Legends;]]> legend-tripping;]]> "The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Cory Ballard
Nibley, Utah
April, 1988
Cory Ballard was another classmate and graduate of Mountain
Crest High in 1987. He likes fast cars, working for his Dad
and outdoor games. He likes to have a good time and be wild
sometimes. He is very active in the LOS church with his family
and plans to serve a mission.
Contextual Data:
Cory lives in my ward so I went over to his house when I
saw him sitting outside catching some rays. I asked him to
relate the story once again as he did one year ago that day after
it happened. It was the first time he had talked about it since
then. He said he would never do that ever again.
Text:
We did go inside the gate, but not very far. We both were
toOchi7hken to go any farther, then something started chasing us
.. '
out the gate. We were running to the car screaming, "start the
car" and it wouldn't start at all then really weird it started
right up when I jumped behind the driver's wheel. As we . were
driving away we all felt a bump on the back of the car. The
next morning my Dad came in and asked me where I had been that
night because there was a long black mark on the back of the car
on the drivers side and it wouldn't come off. I told him what we
had been doing and swore to him I would never do that again. The
whole thing was like a nightmare come true.
Sherry Anderson
Nibley, Utah 84321
USU
Folklore
Spring 1988
(
Logan Canyon Witch
Infonnant:
James Milligun
Logan, Utah
Oct. 22, 1997
James Milligun is from Logan Utah. He has resided there his whole life. He is twenty
two, working and thinking about going back to colleage. He is from a L.D.S. family and currently
getting reinvolved in that church. He is of Gennan disent. He loves the outdoors, rock climbing,
hiking, fishing, snow boarding, and camping.
Context:
I gathered this information while talking about bizarre things, family secrets, scary stories,
mysterious happenings, and stupid jokes, with a group of my guy friends. He was told this
superstitions by his friend Larry Soule. They were at a boy scout over nighter (camp) in Logan
Canyon, June 1991. I'll tell it how he told it. He claims it to be true.
Text:
"This friend of mine, Larry he was kind of into satanic stuff, he said that there is lady that
lives in Logan Canyon. She is supposedly Satan's wife. Her names is Hekida (Hekita). He said If
( you say Hekida three times terrible things happen. And he made sure to say Hekida three times
(kind of like I just did, except we are not in the Canyon). So right after he said her name the third
time, rocks started falling down the mountain. Not just little rocks but big boulders. Later on,
during that trip he told someone else that superstition saying her name three more times. And just
after that one of the boys almost fell of a cliff. It's true, I was there."
Texture:
James told me this story totaling believing in every word. The others just laughed at him
and started shouting "Hekida, Hekida, Hek. .. I don't dare finish it. But I'm convinced that there
may very well be-a strange power in Logan Canyon that I don't want to mess with.
D'On Elizabeth Bybee
Richmond, Utah 84333
USU
Eiglish 124
Professor Toelken
Fall 1997
(
(
I .~ .. _ "_" ____ .1. r ... _.l. _
ifHurrfltHil LHjlll:
tDgett-n::r. r-'-le I! ~;SB '=/:iBS ei gf-~t8en yeers [lId Vif-H:~n thi s event r-Itlppeneu. She carnes
frorn a f8rnily of t\i&/o t!rotr-,ers end one sister. !"-"ielisstfs fernily \~leS "fiery \l\iell-to­IJO
BrnJ r-itHJ 1 i ved in CO':le for Btiout Sf ;~teen yeBrs. i-'-le 1 i sse 1 i ke rnost gi (1 sin t-ii gh
couple of tt-iB guys \i'll8 \lvere talking to tried to rnake thin!J:3 B little rnore thrillin!~
tty sneaking around Det-,ind us end grEltluing our ritis to scare us. Tf-ie fri~~ht of tr-Jese
pet ty j ekes gave r-'-le 1 i s::;e an i dee to rea i 1 Y scare e\;;eryone. ~a-Ie su!~gested tr-!at vve
Bll go to Tf-Ie r~unnery ane! v=iBlk~ around. Ti-itlt is ell it took: .. everyone jurnped into
fier- Bronco tin!J r·JeBued up LD~~an [:anyon. As 'tie drove to Tf-Ie r~Junnery .. r"'lelissa
.,"
(
(
(
(
Local Legend
The Nunnery
Informant Data:
Stephanie Bramwell
Logan, Utah
Winter 1993
Stephanie grew up in Washington state, she is twenty
years old and carne to Utah to attend Utah State University.
Stephanie is known in her family as the prankster. She
enjoys hiking, camping, and sports. Stephanie is a very
social person and is a member of a sorority at USU.
Contextual Data:
Stephanie relayed this story to a bunch of her sorority
sisters and some fraternity boys. They were all messing
around one weekend, and were up late that night telling
stories of ghosts, hauntings and personal experiences. Upon
the need to do something, Stephanie encouraged the group to
make a voyage up Logan Canyon to the Nunnery. On the way up
Stephanie told the legend of the Nunnery.
Text:
Sometime before most of Logan had been settled. There
was this delivery that carne up to Logan Canyon to bring
supplies to the isolated nunnery. This was a place of
seclusion for the nuns and also the place where they sent
the troubled children to be taken care of. The only means
of supplies and food for the nuns and children was this
delivery truck.
Well, one winter, the snowfall had gotten so bad that
the delivery truck was unable to get through to the nunnery.
It tried and tried, but was unable to get through until the
next spring. When the delivery and help finally made it up
to the nunnery they discovered all of the children and nuns
were dead. It's believed that the nuns out of desperation,
ate the children and then went mad themselves. They killed
each other and then killed themselves. Supposedly their
spirits are still wandering aimlessly about at the nunnery
today.
Jennifer Wheeler
Logan, Utah
5916 South 3750 West
Roy, Utah
Utah State University
· ,
(
Anthropology 526
Fall 1994
;; , /, /;; , I , 5"7
(
Local Legend
"Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Kent Lundberg
Logan, Utah
Spring 1989
Kent was a senior in high school when I knew him. He was
born and raised in Logan, and came from a large family. He spent
a lot of his time in the mountains and rock climbing. It is hard
for me to give any current information because I haven't seen him
for quite a few years.
Contextual Data:
One Friday night when Kent and I were dating, he took me up
Logan canyon about ten miles to some old abandoned cabins.
Although they are directly off the main road they are hard to see
because of heavy overgrowth and trees. I had never noticed them
before. There is a main lodge with a swimming pool and several
cabins all around. It was dark so he was trying to scare me and
he told me the story that went with the old abandoned camp.
Text:
Back in the 1970's there used to be a camp run by nuns for
catholic girls during the summers. One summer a nun went crazy
and one night she convinced several of the children they needed
to come with her for a very special assignment. She then took
the children one by one and drown them in the pool. She killed
twelve children before she was done. The next morning the early
morning campers found the twelve dead children floating in the
pool and the crazy nun hanging from the flagpole. The state shut
the camp down after that and that's why it is now abounded. They
rumor is that the spirit of the dead nun still walks the ground
and every night she sits by the pool and weeps for what she did.
They say that if you are wandering around up there and she see
you she will show herself to you in the form of an all white nun.
c:;,/,/;)./,S" t'
I.
(
(
And if you see this white nun it means that you will die within
the next year.
Michelle Phillips
Richmond, Utah 84333
Preston, Idaho 83263
History 124
winter 1994
I I,
(
(
Folklore Archive, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84321
Item: ,I ... 1/ 1
(~( J,.. ';l t ( t
I,'
I Ink please .J /' ~.t' .--J Age .. ... .. .!. ................ . ' '( ./, • • • • •••••• • •• • •• •• • • ••••••• • .! . ..... . . ... . . . .... .... .. . .. . . Name of Informant ..... ..-c • • •• ••• • • •••• •• •••••••• ;;- .. / I, . I /'" .. ..... .. ... .
Address .. .... ....... .. .. .. .. ....... .. ... ....• : .... .... ..... .. · · ·· · · · · · ···· · ·· ·· · ··· · ·c~~~~·:· · ·· · · ·· ········ · · ··· · ·' s~~·;~· · ··· · ··· · · ·
City , ,') '/" 'J.) '~ LI(l I t ' II. Y'0~1 lL '/
, ,
/
-V
I I I _ I, '_ " !. >'''/...'-<
I,., ,_r't"",.j '7
\. '-' _;I '- ~' /'\ { I. k (_ • ~
- I
, (
~jI
I
/
t ,
,
v
/' ,
/. •. r
I
- / y, " '(J
/, - -r I First Heard (by informant) ./.. l.1l../ ..!. .... .. . .. . ......\r .. .Y.'. .". . ... . ? <• •••C•,• •it•y• • • • • •• • • • • • •• • •••••• •• ••••••••••• • • • •• • •• • •• ··(· · ··· ··C·o..u..n.t.y.. ...... ......... ... :S ..t.a.t.e.. ...... ..... ...... .
Year J . I , L~' L" -"'_
d the item or on the informant : • / .Jc.'.--"r _- l ' "A-- -; ( .c", ..J . ' j'1
Backgroun on . ' .) I . .;;, ./ L /! I /'
' r I " , '-', I' I' - I r\ , , ..r
J
"I' " / / I ! . ~ ',,- ' c' I . 'I I :- ,. \ "~ /' II <.-J' ~'_' -;. L '
( " hi ,~ ~ ) I, ('.{ !f -\ /;C» k: , (' {,' :, -. ,J .,f (( I ! - l I;;
(over, if necessary)
, ,( , j ----;"" ....,.,.
. - J" I. \ j 1
I /', Date .. .. ..... -:": .. ... ..... ... .. ....... ....... ... . ' , '" '.. (f "-:;. ,- ~ .... ' •• •• •• ••• •••••• •• • •• • •••••• •• , Collected By ... ... ...: -:.......... ..... ... .... ...... .. .... .... ... ... ! ( I (j I
City ...... \.. .~. .. :~)., ... (.,.! .............. ~. . ... .....................................................S tate .... ..... ..... ... ..... ...... ... .. ..... .. .. .
I I
I ;; 1 I ' I } 1/ ' 59
(
",
Re;ligiou$~ .r..egend _
II 'I'l-te" -Nunneryll
Informant Data:
Tonya Griffin
Logan, Utah
April, 1989
Tonya Griffin is a 23 year' and is living in Logan but is from
Newton, Utah. She went to Sky View High School and graduated in 1984.
qer religion is L.D.S. and l-ter families descents are Dutch and Danish.
S~ e's attending Utah State University and is majoring in Marketing and
Economics. She's a great at1lete and enjoys all kinds of sports.
Contextual Data:
I collected this story while talking to my friends about the
w'ummery. " Host of us were all familiar wi t1-J the nunnery and each started
t share their experiences that they ha~e had. Tonya's was quite different
s o I decided to tell hers. She heard of this story her senior year of
1ig1 school. She was coming home from a basketball games on t he bus,
and everyone was telling spooky ~tories about the nunnery. One of her
friends told her about this story.
Text :
In Logan Canyon there's a place called st. Ann Retreat, where the
I
lNuns would go for the summer. It's told that two Nuns became pregnant
and t1eir babies were drowned in the pool there. The {uns don't use the
place anymore but who really knows. At night there are many lights on
around the place and it's said to be guarded by a two headed dog. At
times you can even hear the bab~Cries.
As I was talking to Tonya about the Nunnery she told me of an
experience her friend told her. A coupld decided to go to the Nunnery one
night. As they pulled there car on to the bridge the gate was locked.
T~ e y went to get out but heard a Strange sound on t he top of t heir car
so they stayed inside. They both became very frightened and tried to
drive out of their but they felt a strong force. They could hear scratching
noises like something was slowly falling off the car as it drove aw~y.
W~ en the couple got back into Logan they looked at the top of their car
(
- 2-
and found long scratches across the whole top of the car. It was probably
t he two ~ eaded dog. Tonya talked to someone about it and t hey swear t hat
it is true.
Kristie Murdock Anderson
North Logan, Utah .
North Logan, Utah
Utah State University
English 124
Spring 1989
c>'? I I,;;) ,/,UO
J
; ,
Texture --- Every time I tel this legend it still gives me the creeps. The way in which this story is
told is important becau e-it aJmost has to be eerily quiet so that all th _details canoe
heard. The quietness almost lets Y0u.jl,!mp into th~ssene-oftlie legend and actually
visualize what is going on. I also think t at--it:-srather freaky for young girls to hear it
because so many us come in ate« night into the dorms and are quiet trying to get ready
to go to bed or someti es even going to our boyfriend's hOuse. So that makes the legend
even m re--of~ity. ----~
-------- -- "The Nunnery"
Informant
Kaleo Penoke who currently attends school here at Utah State told this legend to me.
He is a 23-year-old male who is majoring in psychology and will graduate in the spring.
He is Filipino and comes from a rather large family who is Mormon. His hobbies include
riding motorcycles and hiking.
