About the Wyoming County Geo-Trail:
This geotrail consists of 12 caches hidden throughout Wyoming County and is designed to delight and entertain you while showcasing the many beautiful, interesting and historic things Wyoming County offers. To complete the trail and claim glorious victory, you should:
- Find at least 10 of the 12 caches
- Scribble down the unique code word you find in each cache
- Visit the Wyoming County Tourism website to enter the code word with its corresponding cache
- If you have 10 code words correct, sit back, relax and wait to get your limited edition/super collectible WyCoGT wooden nickel
- Brag to all your friends about your geo-awesomeness
About this cache:
The Silver Lake Sea Serpent. A legend, an elaborate hoax, or a real monster that still lurks in the depths of the lake to this day……………
The legend that has been passed on by Native American Seneca elders is that tribes living on both sides of 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 hunt and fish along the edges of the lake. All was peaceful until a raging lightning storm struck the middle of the lake and the serpent was forced onto the shore where the brave warriors of the tribe slayed it.
Hundreds of years went by then on the night of July 13, 1855, two boys and five men were fishing from a rowboat on the lake. After several hours the sun was about to set, the men were growing tired and they wanted to head in for the day. As they began to row the boat in, each passenger watched as a nearby floating log began to move, dipping in and out of the water. Then without notice, the beast leaped from the water, showing itself in all its glory before splashing back into the lake and disappearing. The men and boys who were struck with awe rushed back to shore and alerted the local authorities. They had witnessed a massive, scaly, dinosaur like creature. The legend of the Silver Lake Serpent was reborn.
Word spread about the sighting and people flocked to the shore of Silver Lake hoping to catch a glimpse and to search for the monster. Several expeditions were launched, including a whale man with a harpoon, a crazed society of men armed with guns, and even companies who spend thousands on employees tasked with capturing the creature.
It wasn’t until 1857, when a fire broke out at Artemus B. Walker’s house, a local Perry resident and owner of the Walker Hotel, that the real story was revealed. While fighting the fire, firemen found a serpent like wire frame and some green canvas in the attic. Mr. Walker then confessed that he and some business associates created the monster to attract popularity to the town and its hotels. A.B, as he was known locally, revealed that they had used ropes ran into the lake to move the monster and hoses hooked to large bellows also ran into the lake to inflate the monster and make it appear and disappear suddenly.
The story of the Silver Lake Sea Serpent still lives to this day. The Village of Perry hosts a Sea Serpent Festival every year. There are numerous signs and paintings, including a huge statue at a nearby golf course depicting the monster that appeared one night to make Silver Lake famous.
Oh, and let’s not forget the occasional sightings that surface from time to time. Will you find the clues and spark the rebirth of the Silver Lake Sea Serpent???
An immense thank you to Snowman257 for placing this cache.
NYS Parks permit #LSP-77
Fun fine print:
All final caches are 30 caliber ammo cans or larger. Permission was given to place this cache by the land owner / manager. Please respect their property by leaving no trace, practicing Cache-In-Trash-Out and replacing the cache better than you found it. Enjoy!
