April 17, 2020
Stories from his youth from Dan Hyde with help from his sister Nan.
Camping
My family always camped. Even back in the late 1940s, we camped. Way before it was popular to camp, we camped. I don’t remember a time when we didn’t camp. My Dad and Mom went camping with us at R. B. Winter State Park in PA when he was 82. When he signed in for his camping permit, the Ranger asked him if he was a senior citizen and therefore entitled to a discount. Dad replied, “At 82, I guess I’m a senior citizen.”
Camping at Silver Lake as a Kid
I remember when I was about four years old (late 1940s), I went camping on Silver Lake with Mom, Dad, sister Nan (age 10), and brother Dean (age 9). Silver Lake is a small lake about a mile southwest of Perry, NY. We camped on a small patch of grass between a railroad track and the shore of the Silver Lake near the Village of Perry’s water works on the lake’s eastern shore. My Dad had a friend who was the night guard at the water works. We camped at this location because Dad’s friend allowed us to use the bathroom in the water works building and it was close enough to home for Dad to go to work (twenty miles from our house in LeRoy, NY).
This patch of grass between the railroad track and the shore was maybe 20 feet wide. That meant Dad’s old WWII Army Surplus tent was pitched about six feet from the closest rail on the railroad track. The first train rolled by at about 6 am. It was impossible to sleep! The ground just shook. Since we slept on the ground, we shook! The perfect alarm clock! At the first rumble, we kids would jump out of our blankets and go wave at the engineer in the engine. During the day, it was obvious when a train was approaching. The train was a local short line with maybe a dozen cars and never very fast. I doubt it traveled more than 15 mph. Therefore, we had plenty of time to watch it approach. Nan would place her ear on the rail to listen to the vibrations of the approaching train. Of course, Dean and I had to follow suit. To a kid this was way cool!
Dad’s old Army tent deserves a paragraph of its own! This was an umbrella style tent with a “porch.” It was built like a tank–large and heavy! The main part had a floor and was probably 12′ by 12.’ The army green heavy canvas was so heavy it had to be folded into two bundles to allow Dad to carry it. My sister Nan says the tent really smelled. To waterproof it, Dad melted paraffin wax, mixed it in kerosene and painted it on the canvas. And we were warned repeatedly “Do Not touch the canvas!!!” If it is raining that’s where it will leak. The tent poles were made of iron (Probably made before aluminum was discovered!) and super heavy. Carrying the bag with the poles was a challenge for a kid. The “porch” was an awning that was attached to the main part of the tent with detachable sides. The porch didn’t have a floor but was large enough for several cots and space for our stuff. The family camped in this old tent for probably ten to fifteen years before Dad and Mom bought a popup Coleman camping trailer.
During the day, Dad would drive to work in LeRoy while Mom and we three kids had adventures. A short walk away within a stately grove of trees was a public picnic area and a beach. At the picnic area was an old style drab-green, wooden roller rink. The rink was surrounded by wooden shutters that swung up when opened. When the shutters were closed, the rink was secure from the weather and vandals. When the shutters were open, people could stand and lean on the window sills and watch the people roller skating inside. We kids were lifted up and sat on the window sill.
Camping on the lake was heaven for kids. We went swimming in the lake. There was a dock nearby that we could fish from. Near the shore we could search for crabs and other critters among the rocks. My brother Dean spent hours dragging a magnet through the dry sand at the lake shore collecting a black sand that was attracted to the magnet. He collected a little jar full. The black sand had a high iron content which is why it was attracted to the magnet. You could pour some black sand into a paper plate and move the grains around with a magnet under the plate. When the magnet was near, the grains would align into vertical columns like whiskers and you could march the columns around like soldiers. It was just like the kid’s toy Hairy Harry, where you moved black sand around to give a bald Harry, enclosed in a plastic bubble, hair, beard or mustache. We always played with magnets, there were U-shaped ones or pairs of Scotty dogs. It was one of those little things we found in our Christmas stockings.
At Silver Lake, Dad had a small row boat that we could row around and use to explore. We liked to row to the northern end of the lake where many cattails and other water plants grew. This was a great place to spot wildlife such as muskrats and birds. And of course, we were always looking for the famous “Silver Lake Sea Monster!” The Silver Lake Sea Serpent is well known to the locals from Perry, NY but most others have never heard of him. But at one time the Silver Lake Sea Serpent was world famous much like the Loch Ness Monster! But since you’ve probably never heard of him, I will tell you some of his history.
