In 1796 Seneca War Chief Cornplanter was granted 15,000 acres along the Allegheny river by Pennsylvania for his assistance to the State as a loyal and a steadfast protector of American families settling in the wilderness of the upper Ohio River basin. In what would become the oldest standing Indian treaty, George Washington granted the land to Chief Cornplanter and his ancestors forever.
Forever ended in 1965 when the completed Kinzua Dam flooded the Allegheny river and covered the ancestral lands of the Seneca leader. Their homes, their only viable farmland, and the graves of the ancestors were now under hundreds of feet of water. Despite petitions from Tribal leaders to JFK to stop the proposed Dam in 1960, the President and United States broke the longest standing treaty between the Government and the Native Tribes of North America.
The residents of Kinzua and the adjoining town of Corydon were relocated, the Indian burial grounds were dug up, including that of Chief Cornplanter himself and the remains were entombed on the nearby hillside with a memorial.
But to this day the Seneca claim that not only was the removal itself a vile act of desecration, but that there are still some missing tribal graves under the flooded waters of the Allegheny. And even the bones of Cornplanter himself were treated with irreverence and disrespect, leading some who witnessed the desecration to believe that perhaps not all the remains of the historic Chief were re-interned. (American Heritage Magazine, December 1968, Vol.20 Issue 1)
The flooded valley is called the Allegheny Reservoir by the Government but to the Seneca nation this man made lake is called Lake Perfidy. Perfidy because of the underhanded deception that was conducted by the Corps of Engineers throughout the planning and building of the Dam and the promises made concerning the relocation of the people of the Tribe.
With all of the trauma and desecration one is not surprised to find out that there have been paranormal happenings along the Kinzua Dam and Lake Perfidy. But one would be amazed at the cornucopia of high strangeness that has manifest itself along the shores and beneath the waves of this cursed lake. But finding out these nuggets of Fortean happenings is not an easy task. Most of the campers and fishermen who spend their days and nights along the site are not the kind to openly share their incredible stories of the unexplained. But once in a while you get some who are willing to share their stories, and sometimes they are in the strangest places.
Kinzua is an Indian name which means “fish on spear” and the area since the flooding has been a prime Pennsylvania fishing spot. Indeed there have been record catches made on the man made lake. My family has fished at the Dam for years and I had never heard of any paranormal activities. However, recently I took a trip to the Tom Ridge Center, a welcome center to tourists coming to Presque Isle Peninsula here in Erie and I came across some strange first hand information. The reason for my trip to the center was to check out their exhibit of the 1966 UFO landing on Presque Isle, which I have reported on here. The Exhibit was not very informative and actually very condescending, disappointing since the incident was listed as never solved by Project Blue Book and the amount of time the Air Force investigated the incident. In fact the Air Force is never mentioned at the display; all they reference is a Park Ranger who claims ‘nothing spectacular happened’. But what peaked my interest was an adjoining display of Bayside Bessie, Lake Erie’s resident lake monster. The display made it seem that the creature had been sighted locally, when it was only briefly seen in the 1890s and the modern sightings took place near Cleveland Ohio. So I talked to one of the executive staff of the center about the display to see if I was missing anything. And of course when you talk to some people about the unexplained, you usually get their own stories.
The staff person told me that there have been some very strange sightings of a lake creature at Kinzua. She had heard a report from a Park Ranger that the Dam divers had a harrowing encounter with a very large snake-like creature within the last year. There was video supposedly shown by the Army Corps of Engineers to some Government officials of the creatures in Lake Perfidy. The executive told me the neck of the creature they had on tape had a massive neck that was almost two feet thick. The tape was made as divers were doing maintenance on the Dam itself and it also showed some monstrous fish near the bottom of Lake Perfidy as well. I was told that the divers have since resorted to working in cages as they inspect the Dam for fear of both the unknown aquatic creature and the car sized Catfish that might mistake them for a possible snack. Intrigued, I did some research.
