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~ Chapter 13 The SiliJer Lake Serpe~t On the night of July 13, 1855, in Wyoming County, New York, two boys and five men were fishing from a boat on Silver Lake near the village of Perry. After several minutes ofwatching a floating log, one man exclaimed, "Boys, that thing is moving!" Indeed, according to the Wyoming Times, after bobbing in and out ofsight, suddenly,"the SERPENT, for now there was no mistaking its character, darted from the water about four feet from the stern ofthe boat, close by the rudder-paddle, the head and forward part of the monster rising above the surface of the water.... All in the boat had a fair view of the creature, and concur in representing it as a most horrid and repulsive looking monster." One estimated its abovewater circumference as about that of a flour barrel. The group reached the shore safely but were "frightened most out of their senses." Two of the men-all of whom were "persons of character "-signed an affidavit before a justice of the peace attesting to the incident. Several days later, one of the men was again on the lake-this time with his family-and all of them spied the monster, described as having a head as large as a calf's and a fin, apparently, upon its back ("Silver Lake Serpent" 1855). Soon, others were reporting sightings of the monster, and excitement spread far and wide. As reported in an 1880 pamphlet, The Silver Lake Serpent, "People came on foot, by carriage, on horseback, and in fact, by any means oflocomotion in their power, to see ifeven a glimpse ofthe monster could be obtained, and the hotels [in the village of Perry1 found they had 'struck a bonanza'" (3). In response to a reward of a dollar per foot for the monster's skin, the Wyoming Times wondered,"Where's The Silver Lake Serpent Barnum? What will he give for the Serpent, dead or alive?" (6) Several expeditions were launched-ranging from a whaleman with a harpoon, to a vigilance society of men armed with guns, to a company having a capital stock ofone thousand dollars and bent on capturing the creature (Silver Lake Serpent 1880, 3-21). This was all to no avail, and the excitement eventually died down. Then, reports a modern account: "Several years later [1857] a fire broke out in the Walker Hotel. Firemen rushed to the scene to put out the blaze. When they worked their way into the attic they came upon a strange sight. In the midst of the flames they saw a great green serpent made of canvas and coiled wire" (Legend 1984, 11). Another source says, "The truth was then revealed by Mr. Walker himself" who "built that monster serpent with his friends to pick up the business at the Walker House Hotel" ("True" 1974). Mr. Walker was Artemus B. Walker (1813-1889), and the scheme attributed to him and "a few of his intimate and trustworthy friends" is described in a local history by Frank D. Roberts in 1915: The serpent was to be constructed of a body about 60 feet long, covered with a waterproof canvas supported on the inside by coiled wire. A trench was to be dug and gas pipe laid from the basement ofa shanty situated on the west side of the lake, to the lake shore. A large pair of bellows such as were used in a blacksmith shop, secreted in the basement ofthe shanty connected to that end of the pipe, and a small light rubber hose from the lake end to the serpent. The bodywas to be painted a deep green color, with bright yellow spots added to give it a more hideous appearance. Eyes and mouth were to be colored a bright red. The plan of manipulating the serpent was simple. It was to be taken out and sunk in the lake, and then when everything was ready, the bellows were to be operated and air forced into the serpent, which naturally would cause it to rise to the surface. Weights were to be attached to different portions of the body to insure its sinking as the air was allowed to escape. Three ropes were to be attached to the forward portion of the body, one extending to the shore where the ice house now stands; one across the lake, and the other to the marsh at the north end; the serpent to be propelled in any...

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