Legend of the White Dog - 2021
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YMCA Camp Timbers is a place that is extremely special to me. Working there was a labor of love. In what is likely my final year on the staff team, I wanted to give something back to the place that meant so much to me. The Herter Band Camp is a hallmark of Camp Timbers and runs for two weeks during the summer. I reached out to the coordinators of the camp and gained their enthusiastic support to write a piece for the kids to perform.
I knew without a doubt that this piece needed to bask in the camp it was written for, and thus, I elected to write a piece based on the most popular Camp Timbers story: The Legend of the White Dog. It is an annual event during staff training when one of the former camp directors stops by to tell the staff the tale of Piper Pete and his dogs. The legend is a mix of tall-tale, tragedy, and ghost story in which a lumberjack and his trusty canine come to become the fierce protectors of Piper Lake and its surroundings. This carries on through today in which the two keep a close watch and the camp grounds and insure its well being. |
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THE FULL STORY OF THE WHITE DOG
In the mid 1800s, Piper Town was a lumber camp for the lumber mill in Saginaw. Every day, the lumberjacks would wake early to head into the woods in the interest of chopping down the trees by hand. They worked long and hard daily and would not return back home until the evening for supper.
The biggest and hardest-working of them all was a mountain of a man named Piper Pete. He did the work of two men, never tired, and always had a positive attitude. Not only was a productive worker, but also a booster of the morale. Piper Pete did not have a family or any close friends other than his two dogs. One was a small little scottie, and the other was a large wolf-like white dog whose stature matched that of his master. Every night, while all the other lumberjacks were social in the community, Pete would play with his two dogs on the train tracks while playing a small fife.
All seemed well with Piper Town, and all would have been had it not been for the miserly Lumber Baron. The Lumber Baron spent a majority of his time at the mill in Saginaw, but every once in a while, he would travel North to check on his camps. One day, he rode into Piper Town on the train and was pleased with nearly everything. Everything that is, except for the two dogs belonging to Piper Pete. See, the Lumber Baron was a truly villainous fiend, and his villainy included a fierce hatred for dogs.
With greed and unkindness in his heart, the lumber baron approached the Foreman of Piper Town. The Foreman is responsible for overseeing the camp and the production. The Lumber Baron instructed the Foreman to deliver an order to Piper Pete. The lumberjack was to rid Piper Town of his dogs, or else. The Foreman, like all members of Piper Town, was incredibly frightened of Piper Pete, but the Lumber Baron was able to successfully threaten the Foreman into carrying out his orders. With his misdeeds underway, the Lumber Baron returned home to Saginaw.
The following day, the Foreman gave instructions to Piper Pete to get rid of the dogs. Pete laughed loudly and ignored the Foreman completely. The Foreman, not wanting to risk the wrath of Piper Pete, nor wishing to cause him to leave the camp, chose to let the incident fade. He hoped with all his heart that on the Lumber Baron's next visit, he would have forgotten about the whole matter.
Alas, things are never so easy with evil men like the Lumber Baron. A couple of months went by, and the Lumber Baron returned. Upon seeing the dogs still in the camp, he became extremely angry and let loose a fit of rage at the Foreman. The Lumber Baron, once again, ordered the Foreman to make Piper Pete get rid of the dogs. Out of fear or bravery, the Foreman refused and told the Lumber Baron to do it himself.
The Lumber Baron agreed, but instead of saying anything to Piper Pete, he got on his train and left Piper Town...or so the lumberjacks of Piper Town believe. The Lumber Baron actually took his train and circled back to wait just out of view of the town. That night, when Piper Pete played with his dogs on the train tracks, the Lumber Baron fired up the train without sounding the horn and raced across the tracks towards the town. While Piper Pete was able to escape, his dogs were not so lucky. They were struck by locomotive and killed instantly. The Lumber Baron laughed at his successful scheme, but Piper Pete just slunk away into the woods.
No-one saw him for a very long time. A month, maybe two. When Piper Pete did finally return, he was a changed man. No longer the fearsome worker or the morale booster, Pete became an average worker in Piper Town. His fife playing days were over.