Context
Kaleo told this legend to me last summer when we had decided to go up into Logan
Canyon on a short hike. This legend was not told in any particular way, but just told as
fact and something that really happened. There were three other people who were with
us; two of them knew the story. I think that these others were part of the story because
they could back it up that they to also have heard it. Which gave the legend even more
backup.
As we were hiking up into the Canyon, Kaleo begins telling the story of
"The nunnery" and decides that it's best if we go try to find it. So as we are hiking up to
find this place he starts telling us that back in the 1800's this nunnery was used by the
Catholic nuns as part of a retreat camp. And that sometimes the nuns wouldn't behave
themselves and they would have sexual relations with priests or other Clergy. And that
some of the nuns became pregnant, well legend has it that they would have the baby but
then leave these babies in underground tunnels that were beneath the nunnery and let
L D, \,It) &;1
E(in ~rri~
/
them starve to death. It's even been said that when the nunnery closed for good that
along with the tunnels that were found so were the baby's skeletons. And at night you
can still hear the baby's wails if you get close enough to the nunnery.
Texture
When Kaleo was telling me this story I began to feel a little uneasy. I think it was
because the situation he was telling it in. We were hiking up to find this place and the
sun was beginning to set. All of it tied into the legend and the feelings of being scared or
a bit unsure of the whole idea of a hike after all. The setting in which it was told only
made it seem more likely that it happened. We never did find the nunnery after all, we
searched for about 45 minutes but gave up and I can't say I was the least bit sorry about
it.
Erin Harrison
Logan, Utah 84321
Elk Grove, Ca 95624
Utah State University
Eng! AnthrolHist 526
Roush
Spring Quarter 1998
Supernatural Legend
Saint Anne's Retreat
Informant Data:
Brett Bluth
Logan, UT
1990
Brett Bluth is from Logan, UT. He is LDS. We were friends throughout
high school. He now lives in Provo, UT.
Contextual Data:
When Brett was a child, his babysitter told him this story and said that
it happened to her.
Text:
One day the babysitter and her friends went swimming in the pool at St.
Anne's Retreat. They had been swimming for about 10 minutes. They all got
frozen in the pool, so they couldn't move at all. After a minute they could
all move again, and they got out and left.
Laura Sozio
Logan, UT
Logan, UT
Utah State University
English 124
Fall 1990
LJ ,(, I2. .! cP2
Urban LegEncl
Aa r~)1_ f:'!" c;t·
LDqan Utah
FEB :' ~ 1993
"f;t. {~r~'1e's S:"3.ugrter '
A6rcn leislman is ~1 years old. He was barr 11 Ugden U~a1
an~ has Ilved:r Losan ~or abo~t L5 years. ~e IS a s~Lde'1t at
Utat' Bta.;e . Lniver,~lty n2 ... ?orinq in ~lect;T"lccd fechrology" HE'~ has
ro religious pre+erence and s a memb2r uf the Sig~a ChI
.( rl t?r-r-" .;y,
Cor tc )'I.Ld" Ddt3:
une C" Y
tr'lJ? .~?i~Ji"'1a ChJ hOLt "::; (:;:. u
wt·tCj~r-,ODn [ (·,)a c::; S::.tt1.l1~1 11"'1 t1e fror't ""OWl) 01'
Aaron W25 i'1 the rOJM and we ~ere a~l
Cary,)f"! and rO(l) m~tc'''i ,! .. e all l.i.kE?d 90::'1'19 up
~:ie::.:idE'!d to te.ll u.~, (flat hE~ '1.:td rIE',.""d <.1f'd dCj~12
~rl n 1S tl)I ·12.t he £:.,'.10,
t·2 1.:: l ' H,j about Loc)an
there. Aaron tner
LP In LDgar' Canyon.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ThaT-.(? u':::2d to Lc' <.l f'Un"l :;ry up LbcJcl.f, C".f'Y01,! a .1.org timr <:'(,10
up the-e and rstreated
One ~;5l.t("I'Tler t'1ey had some orphan ~::.ds that
tre ::ic:!s ~hrew t~e~ into the sWImming pool
I
;'U11 ~t1i'0n L~lU~d ths? rJtrier nLlr's tine:! kl11"2d h:~r-s,p1.f 3.150. I<' you
you and thr-ow you 1rto the po~l also.
L.. CJ\. .1 .1 r ~.i -I ~3L1·3::::~.
,··:,hthr c: ~3:~)t ~
.',11 r·tc"!' 1. 993
Supernatural Legend
Saint Anne's Retreat
Informant Data:
Justin Eborn
Logan, UT
1990
Justin Eborn is from Montpelier, Idaho. ~e is now serving an LDS mission
in California.
Contextual Data:
I worked with Justin. He told me this story one day at work.
Text:
Justin and his friends decided one night to go to St. Anne's. They heard
dogs barking in the distance; it kept getting closer and closer. They were
standing by a fence and the fence started tilting like there were dogs jumping
against it. They got scared and ran back to the car. Justin couldn't find
his keys, and they weren't in the ignition or in his pocket. They went back
by the fence to find the keys. They couldn't find the keys by the fence and
went back to the car. The keys were swinging in the ignition. As they drove
away, they heard scratching on the car. When they got back to Logan, there
was a scratch on the car.
Laura Sozio
Logan, UT 84321
Logan, UT 84321
Utah State University
English 124
Fall 1990
The Nuns' Baby
Informant:
Rita Gafford
05/05/98
Rita Gafford has been my roommate for seven months. She participates in
various types of recreation, many of which are up Logan Canyon. Rita was raised
in Bountiful Utah in the LDS religion. She is an Exercise Sport Science major at
Utah State University.
Context:
I asked Rita where she was going biking one day and she replied, "up near
the catholic convent". I asked her where that was had she said, "haven't you heard
about the Nun up there?" I replied no. She then proceeded to tell me what a friend
she described only as a "Logan local" had told her. She told the story as if she
personally did not believe it but those who told her wholly believe it.
Text:
Up Logan Canyon there is a convent of some sort. It was a retreat for Nuns.
A long time ago there was a Nun who went and stayed up there to hide out because
she was pregnant. She had her baby and was going to keep it and quit being a Nun
but she was overwhelmed with shame so she had the baby and then killed it and
buried it up by the convent. She was so overcome by guilt that she killed herself.
Late at night, near the convent, you can hear the cry of the baby and many people
have seen the Nun, wandering in the trees in eternal search for her child.
Texture:
Coming from someone who was raised in faith besides the Catholic religion, I
think the story is told with a hint of believability. As it is every Nuns vow to be
celibate, sex and especially pregnancy is so taboo for a Nun. It makes you feel sad to
hear such a story of a mother killing her child out of guilt but leaves room for a
haunting feeling because of this woman wandering Logan canyon in some sort of
eternal shame and misery. It is almost as if this woman is in a type of eternal
damnation and that makes seeing such a being very scary.
Jennifer K. Morrill
Logan, UT.
Sandy, UT.
Utah State University
Supernatural Legend
Nunnery in Logan Canyon
Informant Data:
Robert Trahan
Logan Utah
Summer of 1994
Robert Trahan is from Louisiana, he is 21 years old and is studying Industrial Hygiene at Utah State University.
He likes hiking, loud music, and plays in a rock band called Chubby Amigos. He comes from a family of 6 with 2 other
sisters and his parents who are divorced. Roberts family still lives in Louisiana and he wants to return there after
graduation. Robert is also about as straightforward as they get, he rarely believes anything he hears and jokes about only
serious matters.
Contextual Data:
Robert told this story to four or five of us while we sat on his porch one summer explaining recent hikes we had
been on around the Cache Valley area. The other people in the group had also heard this story from various people.
Some of the people said they heard a different version of the story about the same place from their parents, brothers and
sisters. Supposedly the Man with the dogs had also taken care of the place in the 1930's. The man was accused of
molesting girls there. Once the towns people found out a search held and somehow the old man was found and killed.
by the angered people of the local towns. It seems that all supernatural encounters come from places one should be in
the first place, Le. trespassing on someone property. With all the different variations to the story and the long history of
the Nunnery up Logan canyon I suppose some parts of these stories have some validitity.
Text:
A friend of Roberts, Tim, had the job of taking care of the Nunnery the one summer. Tim had only been there
for one day when he heard a vehicle driving up the d~ward the Nunnery while he was going for a swim. So, Tim
got out of the pool and dried off so he could confront the people about the no trespassing signs posted at the rcrle\
leading to the Nunnery and on the land around the buildings.
When he greeted the vehicle, it was just a bunch of teenage kids out checking the place out. Tim explained to
the young group that they were not supposed to be up there and to tum around and leave promptly. Then one kid
replied that they had already talked to the land tenant, a old man with two dogs, and he gave them permission from them
to visit the buildings as long left everything without a scratch. Tim replied he was land tenant and had been in the pool
swimming for the last 20 minutes. Plus he had haven't seen anyone up here all day and he never seen& ld man with
two dogs.
]effNorgord
Logan Utah, 84321
English 124
Fall '94
1
I
(
Supernatural Non-religious Legend
"Saint Ann's Retreat"
Information Data:
Robert Todd Starks
USU Library
January 18,1991
Robert, who goes by Bob, was born in Long Beach California. He
spent most of his childhood in Cache Valley. Bob graduated from
Logan High School and attend Utah State University for a year. He
served as a missionary for the LDS church in Peru for two years. He
is 22 years old and a junior in History at USU. Bob comes from a
white LDS family. He is number five of six children. As a student,
Bob enjoys activities and hobbies such as smgmg, story telling,
motorcycling, and studying languages.
Contextual Data:
Bob first heard about this in his sophomore year of High School.
He was with a group of friend at a party one evening during the
summer. He was told about the story after they had just watched
scary movie. He also heard it several times later through high school.
I have known Bob since his first year at USU. We prclormed together
in a music group. Bob told this to me in his ow'iI words while I
recorded it on tape.
Text:
These guys went up Logan canyon, up to Saint Ann's retreat.
And they were up there and they didn't know about all the stuff that
had happened up there. They were up there playing ball. One guy
threw the ball too far and the other guy ran to catch it. He didn't
catch it. It went in the little pond up there, a little fountain. It's only
about ankle deep and he jumped in the fountain to get the ball and
carry it out, but when he got in the water, he feel in the water and
he couldn't get out. He drowned there in the ankle deep water.
l 2../' IZ. /.1P7
(
Jonathan R. McEntire
River Heights, Ut 84321
Utah State University
History 124
Winter, 1991
Religious Legend
"A Haunted Nunnery."
Informant Data:
John Weaver
Logan, Utah
Summer, 1990
John Weaver is a junior at Utah State University
majoring in pre-law. He is the oldest of two children. He
was born in Salt Lake City, Utah but at the age of twelve
his family moved to Clifton, Idaho. John is an active
member of the LDS Church and has served a mission to North
Carolina.
Contextual Information:
John heard this story from one of his roomates. He
related this story to me one day as we were talking about
folklore. The nunnery that is in this story is called St.
Ann's and is located up Logan Canyon in Utah.
Text:
Many years ago and no exact date has been given, a
priest went up to St. Ann's retreat to visit the nuns. Before
he left an early snow storm hit and he was trapped at the
retreat for the winter. When spring came several of the nuns
delivered babies. Because of the disgrace, the mother
superior took all of the babies and put them in the swimming
pool.
As the legend has it, if you were to go to St. Ann's
during a full moon, you will see these nun's ghosts wandering
around the pool crying and the faces of the babies in the
pool.
KaraLyn Litz
Trenton, Utah 84338
Utah State University
History 124
Fall 1990
.,
In/omumJ DIItII:
JIUOIIP~
LogIIII, Ut
November, 1996
Jason Painter is a mend of mine. He is twenty-five years old and lives in Logan. I met
him through a mutual friend and we have been friends for twelve years. He grew up in Logan
such as I did, and lives here still .
I was ml1cing to Jason in the grocery store and we were reminiscing about our past. We
both grew up having wild mends, especially Jason. Growing up in Logan there is not a lot to do,
so sometimes kids would have to make their own excitement. Jason told me this story that his
friends told him when they were in high school, beck around 1987.
Text:
Word was out all over the local high schools that St. Anne's Nunnery up Logan Canyon,
which has been deserted for years, was haunted by the nuns that once lived there. No one had ever
gone to check it out, however. until one night some teenagers from Preston were drunk and drove
to the nunnery. Some of the boys broke open a door to one of the buildings just as another boy
tripped over a rock and fell into the empty cement swimming pool, cracking open his head. The
party rushed the boy to the hospital, and s the doctors were shaving the boys head to stitch it up,
his friends were shocked to see the cut was in the figure of a perfect large cross, like that of the
catholic church. The kids were all busted for drinking and had to call their parents to come get
them.
T#'.XIIII'e:
I think this legend was told to scare kids from trespassing and vandalizing St. Anne's.
