Latest / Sasquatch & Sourdough / Ep. 41 Canada's Dark Secrets | 🌲 Strange Tales from the North | Sasquatch & Sourdough Podcast

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Ep. 41 Canada's Dark Secrets | 🌲 Strange Tales from the North | Sasquatch & Sourdough Podcast · Sasquatch & Sourdough

0:18
SPEAKER_00: Canada in the fall carries a certain mystery.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: The forests grow darker, the air sharper, and the land itself feels like it holds its breath.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: In those shadows, strange stories take root.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Travelers tell of towering hair-covered giants slipping silently between the trees.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Creatures of the Bigfoot kind watching but rarely seen.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Off the coast of Nova Scotia, an entire village once stood stunned as a glowing craft fell from the night sky into the waters of Shag Harbor, leaving behind a trail of yellow foam and unanswered questions.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: In Ontario, whispers of the plum hollow witch have carried through generations, a woman marked by legend whose powers were said to shape the fates of those who crossed her path.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: And in the Baldunes settlement, a farm became the stage for one of the most terrifying mysteries in Canadian history: fires that started without flame, stones that fell from nowhere, and a curse that seemed unbreakable.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: These are not just folk tales to pass the time, they are stories of encounters, warnings, and the unseen forces that linger at the edges of our world.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Tonight, we gather them together, not to sensationalize, but to listen and maybe to ask what truths lie beneath the legends.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Because if it's weird, it's important.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: And if it's real, then it matters for more than just the telling.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: It's finally fall, and the rapture didn't happen.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: So welcome.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, in case you missed it, there was a uh, I don't know, some TikTok rumor of rapture, and everybody just kind of went insane and sold all their stuff.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And yes, like no surprise, uh, it didn't happen because we're not really meant to know when it happens.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, so there we go.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: We have plenty of time to occupy until he comes.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: But for now, I wanted to take us uh on a journey, I guess, more further north because when I looked at our uh some of our demographic and our um just figuring out our analytics, that's the word, geez.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: A lot of you guys are listening from Canada.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: And I don't really know a lot about Canadian folklore except the when to go, which when I actually kind of did some more digging, I decided uh that just did not feel right in my spirit at all.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: So no, we are not talking about the when to go today.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's just no, mm-mm.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Too too creepy and gross.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh you guys can do your own research on that, but probably pray first because it's just a lot of cannibalism.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: But I did want to do um just some pull some legends and just kind of give an an overview, I guess, of some really cool encounters that I found from Canada, but also there were some mysteries that I I came up with too.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: So that was kind of exciting.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Um also my dog is actually from Canada.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we always joke with him that he's been further north than any of us have, and we are pleased that he's in the country.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: All right, so yeah, I just wanted to honor you guys that are from Canada and give you a little primer of an episode.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: You guys have a lot of like cool mysteries that I'm probably gonna do a further deep dive into.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, but before we jump in, I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for listening.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate every like, every share, every comment.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: It really helps the algorithm on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, wherever you're you're listening or watching from.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: It really, really does help.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: If there is uh a story that you want to share, an encounter that you want to share, or you just need prayer, you can also uh either send an email to Saswatch and Sourdough at gmail.com or you can text me at 202-556-3802.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I have been keeping that up to date as well.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: The phone number is still active.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, if you guys want to get in touch, that's the best ways to get in touch.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but for now, let's jump into the episode.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: It was the night of October 4th, 1967.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: In the quiet fishing village of Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia, the moon had long slipped behind the clouds, and most of the town had settled in for the night, when suddenly a strange glow appeared over the water.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Witnesses watched in disbelief as a massive round craft flashing four bright lights in sequence tilted and descended toward the harbor.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: With a flash and a loud roar, it plunged into the icy water below.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: People rushed to the shore, certain a plane had gone down.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: RCMP officers arrived, and one constable approaching from the west caught sight of the UFO in flight.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Its movements, unlike anything he had ever seen.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: When the three officers converged near the crash site, they saw it still floating, glowing pale yellow, leaving a trail of dense, sulfur-sented foam drifting in the tide.