Some time passed, and the Lumber Baron in Saginaw noticed a significant drop in his profits. He became greedy for more and decided to head back to Piper Town to figure out why their production had declined. Upon arriving, he learned of Piper Pete's slower work and became extremely angry. He took it upon himself to get rid of Piper Pete for good.
The next day, the Lumber Baron went out with the lumberjacks to their day's work. The workers came upon an extremely large, but obviously dead tree. A brief aside, lumberjacks called tree toppers would sometimes be called on to tie a large belt around the trunk of the tree and their own backs. They would then shimmy up the tree and cut off the branches as well as the top of the tree. It was actively the most dangerous job in being a lumberjack. The biggest danger was that a dead tree might split under the pressure as the tree topper shimmied up the tree and thus collapse killing the tree topper.
Piper Pete was the best tree topper that there was, and he had been extremely prideful of that fact for many years. The Lumber Baron knew this and set his plan into action. He laughed loudly and taunted Piper Pete about the tree claiming that "no man could ever shimmy up that great tree. No One."
Pete, feeling full of anger for how the Lumber Baron had killed his dogs and blinded by his own pride, set out to prove that greedy Lumber Baron was dead wrong. Piper Pete attached the belt to himself and the tree and shimmied up the tree a bit at a time, all the while chopping off branches as needed. When he got to the point of chopping off the top, he took a mighty swing with his axe and chopped off the top of the tree with one blow...and the tree gave way to the rot inside of it. It collapsed into rubble, killing the great Piper Pete. The Lumber Baron, quite pleased with himself, returned home.
Weeks and months went by quietly at Piper Town, and before long, strange things started happening. First, the random howl at night. Then it was scratching on the door of the Foreman. Most unsettling, the lunches, packed by the lumberjacks for their work, vanished one day. All that was found in the area were a couple of massive footprints. One set belonged to a 'larger than life' man, and the other belonged to an equally massive canine.
Now, lumberjacks being an extremely suspicious folk, freaked out. They talked amongst themselves that a ghost had appeared in Piper Town. They stopped working, hiding in their homes. Some packed up and left. With the town no longer producing, the Lumber Baron returned in a fit of anger and demanded that the Foreman make everyone get back to work. The Foreman, while scared of the Lumber Baron, was significantly more afraid of ghosts. He refused the Lumber Baron insisting that a dangerous ghost was threatening the town.
The Lumber Baron scoffed and chose to stay in town until the matter was resolved. He stayed in his private cabin, which was near to the train station where his locomotive lay dormant. During the night, a scratching came at the door. Believing it to be nothing but mischief, the Lumber Baron laughed and ignored it. But the scratching grew louder and more constant until the Lumber Baron became deadly serious. Growing scared, he retrieved his double barrel gun and approached the front door, waiting for his opportunity.
At the next scratch, he flung the door open to see a ghastly and pale, but incredibly gigantic white dog. Startled, the Lumber Baron dropped his weapon and fled into the house and out the back door towards his train. Leaping on board, he immediately fired up the train and took off.
This is extremely dangerous with the old steam engines. See, steam engines needed time to warm up before leaving. By doing a cold start and immediately taking off, the Lumber Baron was putting himself and his train at extreme risk. This didn't matter though because the Lumber Baron was afraid for his life. As the train flew across the tracks, the town became awake and looked to see what was going on. Some say they saw the silhouette of a large man make his way out into the lake towards one of the large poles holding up the tracks over the water. Many impossibly loud thuds were heard. Some say, it was the spirit of Piper Pete chopping down that pole.
Whatever the reason, the Lumber Baron's train flew out over the lake, and the tracks collapsed into the water. Whether by the hand of the deceased lumberjack or the foolishness of the Lumber Baron's actions, the train careened into the lake and sunk to the bottom. To this day, one of the ends of the rail road tracks still sticks up out of the water for campers to see and be reminded.