The fact the kids were dnmlc (sin) and vandalizing a sacred place of tile nun's set up tile stoJy for a
climax. The boys were scared by the eerie sight of the cross. and they were then punished by
getting caught with alcohol. This is 1Iying to show that ifpeople do wrong to sacred religious
places, they will be punished.
JmMojJitt
Log"", Ut
u.s.u.
E'-"526
Dr. Rou"
FtIll, 1996
I
L f;.C:; E(\)O :
.s~n.t It \'\.1\£.'5 CO~~~ t
- -----+-
--I
.------ - ---- ----- ----j
CotvT E Xl \,) it 1- :::J) f\T1\: _ _ ~ ___ ~ j
M.tVL:J f\tLJL.- ~-~ vf)b:n-~-- __
____ --+-~-CO)'Y\. _h.ut c~'U1J, $lt. ~_kLL LC1tAAL(\} ____ _
----+----V-Z'~"--,~~ ~-OC~CJ-a.-~~_--d"N'-~~---~
___ ---+--~,_d ~ ~( f\- _-\Qld ~ -t~_S \cIr~_- ___ I
---~'Z:J_!~ • A ~.s ~veA/Lt-' \...OO-C lc-C,Q~d-~
______ ~v~-~ _ ~~~eh~~--~-c=~an. AJ+cr ~~! ________ ~
-----t-~-LLVY'L- h.sLa..A..d ~ -<:>ieN"::::tj -.s~~ tV.~ ~
---------f-1e>U-L-"'-'-'-"--.d...- l---odo ~D-~ eN, C-~CfYL' ~ ~-.,-------1
----~FEl-i(\..9!---~
-------l---~~ A J'\.kU2.' ~_ C~nj~-t_~Ct-..l::> 0.....1\ J) c.hoC)~ _ ---1
---------t--=r=--:.-..;::--I~~ W ~ W ~_ LA- tl-D-ecl_ b fg, __ _
~ 4.-~ t-\~CA~~:{' ~ 'It _WCbD ~CL2_
---+-",-eL~- ~~ (2la ce ~ -Uu-- 'f\.NVnl) ----~
~L \ cA. . - -I- .. t.,. ~ '" t (]k.L
__ -I--~L~_-__ ~rcuL _-1QU tr .)UM1~:J ~ ~-- -~ ~
----------f-"'-A..cl<j -J ~~~ f s~ - Luna. ti.cs -Ca..YY'lQ. _o..o.d
~--+-t- d~ ~L -t~ -~ C<cJn.d ~tL --- ---l
1::tL-L_ <3 i\r--l~. (ftS +~ ~+-) -~ ~ L~'e,. ---
____ ---+----""""'-'aA=-=-_ ~~dcrt.&-lfL,-·F ~ -~-C?f)U - ~- __
----+-...dd~ ~\JL_6~~_ ~_-s~' ____ ;
--- . LP~JMftrS ~~-" )(,5) w~'\ ~23- a.A.l-
~ ~ -r~c.e.· - -- -----
- ----- - -- --- - ---- ,'-
McusoYV\ , .£ ISvJft,-
--
l 0Cf-1r~t-Ur:t\-B
, US U -
1=""" A.- L L 1 Cf~LJ
-- -- --- - - - -.-- ~ ---
-- .
- ---,
I
- -------1
I
-
- -- --
- - - - - - -- - - -
- - -- -- - - ----- - - - --
Urban Legend
"St. Ann's Nunnery"
Informant data:
Jeff Adams
Logan, Utah
October 1995
Jeff Adams is originally from Plain City Utah. He is thirty-four
years old and has made Logan Utah his home ~ince he graduated from Utah
State University ten years ago.' Jef has three degrees, one in ftl ath, one in
Physics, and one i~ Philo~ophy and W now commutes to Ogden /UtahJeach
day to work as a stock J3roker. He is also an active member of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and spends most of his free time
playing basket-ball or engaging in his churches activities.
Contextual data:
Jeff told me about St. Ann's Nunnery one day when we passed it
driving up Logan Canyon. Because Jeff has lived in Logan for quite a few
years now, he is more than familiar with local stories and , he asked me if
had heard about this one. I said no, and he proceeded to tell me that. ..
St. Ann's is haunted by all the nuns that used to be there at the
beginning of the conventb history. You see if a nun got pregnant and they
needed to keep it hush, hush they would send her up to this nunnery in the
canyon where they could keep it quiet from society. Anyway, when the
babies were born they would drown them in the fountain and then throw
the bodies off the cliff. Now days, when the wind blows you can hear the
crying of those babies and the nunnery is always completely clean because
for penance the ghosts of the nuns must clean it for eternity. Yeah, man. I
guess you can still see the blood in spots around there too.
Eric Jensen
Logan, Ut. 84321
S.L.C. Ut. 84105
History 526
Spring Quarter 1996
Campfire story
saint Ann's Retreat
Informant Data:
Chalyce Petersen
smithfield utah
July 1990
I am nineteen years old and attending utah state University.
I was born in California and lived there for several years before
moving to Utah. My father is a Professor of Economics at USU. I am
the oldest of four girls and I love to dance, sing, and play tennis.
I really enjoy being outdoors, yet I hate insects and have discovered
that I am still afraid of the dark. My friends always love to take me
camping because I scare easily and make a big deal out of everything.
Contextual Data:
My friends and I had planned a camping trip one weekend, but
on the day scheduled for the big trip it rained really hard. We
decided that we were "rugged" enough to brave the rains and headed up
smithfield Canyon anyway. I didn't get off work until nine, so by
the time we got to a good spot it was already late and too dark to set
up our tent. We figured we would have to sleep under the stars.
After several "animal attacks" we snuggled down in our sleeping bags.
Brian (a friend) began telling the story of the retreat called st.
Ann's which is just up Logan Canyon. I had heard several versions of
the story before, but his had a "fact" at the end which I had never
heard before. This is his version of the story:
Text:
About forty years ago, a retreat was founded up Logan Canyon
by the families of children who were what you would call "problem
children." A group of nuns headed by a "Saint Ann" were responsible
for the kids. One girl, who was fifteen, had been sent to the retreat
because she was pregnant and was an embarrassment to -her family.
When she finally gave birth to the baby, she was instructed
to sign the child over to the state for adoption. She refused because
she wanted to keep the child for her own. When the Church officials
insisted that she sign the necessary papers, she decided that if she
couldn't have the child, no one would. She flung the baby off the
roof of the housing quarters. The sisters tried to clean up the mess,
9
but the blood stains would not come off. They tried everything and
finally decided that the child must have been Satan's. One of the
sisters took the baby's body and bricked it up in the wall of the
chapel where you can still hear it crying.
Many strange things have reportedly happened there since
then. Many believe that the retreat never was controlled by a "Saint
Ann", but that the real name of the guardian of the retreat was
actually "Satan."
10
Chalyce Petersen
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
Hist 124
Summer Quarter 1990
Supernatural Non-Religious Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Carrie Anderson
Logan, Ute
February, 1987
Carrie Anderson is 15 years old and a sophmore in high school. She was born
and raised in Cokeville, Wyo. She is currently living in Logan Ute with her father,
my husband, and myself through the school year, and in Cokeville, Wyo. in the
summer. She also has a mother that lives in Salt Lake, and a married sister that
lives in Fort Bridger, Wyo. Carrie is active in school sports, and enjoys play­ing
the piano, and riding horses and motorcycles. She has no religious preference
at this time.
~ntextual Data:
I gathered this story from Carrie a year ago when I was looking for urban
legends for a storytelling class I was taking at USU. She had heard this story
from several of her friends at Sky View High School.
Text:
The nunnery is a place up Logan canyon where priests and nuns go for a rest.
If you go up there at midnight, you can see dead babies floating in the swimming
pool that were drowned by the nuns. These are babies that the nuns had had in sin.
You can also hear the cries of the nuns and the babies when you go up there.
There is also a ghost of a guy with an ax that runs around up there chasing
anyone who comes up there.
Tona Anderson
USU
History 124
Spring, 1988
"St. Anne's Retreat"
Local Legend
Informant:
David Francis
Logan, Utah
Fall,2000
David Francis is twenty-five, he's my brother-in-law. Previously, he has been very active
in the Boy Scouts of America. He, himself, was an Eagle Scout. David was also a
scoutmaster for many years, as well as a camp counselor. He has a real love for the
scouting tradition and for sirting around the campfire and telling stories. It's really hard
not to think of Dave when I think of the Boy Scouts.
Context:
David was giving me the legends he had heard about St. Anne's and the witch, Hekkadi.
He wasn't sure of the connection between the witch and the nunnery, but he was able to
give me some information about it. Some of the information Dave got from his
involvement with scouts, and some he got from his mother.
Text:
You've heard of the nunnery, up by Second Dam. Well, kids used to go up there in
groups and try and scare each other. It was supposed to be haunted, because supposedly
the nuns a lot of times would get pregnant from the priests, but to hide their sins, they
would kill the babies and bury them so no one found out. That's why it was supposed to
be haunted. Also up there, there was a witch. Her name was Hekkadi, and she would
chase you if she got the chance. There are two different ways that I heard the Hekkadi
legend. In both versions though, she has these two huge black dogs with glowing, red
eyes. In one version, if you go up to the nunnery and Hekkadi finds you, she'll chase
you, but if you can out run her and the dogs and make it to the road, they always stop at
the road. In the other version, Hekkadi and her two dogs would be out in the middle of
the Logan Canyon Road, and it would look like you were going to hit her, but then by the
time you went to- swerve, Hekkadi and her dogs were gone.
Textu-re:
(
I tried to follow Dave pretty close on this one, because it's one I heard about almost from
the time I first got to Utah, in fact it was the first piece of local color that I had learned. I
never did get a sense of whether or not David believed the legends and he, himself, has
never been up to the nunnery. However, he was pretty calm as he told it, and he didn't
seem to nervous or anything like that. This was another narrative that I got from Dave
when he, Carrie, Ann-Michelle, and I were at McDonalds, having a "cool treat" as David
calls them.
Rob Gombach
Logan, UT
USU
History 3700
Professor Thomas
Fall 2000
supernatural Legend
"st. Anne's Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Tyler Singleton
Providence, utah
April 8, 1994
Tyler is nineteen years old and is a good friend of mine.
He is the second of five children. He is a member of the LDS
Church and lives in Providence, utah. He attended Utah State
University earlier this year (1994), but now is serving a LDS
mission in Berlin, Germany. Tyler's hobbies are snow skiing,
water skiing and camping.
Contextual Data:
st. Anne's is an old abandoned convent near the mouth of
Logan Canyon. It is commonly called the nunnery. It seems to be
a "rite of passage" with high school kids to go to the nunnery
and see if they dare to perform the "rituals" associated with it.
One of the "rituals" is to take a glass bottle to the nunnery and
throw it into the empty swimming pool. They say if it doesn't
break, then you are safe, but if it breaks then Satan is with you
for the rest of the night. If the bottle breaks then when you
drive down the canyon you can see two pair of red eyes in your
rear~iew mirror (the eyes are from the two dogs that attacked a
nunn) and you can see a nunn ~standing on the side of the road
holding a baby.
Tyler told this story while we were camping in Providence
canyon. Everyone was sitting around the campfire telling stories
so Tyler told this story to try to scare the girls and also to
dare anyone to go to the nunnery with him that night. Tyler was
told this story one night by some older kids (he was fourteen
then) while they were on their way to the nunnery.
Everyone who had heard the story already didn't think
anything of it, but those who hadn't, mostly the girls, were
scared and absolutely refused to go to the nunnery that night.
Text:
There was this old nunnery up Logan Canyon where there were
some nunns. Some of the nunns would get pregnant and have their
babies there, then kill them and bury them out behind one of the
buildings. One time one of the nunns wouldn't kill her baby so
she was kicked out of the nunnery, so she went back into the
valley and raised the baby. One day she went back to visit her
friends at the nunnery. All of the nunns loved the baby and
would sit and play with it. This made the head nunn mad and
worried that the other nunns would want to keep their babies. So
she asked to hold the baby. When she got the baby, she threw it
into the swimming pool and killed it - that's why you can see a
red spot on the side of the swimming pool. The nunn who's baby
it was started running away, so the head nunn sent two dogs after
her to kill her. In the morning when the head nunn got up the
two dogs were skinned, hanging in the trees.
Justin Jacobson
Nibley, UT
Nibley, UT
Utah State University
History 124
Spring 1994
.:.:: .• !. :"'.
r.'i .. .... ,'-), ::.:':
, ••••1' . .. ' ,-. ,:::.:. ....
+ '.. . '.}::.:.:."(';
.::::.f t .. :.:.:"1'"
E~ l..,.; ':;:~ :;, r"; e'::::· .::::.
