New Folklore Society Voices

"It was a small hole. I’d say maybe a foot and a half, but you got to remember that a bear can get through any spot that he can get his head through. This is what they say anyway. So, anyway Hubbell found it, they shot the signal, and we all came together." —Tommy Smith

NOTE: The New York Folklore Society Newsletter and New York Folklore Journal were replaced by Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore which debuted December, 2000.

New York Folklore Society
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Fall/Winter 1998

FALL/WINTER 1998 VOICES MAIN PAGE

Stories from Camp 13: "Just a Good Old Catskill Mountain Hunting Camp."
Melissa Ladenheim

"Just a good old Catskill Mountain hunting camp," is how Bob Hubbell, an annual guest at Camp 13, describes this isolated camp located deep in the woods at the end of a narrow valley near the village of Margaretville in Delaware County. Organized in 1933, the camp takes its name from the number of founding members. The camp is still owned by the original families; shares are passed down from father to son (although women are not excluded altogether, men are the primary users). Today, ownership of the camp is held by Bob Hill, son of Art Hill; Gary Smith, grandson of Leyden Smith; and Jeff Archibald, grandson of Ralph Archibald. In addition to members, various guests are invited to hunt at Camp 13, so at any given point during the season there could be a dozen or so men "in camp."

The following story about the capture of a bear is recognized by members and guests alike as one of the memorable moments in the camp’s long history, although it is by no means the only one. The version presented here was told to me by Tommy Smith, son of Leyden, during a visit to the camp in the summer of 1993. Also present were Bob Hill, Jeff Archibald, and Francis "Bucky" Fairbairn.

I have subsequently collected versions of the story from both its protagonists, Tom Wagner and Rudd Hubbell, who was a teenager at the time.

Photo Camp 13 original members

Camp 13 original members. Photograph courtesy of Melissa Ladenheim

There was snow on the ground and there seemed to be a lot of activity in bear running in the bear track. And a lot of the fellows were hunting up on Spruce Mountain, and when we come into camp there was a lot of shooting.

And when we come into camp Tom Wagner had come in and said that he had wounded a bear high on Spruce. And he tracked him and tracked him until it was late, and then he took a—I think his bandana or something—and tied it to a tree, didn’t he? And he stopped down by the stream way in the head of the Shandaken—the bear had been bleeding all the time, could see it in the snow.

So, he come in at night, and we all got talking, I think it was about ten of us in camp. We said, "Look, we’ll get that bear. We will get that bear. We’ll all go over there the next morning and spread out." We figured out how we were going to do it trying to pick his track up.

So, we did. We all went over, and we all worked towards the valley. And then, who did find it, who found it? [Bob Hill: "Hubbell found it."] Bob Hubbell found where the bear had gone into a hole. It was a small hole. I’d say maybe a foot and a half, but you got to remember that a bear can get through any spot that he can get his head through. This is what they say anyway. So, anyway Hubbell found it, they shot the signal, and we all came together. Now they’ve decided that bear was dead, because they had cut poles—Francis was there, "Bucky" was there—they had poles, and they were jamming that bear down in there, and the bear didn’t move. Well, by gosh we were going to get that bear out, because we had some engineers with us—I mean fellows with Niagara Mohawk and New York State Electric and Gas [said in a facetious tone to poke fun at Bob and Bucky, former employees]—they were going to get that bear out. You can’t believe the size of the stones that were moved that day, right? I mean they were—I, I wouldn’t even want to guess the weight.

"Campers" at Camp 13, Dry Brook, 1944. Photograph courtesy of Melissa Ladenheim.

Well, finally it got to the point when they couldn’t go any further, so Rudd, he was real small. He says, "I think I can get down through that hole." So, he took off his jacket, and he took off his—did he take his pants off?—Yeah. He was down to his long underwear. So finally he said he can get down through there. Well, we dropped him down in the hole, and when he got down in there it was deep. I mean when he put his hand up like that [reaching over his head], I was up on top, and I would put my hand down in, and I could just about touch it. Well, he started to get a little excited, and the guys were hollering, and I think I said, "Be quiet, please be quiet." Because he was getting excited. And that"s no place to get excited down in there while the bear was dead. [We] put the rope down to him. He got over to the bear and tied it around one paw or both—I can’t remember. And we got [Rudd] up out of the hole, [but] he had tied it around the hind legs so that when you were pulling the hind legs up all of the guts—let’s say innards—went [forward]. And he wouldn’t come through the hole! Well finally we pulled and pulled and pulled, and we finally got him out. And Rudd was out, and he was happy to be out.

And of course Orvil Rosa—who always has something to say—he said, "Well, Rudd," he said, "you know the reason we sent you down in there was because you don’t have any dependants."

Photo of campers and catch

Campers and catch at Camp 13, Dry Brook, 1982. Photograph courtesy of Melissa Ladenheim.

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