I talked to some Tribal representatives who told me that there were rumored caves and an underground system that ran from the area of Kinzua to Lake Erie. Ancestral legends had it that although they were natural, sometimes the tribal members would use the system to move under the mountains faster than it would take an overland traveler to move the same distance. The representative I talked to claims that it would be through these tunnels that any type of large creature might have made its way to the Dam during the last 44 years. The tribe had no records of any lake or river monster along the Allegheny, so the representative assumed that if there is a lake monster in Lake Perfidy is had to have come from Lake Erie through these underground tunnels.
There are also some online accounts of sightings of both the monster and giant fish:
Becky who lives in the area writes: “…my friend and i have seen that monster from the first jake's rocks outlook. it was about 7 years ago, maybe the summer of 2000. to me it looked like a loch ness monster type creature. i did not see the head but i think it was the middle body area. it was in the water between the actual concrete dam and the bouys that people can not boat/swim beyond. (area to the left of shale beach if you are standing at shale beach). mind you the cars from the jake's rocks overlook look like matchbox cars. this thing was huge. it happened very sudden but it felt like it was in slowmotion. we both stood there speechless. our friends still to this day do not believe us. my friend and i have named it the serpent, believing we were the only people who have ever seen this thing. we still talk about it today and just laugh because nobody believes us, knowing what we saw, but maybe it's not a joking matter. there was something in that lake that day and i am not sure what it was, but we saw something rather strange that day.”
Also from the large fish forum on the Monsterquest site:
“I to have had an encounter with large fish where i live. I live in northwestern pennsylvania in a little town near the Kinzua Dam. We have huge northern pike and tiger musky. it has been said that workers at the dam will not go in the water without a protective cage due to the size of the fish near the dam. they say that they are the size of sharks. I believe the largest musk caught at the dam was about six feet long. I wish i could get monsterquest here to prove whether or not there are giant fish at Kinzua Dam.”
But strange creatures in the lake are not all the supernatural goings on around Lake Perfidy, UFO sightings, hauntings and Bigfoot sightings are also very common around the area. The Paranormal Ghost Society features many of these stories and their own investigations.
Of course the famous ‘baby bigfoot’ picture circulating the web last year that was shot here was determined to be only a Black Bear, but there are hordes of other sightings of a manlike ape near the cursed valley.
From About.com comes a story from Kristian in 2001:
“…I decided to take a look outside. We had a BB gun with us. A pump-up pistol. I pumped it slowly and loaded about 10 BBs down the barrel. While I was doing that, we heard something circle the tent. Once it got to the other side of the tent, it sounded like something was lightly touching the tent up around our heads... like a scraping sound.
It completely circled the tent and came back around to the entrance. I then mustered my courage and slowly opened the tent flap. Drawing it back, I could see nothing. I smelled something horrible, like a dead animal, but I couldn't see anything. Then I realized that what I was looking at at was a huge, furry leg. It was blocking all the light into the tent from the campfire outside, which was still burning. I had the pistol in my hand, pointed at the doorway. A split second after I realized what it was, I think Chuck did. One of us screamed. I pulled the trigger...” Read the full story here: I saw Bigfoot
And you can see other reports from the area at the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society website for Warren County.
The tribal representative told me that he was not surprised that there have been a surge of Bigfoot sightings in the area, “They hear the lament of the Nation and are drawn to the land to heal it. It is a sign that things should be restored to a balance, for when things are out of balance the spirits of nature are brought out into the open to fight along side the people of the land.”
To me the most disturbing unexplained occurrences reported at Kinzua are those of a haunting nature.
Campers at night will hear a strange moaning floating over the still waters of the lake; it is that of a woman who seems to be in mourning. Some Seneca tribal leaders suspect this is either a tribal spirit bemoaning the fact that so many graves had been desecrated and left to the indignity of being washed over by a man made lake and recreation center. Others say it is that of a woman whose remains were separated between her original burial place in the now watery grave and the new location near the Dam.
Tona 37211, a woman of Seneca heritage tells of hauntings in the area in an article on Hubpages:
“Many stories cite this area as being home to many Native American hauntings from sad and angry Native Americans roaming the area because of being disturbed after being laid to rest. They say that if you are in the area while hiking you will hear strange and unusual noises and feel eerie feelings in certain area's. They are still area's within the forest that are sacred Seneca lands.”
