The Phantom Growler of Unuk River

Back in the 1920s, while I was in Stewart, B.C., I heard some strange stories from old prospectors and trappers who'd been deep into the Unuk River country, which is split by the British Columbia and Alaska boundary. They only made it to town about once every year or two.

These men, like trapper Scott, prospector Charles Knipple, and Bill Hoble, talked about something they called the "Phantom Growler" out there. They also mentioned that in 1923, a trapper from Stewart named Jess Sethington disappeared mysteriously in that Unuk country. He'd gone in alone, even though others told him not to, knowing how rough that mountainous wilderness was. Jess didn't come back when he was supposed to, so a search party went out. They only found his old campsites along the river, and then all traces were lost. Jess Sethington was never seen again.

That wilderness has a lot of game, big and small, but it's mostly known for minerals and large bears—black, brown, and grizzlies. Some of the stories were about unexplainable sounds, like an animal making growling and moaning noises, always at night. These sounds made even the toughest trappers and prospectors sit up and take notice.

One trapper told me that after many years on his trap line, he was startled one night while eating by his campfire. He heard this unusual sound, kept still, held his breath, and strained his ears to figure out what it was in the darkness. It was far off and indistinct, not a usual wilderness sound. He heard it again later that night, and he slept with one eye and ear open. He had several nights like that. He’d seen grizzlies before, but this sound was different.

Others heard this sound over the years, sometimes much closer. It was a long, agonized, deep groan, like something in excruciating pain, starting loud and then easing off with a long moaning sound of a dying creature.

Years later, my friend trapper Scott told me about two brothers, the Johnstons, who went to the headwaters of the Unuk River in 1933 on their first prospecting trip. They battled treacherous rapids and swirling waters in the canyons of that glacier-fed river to reach old placer diggings from the 1890s, around Sulphiorets Creek. After a long day, they made camp on Cripple Creek. They got a fire going, and water on for coffee, when they were startled by a deep groan from behind some bushes, then another, louder sound. Then it was gone.

The brothers prospected this area for two or three years, and each year they were plagued by this mysterious growling, but they never saw the animal making these blood-curdling noises. A few nights after that first encounter, they were woken up again by moans and groans that seemed to be in the creek, coming towards their camp. The moaning stopped, and the creature went up the creek and away.

That was too close for comfort, so the next morning they built a small cabin, which felt safer than sleeping in tents. By then, this "Phantom of the Unuk" was known to the few men who ventured into this rich territory as "Old Growler."

Later, after the Johnston brothers found some good mineral showings, their dog was roused by something in the underbrush close to the trail. By the racket, they knew it had to be a bear, just a few feet away. Then came those same grunts and groans of Old Growler. It took off, and the dog came back all ruffled.

Their next surprise came in 1935 when the two brothers, Jack and Bruce, were prospecting with a friend named George around