As time has gone on, the legend has grown. Long after Piper Town faded, Camp Timbers opened to provide a safe place for kids to live happy and free during the summer time. Over the years, many have claimed to catch the sighting of a large foot print or a glimpse of a white tail disappearing into the woods. A former director of the camp took diving equipment into the lake and found remnants of an old steam engine, and another story in which missing campers were returned safe and unharmed is also credited to Piper Pete. The legend says he and his great white dog keep watch over Camp Timbers. They live there. They keep watch there. And they protect the innocent!
In the mid 1800s, Piper Town was a lumber camp for the lumber mill in Saginaw. Every day, the lumberjacks would wake early to head into the woods in the interest of chopping down the trees by hand. They worked long and hard daily and would not return back home until the evening for supper.
The biggest and hardest-working of them all was a mountain of a man named Piper Pete. He did the work of two men, never tired, and always had a positive attitude. Not only was a productive worker, but also a booster of the morale. Piper Pete did not have a family or any close friends other than his two dogs. One was a small little scottie, and the other was a large wolf-like white dog whose stature matched that of his master. Every night, while all the other lumberjacks were social in the community, Pete would play with his two dogs on the train tracks while playing a small fife.
All seemed well with Piper Town, and all would have been had it not been for the miserly Lumber Baron. The Lumber Baron spent a majority of his time at the mill in Saginaw, but every once in a while, he would travel North to check on his camps. One day, he rode into Piper Town on the train and was pleased with nearly everything. Everything that is, except for the two dogs belonging to Piper Pete. See, the Lumber Baron was a truly villainous fiend, and his villainy included a fierce hatred for dogs.
With greed and unkindness in his heart, the lumber baron approached the Foreman of Piper Town. The Foreman is responsible for overseeing the camp and the production. The Lumber Baron instructed the Foreman to deliver an order to Piper Pete. The lumberjack was to rid Piper Town of his dogs, or else. The Foreman, like all members of Piper Town, was incredibly frightened of Piper Pete, but the Lumber Baron was able to successfully threaten the Foreman into carrying out his orders. With his misdeeds underway, the Lumber Baron returned home to Saginaw.
The following day, the Foreman gave instructions to Piper Pete to get rid of the dogs. Pete laughed loudly and ignored the Foreman completely. The Foreman, not wanting to risk the wrath of Piper Pete, nor wishing to cause him to leave the camp, chose to let the incident fade. He hoped with all his heart that on the Lumber Baron's next visit, he would have forgotten about the whole matter.
Alas, things are never so easy with evil men like the Lumber Baron. A couple of months went by, and the Lumber Baron returned. Upon seeing the dogs still in the camp, he became extremely angry and let loose a fit of rage at the Foreman. The Lumber Baron, once again, ordered the Foreman to make Piper Pete get rid of the dogs. Out of fear or bravery, the Foreman refused and told the Lumber Baron to do it himself.
The Lumber Baron agreed, but instead of saying anything to Piper Pete, he got on his train and left Piper Town...or so the lumberjacks of Piper Town believe. The Lumber Baron actually took his train and circled back to wait just out of view of the town. That night, when Piper Pete played with his dogs on the train tracks, the Lumber Baron fired up the train without sounding the horn and raced across the tracks towards the town. While Piper Pete was able to escape, his dogs were not so lucky. They were struck by locomotive and killed instantly. The Lumber Baron laughed at his successful scheme, but Piper Pete just slunk away into the woods.
No-one saw him for a very long time. A month, maybe two. When Piper Pete did finally return, he was a changed man. No longer the fearsome worker or the morale booster, Pete became an average worker in Piper Town. His fife playing days were over.
Some time passed, and the Lumber Baron in Saginaw noticed a significant drop in his profits. He became greedy for more and decided to head back to Piper Town to figure out why their production had declined. Upon arriving, he learned of Piper Pete's slower work and became extremely angry. He took it upon himself to get rid of Piper Pete for good.