UFO reports are numerous in the area as well, as are USOs. Many have claimed to see unknown flying objects disappear within or appear from the lake. MUFON has a few official stories, a recent one from January of 2008 tells of an incident that happened in the neighboring town of Warren, PA:
“It was snowing very continuously that night but the sky had that slight lit up look. My husband took our puppy out for a walk while I stayed home. He proceeded to go north up the street and follow the main road through town( our town is dark except for porch lights and corner street lights). He noticed when he stopped for the puppy that a series of five yellow silent objects moving across the northwestern part of town in silence. He watched them move -then move so fast out of sight that he said it was in a second. What was unusual after that was about two minutes after the sighting there was an extremely loud roar following after them. He could see nothing but he proceeded home to me. Upon arrival at home I greeted him with the fact that our windows and doors in our house had shook so bad for a minute that I would have thought it was a tornado sitting on our house!! I went outside and saw nothing. It was not thunder. It was not sonic boom. It seemed more like something unseen was following what he had just seen and I had only heard. The next day several people in our town were all talking about what had happened that night. I hope this did not only happen to our town.”
Is it a curse upon the land that brings this high strangeness of a various phenomena? From the various reports from almost every branch of Forteana there seems to be something deeply disturbing going on.
Yet the Government and the Army Corps of Engineers who maintain control and maintenance of the Dam and Lake Perfidy claim there is nothing going on at all.
After hearing the stories and reading the firsthand accounts, the Army Corps of Engineers say they are all just ‘Urban Legends’ or ‘Tall Tales’. He insists there are no supernatural goings on, be it hauntings, UFOs or Cryptid creatures. The officer I spoke with told me that the divers do not use cages while they dive and while the lake does hold many record catches from anglers who fish there, there really is nothing out of the ordinary beneath the waves. The strange noises are just other campers or wild animals that sound like a moaning woman, the UFOs are aircraft or fireworks that land in the lake, and he said with a wink, “We all know about the baby Bigfoot that was caught on camera a few years back. There are no unexplained things at the Dam, just people who have never been close to nature for any extended period of time”.
After his debunking I asked him why a director for the State run center would tell me that they had not only heard of monster fish but a ‘Loch Ness’ type creature caught on camera, the smile wore off his face and he asked me who exactly it was that had told me this. I was vague and just replied it was one of the executive staff, and he wanted to know names. I told him that I did not get a name, which I did not, the person did tell me their name but I never wrote it down. With there was an obvious sense of annoyance on his part and he cut our talk short, gave me a quick nod and told me it was very interesting to talk to me but that he had to be heading back to his office.
Interesting. Am I being paranoid, or did it seem like the officer was covering these paranormal events up and was very disturbed to hear that private information had been leaked out. I never was one for conspiracy theories, but it was if the chip had materialized on his shoulder as soon as I mentioned the Tom Ridge Center staffer’s disclosure to me.
I recounted this incident to the representative of the Seneca nation that I had talked to, he told me of his opinion with no mincing about the issue. “I don’t see why you would trust them anyway, they are trying to protect themselves. They lied to the Seneca about the taking of the land from the beginning. They would rather lie and deceive than honor a treaty given by Washington himself. They lied about the burial of our ancestors, took our homes and built us houses that did not even last a decade. Why would they tell you the truth about the spirits of the land crying out?”
Thousands of vacationers, hunters and fishermen take advantage of the lake that the was built on deception and the breaking of the oldest treaty the United States had with its Native population.
Are the spirits of the ancestors crying out and manifesting themselves in various high strangeness? Or is the pristine watershed drawing the various cryptid creatures of the area to its shores as it does so many thousands of humans per year? Certainly such actions by our Government to the native population and the desecration of the graves could cause some paranormal activity. And what of the UFO sightings? I haven’t even touched on the Big Cat sightings in the area in this article.
It seems that while few care to talk about it, those that do recount many stories of bizarre happenings at Kinzua Dam.
As for now, I will still investigate and keep you updated. If you have had any experiences at Kinzua, feel free to send me a message or comment.