··,:::.t··
' ... :'
f ::.::.'r(~.:~!.1 t:'
f i"' C,j"t"i ;·-i.L
C) .f. c1
~:.~ r .;:!. =:::1 L·i .:;;;. t. :i. 'n :~~1
i ... :}l·";::~-:: r' !::.::
... ; .r. .1. f..:.'\/
T C' ! .• ~} C: Y" .. c·' . -_ +
.j .. ~.-,; I::;: 1 '. ..:.".:.: :: + '. . : '1:L ].;::j r' =.:,:,:.: r1
i .... ' :. j '::::.::::' , ... ! .'- '::: .. ::?-. '('. ·;"·j';'::C!
t. j-'; =.:.:': L [) ~::; ";" :::::.'J
.:::::.' !.:? .......... '
;".:.}.;::l ...... '::~ :i. >:--j- .. ::,::: .... -.. .:-- ~.::: ' .. :', r" .::::. ;") 1 ci.,
.:: ::. + ..... i.
::::. i it.
'::~. i 'j' + ',! "'.-3
·1,
L·' ... '
, ,-'. ;_.l ;.:. :::,',' .. ' ... ·: .. :i; i' .. !
+.f'" t.r .,:::: .. j ..
':~~ ':. . , ..... , "'/ .,. T.. ;::::.L ... J ,-: .~':
c·::: !'.~ •
' ....! iii.=-: ,''', ,: '1'~"
.. . :.
:: : t.1·"1::::: :-.-.-.,":. ·,. ... i.·,',· ·.:.:i. .i..'
.!.: ... ~::: : ... ' ;
',",:::,
' ........ ; -. .. : .. ::. '.'
( ..... ,.=:: .: ... ! ,-.. ' , ;::::.-:; + ... ' " :. ~ E,::.' --.,
: i ..... ::;. ! .. :~::.'
1-' .~. __ . :::::.::::.-j' ..
~:./ .. ~:: • .i. ;.:. ::::: : ... i
· ... ·.i :::::.;:.,
t.. j.:L ._." '.:' f
j_.,: ..... -' 'l
1· .. •• .. •· .;,
i . ..'.}:.:,:,:: ';" ~:::.
=:. : .... '::3'''', . .
. ~. .... .'" .. , j::.::'
;-'" ...... ;-'
j. .. : .::=. :.. .. ;1'-; -(- .::::
. ). : :_ ..... :~.1 ':::: '1' ,_ ...
::'. ".: ... : .;:). \/
• '1 ' .... j
+. c, . ·1·
.. ::'.::::'
'j
..... i. .=. ..,.. "" ,,:~
., .....
. i. ::.:. ·;::l;i
·3. ;-:j '.:' ,=- , ! '_ Li r i,,:: .::::.
.1. ':::~
._ •• j" ":::: c:f
\.,- "., ... ';.:::::
,.. . ; : ". ;;~
.1. '_·D
.t·::·:,·
.::-..::.j. . ....... !. · .. _c: ..... .
.- ::.::::1. :::::::1
:=. '.". -:':.:.' ...... .
+
f... 1 ,:~ k ::::: ':-. .i. ! ..
; . i ~ :::::
+ ~ .. ~ ..... :;;;:; !
+ j. i~::: I:::: f'; i ~ ... : ~...~ ! ....
... :".::: '.:::
.::,.:::: ' ....... ! i'l (1.'
~ ):::::i f
1 .j ... ~ ...
"The Nunnery"
Religious Legend
Informant:
Ryan Hill
Logan, Utah
November, 1999
Ryan is a hyperactive Logan local. He has a knack for knowing everyone we see in town
or on campus. Ryan is the second youngest of nine children. He comes from a middle­class
active LDS family. At present, he is not enrolled in school, but rather works on a
house framing crew full-time.
Context:
I collected this story at my apartment after dinner. Ryan and his younger sister, Melanie,
showed up after other people had already been telling stories. This is apparent when he
asks what the tape-recorder is for. Because he was the only Logan local present (besides
Melanie), no one else really could comment on these stories.
Text:
Ryan: Oh, you don't know about "The Nunnery!" Okay here's the rumor on "The
Nunnery." Like supposedly ... are you recording?
Colby: Yeah.
Ryan: You rat-bastard!
Colby: I'm sorry, dude. I thought you knew.
Ryan: Hell no. Ah man, now I can't do this.
Colby: Come on man, you were doing so well. Please, just keep going.
Ryan: Okay, the nunnery ... supposedly, this priest, like he had all these nuns up there and
it's up Logan Canyon, I can take you up there if you want ...
Sam: I've been there.
Ryan: It's like ten miles up Logan Canyon. And the deal is this priest killed a bunch of
children, and all the nuns there and then killed himself. So this place is haunted as hell.
And like supposedly you can go up there and find little graves of small children, and you
L Q , I. \2. .1.17
know you hear some real weird shit. But you can actually see some weird shit, because I
was sober up there one time, and I saw some shit you shouldn't be seein'.
Colby: So you've been there?
Ryan: Oh yeah, I've been up there a few times.
Colby: Right on. How did you hear about it?
Ryan: Urn, It's just like a local legend. Everybody who lives in Logan knows about it.
Colby: So who told you?
Ryan: I don't know ...
Sam: But there was something that happened after that with some people up there ...
Ryan: Yeah, some of the locals I know went up there, and there were these two security
guards, which there shouldn't be guards up there anyway. But these guards tied them up,
and the whole story got blown completely out of proportion, but I got the true story from
them. They tied them up, and threatened their lives, but they never had dynamite tied to
them or anything.
Sam: I just heard they had shotguns.
Ryan: Yeah, like they were threatened with their lives. And then they let them go, or
something.
Ben: And now everybody knows
Ryan: Yeah.
Context:
Out of all the stories I collected, this was the one that was most believable. Everyone I
the room was interested in what Ryan had to say. The way he related his own personal
experience at the nunnery was a key factor in this, I think. I noticed the way he says,
''Everybody who lives in Logan knows about it." This to me shows the exclusiveness of
local stories and rumors. Only a true local would know about these stories.
Colby M. Thurston
Logan, Utah
USU
Engljsh 27DO
Professof1rhcrnas
Fall 1999
(
(
Urban Legend
Nunnery
Informant Data:
Amy Brewson
Logan, Utah
July 1995
Amy is a friend. She was born, raised and schooled in Logan
Utah. She is at the present time going to Utah State University,
where she is getting her masters in Biology . She has been married
for almost one year.
Contextual Data:
In the beginning of my Math 105 class, I told a legend to pass
the time. After I told my legend Amy told a legend of a Nunnery
which is found up in the Logan Cannon.
Item:
A nun got pregnant at the nunnery but didn't want the baby.
So, she placed the babies body in a brick wall of the nunnery.
Now if a first born ~up to the nunnery the first born will
die.
Jeri Justis
Logan, Utah
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USU
History 124
Summer 1995
/
Supernatural Non-religious Legend
"The Haunting of Saint Ann's Retreat"
Informant Data:
Kim Lamb
Logan, Utah
August, 1983
Kim Lamb was a very good friend of mine with whom I worked with at a local pizzeria
while going through high school. He was born in Logan in 1964. Kim is very enthusiastic and
energetic and enjoys having a good time. He comes from a non LDS background. Kim is
presently living in California with his wife and two children.
Contextual Data:
I collected this story when a group of my friends and I where trying to find something to
do after work one night. It was in the summer at about 12:30 p.m. We really did not know what
we wanted to do, but we where feeling mischievous and wanted an adventure. Kim told us of the
"haunted retreat" up in Logan canyon and talked us in to going there after relating the story to us.
At the time it was the first that I had ever heard of the retreat, but since then I have heard many
variations of the legend from many people. Saint Ann's is located about twenty miles up Logan
Canyon and owned by the Catholic church. It has not been used for many years as a nunnery.
There is an interesting cross-over of two local legends in Kim's version. It is said that the spirit
of a witch known as Heceta will appear on a bridge in Logan canyon if anyone goes to the spot
and yells her name three times. This story was originally separate from the murder legend of
Saint Ann's, but the two have come together in most of the narratives that I have heard since
Kim related it to us the first time.
Text:
Saint Ann's retreat was a place of spiritual solitude and peace where Catholic nuns would
spend the summer months. At any given time there would be fifteen or twenty nuns at the retreat
doing various activities. The Mother Superior of the nunnery was a woman by the name of
Heceta, who governed the nunnery very strictly. There where those in the Church who believed
that Heceta possessed unique supernatural abilities and was possibly involved in witchcraft, but
it could never be proven. One terrible night a gang of bikers who had heard of the defenseless
nuns in the canyon raided the nunnery. They viciously raped several of the nuns including
{
I"
Heceta whom they murdered. Before she died she vowed vengeance on the gang of bikers and
swore that the nunnery would be a damned place from that day foreword.
It so happened that everyone of the bikers involved in the attack on the nunnery where
savagely killed themselves. They died horrible deaths being ripped apart by what appeared to
investigators to be dog attacks. The Catholic church closed the nunnery after the attack by the
bikers and it has never been used since. If anyone dares go to the nunnery at night and yells the
name "Heceta" three times her crazed spirit will be heard crashing through the trees behind a
pack of demonic hell dogs with glowing red eyes. Those who have seen the apparition swear
that they did not think they would live to tell it. The spirit of Heceta will not cross over the river
bridge however, and her demon dogs cannot harm anyone on the other side.
Shawn Lawlor
River Heights, Utah
USU
English 526
Dr. Roush
Fall 1995
Item 03
Legend: Logan Canyon Nunnery
Informant Data:
Britany Holmgren
Logan, Utah
November, 1995
Britany Holmgren is a 19 year-old resident of Logan, Utah. She
studies at Utah State University. She is on the USU Ballroom
Dance Team. Britany is the oldest of five children. She and
her family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter­day
Saints. She grew up in Fielding, Utah. Her hobbies include
floral design, craft making, and roller blading. Her family owns
Belmont Hot Springs in Plymouth, Utah. She works for her family
in the summer time.
Contextual data:
I was told this story by Britany while researching and compiling
legends for English 526 at Utah State University. She said that
this legend is true. She herself has visited the site at Logan
Canyon where the legend originates from, and the actual swing
mentioned in the Legend is there still. I believe that this
legend is a product of the ignorance that many people have about
religions that are not as dominant in this area of the United
States. Perhaps if we understood nuns, and did not hold them in
such mystery, this legend would not be told.
In Logan Canyon is a defunct nunnery. It is closed and
gaited. This is where a gruesome murder took place, and where
hauntings have occurred ever since. Long ago, when the nunnery
was still housing nuns, one cloistered sister became pregnant by
her own transgression. She carried the child to term, and raised
it until it was two years old. In the yard of the nunnery,
bordering the Logan River, is a swing that the nuns would swing
the child from. One afternoon the child was being swung by it's
mother. Because the child was a product of sin, it flew
violently into the river. The nun/mother had shoved her child
into the river. Now the child cries when the river swells.
D. Reed Cowan
Logan, Utah
Utah State
University
English 526
Professor Roush
Fall 1995
Supernatural Legend
"Saint Anns Camp"
Informant Data:
Jake Winegar
Logan, utah
April 1990
Jake is a friend I met at the beginning of the quarter. Jake moved
from Colorado to Utah with his parents in July of 1989. He came to utah
State University in September of 1989 to major in Business Adminestration.
Jake has three sisters one brother, three stepsisters and one stepbrother.
Contextual Data:
I herd this story and a few others while we were camping two miles up
Logan canyon. There were about ten of us, we were sitting around a camp­fire
drinking and toasting marshmallows. Jake decided he wanted to tell
stories to see if he could scare us. We all decided to listen. Some of
the people believed in the story, some had ~r another version of the
story and some looked at Jake skeptically. He succeeded in scaring a few
of the people. Jake can be very convincing at times, because he belie"-Els
in all of his stories. I have herd different versions before and since
the story was told.
Text:
There is a place here in Logan canyon called Saint Anns Camp. It used
to be a convent for nuns in the eighteen hundreds. The story goes, one
nun became pregnant, maybe her name was Saint Ann. When she had her baby,
in fear of the church, she drowned the baby in a near by brook near a
bridge. A few days went by and the nun began to feel guilty so she jumped
off the highest tower of the convent. A few years later, after the
nunnery closed, people reported strange happenings. Some have reported
seeing an angry spirit of a child who plays tricks on the people. Others
have seen the women in morning walking around the comvent.
Esther Gates
Logan utah
Ohio
USU
English/History 124
Surrmer 1990
l..1 . \ .12 1\
\ \
Gr'eg O···8':'.nnion
Genr'e:
Tit 1 e:
Supernatural Legend
"The Nunner:,··11
Infor·ma.nt Dat.;:..:
tvl.I . ...'.T
Gr' e g i -:. a f 00 t b.;:.. 1'1 pI ':'.ye r' r~' e .:.. t u. S • U. He i·:. f r' Clm
Dos Palos, Cal ifornia. He is nei ther superstitios or
r'e 1 i g i ou·a.· and he doe·:.n " t be I i el.}e th i s story ootthen ag.:.. in
n".!<1ther dCles .:t.n>··one v.Jho heap-s it, blJt it····a. alll,J·:;"Ys .iI.-Q.Qod
s.tory to telL.
