Originally Posted by
Unknown Author
"The Disembodied Man (Klallam: ʔáwə swə́y̕qaʔ ʔən̕sʔəcɬtáyŋxʷ - Literally: 'No-Body-Man') is an old folk-tale of Road's End, Washington that has been around for centuries at the very least. The earliest recording of it can be traced back to an oral tale that, apparently, originates from around 1795, when a group of European fur-traders met with members of the Klallam tribe around Puget Sound. As the two groups made camp for the night, the Klallam hunters recited a tale of a local spirit, the No-Body-Man who preyed upon travelers in the not-too-distant forest that would be later known as the Ghostwood National Forest. It is possible that the name comes from this very same tale.
Ironically enough these fur traders would end up missing during their travels, a fact that was found out by the Lewis and Clark expedition some years later. The expedition met the very same members of the Klallam tribe who told that, despite their warnings, the fur traders had moved straight to west, passing by Ghostwood forest and disappearing into it. The hunters were adamant that the No-Body-Man had taken them, spiriting them away since they were strangers in this land. From here we can see the possible function of this folktale: The No-Body-Man, and later The Disembodied Man is a spirit that preys on strangers or unknown people to the land, or those that have disrespected it, becoming thus an explanation for those who travel out of the region or become lost as they don't know the paths and roads... or simply end up killed by locals who see them as a threat.
Whatever the case, the mentions of the No-Body-Man appeared every now and then during the 1800s, mostly as a boogeyman with which the encroaching westerners were threatened with. Just like any local legends, those who already lived there believed in it, and passed it on to anyone moving to the area, who then passed it on to their descendants and those who came later. It would be no different legend from, say, a wendigo or a Sasquatch, were it not for the more recent 'sightings'. Two sightings in particular, one in 1947 and one in 1971, became the talk of the town. In both cases the locals claimed that the whole town had had nightmares for weeks before it, often dreaming of a starless or a red sky. Then, not long after, local witnesses would claim they had seen a silhouette of a human or a man in a black suit standing in the shadows of the forest, glaring at the town with hatred in their eyes. An amateur photographer at the area during 1971 managed to take a picture of this alleged being, but all it shows is a distant figure in the woods, and could have been easily faked.
The interesting thing about this is the persistence of the legend and how it ties to the misfortunes of the town itself. After all, it was not long after 1947 sighting that Howard McLampet, the patriarch of the ill-fated McLampet family, acquired the logging rights of the Ghostwood National Forest and built the McLampet saw mill. Back then some people said that this would be the death of the Ghostwood Forest, and a song was created out of an old poem centered around the mythical spirit. Ironically enough this song would become topical again as in 1971, the eldest son of the McLampet family would disappear from the town, claiming someone was out to kill him. This happened right after the major sighting in question was made. Only ten years later, in 1981, The Man was said to have been sighted outside the old McLampet Estate - a sign of the misfortunes that continued to befall the family. Once again, the old song was brought to life, warning how The Man sought out those who were far from home. This time it was the disappearance of the youngest, and last, McLampet sibling. Again and again, the legend of the Disembodied Man has resurfaced just before major disappearances in the town. The only time this did not seem to happen was when Howard McLampet himself died in 1962. But who truly knows? The locals have a habit of blaming especially odd or mysterious death on The Man, too."
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