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: Yet no aircraft were reported missing, and Norad had no record of anything in the area.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: Boats and a Coast Guard lifeboat rushed to investigate, but the object had vanished beneath the waves.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: Navy divers searched for days, but nothing was found.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: The villagers were left with only the strange, unexpected glow on the water, and the memory that for one night in Shag Harbor, the sky had fallen and something truly unknown had entered the sea.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: Shag Harbor, Canada.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: So the date was October 4th, 1967.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: Uh, shortly after 11 p.m., a UFO, some 60 feet in diameter, was seen to hover over the water near the tiny fishing village of Shag Harbor Harbor, Nova Scotia.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: The UFO, which displayed four bright lights that flashed in sequence, tilted to a 45 degree angle, and descended rapidly towards the water's surface.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: This is actually from NICAP.org.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is a pretty legitimate account they've posted there.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: It says, uh, it goes on to say, upon impact, there was a bright flash and an explosive roar.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Concerned witnesses began calling nearby Barrington Passage RCMP detachment.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: None of those witnesses mentioned anything about a UFO.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: Most believed that a large aircraft had ditched into the harbor and that there might be survivors.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it goes on to report later, other local witnesses described much the same details as those of uh, so let's see here.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: Constable Pond, also a Coast Guard lifeboat from nearby Clark's Harbor, and several local fishing boats were summoned to investigate, but the UFO had submerged before they reached the site.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: The sulphurous, smelling yellow foam contained continued to well to the surface from the point where the UFO went down, and a and a 120 by 300 foot slick developed.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Search efforts continued until 3 a.m.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: and then resumed at first light the next day.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Everybody involved was convinced that something that is something real and unidentified had gone into the water.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: So that is like crazy account of Shag Harbor and the UFO incident in 1967.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: So if you guys are out there and you have any family that might have been there, or if you know the follow-up, please get in touch with me because I would love to know that.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: So here's another interesting encounter.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is actually from the BFRO website, and this is a class A report from the fall of 1975, and this takes place in Alberta, Canada.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it says here the location details monument picnic area named after Henry 12 foot Davis, a local gold miner.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, so it's the Gerard Hill area, which overlooks confluence of the Peace and Smoky Rivers.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: And the nearest town is Peace River.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and the nearest road was a curved gravel road to 12 foot Davis gravesite.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, that's crazy.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: All right, so here's what was observed 1975, September, dusk, just starting to turn dark.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: I was 18.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Drove to 12 foot Davis gravesite picnic grounds in Peace River with a friend.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: We walked on the hillside behind the gravesite.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: No birds were chirping, everything was silent.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: Hairs on my neck were standing up.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: I chose to go outside.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: I chose to go to outside toilet facilities.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Friend moved back to car.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: When I got about two feet from the washroom door, I saw a shadow move and I heard heavy outgoing of breath, and there was a musky stench.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: The toilet facilities were about eight to nine feet high of a pyramid shape.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: This thing was standing beside the toilet, and I estimate its height of at least seven to seven and a half feet tall.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: I felt eerie and decided to forget the washroom trip.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: I started to walk away towards the gravesite.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: My friend yelled at me to get back in the car.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: And he, as he had been looking in my direction, I turned and looked behind me and felt immediate terror.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: This thing wasn't a bear, was on its front arms with bum up in the air and pushing itself along in an ambling fashion, following behind me about four feet away, and appeared to be sniffing at me.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: It was light haired, dark blondish color, looked not like a bear, had sparse hair on its body, more hair on its legs and arms, ape-like face with little hair on the face, more on the head.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Hair looked extremely coarse, almost like a horse's mane in winter.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: I quickly ran to the car.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: We jumped in the car and sped away around a corner and down the hill.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: As we were speeding away, this thing rose up and tried to chase the car a short way.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: It was angry, standing straight, not like a bear, he says again, more like a human, and it was swinging its arms and screaming.