hello fellow travelers graham here today we're going to explore the spookier side of vancouver
by looking at the ghost stories of stanley park starting with dead man's island right behind me
sitting adjacent to downtown vancouver this thousand acre park is visited by
eight million people each year and while they visit the aquarium or stroll the sea
wall they might not realize that the park also has a much darker side just offshore
from stanley park is dead man's island a tiny patch of land which is steeped in dark history
it may not look like it from a distance but dead man's island in coal harbor
is one of the most haunted places in the province of british columbia
in the 1700s this island was the site of a massacre of more than 200 northern salish warriors
who were slaughtered during a battle with their rival southern salish tribe
the island later became a coast salish burial site with cedar coffins suspended from the branches
of the tall evergreen trees on the island in 1860 john morton set out to explore the island
which was up for sale by the government when he arrived he found hundreds of red cedar boxes
scattered throughout the trees and he discovered just how decrepit they were when he reached up and
touched one it crumbled showering him with the bones of its long deceased inhabitant
by 1870 europeans and white settlers started to use the island for a burial ground as well
often disturbing the indigenous grave sites which were either removed or relocated
many of the victims of vancouver's early tragedies ended up being buried on the island
like a number of people who were killed during vancouver's great fire of 1886
or workers who died during construction of the canadian pacific railway line
then in 1888 the island served as a quarantine area during the smallpox outbreak
those who contracted the illness were banished to the island and to those who never recovered the
island became their final resting place even in early times stories began to circulate about the
cursed and haunted nature of the island pioneers described how eerie the island looked with small
cedar fences surrounding the old burial mounds in 1909 police officers staying overnight on the
island claimed that they heard the rattling of dead men's bones and shrieking skeletons
in his report on the incident the police chief suggested that the source was human rather than
supernatural and recommended that his men carry torches so that they could be a little bit braver
and the ghosts be a little bit less active then in 1942 during world war ii federal government
gave the island to the canadian navy and the naval base the hmcs discovery was constructed right on
top of this hallowed ground none of the hundreds of bodies buried on the island were ever exhumed
since then there have been numerous reports of paranormal activity such as the sounds of moaning
chants and inhuman screams disembodied voices and strange spectral shapes roaming the island
and although the island has closed the public there have been several official reports made
by naval officers in one incident leading seaman am hamilton was given special permission to stay
overnight in the building that night she was awakened by the voices and footsteps of two men
going up an outside staircase followed by the sounds of furniture being rearranged
in the base's radar room right above her when she inquired about this the next day
to the security officer who was posted at the base's entrance gate she was told that
no one else had passed through she was completely alone on the island
a similar incident happened in 1991 when leading seaman c grant was stationed overnight well
inside he heard the double doors connecting the main building to the drill hall open and then
close which surprised him because he was supposed to be alone a search of the building proved that
no one else was there and he also confirmed that all of the exterior doors were locked
further instances of unexplained noises like moving furniture or unexpected voices have been
reported over and over but each time the search for a plausible earthly explanation has come up
empty-handed one of stanley park's lesser-known landmarks is its pioneer cemetery hidden behind me
amongst the bushes are the unmarked graves of some of british columbia's earliest pioneers further
along the sea wall in an undeveloped section of stanley park is a little-known pioneer cemetery
the stretch of land between brockton point and the nine o'clock gun was traditionally
used as a burial ground for the indigenous people who lived here
but as vancouver formerly known as gas town was settled this site became a pioneer cemetery
it's believed that as many as 200 bodies are still buried there along the peninsula
although the exact locations were never officially recorded the graves remain unmarked
then in late 1880s a perimeter road was constructed around stanley park
paving over the pioneer cemetery and leaving the bodies right where they lay
not far away the vancouver rowing club is another hot spot for paranormal activity
this building has been home to the rowing club since 1911
but the land on which it sits once served a much different purpose
chinese immigrants would often bury their dead on the shores of what would later become stanley park
however chinese custom dictated that the remains of these bodies needed to be exhumed
and sent back to china for re-burial failure to properly do this was said to create po,
homeless and malevolent ghosts who stuck around and haunted their living relatives
staff at the vancouver rowing club claim that their space is now haunted by these spirits
unexplainable occurrences are frequently reported within the club
and staff and guests at the club have reported numerous ghosts drifting within its walls
another dark location within stanley park is the area that lays right beneath the lionsgate bridge
before this waterway was dredged in the early 1900s it was known as one of the most hazardous
waters in canada unmarked hazards and wild waves resulted in the sinking of many ships
drowning dozens of passengers and crew
it's said that many of the people that lost their lives here linger
in and around the inlet's cold waters and it's common to experience phenomenon
such as sudden temperature drops cold breezes or to hear disembodied voices
and some say that on cold foggy nights you can look around and see the sight
of a ghost ship and its crew drifting on the water
in addition to ghosts and graves stanley park has also been home to its fair share of tragedy
siwash rock is one of the park's most recognizable landmarks
but sitting beneath it is a plaque that serves as both a memorial and a warning
in 1966 robert tribe died while jumping off of psywash rock robert unfortunately failed to notice
that it was low tide and dove to his death from the top of siwash rock onto the jagged rocks below
more recently a visitor from alberta fell 70 meters to their death from the
top of prospect point after climbing past a guardrail tragically the incident occurred at
almost exactly the same spot where a 22 year old abbotsford man also fell back in 2014
even more sinister is the fact that the park has been home to a number of murders
a map from the coroner's service of british columbia shows 12 different
sets of unidentified human remains that have been discovered within the park
another chilling location from stanley park's history i'm standing at the location of one of
vancouver's oldest unsolved mysteries the mystery of the babes in the woods
in 1953 workers clearing a forested area of the park discovered the bodies of two young boys
wrapped in the remains of a women's oil skin coat next to them lay a small rusty roofers hatchet
with its handle broken in two places that was determined to be the murder weapon the boys
were believed to be about 6 and 10 years old and passed away about 6 years prior to the discovery
progress on the case was held up when medical examiners accidentally concluded
that one of the victims was male and one was female however dna testing in 1998 proved
that both of the victims were male despite this discovery the case remains unsolved
so next time you visit stanley park to enjoy the sea wall and the stunning views of downtown
vancouver take a moment to remember that this park also has a much darker side
remember to keep exploring and until next time it's time to exit through the gift shop