is an overwhelming urge to jump.

Normal, healthy people have felt nearly suicidal standing atop the ledge.

Many of them claim upon approaching the edge of the cliff that they felt an almost uncontrollable desire to jump off into the dark rocky water over 100 feet below.

One story in particular bears retelling.

Bill Russo was a welder from Raynam.

He worked long hours and for the six years prior to his retirement, he worked the late shift from 3 p.m.

until midnight.

By the time he got home from work each night, Bill's dog Samantha was in desperate need of a walk and so before bed, Bill would take her out and let her get some exercise.

They kept this habit up each and every night, no matter the season or the weather.

On a night in 1995, Bill took Samantha out for their usual walk.

Their typical route was to stay on the sidewalks and head toward the center of town.

But on this night, they made a change.

Bill decided on a whim to cut through his own backyard and head along a trail through the woods that ran alongside the swamp.

Not a choice I would have made, mind you, even with a German Shepherd and Rottweiler mix as my companion.

About half a mile into their walk, at a place where the path was crossed by a road, Samantha began acting odd.

She was tugging at the leash and trembling, and kept glancing back at Bill with worried eyes.

Bill pulled at the leash to lead her home, but the dog wouldn't budge.

She just whined and quivered where she stood.

After a moment, Bill began to hear the the sound that had frightened his dog.

It was a thin, high-pitched voice, faint at first, but growing louder as it continued.

And even though Bill couldn't understand what the voice was saying, it kept repeating the same sounds.

Eeewachu, it seemed to say.

Eeewachu.

It was midnight, in the woods.

So, of course, Bill couldn't see anything, but he tried.

He scanned the trees and bushes for whatever could be making the sounds.

There was even a street light nearby, casting a small circle of pale light on the pavement.

But he didn't see anything.

And then suddenly, something stepped into the light.

According to Bill, it was perhaps four feet tall, covered in hair, walked on two legs like a human, and looked to weigh no more than 100 pounds.

It was naked and pot-bellied and looked nothing like anything Bill had ever seen before in the swamp.

And as it stepped out of the trees and into the light, it continued to speak to him.

Iwachu,

it said again.

Kir,

Kair.

Bill and Samantha stood frozen to the ground, paralyzed with fear.

And as the dog continued to whine and shiver, the creature lifted its arms and beckoned them to follow.

Iwachu, it said again, motioning to them.

Here

Bill claims that he tried asking the creature a few questions, but it only replied with the same nonsense it had already said.

Not knowing what else to do, Bill managed to tug Samantha after him, and they both turned and headed home.

They didn't look back.

It's not the trees that make the woods a frightening place.

It's what the trees conceal.

There's no telling what creatures hide behind the green leaves and thick branches of the forest landscape.

Cryptozoologists, ghost hunters, and believers in the supernatural are often seen as abnormal.

They believe in things that can't possibly be real.

But when we step into the woods, when we surround ourselves with the dark embrace of the unknown, somehow the impossible begins to seem more likely.

Maybe we want to believe.

Maybe that feeling we get in the pit of our stomachs when we step into a strange wooded area is a cry for answers.

There has to be something more out there, right?

Maybe that's all we want to know, but we're simply too afraid of the answers.

Bill Russo experienced that same fear.

on that night in 1995.

He and Samantha managed to find their way home, but he was beyond shaken up.

Even though it was one o'clock in the morning, he went into the kitchen and brewed himself a pot of coffee.

There was no way he was going to let himself sleep that night.

Cup after cup, hour after hour, Bill Relived the experience over and over again, playing back everything he heard and saw.

He experienced doubt and fear

and regret.

He wondered if maybe he should have tried harder to speak with the creature.

Perhaps he should have approached it if Samantha would have allowed him to, that is.

But the question that plagued him for most of that night was more difficult.

What was the creature saying to him?

Bill wrestled with his memory of those sounds all through the night.

Iwachu,

it had said, and then Kir.

Before sunrise, Bill was almost positive that he had his answer.

It wasn't another language the creature was speaking, after all.

It had been trying its best to use English.

And the words it kept repeating,

we want you,

it had been saying,

Come here.

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So, what do this animal

and this animal

and this animal

have in common?

They all live on an organic valley farm.

Organic Valley dairy comes from small organic family farms that protect the land and the plants and animals that live on it from toxic pesticides, which leads to a thriving ecosystem and delicious, nutritious milk and cheese.

Learn more at OV.coop and taste the difference.

This episode of Lore was researched, written, and produced by me, Aaron Mankey.

Lore is much more than a podcast.

There's a book series in bookstores around the country and online, and the second season of the Amazon Prime television show was recently released.

Check them both out if you want more lore in your life.

I also make two other podcasts, Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities and Unobscured, and I think you'd enjoy both.

Each one explores other areas of our dark history, ranging from bite-sized episodes to season-long dives into a single topic.

You can learn about both of those shows and everything else going on all over in one central place, theworldoflore.com slash now.

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And as always, thanks for listening.