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: We barely got away from it.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: It followed us down the hillside a short way.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: When I came home, I was so upset that I told my mother.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: She in turn passed this information on, and someone went up there the next day, but didn't see anything.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: They found tufts of hair, but that was it.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: It had been 30, it has been 30 years, and I still have the details of what I saw stuck in my head.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And I imagine I always will.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: A person does not survive that kind of terror without remembering it for the rest of your life.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about that.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: That's terrible.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's see here.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: Also notice, please see commentary, musky scent, light colored, did not stand like a bear, did not look like a bear.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Other stories, 1975, December.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine was working with the power company on the power lines and observed several large footprints close to power lines outside of town.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: So it was a very forested pine, evergreen, short bushes, hills, grassy hillside.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: So there is a follow-up investigation report.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is by investigator Cindy Dawson.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: And she says, quote, I had a lengthy conversation with this witness and I found her to be credible.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, so it was a woman.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: That's even more frightening because I would have been terrified too.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, this incident occurred in 1975 when she was 18 years old.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: She says that her boyfriend, who was there with her at the time of the incident, is now deceased.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh, she recalled driving up the location with him on this late September evening for a walk.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: They strolled over to a lookout point and were walking back to their car when she decided to stop and use the ladies' room.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: She heard a deep breath and exhale within 20 feet of the facility.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: She assumed it was a bear, so she started to back up slowly as if there was a bear in the brush.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: She could then see an upright animal standing next to the washroom.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Her boyfriend was parked no more than 30 feet away.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: He saw the animal and said to her, get in the car now.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: When she looked back at the animal, it was five to six feet away from her, down on all fours, and sniffing the air behind her.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: It was crawling in an awkward position with its rear end up in the air, like kids do when they're crawling on their hands and straight legged.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's still that to me is creepy too.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: It's like, I don't know, what is that called?
14:08
SPEAKER_00: It's not obviously a crab walk.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: That's the other way.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's just ugh creepy.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Due to the how, due to how close the witness was to the subject, she was able to report a lot of detail.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: Its hair was a copper blonde color.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: It had more hair on its limbs than on its body, and less on its ape-like face than on its head.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: She described the hair to be coarse like that of a horse's mane.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Once she got in the car and the animal stood up on two legs, started a loud screeching sound, and went into an angry fit as the vehicle drove away.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, lady, I don't know your name.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: Your name's not on here, but I'm so sorry.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, she's like still terrorized by that.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so sad.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: See, that's why I love I don't know, just being I'm so glad that there's things like this where people can just, you know, tell their story and not feel judged or ashamed or like they're crazy because that stuff sticks with you.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: It's traumatizing, poor lady.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so there is another very well detailed um report from the BFRO.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: So this report is another class A.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: And this was from the fall, so September 1993 to 1994.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And this is from Ontario, Canada.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's see here.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: So the location details, Red Gut Bay, Rainy Lake, Ontario, Canada.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: Nearest road, Kings Highway.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, this person was really, really young.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: So observed when I what I saw when I was 14 years old is still hard to believe that to this very day.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: I was oh, it was around the first week of September.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: I headed out to do some bird hunting like I had done years before with my grandfather.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: On this day, he figured that I was old enough and wise enough to do this on my own now.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: So I went to the same old Skidler trails that I've had I had hunted since I can remember.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: I went out at approximately 7 a.m.