Contextual Data:
I've heard many legends about the Nunnery located in
Logan Canyon but I heard this version for the first time
from Greg. He heard the story when he came to Utah State to
go to -:·c h oCll •
Dat.:..:
Ther'e v..l er·e ,:to group of nun':· 1 it) i nl;i .:.. t the nlJnnery .:..
number of years ago. It seems that one of the nun's
c c.mm itt 12 d ,:to '.} e r' ::,., IJ n - nun 1 i ~:: e .;:.. ct.;:.. n d be c ·;:..m e p r' e g nan t. T h i -:.
do with the pregnant nun.
When she finally had the baby the other nun's
I
con·:.p i r'ed ,:t.g,:t. i nst her' to r' i d the nunner)-" clf the fru it fr'clm
this unholy union. One night at midnight they stole the baby
I
and drowned him in the shallow pool near the nunnery.
The mother went crazy when she learned of the babies
death and began to wander the hi I Is at night in search of
her lost child. When it came time for the other nuns to
leave, she refused to go and I ived on in the abandoned
buildings as a hermit, a social outcast. She still haunts
the nunnery to this da~ and some people claim that you can
\
\
still hear her call ing for her dead child, her cries ringing
off the surrounding hills.
J.:..ce-::.on H21.ugh2<.n
1.•. Je 1 I:.',! i I I e
U.~LU
Erll;t. 124
Spr' i ng 1990
T.egend
The Nuns
T.nformant Data:
Camille is a student a Utah Shate Unjversity.
old. She ws born in 19-,0 in Millville Utah, and
all of her life. She is well traveled and has
twice. Camille enjoys musi~ and motorcycles.
ready with a story.
Contextual Data:
Camille Mathys
Logan Utah
Feb. J990
She j s 20 years
has lived there
visi ted Europe
She is always
We were driving up the Logan Canyon on our way to go skjing
at Beaver Mountain. I was enjoying the scenery and marveling at
the canyon when Camille told me that all was not beautiful in the
canyon and that some pretty creepy things went on in the canyon.
Thjs is one of the stories she told.
Text:
A long time ago there was a nunnery in the canyon. It was
very reclusive and no one knew much about it. But it wasn't a
Catholic nunnery, it was a djfferent reljgion. Any way some thjng
happened at the nunnery and all the nuns were killed. No one
really knows what happened, but jt was Satanical. Well one of the
nuns was cursed and now she roams the canyon with her black dog and
her cane. If you see her, run, cause if she sees you, you will die
within the month. She is usually seen only at night along the road
and most people say she only walks during a full moon, but you
never really know when you will meet her, so be careful.
Donna Chipman
Pocatello ID
USU
English 124
Spring 1990
Supernatural Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informal Data:
Lynley Thompson
Logan, Utah
April 1990
Lynley married my nephew, since then we've become friends.
She was born and raised in an active LDS family in Richmond,
Utah. Lynley is presently attending Utah State University. One
year ago Lynley gave birth to her first baby. Now she lives in
Logan with her husband and daughter.
contextual Data:
Lynley learned this story from a group of high school
friends. One of the boys told this story when they drove by the
nunnery in Logan Canyon.
Lynley and I were talking about how some people believe in
ritualism when she told me this story.
Text:
There is an old nunnery that has been closed down for years
in Logan Canyon. Between the Catholic Chapel and the living
quarters was a swimming pool. The priest that ran the place was
very strict. If one of the nuns ever became pregnant he would
make them drown their newly born baby in the swimming pool.
The ritual is that if you go the the nunnery at midnight
when the moon is full, you'll see the nuns' spirits standing
around the swimming pool crying.
Sonya Thompson
USU
History 124
Spring 1990
Logan, UT
Supernatural legend
The nunnery
Brett Gibbons
Logan, Utah
February, 1990
Informant Data: ()
Brett Gibbons was a friend of mine in high school in Smithfi ild) Utah. He lives In
LewistonlUtah where his family owns a farm .. He is a very active person, and is a avid
football lover.
Contextual Data:
I collected this story while riding up the canyon to visit the nunnery. The group we
were with were mostly girls. When I heard the story, part of the group didn't believe it. The
other half were a little bit more believing. Some of them had heard the story before. It had
been a little different than the one being told.
Text: r
About twenty years ago there were a bunch of n s living at the nunnery. Well they
were the ones that had become pregnant, so the church would send them there. When the
nuns would have the babies they would drown them in the pool. Because they did this, the
ghosts of the babies haunt the houses. They say there is a blue dog that will drive you away
if you go there. It's the protector of the babies spirits. I know a man who said he saw the
blue dog one night down by the river. And I don't think he would lie.
Matt Checketts
Hyde Park , Utah
English 526
Fall 1994
"The Legends about St. Anne's Nunnery"
Informant:
Laura Adams Schenk
during a phone conversation in Nibley, Utah
22 November, 1997
Laura is of English descent, and grew up in Hyrum, Utah. She is my sister-in-law and friend. She
is a first grade teacher in her late 30s. She is LDS. She heard this legend while she was still attending Sky
View high school; she was a typical high school girl, involved with such activities as the marching band
and the school newspaper. She was (and is) friendly and social, and had high grades. She has two sisters
close to her own age, and a younger brother. She currently lives not far from my house in Nibley, Utah.
Context:
I had actually phoned her to talk to my brother, Clair, but Laura and I are good friends and I told
her about my folklore class. She was fascinated as I told her about some of the legends we had been
studying. "Oh, I love stories like that!" she exclaimed. After I told her "The Hook" and some of the
analyses of it that we had discussed in class, she commented, "Oh, really? You learned about that in your
class? Because I always thought that was true. Even, like, St. Anne's-I thought that was true 'til just a
little while ago, you know, with the stuff that happened this summer." During the summer of 1997, some
teenagers had been snooping up around St. Anne's Nunnery, looking for ghosts. They were caught, tied
up, thrown in a pool, and generally harassed by the guards there. It was quite an incident to have happened
in quiet Cache Valley, Utah. Months later, everyone was still talking about it. I asked Laura to tell me
what she knew about St. Anne's, and she obliged me in an animated tone:
Text:
About St. Annes-I thought it was true until I read about it in the paper this summer. But I heard,
like, there were ghosts there, that all the nuns had been murdered or something. And there was a fire or
something and that's why the nuns were all gone. But it wasn't that at all, the nuns left and they left
because of all the vandalism and stuff, and the fire was actually from vandalism, not ghosts or whatever.
What was the true story they told you in class? Because I thought it was haunted, so that's what drove the
nuns away, or killed them, or whatever. But I heard about the nunnery in high school, and I thought,
"Ooooh! I want to go up there!" But I never did, and it's probably good I didn't, because I might've ended
up tied up in a pool!
Texture:
Laura and I swapped several stories, but the reason I chose this one to use for the assignment is
that she incorporated both the new information she had learned about St. Anne's, and the old information
about St. Anne's that she had heard in high school,into her telling of the legend. I think the St. Anne's
story has a lot of potential to change over the years in this way. I think that eventually, the guards who
attacked the teenagers will be incorporated into the St. Anne's legends, and changed into ghosts or evil
spirits, through the telling and retelling of the legends.
Bonnie Lou Schenk
Nibley, Utah 84321
Utah State University
)
Anthropology 526: Legends, Myths, and Folktales
Dr. Jan Roush
Fall Quarter, 1997
"The Nunnery"
Informant:
Emily Allen
Logan, Utah
November 1997
Emily Allen is 21, a junior who is majoring in Sociology and is a friend of my
friend who I don't know very well. She likes to go to parties and drink, but being a
college student is too poor to drink to much.
Context:
Since this assignment was next to impossible for me to complete, and no matter
who I asked they didn't seem to have any stories to tell it was amazing that Emily could
think of something to tell. She had heard this story a lot and had asked me if I had
heard it. My husband, when she brought it up remembered reading the legend in the
school newspaper.
Text:
Well, in the nunnery there was one priest, who wasn't very good, and all the rest
were women. Well, the priest got one of the nuns pregnant. He told her not to tell
anyone about it, so she didn't, and she had the baby. After she had the baby the priest
took it and drowned it in the pool. The poor nun didn't know what had happened to the
baby. Well, one day the puppy dog that they had around there dug up the baby's body
where it had been buried in a shallow grave in the backyard. The nun saw the body
and went crazy and killed herself. Because she killed herself she they had an
investigation, and they found out that the priest was some kind of satan worshipper
and was really evil. They say that you can still see blood in the pool and the nun is
wandering around up there crying. Of course I don't believe it its just something that
they tell.
Texture:
This story was told with mild disgust for how awful the tale was, and also for the
fact that people tell such unbelievable tales. Emily said that she had heard it alot and
that it was ridiculous. She said, "its just a thing that they tell" with a wave of her hand to
Christen C. de Groot
Informant Data:
Myself
Girls Camp
Summer 1986
My name is Chelise Young. I was born at Dixie General
Hospital in St. George Utah. I was raised in Cache Valley and I
am now married and still live in Cache Valley. I am twenty-one
years old and I am a junior at Utah State University. I am
expecting my first child.
Contextual Data:
I collected this item at a girls camp in the summer of 1986.
The camp was held up Logan Canyon just around the corner from St.
Annes Camp (commonly referred to as "The Nunnery"). When the
story was told, it was dark and a group of us was sitting around
the campfire telling stories and singing songs. All of us were
leery of the area and the story only heightened our fears that we
were not alone. I feel that the reason it was told was not to
frighten us but rather to scare us a little and give us the
chills.
Text:
A long time ago The Nunnery used to be in full working order
and girls were sent there by their families under similar
circumstances as the ones under which we are attending camp
tonight. The girls were to have a retreat in which they would
learn better social qualities and in some situations, some
manners. It was a type of summer boarding school. For many of
the girls, coming to The Nunnery was something that was
anticipated and looked forward to with much delight.
On one particular occasion, however, the girls that were
selected all had one thing in common. They were all expecting.
Anyway, they were up at The Nunnery and many gave birth there.
The nuns, not wanting the illegitimate babies to be raised by the
irresponsible girls, drowned them in the pool. Since that time,
the spirit of the nun that was in charge of the drownings has
haunted the area. She comes out mostly at night and carries a
lantern. More often than not she is accompanied by a large black
L'2,I .IZ,I.~t
\ (
dog that helps her search for other girls in need of "help". If
you happen to see her, don~t look at her directly because if you
make eye contact, and if you have anything to hide, she will hunt
you down and she and the dog will take you back to the nunnery
where she can "take care" of you as well.
Chelise Young
USU
English 526
Fall 1994
Logan, Utah 84321
Logan, Utah 84321
(
UrtliJn Legend
"St. Anne's Retreat"
Informant Data:
rvlyse 1 f
Logan .. Utah
April 1967
.Jennifer Nelson is a senior at USU maJoring in English. She is an
active LDS member. She was born in Colorado in 1964) and has lived in
Logan since 1970. Her ancestry is Swedish} Danish} and British. She
served an LDS mission in Japan.
Contextual Data:
I attended Gi rl's Camp up Logan Canyon dw-i ng most of rny teenage
years. In the evening we v'lould sit around the campfire and tell scary
stories} faith promoting stories} silly stories, and we sang songs. I heard
lots of varying stories and repeated many related to St. Anne's Retreat at
high school parties.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There is a place up Logan Canyon called St. Anne's Retreat. It used to
be a nunnery, but since then a lot of stories have developed and spread
obout a rnurderer sloughtering several nuns and leo\ling the rest to go
insane.
I went up there once with 0 group of fri ends in hi gh school. There
were some bi g dog houses and someone told rne there had been bi g guard
dogs to protect the nuns, but a murderer- came and slit their throats--but
you coul d still hear thern barki ng somet i meso There was al so an ernpty
swirnming pool. Some of the nuns were thrown into the pool after bein!~
killed .. or forced to Jump into the empty pool, splattering themselves on
• the deep., hard bottom. I think a few nuns were remaining .. but they went
insane and it became unsafe for anyone to go up there.
Several years ago I heard that someone wanted to sell the place or
rebuil d it for a surnmer ctlrnp p 1 tlce, but the p 1 elt"iS were never deve 1 oped-­rnaybed
because of the scary stori es and 1 egends ossoci ated wi th tt"le
place.
....Iennifer- Nelson
Logan, UT 84321
Utah State University
English 524
Spring 1987
Supernatural Legend
"Witch Hekeda"
Informant Data:
Steven Rakes
Logan, Utah
April, 1990
Steven Rakes is a 27 year-old, white male who was born in Florida, but
has lived in Logan, Utah for the last twelve years. After moving out West
with his family, he graduated from Logan High School in 1980. Steve and his
family are converts of the LDS faith, of which Steve is semi-actively in­volved.