Johnny Cash's Song about the Seneca plight and Kinzua
Comments
The scope of worldwide geophysical disasters has increased since the Kinzua Dam was built; and a similar pattern of mineral-mine collapses have occurred after the Three Gorges Dam was built in China.
what a shame that the government could not honor its promises and so much harm was done.
well written and investigated article, thanks.
is this anywhere near the allegheny national forest? i have heard of paranormal activity there too. have you ever investigated there or the chestnut ridge? if so, do you have any recommended locations for the curious investigators?
I've lived here all my life. I have seen the snake like thing in the water a few times. Never saw a head either. I'm inclined to think it was a string of carp but it IS freaky! I have heard the woman screams but there are a several animals that make that sound from foxes and porcupines to mountain lions. One monster that DOES live in the lake though are "mud dogs". They look like large salamanders when they are smaller but look like alligators with greenish square heads and thick rough skin and vicious teeth when older. I have caught them two feet long in the Oswayo creek, a trib of the Allegheny that flows into the kinzua lake. One of them was in a large jar at Oswayo Valley high school. If they are THAT big in the Oswayo I figure they must be as big as gators in the Kinzua.
i live in the area and have seen ufo's and large fish. never heard they use cage to dive. know the indian tales of little people and ghost stories. know of big foot, but haven't seen. the gov't probably does lie to cover up. as far as giving homes to senecas that didn't hold up....teh senecas were given brand new homes. it was up to them to keep teh homes up. they need to be responsible and own up to that. there was no consipiracy there- they just didn't keep up with repairs, but that doesn't have anything to do with the actual story, so that quote was worthless.
I've never been in that area, so it's hard to judge these claims, but it certainly is interesting.
I haven't been in that area either. But I've head many stories about the seneca and the strange stories of Kinzua Dam and Lake Perfidy. It's very interesting! Great song by the way. I love Johnny Cashs music.
I have lived in this area all my life and can say without a doubt If you believe in thing that go bump in the middle of the night or day or a paranormal freak this is the place to go.There are strange forces at work up there.I have seen thing that most people would have a hard time believing in even after seeing it.The thing that sticks the most in my mind is the fact that there is a doorway into another dimension or time . It is scary if it is open and you walk into it. You don't want to get caught in it at night. This is very scary.I have a couple of stories to tell you about it .But not enough characters space to do it in.I will tell you that on min. you'll be walking on a marked trail and the next min. your in a completely different place . I have so much I could tell you but so little space to do it in.You can go to hellificare.com/ once there go to strange kinzua for some of the stories. You should be able to tell the true stories from the fake ones.My stories R true.
I have been swimming, boating, and hanging out on that Lake since the late 80's (over 20 years). I have heard some of the stories, and have first hand scarey memories of a town nearby called South Valley where there is an old cemetary called Gurnsey Hollow. This is a place that will make you chiver.. but other than that area, I feel a wonderful sense of peace and serenity when I'm on the Kinzua lake. To me, the sense of calmness tells me that there has been peace and acceptance not resentments or anger anymore. I do feel the presence of spirits, but in a peaceful way. Maybe the lake mirrors what the visitor or person is feeling or their intentions? That can be eirie in itself....
I've lived in Warren all of my life and I've spent the greater part of it hiking and camping in the Allegeny National Forest and the areas surrounding Kinzua. There is nothing out of the ordinary here. The sound of a deer in heat sounds suspiciously like a woman moaning or a baby crying and to a new camper may be mistaken as such. I once saw a wierd blue light flying across the sky at a pretty intense speed and don't have any explination for that but it certainly doesn't qualify as a UFO. As with the Bigfoot(though I do like the native american description), and the big cats, and the Nessie type monster; they simply don't exist. Not around here anyway. I've seen plenty of wet tree trunks in the dam that looked like a monster neck or back, but they were actually tree trunks. We do have enormous fish though, but that's not really strange. This is all neat and amusing but not much beyond that. I wouldn't be suprised to find out there is a native curse on the land, we screwed them hard. :)
Lived in the heart of Kinzua all my life. Yes I've heard the stories of huge Muskee the size of tree trunks near the bottom of the dam while divers inspected.