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: with my 410 shotgun and my little mixed dog, which was very aggressive and had some run-ins with bears, moose, deer, and everything else that lives throughout the bush in northern Ontario.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, since we were both young in the vast forest, I had been hunting for about an hour or two with no results.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: So he was hunting grouse, very odd for these trails, which had always carried a large population of birds.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: I tried three or four different trails when my dog began to act very nervous and skittish on the fourth and most northerly trail.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: I knew something was near, most likely a bear, since I was starting to smell what I can only describe as a wet dog mixed with garbage smell.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, it was more intense the further up I up the trail I walked.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Within seconds, my mean little hunting dog, which would have had chased or fought off anything we had come across before because she was so protective of me, had suddenly took off like a greyhound in a race down the back trail.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, when I had just started to call her name Tina, oh, don't Tina, when I heard the tall grass about three feet high and those grown over trails began to shuffle when what I oh my gosh, this is really hard to read.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: There's there's zero punctuation.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: Come on, guy.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, when what I will say was a huge man-like creature, which was at least twice as big and as tall as any bear I had seen before or ever since.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: This is what I call now a Bigfoot, stood up, glanced at me for a second, then calmly crossed into the other side of the trail, in which I think maybe two or three steps.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: I was six feet tall at the time.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Wow, a six-foot tall, fourteen-year-old.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: Jeez, that's crazy.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it would have taken me a half a dozen or so steps to cover this kind of ground with old logs and rocks hidden under the grass.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: It made also no noise as it did so.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: The most outstanding features on the creature was that it was the size was the size of its upper body, but mostly the dark, almost grayish black eyes, large ridges over its eyes, or the eyebrows would be, big brownish red lips.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was this close and scared to death, even the even too scared to think about running or using the shotgun that was in my hands.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: I think I stood there for a minute or so, I think maybe longer, frozen with fear.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: The thing that may have snapped me out of this was my dog, my best friend that had taken off so quickly.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: On my very fast way back down the trail, I heard large branches breaking as if it was running from me as fast as I was from it.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: I asked myself a hundred times, what the hell that could have been.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: Now I am certain it was a Bigfoot.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: I have kept this secret for a long time, not even telling my grandparents when I go back to the cabins.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: I was so stressed about this that I did not hunt for two years after that and have never gone back to those trails since.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, that's awful.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: So there is a follow-up investigation report.
19:32
SPEAKER_00: The witness was staying at his grandfather's cabin in Red Gut Bay.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: He took his dog and went grouse hunting on Indian Island, which is situated on Rainy Lake, not far from the cabin.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: He used a long, abandoned trail that led from the water's edge into the interior of the island.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: Since the trail has not been used for many years, grass about three feet high has grown over it.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: The area is likely is totally secluded and contains all sorts of game, such as moose, deer, bear, lynx, rabbits, skunks, and a and lots of blueberry and raspberry bushes.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it actually sounds lovely.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: When the witness and his dog came upon the creature, he said that he must have startled it because it had a look of surprise on its face.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: He froze in his tracks when he saw this creature rise up from the left side of the trail where the grass meets the brush.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: He thinks it was possibly lying down or sitting.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: It rose up and just looked at him.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: He was approximately 20 to 30 feet from it and describes it as follows Um, approximately eight feet tall, 500 to 600 pounds, heavy, thick torso, massive, defined muscles in its arms, shoulders, and chest, no neck, reddish-brown, uh black hair all over its body, dark leathery face with short, patchy, one-inch hair all over the face, except the nose, eyes, and lips, dark, sunken, lifeless eyes with a pronounced brow, thick reddish-brown lips, wide, slightly pug nose, smelt of wet dog and garbage, leaves and twigs stuck in its hair, leaving an ungroomed appearance.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: The duration of the encounter was about five seconds, and during that time it made no sound.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: It just strode across the trail from left to right and then into the brush.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: He remembers it swinging its heavy arms as it walked, reminding the witness of the Patterson footage.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: The witness then ran back down the trail from where he came, and he could hear the creature running in the opposite direction, snapping and breaking branches as it ran through its brush.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that does kind of sound like whatever he encountered was probably just as scared as he was of it.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: Poor guy.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: So that was what?