Steve is happily married to Lani. They have been married for
three years and they have a 14 month_old baby boy. Steve enjoys camping
out in the canyons, fishing, basketball and collecting baseball cards as
well as other memorabilIa. Steve keeps up on unusual events and seems to
always have something interesting to say. Steve is employed in Logan by
a downtown businessman. He works with the general public in retail.
Contextual Data:
I collected the item from Steve while visiting with him at his place
of employment. He was helping me with some work (framing of pictures) . I
needed done. When I asked Steve if he was familiar with any legends from
this area, he told me of a story he heard from a friend about six years
ago while camping up Logan Canyon. There were several other people around
the fire as the story was told that cool, Fall evening. They were all
friends and they were sharing strange and bizarre occurrences they had
encountered in the past.
Text: There is a lady who lives up Spring Hollow within five miles from
here, who is known by many as Witch Hekeda. She carries a blue lantern at
night and has a pack of wild, ferocious dogs, who escort her through the
mountains of these parts. If you drive your car to the top of Spring
Hollow and turn off your lights, wait a moment or two and the callout
"Hekeda" three times in to the dark silence, you will soon: hear the pack
of dogs making their way toward you, becoming louder and louder. Then in
the distance you will see the glowing of a blue light. You may try this
yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it. When he put this to the test, he
got more than he bargained for . The dogs swarmed around his car like bees
to a hive. The blue light was directly in front of his car. Luckily,
he managed to start his car and speed off. Terrified to death, he raced
down to the bottom of the canyon. Upon getting out of his car, he noticed
Cory Christensen
.J
Deep gouges and scratches over the entire body of his car. He was lucky to
be alive.
Cory Christensen
Logan, Utah
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
English 124
Spring 1990
Legend
The Old Nunnery
Marie-Elena Andino
Student Center, USU
March, 1985
Marie-Elena was born in El Salvador, and moved to the
United States about 7 years ago. She is attending
Utah State University and works on Helpline, a community
crisis line.
I was in the Helpline office, when Jim, a volunteer told
a legend about a nunnery up Logan canyon. After he
finished the story, Marie-Elena offered a different version
about the same place, with some of the details the same.
She said she had heard many different versions, including
the one that Jim told. The one told by Jim, was about
an insane man who murdered the nuns. The one Marie-Elena
heard tells of a man who kills t~ babies that the nuns
accidently have. Other volunteers offered even different versions.
"The same cabin up in Logan Canyon is the sett i ng for th i s story
too. Appajently its a real nice cabin, both inside and
out. Really fancy. And like Jim said, it has a swimming
pool in back. Anyway, no one lived in it, except when
Priests or whoever got nuns pregnant the nuns would go up
to this cabin and hide. The cabin was owned by the Catholic
church. Anyway, they had their babies, and then would kill
them and bury them under the swimming pool, or drown them
in the water. Now if you go up there, you can hear the
babies wailing from beneath the pool, or from within the
water."
Mary Lynn Pedersen
Logan, Utah 84321
S.L.C., Utah 84121
Utah State Univ.
Hi story 124
Winter, 1985
1-1.,/I'2 . IQI
Legend
Old Nunnery
Jim Davidson
Student Center, USU
March, 1985
Jim, who is orignally from Pennslyvania, is a transfer student
from Weber State. Having lived in Ogden, Utah until he transfered
to Utah State, Jim has only lived in Logan a few months. He is
now attending Utah State, and is a volunteer worker for Helpline,
a community crisis line.
Several st~dents and I were in the Helpline Office when I asked if
anyone knew of any legends. Jim asked if I knew the one about the
cabin in Logan canyon. I said no, so he proceeded to tell the
version that he was most aquainted with. Several others in the office
offered details that they had heard, and when he was finished,
another volunteer told the version that she had heard. Jim said that
he was suprised that I hadn't heard it, because it was popular in
Logan and he had heard it several times, though he's only lived here
a few months. Someone suggested that we turn out the lights, and
everyone laughed.
"There is this really nice cabin up Logan canyon. And they have an
outdoor swimming pool. I mean this is really a luxury place, all
nice inside and everything. Rumor has it that it used to be a nunnery,
a convant. One night, on Halloween this insane man raped and
murdered all the nuns and thr ew them into the swimming pool. Now ,
if you go up on Halloween you see all these nuns looking for _their
murderer, and they'll chase you to see if you are the one that killed
them. II
Mary Lynn Pedersen
Logan, Utah 84321
S.L.C., Utah 84121
Utah State Univ.
History 124
Wi nter, 1985
Folklore Archive, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84321
Ink, please J. .
Name of Informant ..................... ?!-.~y .......... .M~.U~ .......................... Age .... ~. ,;. ., ........... ..
Address .......................... ~.~ ......... ..................... .......... C ... c .~ ........................ u..I:-.................... ..
n City County State
Item : ~L AV\I'\~~ K€tl"~+.
D~ hu~~ 1~r~ be. c. 1::'_ 'h~)i!. JntA."..~...( Nv.. .... <; ~ClvO(" 'W\q,,~+~ a.+ IM;J""~1' wi ~
/-J' 't.)lA.lt ~s-l(,(r b +~ m e -ef'1 ~~ will ( ~ (,,J-k,.... Lt°!.( o..-J kill i VI,
First Heard (by informant) JH:~.~ .. I. ........................... ~ .... ),~iAI.!~?I. ...................... .c.~u. . 4 ................. ~+4..0. ......... ..
Year City County State
Background on the item, or on the inforllJ91l1:
h).l S rat ~I IV. C,. c4 Vt< 11~'f
(over, if necessary)
Collected By .... .. ~.J.. .... R.. ..... fb..~ ..... .Ls:'e.t,i..~ ....................... Date ...... M.qV .... !.s:.t .! .. q.1.:.'1 ...... .
City ......... L.<'-f~ ......................................... ................................... State ..... t.-[.t:IA.a.:-,.: ....................... .
Gregory Skabelund
Logan, Utah.
January 27, 1985
Legend
"The Weeping Nun"
Informant Data:
Gregory Skabe1und was born and raised in Logan, Utah. He
is a graduate of Utah State University in history.
He is married and the father of two young sons. He works
at a local bank. He is my brother.
Contextual data:
Text:
Sitting in our home library one night with the lights
out, my family and I watched the deer in our backyard.
All of a sudden, scary stories became the main topic of
conversation and my brother told this one.
About forty years ago, in Logan Canyon at Saint Anne's
Retreat, there lived a nun. One day this nun committed
a grievious sin. She felt terribly sorry for her sin
and weeped every night because of it. Finally one
evening in the summer, the nun took a long rope, wrapped
it around a tree limb and hung herself.
Today, if you go up into the canyon on a summer night
and listen carefully, you can still hear the nun weeping
at Staint Anne's Retreat.
Marcie Skabelund
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
History 124
Winter 1985.
Legend
"The 1'-1ad Caretaker"
Informant Data:
Tim RracJfield
Logan, Utah
Spring 1'3'34
Tim Bradfield, a friend of mine, and Logan Native.
Tim graduated from Logan High in 1983. He is presently
employed as the caretaker at Saint Ann's Retreat in Logan
Canyon. He is non-denominational in religion and of
Scandinavian and English decent.
Contextual Data:
Tim learned this legend through the previous caretaker
at the retreat. He told me this legend while giving me a
tour of the grounds. The small doll house in which the
story takes place seems to be out of place with the rest of
the grounds.
There was a rich family who first built and owned Saint
Ann's F.:et r eat. They had a small girl and there was also a
caretake"r. The caretaker supposedly was possessed by some
spirit that haunted the grounds. The caretaker killed the
child in the doll house with an axe.
Jim Zahmel
Logan,
USU
Utah
History 124
Spring 1994
"The Nunnery"
Legend
Informant:
Jaime Saltern
River Heights, Utah
April, 2002
Jaime Saltern is the wife of Co by Saltern, who is a co-worker of mine. Jaimejust
recently had a baby boy named Max. She works at the hospital as a medical assistant.
She is 28 and she is from Smithfield Utah. She is currently living in River Heights and
she is an excellent fisherman.
Context:
I went over to the Saltern's house to have Coby sign his informant release form on his
story and that is when Jaime told me about "The Nunnery" that is up Logan Canyon on
the river. She told the story with fear in her voice.
Text:
Jaime said that the property was previously a nunnery where nuns lived and did their
thing. They would bring up young girls to be trained as nuns. There would be boys that
would sneak into it and get the girls pregnant. As nuns they couldn't raise children so the
babies would be drowned in the pool. Since there was evil there with the killings it is
now haunted. If you go up there at night you can see spirits and hear babies crying.
Texture:
Jaime's husband Coby has been up there at night with 4 of his friends. He said that it is
really scary and there was a dark feeling up there. When I heard the story I thought no
wonder the babies haunt the place, and with a story like that it would be very scary up
there.
BoRoundy
Logan, Utah
USU/ spring 2002
History 4700
Professor Thomas
Title: St. Anne's Retreat Haunting
Genre: Ghost Story
Christine Woolston
North Logan, UT
April 13, 2007
Informant: Christine is my sister in law. She has lived in North Logan most of her life.
She graduated from Sky View High School in 1996. She later graduated with a Bachelor
of Art from Utah State University in 2005.
Context: I was over at my in-law's house and a group of us were sitting around the
kitchen table talking about ghosts. This occurred in the early evening and progressed in
to the night. After one person told a story the next person would jump right in with what
they knew. The darker it got outside the more closely we all sat together and the lower
out voices became. This setting is when ghost stories are typically transmitted from one
person to another. This discussion was instigated by me but this setting is typically
instigated by one individual who either asks if someone knows a host story or by telling
one themselves.
I asked Christine if she knew the story of St. Anne's Retreat up Logan Canyon. I
knew that she had known some of the high school students which had been caught by the
security guard while she was in high school. I asked her if she knew why the students
went up there and why they said it was haunted. She answered me with this story.
Text: The nuns and the priests would get together so the church had to set up these
retreats so the nuns could go there when they got pregnant. They would go there for the
nine months, and then the nun would not want to be bothered by a baby and would drown
it in the well. The ghosts of the babies would then come back and haunt the nuns while
they were at St. Anne's recuperating so the church had to abandon it.
Texture: Christine told this story as if she did not believe it. The story came from when
she was in high school. The idea that the St. Anne's nunnery is haunted did not hold
much for her. She just told the basic story and did not add a lot of details to make it more
believable.
Amanda M. Woolston
Utah State University
Hist 2720
Lynne S. McNeill
Spring 2007
\
Chelsie Cefalo
Logan, Utah
May 13,2011
"Murderous Nuns"
Legend
Informant: My name is Chelsie Iona Cefalo. I was born in Logan, Utah and lived in Utah for
most of my life. I am a 21 year old female. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints. I come from a family with seven kids and I am the oldest. I am
currently attending Utah State and majoring in English with an emphasis in teaching.
Context: I heard this legend on dark Friday the 13th while my roommates and I were sitting
around a campfire at Second Dam. We were several miles away from the site 'where the
legend occurred. A legend like this is typically told around campfires or on dark scary
nights and is intended to scare the listeners. The legend was told to me by roommate
Jennifer Hugie.
Text: Just up the canyon from here is an old nunnery. The stories say that back in the day when
the nunnery was actually open, they used to send pregnant teenagers there so they could
be punished for their sinful ways. Well not too long after they started sending the
teenagers there, the nuns started killing the girls and would drown their babies in the
swimming pool. The place is now haunted by the ghosts of the nuns, mothers, and babies.
If you go to the swimming pool or look in the cabins you will run into them.
Texture: Jenni told this with a sense of foreboding in her voice. I don't think she fully believed
it but I think she was definitely superstitious about it. Everyone was a little freaked out
by the story and I know that some of the other girls thought it was true.
Gh~\s\e., o,M \0 .
\J\U'n ~~ V~\~Slry
bj\\l~ ~10
~\~!S('f\
tcA\\ '20\\
Daniel Force
Utah State University
2720 Survey of American Folklore
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
Consultant: Tori Wennergren
Age and DOB: 18. December 12, 1991
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Place Collected: Logan, Ut
Date: 10128/10
Title: The Nunnery
Geme: Ghost Story. (Legend)
Text:
Q- Can you give me some background information on The Nunnery?
A- What I do know is that it used to be like a place where nuns would go if they were
pregnant. And so, they'd be shipped off to this nunnery. And I guess at some point, all of
the babies were drowned by some psycho, crazy nun. And so, when you go there, you can
hear babies crying. And if you like lean over the water, then they'll grab you.
Age of consultant when he or she used or performed this example:
She first heard it when she was 14.
Where did the consultant live at the time:
Logan, Ut
Circumstances in which consultant used the folklore:
She heard the story both at school and at family gatherings, particularly at campfires.
Texture:
The interview took place in an apartment of freshman girls going to USU. The
atmosphere was very social, with a lot of things going on.
Daniel Force
Utah State University
2720 Survey of American Folklore
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
Consultant: Alexa Schofield
Age and DOB: 18, Feb. 25,1982
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Place Collected: Logan, Ut
Date: 10/25/2010
Title: The Nunnery
Genre: Ghost story. (Legend)
Text:
Q- Can you give me some background on the Nunnery?
