By Blake Hren
A friend asked me recently if I was afraid of ghosts. I wondered why she would ask such a question. All of a sudden, I felt a little apprehensive. She said that in downtown Portland are many of America's "hot spots" for paranormal activity. If I wanted to go with her and a group of Corrado students on a tour of such a location: an underground tunnel.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see that our group was not alone; many other individuals were going on the tour with us.
The tour started with our tour guide opening a latched door covering the sidewalk below our feet. He told us to duck as we stepped down through the ground so our heads wouldn't hit the archway as many have done in the past. The stairs were steep, and when I reached the dirt bottom I wanted to turn a light on and keep close to the group. I probably freaked out a few people as they noticed me right behind them when they turned around. I didn't want to be targeted by a ghost as a straggler!
I've heard that on these tours ghosts can slam doors at you, whisper in your ears, touch you, or blow ghost cigar smoke in your face. Not something that I was looking forward to!
As everybody made it down the steps and gathered, the tour guide made it clear that he did not believe in ghosts but that he is not able to explain some of the strange things he has seen, heard and felt throughout his life, even on his tours.
Silence fell over the tour as and the guide told us that the tunnels were the eerie remnants of what is called by historians, "The Shanghai Tunnels." Many of his ghastly stories made me believe he thought something paranormal was occurring. He definitely set the mood through his storytelling.
During 1850-1941, if you were not careful, he explained, you might have gotten drugged, then dropped through trapdoors in floors, held in locked rooms against your will in tunnels underground (like the one we toured). Your boots were taken and often, the tunnels were lined with broken glass. If you tried to escape barefooted, you'd wish you hadn't.
Men and women were sold to sea captains for "blood money" so to speak. There was a huge need for sailors. Oftentimes, women were forced into prostitution. Many ended up being sailed across the Pacific, and some were brought to cities such as New York and Chicago - all against their will.
Throughout the tour, I saw huge old beams of tea-stained wood darkened over time. The tunnels were lined with brick and, in other places, stone. The guide pointed out a huge iron door on the tour "used not to keep people from getting in, but to keep those that are in, from getting out." There were holes broken away large enough for a person to slip through linking rooms between walls. I wondered how many scared victims once slipped past the very places I stood and if they were watching me as I stood there.
The guide explained that many people who have toured this tunnel have claimed to have witnessed or sensed something. On one hand, I was kind of hoping to experience something, but on the other hand, not really. My tour ended with no "weird" experiences, but the history of this tunnel and the possibility of an encounter, made this a night to truly remember.
Blake Hren is a senior biology major