21:51
SPEAKER_00: He was 14 in 1993.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: And this was submitted in 2007.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: In the role.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Rolling Hills of Ontario, near a quiet place once called Plum Hollow, lived a woman who became both legend and warning.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: The Witch of Plum Hollow.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Her real name was Elizabeth Barnes, an Irish immigrant widowed with a large family to care for.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: With little else to survive on, she turned to what many whispered were her gifts: fortune telling, divination, and the uncanny ability to see what others could not.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Neighbors claimed she could use or she could find lost objects, predict storms, and even expose thieves.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: Farmers would travel miles to her small cabin tucked away in the woods, hoping she could guide their steps.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: But not everyone came seeking help.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Some came out of fear.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: To them, she wasn't just a wise woman, she was a witch.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: One of the most famous tales tells of a local murder, a man disappeared and suspicion fell across the countryside.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth was consulted, and she reportedly described not only the murderer, but where the body would be found.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: When the authorities followed her directions, the grisly details proved true.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: It was said this case cemented her reputation, not as a folk healer, but as someone who saw into the world most dared not peer into.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth lived until the age of 75, passing away in 1884, but the legend of the witch of Plum Hollow grew long after her death.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: Some said her spirit lingered near her lonely cabin, still whispering to those who entered the woods.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Others claimed her gifts came not from God, but from something far darker, a pact, perhaps, that bound her name to superstition forever.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Today, the story of Plum Hollow reminds us of how thin the line can be between healer and witch, between faith and fear.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Was Elizabeth Barnes truly gifted, or did something else speak through her?
23:51
SPEAKER_00: That mystery, like the fog that curls throughout the Ontario woods, has never lifted.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Mother Barnes is dead.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: The aged seer of Plum Hollow succumbs to the inevitable and passes over to the great majority.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this is really interesting.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: It actually goes into like quite some detail about how she like planned her funeral.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, let's see here.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Her direct living descendants, number 68, seven children, 47 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Mrs.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Barnes had lived in Plum Hollow and the vicinity for over 47 years and was respected by all who knew her.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: To a reporter uh representative, she once expressed her feelings of gratitude to her neighbors, who on many occasions have been true friends in her time of need.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: The funeral services were conducted by Reverend L.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: A.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: Betts in the Methodist Church Athens on Friday last.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: The Reverend gentleman in the case of his uh in the course of his remarks stated that many years ago he had promised the deceased that if he survived her, he would preach her funeral sermon.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: The text selected was Job 10, chapter uh 14.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: Several of the hymns used at the service had been selected by Mrs.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Barnes.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: And then it goes on to say, we have no desire to express an opinion about the occult art, for the practice of which Mother Barnes had attained an almost worldwide celebrity.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: Some say her alleged power of fortune telling the future was derived from the fact that she was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: To us, she claimed that she saw into the future by a contemplation of the horoscope of the person consulting her.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: We have heard people describing interviews with her in a way which showed that she really possessed a knowledge of their past lives, which was, to say the least, startling and which gave them confidence in her ability to foretell the future.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: It is possible that someone will rise up and claim the mantle of the old seer has descended upon their shoulders.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Should this be so, it will take years of exemplary home life occupied with the ability to make their clients believe, at least, that their knowledge of hitherto unknown secrets is equal to that possessed by the late Mother Barnes.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: Before there will be the same belief in their so-called supernatural powers.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, so she kind of she left quite the legacy at Mother Barnes.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that's really, I thought that was a really fascinating account of, like I said, just those kind of old, you know, the old witch in the woods.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're so used to that story, I feel like it's just kind of throughout folklore.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: But there's, I mean, this is a very, very true account.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't find, I didn't do too much research into this.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: So if you know of any like actual encounters or, you know, a story, uh, that would be awesome to tell.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: Just classic witch in the woods.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: I like how it's like the witch of Endor's rival.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: So, but I don't know.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of it's funny.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: The witch of Endor.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Because if you if you actually read like the account in the Bible of the witch of Endor, like the witch didn't even like realize what she was doing, um, and was actually kind of startled.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: I I kind of love the story of the witch of Endor, so that you can find that in 1 Samuel uh 28, 3 through 5.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: In the early 1800s, in the quiet farming settlement of Baldoon in Ontario, the MacDonald family thought they had found their dream homestead.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: But what unfolded there became one of Canada's most terrifying legends, the Baldoon mystery.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: It began with small disturbances, strange knocks on the walls, objects moving on their own, windows shattering without cause.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: Then the terror escalated.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Stones seemed to ring to rain from the sky onto the farmhouse, even when no one was outside.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: Fires would spark from nowhere, bed sheets bursting into flame, clothing igniting on the line, food boiling dry on the stove without heat.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: The McDonalds lived in fear, convinced some curse had settled over their home.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: Neighbors whispered whispered of witchcraft, and suspicion quickly turned toward a woman nearby whom the family had quarreled with.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: The McDonald's sought help, but even prayers and charms seemed powerless.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: One story tells of a bullet mold given to them with the instructions to melt down silver and cast a single bullet.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: That bullet, it was said, was to be fired at the black goose marked strangely on its wing.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: When the shot was fired, the goose was struck and disappeared.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: And not long after, the suspected witch was seen limping, injured in the very same place.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: From that moment, the manifestation ceased and McDonald's finally found peace.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: The Baldoon mystery has been told and retold for generations, blurring history and folklore.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: Was it truly witchcraft?