A- My uncle told me that it was a place where nuns went when they got pregnant and
they had to drown their babies. But, it's like, mysteries of like the nuns dying, started
happening, because people would go there to kill the nuns.
Q-[Girl off to the side says:] Tell them about the swimming pool!
A- And there was this, this swimming pool is where the babies would, where they'd
drown the babies. And that's what I went to go check out two years later.
Q- Can you tell me about what happened when you went to the nunnery?
A- Urn ... [lights turn off] oh great. So, it was me, my Uncle, and his two friends. And my
Uncle is pretty old. And I was the lookout and we had to park like a mile away, because
the cops are like huge on the nunnery, because they know kids go there a lot. And we had
to jump this fence and it had barbwire on it, circled around it. And I was just the look out,
but I saw it and you could just like feel like different. As soon as you crossed that fence
you felt different. But I was just a look out, so I didn't hear anything, but like I just heard
them walking around. And then, I heard a scream, and it was my Uncle. And he said, and
he came running out and said "We gotta go now." So we left, and he wouldn't talk about
it until like a week later. And he said that he like, that his two friends were in the pool,
and the pool's empty, but they were down looking at it. He said like an uncontrollable
forced pushed him in. And he fell in and he hopped out the other end. [Girl in
background asks "He seriously felt that?"] Yeah, he was like shaking when he told me.
[Same girl "Ugh .. .I hate the devil!"] So yeah, they've never been back and my parents
won't let me go there anymore.
Age of consultant when he or she used or performed this example:
She first heard of the nunnery when she was 13 at a campfire.
Where did the consultant live at the time:
The consultant lived in Logan at the time.
Circumstances in which consultant used the folklore:
The folklore she knew about the nunnery was primarily told on family outings,
particularly camp fires. This was her Uncle's favorite story to tell.
Texture:
This interview took place in a female apartment, where a majority of the girls were
freshman. When she started telling the story, someone flipped off the lights. Everyone
was scared after it was told. After the story, they decided to go to the cemetery to try and
find the weeping woman.
Item #4
Supernatural Religious Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Myself
Logan, UT
Fall 1991
I was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Being a "military baby" I had the wonderful
experience of moving every couple of years. I am an active member of the L.D.S Church.
Contextual Data:
Shortly after moving to the valley some friends and I went up to the nunnery (i.e.
St. Anne's Retreat) around Halloween. This historic landmark is located about six miles
up Logan Canyon. Although it is only a few hundred feet from the highway, it is well
shielded from the road by the Logan River and a blanket of trees. Current owners have
constructed quite an elaborate gate, trimmed with barbed wire, to keep intruders out.
Text:
Several years ago, they used to use the nunnery as a retreat for nuns. Every
summer a new load of nuns would arrive from churches across the tri-state area (Utah,
Idaho, and Nevada). They would stay here for the summer, do their thing, and then all
would leave at the end of the summer. All but one that is. Her name was Helga, and she
was the head nun/caretaker of the facility. She was assisted by a Priest, and together they
tended to the duties inherent with caring for the facility. Helga was a witchy woman, who
seemed like she was mad at everyone. "Very outspoken and very mean" were the attributes
assigned her whenever anyone described her. The priest was quite a character himself. He
was "stoic, gloomy, and evil-looking." Most residents wondered what kind of a "relaxing
retreat" for the nuns it was with these two individuals presiding over operations.
No one really remembers exactly how it was discovered what went on the other
side of the Logan River, behind that veiling blanket of trees, but all remember the crimes
committed.
Evidently, the nuns who were sent to this particular nunnery all had one thing in
common--they were all pregnant. Of course, everyone knows that it is against the rules of
nunnship for a nun to be pregnant and that is exactly why they were here. Helga, assisted
by the priest, would perform abortions on these nuns. No anesthetic and primitive tools
were used to perform the procedure. This was done supposedly to teach the nuns a lesson,
but many believe it was just done to satisfy Helga's evil drives. Some of the babies
extracted would come out alive, and they were quickly disposed of by either drowning
them in the pool or in the river (you can still see the stone stairs leading into the river). The
bodies were buried in the ground behind the shed by the pool by the priest. That was his
job, disposing of the bodies that is.
Once, one of the nuns tried to escape so she could keep her baby. She was
discovered by the priest in her attempt and severely punished. Because of that incident, the
priest and Helga got some dogs (white Dobermans) to keep the nuns in, and intruders out.
The operation was going fine, so to speak, until Helga became pregnant from the
priest. Great precaution was taken to ensure that the other nuns wouldn't discover the
status of Helga's situation. When the time was right, both Helga and the priest snuk away
under the cover of the night to the area where the abortion was to take place. Only having
watched it done before, the priest tried the best he could in this first attempt at surgery.
Helga suffered immensely for the priests lack of experience. Many mistakes were made,
and the final result was fatal. The priest was devastated and went mad.
The nunnery has since been closed down. Attempts have been made by residents
of the valley to have the place destroyed, but it never seems to happen. The priest still lives
up there and every full-moon returns to the place where Helga died to rendezvous with her
ghost. On a full moon, one can hear the babies crying though the darkness.
Texture:
This legend is told primarily by junior high or high school students. Mostly it's
told just as a scary story, although I depict some hints of prejudice toward Catholics (i.e.
pregnant nuns).
George Gordon
Utah State University
Engl. 526
Dr . Jan Roush
Fall 1996
Title: Logan Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Stories
Informant:
Kristi Swainston
Female
DaB: September 21, 1991
Student at USU
Context:
Name of Informant: Kristi Swainston
Place item was collected: Logan, UT
Date item was collected: October 24,2010
This is normally told when talking about creepy experiences, this kind of story will come
about and be told to a group of friends telling stories to scare each other or tell of an experience
they had themselves with attempting to go up to this nunnery.
Text:
What I've heard about the nunnery is that whenever women that weren't married and they had,
or got pregnant, they would go up there to have - to the nunnery and they would have their
babies and they would drown their babies in the swimming pool from being ashamed. And then
now if you go up there you can hear them crying still.
Texture:
Told as if telling a personal account of something, does not usually involve hand
movements. Unless a person is getting into the story, the hand movements are kept to a
minimum. The tone used is usually a softer tone, like telling a scary story to a group of people
nearby.
Kathryn Young
Utah State University
ENGL2720
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010, Sophomore
Daniel Force
Utah State University
2720 Survey of American Folklore
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
Consultant: Stephanie Bolan
Age and DOB: 20. July 10,1990
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Place Collected: Logan, Ut
Date: 10/28/10
Title: The Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Story. (Legend)
Text:
Q- Can you give me some background on The Nunnery?
A- Well...All that I have heard, I'm not sure how much of it is true, but I heard that it is a
nunnery up Logan canyon where nun's used to live. And urn, I've heard that it is where
they took all the nuns that had gotten pregnant and that is where they murdered their
children. Yeah, that's what I've heard. I talked to my Mom today and she said that she
heard that too, but she thinks that it is just a rumor.
Q- Have you heard any stories about people going to The Nunnery?
A- Urn, my parents went when they were in college. And, my Mom said that you had to
like hop over like a barbwire fence, because it's like on private property. But, she said
that it was kind of creepy, but she thinks that she creeped herself out more ... She thinks
that the whole killing babies thing isn't real.
Age of consultant when he or she used or performed this example:
16.
Where did the consultant live at the time:
Smithfield, Ut
Circumstances in which consultant used the folklore:
When she first heard it she was in high school. It was around Halloween and they were
looking for something scary to do, so they decided on the Nunnery. They never actually
went there.
Texture:
The interview took place in a girl 's apartment. Most of them are students at USu.
Title: Logan Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Stories
Informant: Alyssa John
Female
DaB: January 21, 1992
Student at USU
Context:
Name of Informant: Alyssa John
Place item was collected: Logan, UT
Date item was collected: October 27,2010
This is normally told when talking about creepy experiences, this kind of story will come
about and be told to a group of friends telling stories to scare each other or tell of an experience
they had themselves with attempting to go up to this nunnery.
Text:
So there was this priest, and he, uh, got this nun pregnant without her consent and she started
freaking out and was going to tell on him so he drown her and the baby so he wouldn't tell on
him and he wouldn't get in trouble. So if you go up there at night, you can hear a baby crying
and so if you go over to the swimming pool where the priest drown her and the baby you can see
a black shadow too.
Texture:
Told as if telling a personal account of something, does not usually involve hand
movements. Unless a person is getting into the story, the hand movements are kept to a
minimum. The tone used is usually a softer tone, like telling a scary story to a group of people
nearby.
Kathryn Young
Utah State University
ENGL2720
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010, Sophomore
Kyra Madsen
Utah State University
ENGL 2720
Dr. Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
Name of Consultant: Ryan Howell
Age and date of birth: 20, April 22, 1990
Ethnicity: White, American
Place folklore item was collected: Logan, Utah
Date item was collected: October 21,2010
Title: The Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Story
Text:
The nunnery. There's an old nunnery up Logan Canyon, which, is according to legend is,
was a retreat for nuns who got pregnant, and supposedly down from the nunnery a hundred, or
two hundred yards is a little pond where members of the head honcho of the nunnery would take
the newborn child and kill them and make them drown in the pond. That way the church
wouldn't dilute their status of having babies and such, and it's, there's, the actual building up
there it's actually, it's kind of creepy but they're not actually supposed to go up and see it
anyway.
[Did you see any ghosts up there?]
Uh, I didn't see any ghosts or anything. It's just, (pause) a combination of you know, at
least the whole, you know you hear a lot of bad things about it and also you got all these no
trespassing signs. So, you're kind of paranoid of getting caught and then, and old buildings, it's
creepy and have heard a lot of bad things about it.
How old was the consultant when he/she heard this story?
Ryan was 20 when he heard this story and visited the nunnery.
Where did the consultant live at the time?
1- \ \ . \~. \ " \ 05
Logan, Utah
Texture:
He told the story in a reciting manner like he'd told it a few times before. I think this might be
because he had actually been there and had seen where everything was located and could better
picture what is alleged to have happened there.
"The Nunnery"
Legend
Informant:
Josh look
Logan, Utah
October 2010
Josh look has been a Ufelong friend for me, and I have always considered him to be like an older
brother. Josh is 23 years old and is married to Sheena look. Josh grew up in Paradise, Utah but moved
to Logan, Utah when he got married. Josh has been involved in a volunteer group such as the Paradise
fire department and EMT services. Josh worked for a while at the plasma center, but is now going to
school at Weber. Josh enjoys photography, firefighting, four-wheeling, anything outdoors, and spending
time with his wife.
Context:
Josh has always been known for telling stories, and telling them well. Because of this I thought he would
be a great source for a legend. I text him and asked him if he knew any legends and he told me that he
could probably think of a bunch. He invited me over for dinner where he could tell me the stories in
person, and so we could catch up. I went over to his house where we at a delicious meal and stories just
started to flow. I reminded Josh that I needed him to share a legend with me. He got a quirky grin on
his face and said he had one that I have probably already heard, but that his version was the best. Then
he started to tell me the legend of the nunnery up Logan Canyon.
Text:
Joshes version of the nunnery legend starts out by saying that a while back a rich man built five cabins,
which he later sold to a church. The church bought the cabins and turned them into a nunnery. One of
the nuns strayed and became pregnant, and when the other nuns found out, she was told they were
going to kill her baby. Once she had her baby boy, they drowned him in the pool. It is said that in the
pool there is a small section in the pool that is ice cold, and has a faint glow in the spot where the baby
was drowned. Josh also told me about a present incident that took place at the nunnery. He said that
there were a group of college students who went up to the nunnery to see if the stories were true.
There were three self alleged guards who tied them up, held guns to their heads, and told them if they
tried to leave they would shoot their legs. Some of these students were molested and physically
abused. The guards called the police saying that the kids had trespassed since the property is off limits.
The police came and arrested the kids and gave them a ticket for trespassing. These kids told their
parents what happened, and the parents told the police so the charges were dropped and the guards we
arrested.
Texture:
When Josh first started telling the story he sounded very sarcastic and said the words really slow, just
because this is his personality. Then he became more serious and told the story very soft spoken. He
did a lot of hand motions while he told the story, drawing in your attention. He paused a few times as
he tried to remember the events to the best of his ability. When he told the legend of the nunnery he
sounded as though he wasn't sure if he believed it. As he told the more recent events he told it as
though it were a matter of fact. Hearing his version of the story was very interesting and captivating.
Natalie Carter
Utah State University
English 2210
Steve Siporin
Fall Semester 2010
KyraMadsen
Utah State University
ENGL2720
Dr. Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
Name of Consultant: Joan Hansen
Age and date of birth: 70, October 16, 1940
Ethnicity: White, American
Place folklore item was collected: Trenton, Utah
Date item was collected: October 24,2010
Title: The Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Story
Text:
They had guards and these kids broke in and did damage and these guards was
really rough on them and put them in the pool, empty pool and held them at gun shot
(laughs) 'till the cops come, and now they've arrested the guards and let the kids go.