The Silver Lake Sea Serpent
First, the Native American Seneca tribe who lived in the area had a legend of a monster living in Silver Lake. Here is one version of their legend.
“The story as passed on by their elders and told by Native American Seneca Chief Solon Sky was that tribes living on both sides of the Silver Lake knew of a “slug-like creature” about the size of a flour barrel and six feet long that lived in the waters, and if there were no unnecessary noises near the lake, they could live peacefully and continue to live and fish along the edges of the lake, according to Bob Murphy, a well-known Silver Lake historian.
“All was well until a storm caused lightning bolts to strike the water whereupon the monster ended up on the shore of the lake where the brave Indians slayed it.” https://www.eastaurorany.com/articles/the-legend-of-the-silver-lake-sea-serpent-continues/
Probably due to the Seneca Legend, people in the early 1800s occasionally reported seeing a sea monster in Silver Lake. One reported it was 60 feet long and had red glowing eyes. The authorities dismissed such reports as due to insanity, foolishness, or drunkenness until 1855 when seven eye-witnesses swore affidavits they had seen the Silver Lake Sea Serpent.
“Depending on what story is read from various reports over the years, many believe that Artemus B. Walker, well-known as A.B. Walker who owned the Walker House Hotel on Main Street in Perry [about a mile from Silver Lake], may have created the sea serpent tale to drum up business for his hotel or may have made up the story to create a story for the media, said Murphy.
“Either way, it worked.
“As the legend [the incident was written up in the local newspaper] is told, on July 13, 1855, two boys and five men set out in a fishing boat for an evening of fishing on Silver Lake in Perry. In the midst of fishing they saw a monster rising out of the water; it was greenish and twenty feet long.
“Reporting this back on shore, the story they told spread like wildfire, and soon newspapers far and wide were delivering the tale of a sea serpent in the lake.
“Thinking this was the next Loch Ness monster, thousands of people flocked to the area, especially to stay at the Walker House Hotel, which thrilled the owner [Artemus B. Walker]. ☺
“For several years the “frenzy” continued as visitors tried to catch a glimpse of the sea serpent. Watch towers were built and whalers were brought in to try and harpoon the creature, but to no avail. There were even non-conclusive reports that a farmer found large bones that might be the sea serpent in his farm field, Murphy stated.
“In 1857 there was a fire at the Walker House Hotel. In the attic it was reported that firemen found the remnants of a serpent’s head, coiled wire, and greenish cloth, along with ropes, hoses and large bellows.
“Rumor spread that the sea serpent may have been a hoax and that A.B. Walker did it to attract people to his hotel.
“Walker revealed he built the serpent with friends out of the wire coil and canvas. He laid hose in the lake to be able to push air from the bellows through the lines to lift the serpent headfirst out of the water.” https://www.eastaurorany.com/articles/the-legend-of-the-silver-lake-sea-serpent-continues/
“The Sea Serpent legend of 1855 has continued through the years leading to a Sea Serpent comic book produced by Robert Murphy with various depictions of the creature by artist Ron Bouchard, a song written by Sue Hengelsberg in 1974, there are paintings on buildings in downtown Perry, postcards, signs and banners, a sea serpent costume that is used at special events, and the yearly lighted sea serpent decoration that travels by boat up and down Silver Lake during the Independence Day holiday events on the lake (which will be celebrated on July 3) and the Perry Sea Serpent Festival that was started in the 1960s, but discontinued a few years ago.” https://www.eastaurorany.com/articles/the-legend-of-the-silver-lake-sea-serpent-continues/
Walker said that he got the idea for his Silver Lake Sea Serpent from the old Seneca legend and did it to drum up business for Silver Lake and the village of Perry. For a while Silver Lake was a world famous tourist destination where people could hope to spot the famous Sea Serpent. It created an economic boom for Perry, NY.
After Walker confessed in 1857, many still wanted to believe in the Sea Serpent. They believed that he didn’t have the technology nor the knowledge to pull off the hoax. They believed he created the props found in the fire to take false credit for the Sea Serpent’s creation. Therefore, sightings of the Silver Lake Sea Serpent continued for many years after 1857.
Submitted by Dan Hyde