29:17
SPEAKER_00: A haunting or simply superstition magnified by fear?
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the cause, the tale of the Baldoon mystery reminds us how deeply people believed and still believed that unseen forces can touch the world of the living.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: When I was just kind of like doing a little bit of a, you know, overview of just kind of high strangeness in Canada, I came up with this.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the Baldoon mystery came up kind of right away.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: And it's just fascinating.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, so this website is called hauntedwalk.com.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: And so it's basically like a ghost tour website, but it has a pretty good detailed history.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: The troubles for the McDonald family started in 1829.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: By many accounts, the first incident happened to some of the women while they were preparing straw in the barn.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Without any warning, poles from the roof structure began to topple towards the ground, sending deadly wood daggers to the ground.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: The women had turned to run for cover to avoid being impaled.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: After an investigation by the men, no probable source for the incident was ever found.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: The poles were installed in such a way that they couldn't easily come loose.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Could an unseen force have dislodged them without intent?
30:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: So that's like the first of like the paranormal happenings that kind of just took over.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh another disturbing incident involved one of their children and certainly would have left a lasting impression on the terrified McDonald's.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: While a baby was sitting in a wooden cradle, it suddenly started to rock violently side to side.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Three men rushed over and joined in an effort to stop it.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Although they used every bit of strength, the rocking continued as if being forced by a powerful unseen hand.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: The cradle continued to rock unaided when the men backed away in terror.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Also, counts of fires were also spotted throughout the property, as if paranormal presence was attempting to burn down their homestead.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: On one occasion, over a dozen fires started at the same time without any clear ignition source.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: As one fire was finally doused, more would start in its own place.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: John McDonald was especially troubled by this incident, and the family was certain something or someone was driving them away from the farmhouse.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it also goes on to say although there were many different types of disturbing events over the years, some things happened over and over again.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: The most common incident experienced by the family were rocks and bullets being propelled at the exterior of their house.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: Family members would often collect the bullets and rocks and sometimes leave unique markings on them.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: They were then brought off the property and even disposed or disposited in nearby creeks.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Only a few days later, the same bullets and rocks with the unique markings would appear back at their house.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: After replacing the glass panes of their windows so often, John McDonald eventually boarded up the windows.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, inside of the glass shattering.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh, therefore, instead of the glass shattering, the family could hear the constant thump of things hitting the window outside of the farmhouse.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Although the bullets and rocks were collected and redeposited almost daily, no one could explain how they showed up time and time again.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, this is crazy.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: Um so this I've actually when I was when I was kind of going through this account, I decided I'm gonna have to do like a deep dive episode because there's so much to this.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: There's actually um there's a book that I found that was written by five-year-old Neil McDonald called The Baldoon Mystery.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: And I found it um, I found it uh I think I wanna I think it was like some like online library source or something.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Um but I wanna I want to actually spend some time and go through that and just kind of I think this is gonna have to be like its own standalone episode because there's just so much, it's just so interesting, and it really is like a mystery.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: And I want to read this book.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: So I would rather just kind of give you guys like a little, you know, overview of this.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, because there's a lot, there's a lot to it.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, like so it just I mean, it's like where does it end?
