Unearthly Upstate

By Unearthly Upstate

Unearthly Upstate looks at the tales and the legends of places and people of Upstate New York. We will tell you the folklore, but then explain the history. Sometimes the history is interesting, sometimes it’s non-existent, and sometimes it's more disturbing than the tales told.

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2023 Episode 3: Owney: Postal Mascot and a Good Boy

Unearthly UpstateFeb 06, 2023

00:00

30:07

2023 Episode 3: Owney: Postal Mascot and a Good Boy

Summary:

A scruffy terrier mix dog walked into the Albany, New York Post Office and soon became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Post Office and the United States Postal Service. He kept the mail bags safe and traveled far and wide; across the United States and the world. His legacy is lived beyond his questionable death.

Sources for the show:

“The Argus. Volume (Albany [N.Y.]) 1865-1921, December 24, 1895, Page 9, Image 9.” The Argus. volume (Albany [N.Y.]) 1865-1921, December 24, 1895, Page 9, Image 9 - NYS Historic Newspapers. The Argus. Accessed February 5, 2023. https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83045592/1895-12-24/ed-1/seq-9/.

Contributor, USPS. “The History of Owney the Postal Dog, Mascot of the Railway Mail Service.” Postal Posts, November 5, 2015. https://uspsblog.com/the-history-of-owney-the-postal-dog-mascot-of-the-railway-mail-service/.

Kelly, Kate. “Owney, the Post Office Dog.” America Comes Alive, November 3, 2021. https://americacomesalive.com/owney-the-post-office-dog.

Magazine, Smithsonian. “Owney the Mail Dog.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, September 1, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/owney-the-mail-dog-48862403/.

“Owney (Dog).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, November 5, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owney_(dog)#:~:text=Owney%20.

“Owney the Dog.” National Postal Museum. Accessed February 5, 2023. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-postal-operations-popular-culture-seals-symbols/owney-the-dog.

“Owney.” National Postal Museum, July 11, 2011. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/owney.

Music:

Cattails Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Feb 06, 202330:07

2023 Episode 2: Gremlins? The Unmanned Crash of C-45 Beechcraft

Summary:

There is a case for an eyewitness account with all the makings for a good Gremlin story. We have five individuals while flying, who experienced an unexplained mechanical failure in mid-air and lost their aircraft which ended up in a body of water, 70 miles away. An experience so significant it forced the individuals in question to do something none of them had ever done before.

Sources for the show:

Buckshot, Sarah Moses. 2014. “U.S. Air Force Plane Abandoned in Flight in 1952 Discovered in Lake Ontario.” Syracuse. July 8, 2014. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2014/07/us_air_force_aircraft_abandoned_in_flight_in_1952_discovered_in_lake_ontario.html .

Flory, Alex. n.d. “C-45 Expeditor Recovered from Lake Ontario.” Accessed January 22, 2023. https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2017/10/21/c-45-expeditor-recovered-from-lake-ontario-2/.

Kennard, Jim. 2014. “U.S.A.F. Aircraft Abandoned in Flight Discovered in Lake Ontario.” Shipwreck World. July 8, 2014. https://www.shipwreckworld.com/articles/usaf-plane-discovered-lake-ontario .

USAF C45 Aircraft Abandoned in Flight Found in Lake Ontario. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw5ztGcNmos .

Music:

Cattails Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Jan 23, 202330:48

2023 Episode 1: The Flying head

Summary:

There is an old legend of a fearsome creature that flies through the forests of the Adirondacks. This primordial being was created at Lake Sacandaga after a brutal murder or had it always been there? We discuss the Iroquois legend of the Flying Head

Link to the photo of the owl showing the threat display.

Sources for the show:

Native Languages. “A Seneca Tale.” Accessed December 31, 2022. http://www.native-languages.org/senecastory4.htm.

Abbatt, W. The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries, 1906. https://books.google.com/books?id=x_AOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA282.

Canfield, William. The Legends of the Iroquois. A Wessels Company, 1904. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Legends_of_the_Iroquois/E4xCAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.

Contributors to Wikimedia projects. “Flying Head.” Wikipedia, November 29, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Head.

Native Languages. “Flying Head (Whirlwinds, Big Heads).” Accessed December 31, 2022. http://www.native-languages.org/flying-head.htm.

Frameglasseye. “R/Paranormal - The ‘Flying Head’ Encounter.” reddit, March 19, 2019. https://www.reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments/b2wvn6/the_flying_head_encounter/.

Genier, Lisa. “Did You Know? - Things You May Not Know about the Adirondack Park.” Https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/, August 18, 2014. https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/in--about-the-park-14/news/things-you-may-not-know-about-the-adirondack-park-507.html.

Geocaching. “1812 Birth of Lake Pleasant.” Geocaching.com. Accessed December 31, 2022. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC778VV_1812-birth-of-lake-pleasant?guid=6bc01a62-2d43-4a0d-849f-d17ec886fa47.

Hoffman, Charles Fenno. Wild Scenes in the Forest and Prairie. Vol. 2. Richard Bentley London, 1839. https://archive.org/search.php?query=external-identifier%3A%22urn%3Aoclc%3Arecord%3A1158370562%22.

jla5458. “Hunger Is More than in the Stomach.” Medical Ethics and Health, February 6, 2015. https://sites.psu.edu/mehealth/2015/02/06/hunger-is-more-than-in-the-stomach.

Lewis, Deane. “Behaviour of Owls.” The Owl Pages, June 19, 2015. https://www.owlpages.com/owls/articles.php?a=2.

Weaver, Aaron. “Lake Sacandaga Legend.” History of lake pleasant & Speculator, August 31, 2014. https://historylakespec.wordpress.com/lake-sacandaga-legend/.