From the echoes of Native American lore to the eerie tales of monstrous creatures and the lingering whispers of ancient curses, Salem’s urban legends paint a chilling portrait of the unexplained in the Willamette Valley. Stories of a terrifying goblin prowling the prairie and preying on the vulnerable, sea serpents lurking in the waters, and an unrelenting witch’s curse that scorched the earth. Passed through generations, each haunting narrative instills fear still today. This begs the question — Are these just mere campfire stories, or is there a flicker of truth in Salem’s urban legends that threaten to illuminate the region’s darkest mysteries?
Fear of a Horrifying Goblin Confines a Willamette Valley Tribe
Long before the first settlers ventured into the Willamette Valley, tales of an ancient terror instilled a fear so profound in the Luckiamute, a tribe of Kalapuya Indians, that they wouldn’t dare travel the Cascade Range because of it. Known as the Chuchonnyhoof, this goblin was often described as a fearsome, “iron-hide” entity who was said to roam the mountains and prairies of Western Oregon, skulking about as it waited for its chance to grab unsuspecting wanderers before devouring them completely.
Scarcely listed alongside the creepy cryptids of today, little is known about the origins of this predatory creature. Most of what we know is derived from the writings of Jesse Applegate, who lived among the Luckiamute tribe as a boy in the mid-1840s. Applegate wrote down his young adventures later in life, discussing his travels along the Oregon Trail in his published work “Recollections of My Boyhood” in 1914.
In his recounts, he gives a detailed entry about Chuchonnyhoof, stating that his childhood native friends described it as a very dangerous goblin in the Coast Mountains. When he expressed no fear at the story and said that he and his family would shoot it if they encountered it, he was told that its hide was bulletproof and hard as iron. Still, his parents regarded the story as a silly story concocted to possibly sway curious children from wandering too far. However, Jesse’s curiosity was more than piqued, and he continued to spend his time inquiring as much as he could about the entity.
He went on to interview many Indigenous peoples about the Chuchonnyhoof but ultimately gained little information except the assurance of the wholehearted belief that the tribe genuinely believed in its existence and was frightened by it. Eventually, he came across two medicine men, who he was told would have more knowledge on the subject, but upon inquiring about the goblin, they ultimately refused to divulge any new information on the subject.
While it could be said that perhaps they were reluctant to share information with Applegate as a way of protecting their children and maintaining the fear of the lore, it is interesting to note that of all eight of the Kalapuyan Tribes, this tale seemed to only influence the Luckiamute peoples. Other groups, such as the Tualatin Kalapuyans, were known to frequently travel over the coast range on trading expeditions.
A Monstrous Dragon-Like Creature Lurks in Oregon Waters
While only the Luckiamute may have feared the Chuchonnyhoof goblin, when it comes to this next sinister serpent, it struck fear into all Kalapuya tribe members. The Amhuluk is said to be a monstrous sea creature residing in a lake near Forked Mountain, just fifteen miles west of Forest Grove. The legend goes that Amhuluk originally wanted to inhabit all the Atfalati plains but eventually made the lake its home, and it was here that he settled in to indulge in his true passion – drowning unsuspecting wayfarers who dared to navigate his waters.
Stories of Amhuluk describe him as a terrible sight to see: a spotted beast with long horns and four hairless legs. In some variations, he is described as having various items tied to his body that he carries around, and there have even been mentions of him keeping several spotted dogs. While the image of a savage sea creature having a pet dog is quite comical, Amhuluk is anything but, as he’s commonly associated with disease, fog, and, of course, drowning and death.
Even being seen by Amhuluk could be the end, as it is said he’s known to capture everything he sees and drown it in his lake. This includes even the trees around the lake, as their crowns are said to be upside-down around it, and the sky itself is believed to be drowned in the muddy water. The lake’s banks are slimy and boggy, a useful tool for trapping animals, meaning literally nothing and no one is safe in his territory.
Amhuluk is also said to have the power to create mini-terrors of himself. It’s said that grizzly bears instinctively enter the lake when they grow old and are then changed into other deadly beasts, with the metamorphosis resulting in otter or sea-like water creatures known as Atúnkai. The addition of these monstrous minion creations only makes tales of Amhuluk all the more terrifying.
Accused Witch Curses Lafayette to Burn With Her Dying Breath
It’s said that the small, quiet town of Lafayette holds a dark and rather sinister secret that has left it cursed since the 1800s. Reminiscent of our Salem, Massachusetts counterpart, local legend states that a woman once accused of witchcraft was condemned to death for her supposed crimes. Hanged in front of watching onlookers, she used her last words to place a curse on the town, stating that it would burn three times over in karmic retribution.
Those quick to dismiss this as just another urban legend might want to think again. Already, Lafayette has burned not once but twice, as if adding a semblance of truth to the legend, yet tragically, this is the only kernel of truth in the narrative. Yes, someone was once hanged in Lafayette, though this person was no witch. It was a man convicted of murder by the name of Richard Marple, and if anyone were a witch in this story, it would be his mother, Anna Marple, who may have used a little persuasive magic to get away with it all. So, do you want to know the real story?