Bigfoot I have never seen - but same thing - stories circulate. I'm a life long hiker and camper too - spent almost three years straight living in woods and I am very familiar with Bucks in rut, owls, bear sign, ect,. But have to say I've seen some things that would make the skin crawl.
Things that other people I'v shared with have seen also.
I do believe another possiblity is (along the ghost lines) the spiritual. Many times a person has to be open to see - rather than just seeing to believe. Sure people can conjure things in their minds, but that doesnt leave out the fact that some people can block things out also - whether intentional or not.
Very nice article - enjoyed it very much.
For those who are unaware of it the rim rock area up in the kinzua area is a very strang place to walk in .Strange thing go on day and night up there. The only way you get to see them is being in the right place at the right time.The stoty that I would like to tell you is a very long story in itself.The story itself is an unbelievable story but I can promise you this its a true story.The story involves a vortex area up there. Thats what I said a vortex area.A vortex is a time jump into another time and place. This I can tell you exist up there because I seen it with my own eyes and had a number of experienceswith it.This story takes place in the middle 70's during August near the end of it because it was the second day of the new school year.And it goes something like this.
It was a nice sunny day and the temp. was in the 80's being it was one of my regular days off I thought I'd go for a hike up to rim rock area.So I packed me a lunch and headed out for the day.[Next page please.
When I got there I noticed it was very quiet.Which wasn't unusual for that area. But there were no bird chirpping it was dead silent.It was as tho I was in a sound proof room. Thats how quiet it was.I made my way to the top of the hill which only took me 10 min.I made my way to what we call the circle area which in itself is another story.After resting there for about 5 min. I moved on to what we call the Indian burial grounds.I walked into the area a little ways and sat down and ate my lunch.I still could see the main path that I had just come off of.So I felt pretty much safe there.After all it was a nice sunny day very few clouds in the sky.After finishing my lunch I thought I'd set there for a while and listen. As I sat there I notice that the once clear blue sky was disappearing and being replaced by what appear to be a pinkish color sky . The color of a mercury vapor light.I thought this to be odd in itself because it was less that ten min. ago it was a blue sky.[Next page]
Much to my suprise that wasn't the only thing that was changing about me.You not going to believe the rest of the story but here goes. As I sat there I just couldn't believe my eyes as to what happen next. Right before my very eyes the scenery started to change.The path that I come in on was gone.The once open area I was setting in was gone and replaced with a jungle type surrounding. I had no Idea where I was because there was no path to be found.So I turned to go back the way I come in and found that there was some kind of an opening about a hundred feet from me that wasn't there before.By now I'm fit to be tied and scared to death as to what was going to happen to me.So I decided to make my way to the opening . When I got a little closer to it I could see it was a perfectly round circle in the middle of the woods and nothing around it.I got to with in about 60 or 70 feet of it. Inoticed that there was no light in it just pitch black in side it.I decided to get closer to it. [next]
As I took one or two more step I heard a voice in my head say STOP DON'T GO ANY FURTHER your life is in great danger.At first I thought it was my imagination playing tricks on me. So I took another step forward. Once again the voice inside my head said same thing only this time it sounded as tho it was right beside me and not in my head.Turn around and get out of here your life is in great danger. Do not go any further Or you'll be lost forever. Now I start talking to this voice inside my head and asked what that thing was in front of me.The voice said to me there's no time to tell you now that I had to leave this area right now or else they'll never find me again.Now I'm shaking from head to toe . I yell which way is out. The voice inside my head say That help is on its way.
All of a sudden I hear this loud noise coming from behind me in the bushes.All of a sudden out from the bushes comes the biggest and I mean biggest bear that I have ever seen. It was about 20 feet from me.[next]
I turned to go away from it. Once again the voice said stop follow the bear he wont hurt you he was sent to help you get out of there. I told the voice your crazy I'm not following that bear. Once again the voice said follow the bear your time is just about up and you'll be lost forever.To this day I have no idea as to why I turned and followed that bear but I did. And I also believe that is the reason that I'm still alive today to write this story.Now to finish the story. In a matter of 15 minutes or so I was almost a half a mile away from there.At the the enterance of rim rock.How I got there so quick is beyond me.Now I had to walk back to where I came into to get my car.When I got back to the circle area I sat down on a rock and asked the voice inside my head what was going on. This is what it said . That opening you almost went to was what you call a vortex a time dimention. Some are good and some are bad dimentions.That one was very bad and you would have died in it.
