The city of Portland, Oregon, in the United States
was in the 19th century a major, bustling port town, where ships laden
with wheat would make a stop along the Willamette River before
continuing out over the sea towards such exotic destinations as Asia and
Europe. To cater to all of the crews passing through the town
blossomed, but it also had a seedy underside, with brothels, gambling
dens, and also secret bars called speakeasies during Prohibition. In
addition to being a major export hub, Portland began to earn itself a
reputation as one of the most dangerous ports in the country, eventually
earning itself the nickname “The Forbidden City of the West,” where all
manner of scum and villains went about their nefarious business. It was
perhaps this notorious reputation as a den of sin and crime that a
rather spooky legend would be born, telling of a dank network of tunnels
sprawled down in the earth, through which people would be whisked off
to a fate worse than death.
Down under the city were said to be various tunnels and rooms
meandering out through the gloom, mostly used at first for holding
shipments to keep them out of the rain and to provide a direct link
between various storerooms and the waterfront, and many establishments
above ground had interconnecting basements that met up with the docks,
forming a complex of tunnels. With such an eerie network of gloomy
passageways away from prying eyes it was only a matter of time before
the tunnels were being used for more sinister purposes, and it is said
that many of the city’s gambling dens were located down in the dim
confines of these tunnels. Many of the tunnels supposedly congregate
around the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, and Portland historian
Barney Blalock has said of these mysterious tunnels:
They were built by Chinese back in the days when
Chinatown was the center of gang activity related to the different
tongs. The gambling dens, brothels, and opium parlors of Chinatown were
connected to separate labyrinths, with steel doors, trap doors leading
to secret stairways, and tunnels for escape into far alleyways. These
were security measures designed for dealing with both rival tongs and
police raids.
An early Portland saloon and card room
According to the stories, other than for hiding the dregs of society,
these tunnels, collectively called The Old Portland Underground, were
also used for other even more malevolent purposes, shrouding the tunnels
in a cloak of fear and grim folklore. These particular tales have to do
with a shady practice of the area that was commonly known as
“shanghaiing,” which entails the kidnapping of people for the purpose of
later selling them as clandestine slaves. The main destination for
these poor souls was as manual labor aboard shorthanded vessels about to
begin their long voyages, but the practice extended to other dealings
as well, and there is all manner of horror stories of women being
shanghaied to be sold into sexual slavery or even people being sold to
starving crews as food.
In the case of Portland’s tunnels, it was widely believed that the
tunnels were extended, with many of them coming up into the various
taverns, restaurants, bars, and brothels and fanning out into a
labyrinthine system. Here unsuspecting victims would be drugged and
whisked away into the inky depths of the catacombs, or in some cases
find themselves dropping through a trapdoor to the gloom below, where
they would be captured and taken to a life of hardship and certain
death. Since many of those targeted were transients and people just
passing through on their journeys, no one would miss them and they would
just become more of the many who disappeared without a trace along
their routes. There were supposedly thousands of people who met their
fate this way through Portland’s network of subterranean tunnels, and
there were even alleged maps that showed the way from these entry points
to the waiting docks and their slave masters, kept in makeshift cells
or even crates to await their fates. The practice was supposedly so
widespread in Portland that the tunnel system began to earn itself a new
nickname as “The Shanghai Tunnels,” and it kept the city in the grip of
fear.
It is all rather frightening and ominous, and sounds like it must
surely be an urban legend, so how true is any of this? Well, we do know
that the basements and at least some tunnels exist there under Portland,
and although many have long since collapsed or been flooded by rising
waters some of them can still be accessed or even toured today. We also
know that the practice of shanghaiing did in fact exist during the era
in ports throughout the West Coast. What isn’t apparent is whether this
ever really happened in Portland’s tunnels or not to the extent that it
is claimed, if at all. It also isn’t known if the tunnels were ever
quite as extensive and interconnected as is claimed in these stories, or
whether they really meandered all under the city to emerge within bars
and restaurants for the purpose of shanghaiing. Even the ones available
for viewing are more extensive basements leading from warehouses to the
docks.
In the end it is unknown of there was ever really a labyrinth of
intertwined tunnels here extending throughout the city as told in the
lore, or if they were ever used for the grim practice of shanghaiing.
However, the stories remain entrenched within the lore and legends of
the city of Portland, and a spooky look into its darker history.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário