Obscure Occurrences : The beheadings in the Valley of Headless Men
Apart from being an extremely wild place that has craggy terrains, weather that makes you wish that you’d have better stayed home and animals that would not mind taking a piece of you, the Nahanni Valley in the North-western territories of Canada also holds a frightening reputation for beheading its unfortunate visitors. Throughout the years, a lot of travellers haven’t made it out of the valley. With some lucky ones found in a beheaded state, others were lost and never found again. Do you still wonder why it is called the “Valley of Headless Men”?
Naha- A Cannibalistic Tribe that obscurely disappeared
Dene, an indigenous tribe, inhabited the
region surrounding the Valley for centuries together. This tribe has multiple
tales about a tribe they dreaded, Naha. Even more, Nahanni is itself a word
with Dene roots which means “the river of the land of the Naha people”. According
to the Dene, the Naha were a warrior tribe that lived in the high mountains and
raided the lowlands to loot and kill. Mysteriously, they simply disappeared and
were never seen again. So, did they move to some other region, get killed by disease or are they still hideously living in the valley itself? While some
consider this to be a legend of the indigenous tribe, others think that they still
inhabit the valley and are the ones behind its visitor’s decapitation.
The valley claims its first victims
200 Mile Gorge is a special place in the Nahanni
Valley. The Dene elders say that something unknown that is evil inhibits this
area. Also, the valley started to be fondly called the “Valley of Headless Men”
only after the event that occurred at this place. In the early 20th
century, during the “Klondike Gold Rush”, two men ventured into Nahanni Valley
to test out their luck. In 1906, Willie and Frank McLeod, two brothers with Métis ancestry, canoed the river to
reach the valley. This would turn out to be the last instance when they would be
seen alive.
The brothers never returned and a search squad
was deployed to find their whereabouts. In 1908, their skeletons were discovered
in a place that appeared to be their campsite. Both their skeletons had a missing
skull and one of them appeared to be reaching out for a gun. A person named Weir
who accompanied them was still missing.
Victims Pile up
In 1917, the corpse of a Swiss man named Martin
Jorgenson was found in the Valley. Yet again, his body was decapitated
and it was found near his cabin which was burned completely. In 1926, A woman
named Annie Laferte went missing in the wilderness. She was later reported to
be seen by an Indian man who saw her climbing a hill completely naked. A year
later, in 1927, another corpse, in fact just a skeleton, was found in the vicinity.
It was found to be that of a man who was pursued by the Police for multiple
years.
Just a year later, A man named Angus Hall went
into the valley only to be lost forever. A few years later, in 1931, the burnt corpse
of a man named Phil Powers was discovered near his cabin. Just five years later,
in 1936, Joe Mullholland and Bill Epier were engulfed by the mystery of the
valley and they were never found again. The only thing that was discovered was
their burnt-down cabin.
Later in 1945, a man from Ontario was found
dead in his sleeping bag with his head missing which was never found. During
the same period, another man named John O’Brien was found frozen next to his
campfire. Yeah, you read it right frozen next to a campfire. From 1908 until
now, more than 44 deaths or disappearances have been officially recorded.
Theories
The Dene locals claim that the Valley is
haunted and have avoided it for centuries together. Some outsiders, however,
think that one of the valley’s 250 subterranean caverns is the entrance to the “Hollow
Earth”. Although the most logical explanation seems to be that the extreme
weather of the terrain and the deadly predator it houses were the cause of the
deaths and disappearances, the missing heads cannot be well explained. Some
claim that the prehistoric animals that inhibited the place never actually went
extinct and still dwell in these uncharted territories. With so many theories
floating around, the enigma surrounding the Nahanni Valley still remains
obscure.
This Valley of Headless Men is one of the remaining unexplored places in the world. With Yellowknife which is located 500 kilometres, being the closest city, the region seems to have been protected by nature itself from humans. If you ever plan to explore it keep in mind that the easier route would be through air or water. You can very well choose to trek your way but keep in mind that the grizzlies and wolves won’t mind feasting on you. Even if you are lucky enough to stumble upon these predators, the rough terrain would surely take a toll on you. These factors make this place human repellent.
Post a Comment