[This is the last one of six .Please go to the bottom and start up.]
The story you just read is the honest to Gods truth. I will gladly take a lie detector test anytime to prove it is true or even let someone do hypnosis on me to prove it.So far today I've been there 5 times when it open up but at different places in the woods. But never to that place where the opening is.There have been other people with me when its open. Strange thing happen when it's open. Especially to electronic equipment.Compasses and gps go wild when its open. Sometmes the wind blows so hard it sounds like there's a tornado coming. Or sometimes there's a fog that will follow you around even if your walking face into the wind it will follow you around.Those are just a few things that go on.So long for now.
To Pastor Swope:
This is denny or yeti man. I just got a notice that you tried to get a hold of me on pennstate paranormal on june 17. I'd be happy to talk with you about the kinzua dam paranormal stuff. That goes to show how bad verizon is . We have had all kinds of trouble with our e-mail from them. So please forgive me.There is a lot to be said for the area. There are things that happen up there that the officals have no control of. Its a must for all you parafreaks to visit. But not alone especially at night.It has a little of everthing going on.I would be happy to be your guide.I can't promise you'll will see anything but who knows what waits for you.The portal when it opens is far scarer than a bigfoot encounter trust me on that.If you wish to know more let me know and I'll find away To get you my e-mail address or phone #.
yeti man
The Jacobs creature Bigfoot sighting was most recently found to not have the proportions of a bear by an engineer that surveyed the site named Sarah Gerber from Pittsburgh Pa. Which questions the PGC's statement. I seen this video on the BFRO discussion under Jacobs Creature section called: video featuring Dr. Meldrum.
It Shows some famous scientists including Dr Jeff Meldrum with recent statements at the end from top primate expert Vanessa Woods. She wrote in a students science book about it possibly being a young Sasquatch. There was also bear expert Lynn Rogers that said he couldn't tell what it was for sure and if it was a bear it would be the longest legged one he ever seen!
I came accross this article while doing some research about the dam's history. My family and friends have camped in this area for over 20 years. We have boated, tent camped in Allegany forest, and used to rent a campsite for many years that was used extensivly. Never have I once encountered any paranormal activity, nor have heard anyone else.
Lauren I can promise you that there have been a good many people that have had a paranormal experience up there.Even the Seneca's talk about them in their folk tails.I can also promise you that I have seen thing go on up in that area that are unbelievable.
My father is a engineer and repair worker for the dam. THEY DON'T DIVE IN CAGES. Yeah, there are some big fish but nothing that would even bite a man. And my family and friends have camped there dozens of times, and took out boats, and none of us have ever experienced anything.
To Madeline: I'm not calling your father a liar but I will tell you what my wife and I saw along with our kids . We seen a shark cage with two people being lifted out of the water one day. When I asked if the shark cage was being used to stop them from being suck in the out flow. The man looked at us and said that was only half of it , the other half of it was because of what was in the water.Along with the fish that were attacking them . There were other thing down there. So I thought the guy was pulling my leg. So I asked three members of the kinzua search and rescue scuba divers that I knew one was my next door neighbor . He said that they seen thing down there that didn't belong there and they weren't fish.He also said they do very little practice dives anymore up there because of it.As for you not seeing anything out of the ordinary go on up there . You just haven't been lucky I guess or you haven't been in the right place at the right time.
I have cabin a few miles east of Westline ,just north of kinzua creek a few miles from 321 and nothing goes on there, very quiet
A lot of the strange things are true, but not every one experiences them. And yes the DO go down in shark cages.
A lot of the things that happen are true and yes they do go down in shark cages.
Has anybody checked out this Denny or Yeti man? You think some reporter would do some legitimate research or something. I know there is no bigfoot or sea monster up at the Dam. I have felt a great spiritual presence though.. That of God and Nature.