The next day, the Lumber Baron went out with the lumberjacks to their day's work. The workers came upon an extremely large, but obviously dead tree. A brief aside, lumberjacks called tree toppers would sometimes be called on to tie a large belt around the trunk of the tree and their own backs. They would then shimmy up the tree and cut off the branches as well as the top of the tree. It was actively the most dangerous job in being a lumberjack. The biggest danger was that a dead tree might split under the pressure as the tree topper shimmied up the tree and thus collapse killing the tree topper.
Piper Pete was the best tree topper that there was, and he had been extremely prideful of that fact for many years. The Lumber Baron knew this and set his plan into action. He laughed loudly and taunted Piper Pete about the tree claiming that "no man could ever shimmy up that great tree. No One."
Pete, feeling full of anger for how the Lumber Baron had killed his dogs and blinded by his own pride, set out to prove that greedy Lumber Baron was dead wrong. Piper Pete attached the belt to himself and the tree and shimmied up the tree a bit at a time, all the while chopping off branches as needed. When he got to the point of chopping off the top, he took a mighty swing with his axe and chopped off the top of the tree with one blow...and the tree gave way to the rot inside of it. It collapsed into rubble, killing the great Piper Pete. The Lumber Baron, quite pleased with himself, returned home.
Weeks and months went by quietly at Piper Town, and before long, strange things started happening. First, the random howl at night. Then it was scratching on the door of the Foreman. Most unsettling, the lunches, packed by the lumberjacks for their work, vanished one day. All that was found in the area were a couple of massive footprints. One set belonged to a 'larger than life' man, and the other belonged to an equally massive canine.
Now, lumberjacks being an extremely suspicious folk, freaked out. They talked amongst themselves that a ghost had appeared in Piper Town. They stopped working, hiding in their homes. Some packed up and left. With the town no longer producing, the Lumber Baron returned in a fit of anger and demanded that the Foreman make everyone get back to work. The Foreman, while scared of the Lumber Baron, was significantly more afraid of ghosts. He refused the Lumber Baron insisting that a dangerous ghost was threatening the town.
The Lumber Baron scoffed and chose to stay in town until the matter was resolved. He stayed in his private cabin, which was near to the train station where his locomotive lay dormant. During the night, a scratching came at the door. Believing it to be nothing but mischief, the Lumber Baron laughed and ignored it. But the scratching grew louder and more constant until the Lumber Baron became deadly serious. Growing scared, he retrieved his double barrel gun and approached the front door, waiting for his opportunity.
At the next scratch, he flung the door open to see a ghastly and pale, but incredibly gigantic white dog. Startled, the Lumber Baron dropped his weapon and fled into the house and out the back door towards his train. Leaping on board, he immediately fired up the train and took off.
This is extremely dangerous with the old steam engines. See, steam engines needed time to warm up before leaving. By doing a cold start and immediately taking off, the Lumber Baron was putting himself and his train at extreme risk. This didn't matter though because the Lumber Baron was afraid for his life. As the train flew across the tracks, the town became awake and looked to see what was going on. Some say they saw the silhouette of a large man make his way out into the lake towards one of the large poles holding up the tracks over the water. Many impossibly loud thuds were heard. Some say, it was the spirit of Piper Pete chopping down that pole.
Whatever the reason, the Lumber Baron's train flew out over the lake, and the tracks collapsed into the water. Whether by the hand of the deceased lumberjack or the foolishness of the Lumber Baron's actions, the train careened into the lake and sunk to the bottom. To this day, one of the ends of the rail road tracks still sticks up out of the water for campers to see and be reminded.
As time has gone on, the legend has grown. Long after Piper Town faded, Camp Timbers opened to provide a safe place for kids to live happy and free during the summer time. Over the years, many have claimed to catch the sighting of a large foot print or a glimpse of a white tail disappearing into the woods. A former director of the camp took diving equipment into the lake and found remnants of an old steam engine, and another story in which missing campers were returned safe and unharmed is also credited to Piper Pete. The legend says he and his great white dog keep watch over Camp Timbers. They live there. They keep watch there. And they protect the innocent!