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10 curiosities and legends in Washington state

Maryhill Stonehenge Why travel to England's Stonehenge when Maryhill is in Washington? The replica was dedicated on July 4, 1918 as a memorial to the local soldiers who died in World War I. Now part of the Maryhill Museum of Art, Stonehenge is a tourist destination located off Highway 97 near the Columbia River. Much like the original, the summer solstice last weekend drew several Pagans from Southern Washington and Oregon. Bicycle Tree on Vashon Island Historylink.org says years ago someone apparently left their red bicycle beside a big tree and in the time since, the tree grew around it. The little bicycle now is embedded in the tree about five feet off the ground. Giant octopus under Tacoma Narrows Bridge One of the world's largest species of octopus makes its home under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. A popular site for divers is Titlow Park where you can visit the ruins of Galloping Gertie and the giant sea creatures. It's the epicenter for a once popular sport of octopus wrestling. The annual World Octopus Wrestling Championships attracted thousands of spectators and got a write-up in Time magazine. Lake Washington's underwater forest Divers can plunge into the deep Lake Washington waters to explore a forest that used to be on the southwest side of Mercer Island. But a landslide thousands of years ago sent the fully grown trees into the lake. Check out this eerie dive video of the underwater woods. The Northwest Dive Club also has more information for interested divers. Tunnels under Tacoma The legend is there is a network of tunnels crisscrossing under the city of Tacoma, used at the turn of the 20th century for smuggling immigrants in and shuttling unsuspecting drunks onto trading ships waiting in Commencement Bay. But they may just be steam tunnels dug by the city itself. Read more. Bigfoot A Canadian newspaper writer coined the term Sasquatch in the 1920s after compiling a series of local legends about the "wild man" or "hairy man." Since then, there have been photos snapped of Bigfoot or Yeti's footprint, but most scientists say stories of the big, hairy Northwest man are folklore or a hoax. Most Bigfoot sightings are based in the Northwest, but he's also been spotted in Texas, Florida, and Ohio. The Seattle SuperSonics adopted Sasquatch as the team mascot. UFOs at Mount Rainier You may think of Roswell, New Mexico as the birthplace of unidentified flying objects, but really, the term started near Mount Rainier on June 24, 1947. Historylink.org says pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted "nine shiny objects" just over the top of the Cascades. The story went national, and this was two weeks before the U.S. Army issued and retracted a report of a crashed saucer near Roswell. D.B. Cooper In November 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper, later mistakenly but enduringly identified as D.B. Cooper, hijacked a Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle, claiming he had a bomb. When the plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, he released the passengers in exchange for $200,000 and asked to be flown to Mexico. On the flight to Mexico City, he apparently took the cash and parachuted from the plane's back stairs somewhere near the Oregon border. Agents doubt he survived because conditions were poor and the terrain was rough, but few signs of his fate have been found. Caddy the Sea Monster Scotland has Nessy and we have Caddy the sea monster. It's described as a long, snake-like creature with a horse or goat or giraffe head. It snorts and grunts, and might have whiskers or a mane. There have been over 50 sightings of Caddy since the 1930s through the Puget Sound-Strait of Georgia area, but she's also been seen near Alaska and Oregon. Scientists say there certainly could be secrets the ocean hasn't yet revealed. Lake Union islands In May 1962, harbor police spotted a small island (6' by 8') protruding from the water near the south end of the lake. Two University of Washington students quickly claimed it as Chelan Island, elected a mayor and city council, and listed 115 residents, according to Historylink.org. The island disappeared, but two months later, another island about the same size, and another six tiny islands, popped up on the east side of the lake. The Army Corps of Engineers determined the islands were the result of dumping tons of fill dirt from the construction of I-5. Dumping fill dirt in the lake quickly came to a halt. Historylink says a high shoal from Chelan Island can still be seen on a recent soundings map.
10 curiosities and legends in Washington state