Yes I know Denny personally and he is NO liar. He and I have been up there many times and have seen things and heard things not normal. But it is good to have skeptics.....this is what nakes the paranormal what it is.........just 1 step above the normal or what we think is normal. I have KVPS or know as Kinzua Valley Paranormal Socioety and I am not ashamed or afrais to tell what I find and feel when the times arise.
Very interesting story, but I can't say whether I believe a word of it. There are a lot of bad feelings surrounding the Dam and reservoir [and rightfully so], but with so much of the area dependent on tourism, doesn't it seem possible that the stories might be intended to get people interested and draw visitors? I grew up in the area. So did my father. In fact, I've had family in the area since before the Dam was built. I feel like somewhere in all that time, if odd things were going on right on our doorstep, someone would have noticed.
I live in Warren and have been to the dam and all its surroundings many many times. I have heard of the strangeness that surrounds this place but never encountered it. Denny, if this is true (you say it is) then why havent I heard of this particular scenario from others?
I've lived minutes away from the water my entire life. The DART does go down in cages and they do see giant fish. Also a local fisherman caught a fish that was supposed to be extinct, no one will make a wall mount out of it for that reason. Also I've been on one dive down there myself. It is very difficult to see more than an arms lenght in front of you. I was more worried about finding bodies at the bottom than anything, due to the mob ties in bradford. I didn't find any bodies but did get an eery feeling when I was down there. Also I swear I saw large fish but since I can't see that far, I just disregarded it. Someone needs to be brought in to put all the rumors to rest, hopefully soon so I can dive again without a second thought.
Im sure this forum is old but i have seen afew around the net concerning kinzua. If i recall you stated that you grew up in the area, so im sure you may remember the big drought back 15-20 yrs ago. I do recall myself friends and thier dog walking across willow bay taking picture of kinzua when it was reduced to almost a stream. As well as exposing the old roads and what structures that were left behind. So lake monsters, giant fish and such find it quite hard to belive. Also i would have to agree with you in saying i have lived through the area and as a child and young adult spent many hours hunting, fishing and camping through out the kinzua area and never seen anything unusual. Maybe some one who is new to the outdoor life and experience would get spooked (lol had a new student in high school convinced white tails eat flesh lol). As for this cage thing cant say for sure but if they dangled you into kinzua by the dam intakes would you want a cage? (and again big fish nawh) But in the end ppl will talk and tell stories worst part is there are more fiction than fact for the area.
really cool link shows and talks about the 91' drought and kinzua( http://books.google.com/books?id=K3hoXZffpYkC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110... ). So take it for what its worth but still find it hard to belive all these stories old and new of monsters in the waters. Caves i have heard this story as well but never seen anything questionable underwater or above? Of course not under lol if that was the case eire would empty into kinzua or vise versa and would have to be level in elevation. One more thing that comes to mind is having personal friends who have been recruited for body recovery in kinzua and never seen anything strange other than a fisherman or two who fell through the ice poor ppl. But do try and publish more seneca lore its quite interesting. My very close friend is seneca and shares afew some silly some entertaining. Ghosts, high hats, curses, maidens and the creation of niagra falls to name afew.
It has been said 95% of people who live in the area have never seen a bear in the wild. According then to these post then bears do not exist. 99% of fishermen have never caught a muskie bigger than 60 pounds so does that mean the state record of one over 65 pounds is a lie?
When my friends say they haven't seen a ufo I ask how many hours a night do they scan the night sky and the answer is never or 12 seconds form when they walk from their car into the house.
A legend of qKinzua water monster is over 1000 years old and is well known in Seneca folklore. There are occassional reports of something being seen above and below the dam. Just because I haven't seen a bigfoot style creature dosen't mean the plaster cast others have gathered are made up.
I encourage all to post their experiences...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKIRsQspyUc this is a video of a creature in the lake at kinzua.
This video was taken in Oct. there were no boats on the lake period. The video was shot from rim rock
over look. We were about a quarter of a mile from where it was in the lake. I can promise you that what ever it was it was some kind of a creature of some sort. I have other pictures to post in here.
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