Richard moved to Lafayette from Corvallis in 1885 with his aforementioned mom, Anna, wife Julia, and children in 1855. Though there were many readily available jobs in the area, for some unknown reason, Richard was unable to keep a steady one and allegedly turned to a life of crime, garnering the suspicion of locals in a number of sudden robberies over the next year.
During this time, his mother, Anna, became involved with a local shop owner, David Corker. Unbeknownst to Corker, Anna would seemingly become his black widow, as local authorities would find his store thoroughly pillaged and him axed to death in his bed on November 1, 1886. Richard was immediately brought in for questioning, during which he made it crystal clear that he disliked the man. Still, he feigned his innocence, even after evidence of guilt was found in his home, including a bloody shirt, bloody piece of paper, and tools he could have used to break into the store.
Neither his wife nor his mother corroborated his alibi, telling officers he was not at home with them at the time of the murder. With such damning evidence against him, Richard was convicted of first-degree murder on April 9, 1887. Though his mother was initially indicted as an accomplice to the murder, charges were ultimately dropped due to a lack of evidence. Richard was sentenced to hang on November 11, 1887, next to the county jail, with 30 onlookers bearing witness to his death. He shouted to the crowd, “Murder! May God judge you all!” just before the trap door was released. In a painfully excruciating twist for Richard, the knot on the noose would slip just enough under his chin that instead of breaking his neck and experiencing immediate death as it typically would in a hanging, he would instead slowly strangle to death as he was forced to hang there over there for an agonizing eighteen minutes when he would draw his last breath.
As any grief-stricken mother would, Anna stood before the horrific scene and admonished the crowd, proclaiming loudly that the town would burn and never prosper. With townsfolk already uneasy by her presence due to a long-standing belief that she was a “gypsy,” many found their inner thoughts in turmoil as they walked away, wondering if there indeed would be hell to pay.
Some even went so far as to wonder whether he truly was guilty after all, that perhaps they had killed an innocent man. However, the day after the hanging, Richard’s former cellmate William Henry Hess came forward, claiming that the day before his execution, Richard had pulled him aside and said that he would tell him everything if he’d agree to keep his secrets until after his death. From Hess, it’s learned that Richard collaborated with his wife and mother to rob Corker and get out of town quickly, but the plan had gone dreadfully and, judging by all accounts, was doomed to fail from the start.
Anna was not only there at the time of the murder but had also forgotten to leave the door unlocked, which forced the initial break-in through a window. Inside, he found his mom with the drugged and sleeping Corker, and after a few minutes of searching, they found about $204, approximately $7,400 today. It was only then that they realized that Anna would most likely be the first suspect hauled in for questioning once the robbery was discovered due to her and Croker’s love affair and her being the last person he saw before falling asleep. Plus, the initial plan involved the entire family skipping town 48 hours later, which they also finally realized might look suspicious.
So, their script needed a rewrite. Richard’s suggestion? Kill Corker and set the building on fire. An overconfident and underskilled Anna grabbed an ax in agreement and aimed for her unconscious lover, but the girlish blow missed, but the pole clipped his head and woke him up.
A galvanized Richard leaped into action, grabbing the ax and messily finishing the job. Croker’s screams and cries for help garnished unwanted attention, so instead of lighting the home ablaze, they hastily arranged the corpse in a ritualistic-looking manner in hopes of misleading authorities and booked it. Perhaps they may have gotten away with it, but his wife delayed their swift exit when she got sick just long enough for the sheriff to follow up on his suspicions and arrest both mother and son.
Hess also revealed that Richard confessed to killing before and with an ax, too. One was an old lady, Mrs. Hagar, in Oregon City after she came into some money, and he, along with three other guys, robbed her of everything she had in 1879. The other was a wealthy French woman in Portland that he also robbed along with three different men. It is believed that this may have been Emma Merlotin, whose brutal murder shocked the city in 1885.
Based on Hess’s claims, it seemed that the jury could rest easy, that is, if you believe in jailhouse confessions, which have proven more often than not to be surprisingly unreliable. As for Richard’s mother and wife? Julia moved back to Corvallis and remarried less than nine months later. Anna, his “gypsy” mother, moved to Jackson County, where she lived out her days, surviving on her late husband’s military pension until she died in 1916 at the age of 94. When their old homestead in Lafayette was destroyed several years later, the bloody axe used to kill Corker was discovered.
As for the town, Lafayette was the victim of devastating fires, with the city’s most destructive fire breaking out shortly after in 1904 that would burn 16 buildings. Then again, two fires would break out on the same night in 1914. Perhaps this chain of events is entirely coincidental since there’s more myth than fact to the urban legend of a hanged witch cursing Lafayette. Still, if Anna really was a “gypsy” who successfully cursed the town and it had already burned twice, it begs the question of the possibility of a lingering flame just waiting for a spark to ignite.
Whether these chilling tales are blatant lies intended to scare or merely creative half-truths used to make sense of what is otherwise unfathomable or unknown, they undeniably add a layer of intrigue to the Willamette Valley. Perhaps the true magic in the myths lies not in their veracity but in the way they spark imaginations and remind us all that no matter how much we think we might know, the world is still a mysterious place full of well-kept secrets. And with plenty of other crazy cryptids and unexplained phenomena, such as frequent Bigfoot sightings and consistent UFO Activity, Marion County lore continues to prove that the unexplained is still ever-present.