33:33
SPEAKER_00: Some folklore suggested that the McDonald's performed a ritual to rid them of the poltergeist, and the incident suddenly stopped.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, according to some retellings, the seer suggested that the McDonald's needed to shoot a black goose with a silver bullet as the old woman had used witchcraft on the bird, and it was the source of the activity.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: The McDonald's followed the advice and shot the black goose in the wing.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's where like the witch kind of so there's like a whole other like witch element.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, this just kind of like for it's and it says like for nearly 200 years, people have been entranced by the story of flying objects, spontaneous fires, and forceful cradle rocking.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: However, separating the truth from the lore can be difficult.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: The story has been retold so many times that it's tough to tell fact from fiction.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: And it says, however, even if you discount the more sensationalized reporting, there was clearly something going on in Baldoon in the early 1930s or 1830s.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: There were too many witnesses, documented accounts, strange incidences, and attempted deconstructions by skeptics to simply discount the stories as pure imagination.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: While we will never know exactly what caused the paranormal events in Baldoon, so long ago, we know that the mystery will continue to interest Canadians for decades to come.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and me and this American.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm very, very interested in that.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: This is from the Detroit Free Press, July 24, 1918.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: And it says, A new boat, a new trip, 100 miles for one dollar.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: Take a new boat trip tomorrow, a cool water trip through Canadian country to Wallaceburg and back, the finest one-day trip out of Detroit.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: What is there to see?
35:17
SPEAKER_00: Scores of the most unusual scenes.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: The Indian reservation on Walpole Island with its thatched houses, quaint old-time river ferry, and mound of Indian warriors, a haunted house on the mainland scene of the Baldoon mystery, and miles and miles of hidden canals.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And of course, a most delightful sail across the St.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: Clair, the Lake St.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: Clair, and through the cottage-doted flats.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: It's harvest time on the St.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Clair.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: Take this Thousand Islander.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: To Wallaceburg via Lake St.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Clair at the flats.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the Lost Channel and the Syndam River.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh, cute.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh, little boat.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: 100 miles boat ride.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: That sounds lovely.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: Just go see, just go look at the Indians and look at the haunted house.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: This is clearly from 1918.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: All right, guys, that's gonna do it for me uh for this can this Canadian episode.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: If you have any information about the Baldoon mystery or anything uh about any of the encounters that you want to give me some comments to, please like, share, subscribe, comment, comment, comment.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear from you guys.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: You can send me an email at sasquash and sourdough at gmail.com.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can DM me on Instagram, just get a hold of me and tell me all about your Canadian lore, because I would love some follow-up.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: The Strange has always been with us.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: From the prophets who saw wheels of fire in the heavens to the apostles who wrestled with unseen forces.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: The unexplained reminds us that reality is far bigger than what we can measure or explain.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: Some hear a UFO crash, some see a phantom on a stormy night, but all of it points to a deeper truth.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: We live in a world where the veil between the seen and the unseen is thin.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: And if the unknown frightens you, remember this.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: The same God who made the stars and the seas also rules over the mysteries we cannot understand.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: Scripture tells us, fear not, for I am with you.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 41:10.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: So when the world feels strange, take heart, because the strangest mystery of all is not the ghosts or lights in the sky.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: It is the love of a God who stepped into our world to call us home.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, the truth is out there.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: God is with you, and everyone always ends up in the kitchen.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: You have been listening to Sasquatch and Sourdough.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm Christina, and thank you so much for tuning in.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: Sasquatch and Sourdough is so much more than just a podcast.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: We are a community of kindred spirits, united by our curiosity and fascination with the extraordinary.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: And we want to bring you into the conversation.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: So whether you've had a brush with the unexplainable, seen something that you can't quite wrap your head around, this is your space.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: We invite you to join us as we break bread and break down the barriers between the known and the unknown.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: If you want to share your story, you can email us at Sasquatch and Sourdough at gmail.com or send us a DM on Instagram.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember the truth is out there.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: God is with you, and everyone always ends up in the kitchen.