[Can you remember any of the stories you heard}
There are a lot of stories, there, just, we used to have family reunions there. Yeah,
and it had some little tinny buildings, I mean they're like playhouses and they had beds in
them and you had to walk around like, (demonstrating bent over position) even kids it's
after I was married though, because I remember I took my kids with me. I remember the
swimming pool and things like that and the big building, but I didn't really know that
much about it before then but this is probably somethin' if we'd had known stories and
stuff, my, my kids, my friends and I would have done it and gone up and seen that and if
we'd had got caught we knew we'd be in deep trouble, ya know? (laughs).
[What do you know about the nunnery itself?}
In the fifties, is when it was, in the fifties is when it become the nunnery, other
than that, and before these other guys owned it. Uh, anyhow, these guys who had lots of
\~\pS;~ \O\m
d~\\\O\J\Q
money owned it for awhile. And they had people from all over the world stay. Then they
had the, let the women take it, the nuns, of the Catholic Church take it. I was going
through some stuff my mother had, and she was a nurse. I was going though what she had
written and there was something about this one nun, who'd got pregnant. She'd had the
baby and when the head nun, when she'd found out she drownded the baby. I know if
you look up on the internet you'd find a lot more stories and detail. But if you look up
Saint Anne's Retreat and I bet you'd find different things associated with it.
How old was the consultant when he/she heard this story?
Joan visited he nunnery around 1965 for her family reunions.
Where did the consultant live at the time?
River Heights, Utah
Texture:
She told this story in a happy reminiscing way with a lot of smiling and laughing.
KyraMadsen
Utah State University
ENGL2720
Dr. Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010
N arne of Consultant: Clare Vaterlaus
Age and date of birth: 21, December 16,1989
Ethnicity: White, American
Place folklore item was collected: Logan, Utah
Date item was collected: October 24,2010
Title: The Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Story
Text:
Okay, so the nunnery is haunted (pause) because the priests had raped the nuns
and the nuns, urn, when they gave birth the priests decided to drown both the nuns and
the uh, babies and then that's why it's haunted and later, urn, some teenagers went down
there to, (dramatic pause) see ifit was haunted and that's when, I think it was police, had
tied them up at the bottom of the pool and physically, and maybe, sexually, I don't,
abused them and that's why it's been scary since.
How old was the consultant when he/she heard this story?
Clare was 19 years old when she first heard about the nunnery and about the teenagers.
Where did the consultant live at th·e time?
Logan, Utah
Texture:
She told this story in a scary voice emphasizing it with dramatic pauses, like she was
really getting into the story.
Y~\l~Q \0\ l't\
C\\JG\\ \c00\~
Title: Logan Nunnery
Genre: Ghost Stories
Informant:
Emily Bernhisel
Female
DaB: May 30, 1990
Student at USU
Context:
Name of Informant: Emily Bernhisel
Place item was collected: Logan, UT
Date item was collected: October 24,2010
This is normally told when talking about creepy experiences, this kind of story will come
about and be told to a group of friends telling stories to scare each other or tell of an experience
they had themselves with attempting to go up to this nunnery.
Text:
So ... 1 don't know where they came from but these nuns got pregnant so they're like ... not holy
anymore or whatever, so they took them out into like, some nunnery up in the Logan canyon and
they all drown their babies in the canyon in the swimming pool. Or somewhere over there. And
so like if you go out there at night, you can hear the babies crying.
Texture:
Told as if telling a personal account of something, does not usually involve hand
movements. Unless a person is getting into the story, the hand movements are kept to a
minimum. The tone used is usually a softer tone, like telling a scary story to a group of people
nearby.
Kathryn Young
Utah State University
ENGL2720
Lisa Gabbert
Fall 2010, Sophomore
,\ C9l]]>
Digitized by : Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> legends (folk tales);]]> application/pdf;]]> 26677345 Bytes]]> eng]]> Text;]]> Logan Canyon (Utah); Cache County (Utah); United States;]]> 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 20th century; 2000-2001; 2000-2009; 2010-2019; 21st century;]]>
Legends;]]> legend-tripping;]]> "Saint Anne's Retreat"
Informant data:
Marsha Jenkins
Pine Glen Cove,
Logan Canyon
June of 1978
Retold October of 1983
Marsha Jenkins is from Newton, Utah. She was born and raised
there and was affiliated with the M.I.A. program in the Newton
ward for several years for the L.D.S. Church. She was a camp
leader and accompanied the girls to a Young Womens camp held at
Pine Glen Cove about 9 miles up Logan Canyon. We'd all gather
around the fire place in the big lodge before going to our cabins
to tell and listen to stories. This was the one that really got
to us!
Pine Glen Cove was previously known as "St. Anne's Retreat"
because each summer a gr oup of Nun s from the Catholic Chur ch
would visit the retreat for relaxation and meditation. Until
the tragedy.
The radio's and television sets blared with the news that an
escaped convict was wandering through Logan Canyon. He had one
hook arm add was armed with a dangerous weapon. People were
warned to stay clear of the canyon and to stay inside where they
were sa~ e. The nuns, however didn't have any contact with the
outside world. That very evening one of the sisters was missing.
The other sisters looked around as much as they could but decided
she was just meditating or that she had gone back to her cabin
early. The next morning she still hadn't returned. They looked
most of the day but found nothing.
That evening as some of the Nuns were praying, they heard a horrible
scream. They ran directly outside to see what the trouble was and
there was the missing Sister ... Bloody and floating in the swimming
pool.
After that episode they sold the retreat.
never :Eo.und.
The escaped ~onvict was
Andrea Benson
Newton, Utah
History 124
Fall 1983
L ).' t / f /::?, I , I
(
Seol)j
Sa/at /J/J/Js lfe6r~t"
~o« tVa //a c ~
A q9Cl/7 I (/6.-
1/~3
..::::z:: C/O/.) /6 /"eCl/& ,5'hoV<./ /??uch a~
ScoCi" ' /k Go/cI /he ~ ,,6e 8/"'-c"c.u- C/r:' //7
A?JCtn I d-- ~f'//c a /06' of 6/"/:n<9 eo/??p/~
up /n -c/;e CO/lSC/7 cuhen he~..j ---Sf oV/?8 e " .
.He //OUJ £eClc,hes;:: .s.c/?cxy/ //7 U/e/hc/l·//~.
/f;f!!j oseol -to £f?// c:.oIS ~,J' cu);//e ea/n~/.n3 r //7 de O;eo... / ~ SCCtre eQc~ o-cher.
c-0//7G 4/7/7S /fec/"r:?CZ£ ~ 0/7 Qrea...
w,,6e/'~ -c,fe (?a-c~o~ "c /V'uns ()- P/,e/sc c.vevlol
racaV'a/7 //) -c/7c:> SV/}?/?7e". (}/Je .sOQ;JQ/{;?1'" a...
/VV/7 /lCi./7?eo/ .Yste/' A/?/7 /-e// //J /0 UP w/ '-ch Q
?/e/.s£. 7/?~ ~ad a c~/d rhccc 61W Xe;tJ6
~/o/ok/J ,Je,e . ykre u.as C2. Ck'[-r bac/ /-Ire)
01-. A/J/J CU?/JC /// -cO ~ V:J .s2:1oe -Me 04/"/ c/
;;ft-!Cf Ufl?re -6ro/;o~ "" b:xA /na:51e)- ). (!A/ /01
~c/. ..LC /$ SQ/c/ ~~acj /I/?/:) ,/7dG<./
cuo//[.s- c2/w/7o/ ~v/?v11 -c;he CZ/".eCl. eu;'-c..4'
~e/' e~//ci //7 ~tP/ Q/'/nS .
{/I 'cl(y /(u/s I ' <.
Cj)/'ClI(jC) II / 6c.x; 35
JOjQ/n I uJ-.
L :? I I.. I~. r ~
(
Tim Keller
Logan, Utah
November 12, 1982
Tim was born in Preston, Idaho and has lived there all of his
life. He is a member of the L.D . S. church and is presently attend­ing
Utah State University. Tim likes modern cars and he is also
a good waterskier.
Contextual Data:
I learned this item from Tim after I asked him if he'd heard
any stories of St. Anne's Retreat. Tim heard this story from his
friend's mother who has lived in Logan for some tir.le. This is the
story as he related it to me.
Up Logan Canyon there is an old Catholic Convent. It consists
of several cabins and there is also a swimming pool. This convent
is abandoned now but nuns used to occupy it. The Hother Superior,
or whatever it is, the head nun who was over the nuns who lived up
there , was supposed to be kind of sadistic. She would lock her
nuns in their cabins and leave them there for no one knows how long .
There are scratches on the cabin walls with blood stains where the
nuns tried to claw their way out.
Terri Keller
Preston, Idaho
USU
Legends/ Hyths and
Folktales
Fall quarter, 1982
L , -/;;f, / ,.3
i
1
I
I I I
! ! I
, '
I
j
Ghost Story
Launee Fo-wler
her house
.'larch 25, 19:31
This story .. c::.s told to me by La ',ln6e .Fowler, rr;y :;]utual adviser. The
story use:l. to be toU to tne girls up at a ;irls car:;p in Logar. Car.yon.
All of the girls kne~ it wasn't tr~e, but it used to scare the~ quite
badly, beca~e the incident was supposed to have happened close to
where the:'l were. The story was told when Launee went to' ca::r? in the
early 1970's.
Launee is 24 and lives at in Bountifcl, Utah.
She is the mother of two.
"They l.l.Sed to tell us this story wnan we were up at girls
camp. You know where Logan Canyon is 7 o'\'ell, there's this old
building where they use.:i to send the nuns for surncner vacation.
There was ttis one nun who had a golden ar~. One day when
she was the only one there, a guy carne in, killed her, and stole
her golden arm and the other valuables.
I,ow the nun is supposed to be out walkins a::,ou.."l3 at night
looking for her arm. She goes up to people beg~in; for it.
It used to scare us because the nurillery was just over the hill
from where we were."
EO'JIltiful, Juh
Soutj Javis Junior High
L.cr A 14 1+ \ <::>\1) K..~ FA lIZ-L
~ I I. /:? I. Lj .
r
Legend
"The Baby in the Fireplace"
Informant data:
Myself
Logan, Utah
1974 (approx.)
I was born May 24, 1960 in Logan, Utah, to parents of English
ancestry. I lived in California for six years, then we moved back
to Logan. I was educated in the Logan City Schools, and am current­ly
a senior at Utah state University majoring in music. I am a mem­ber
of the L.D.S. church and enjoy tennis, raquetball, skiing, camp­ing,
and music of all kinds. I am currently serving as the Young
Women's camp specialist for my stake.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Contextual data:
I heard this story while I was attending a girl's camp at Camp
Lomia in Logan Canyon. Our whole group had gathered in the lodge,
which is where this story is supposed to have taken place. The fact
that we were in that place made the story even scarier to us. As
soon as the meeting was over, we ran out of the lodge and back to
our tents as fast as we could. I'm not sure the story is actually
true, but it was told as a true story and all of us believed it at
the time. It was probably just told to scare us to death, and it
worked: Ever since then, I have told the story to other groups and
in other situations, but it seems like I always get the best re­action
from the audience when I tell it in the lodge. This shows
me how important a role the setting can play in the telling of a
story.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Many years ago, before cabins were built at Camp Lomia, the
girls used to sleep in bunk beds in the upper story of the lodge.
One night the girls were awakened by the sound of a baby's cry.
They couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from, but every
night they were there they heard the same cries. Finally, the
girls became so terrified that they had to leave camp early. Even
after the girls were home, however, they were still very frightened
and many of them started having nightmares. The families of these
girls decided to conduct a search of the lodge to see if they could
locate the source of the cries. A group of men went up one night
and waited in the top floor of the lodge. Just after midnight, the
cries of a small baby could be heard clearly by everyone present.
It seemed to fill the entire room. The men finally determined that
the cries were coming from the fireplace at one end of the room.
Upon closer inspection, they foudn that one of the stones was loose.
L ~ I /, )~. /,
(
(
They removed the stone and found the skeletal remains of a newborn
baby. It was later learned that the lodge had once been used as a
retreat for Catholic nuns. Apparently, one of the nuns had been
pregnant and had gone to the lodge to have her baby. Unable to
face the humiliation of her situation, she buried the newborn alive
in the fireplace.
Annette Pack
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
History 124
Fall Quarter 1981
L~ , /11 / ~ A / • S- P ~
(
(
(
V'\k~('~e L;f\J ley
- --+- - -- - Lo'1 C\- C\ U +C\.-V\ -
Oct I ':)c t «{ S ;3
I
Vc\\er;e. L/V\ch \€.y ~~ I q Y ~OJ'~ Q V\ l\ C+
'50 17 ~ 0 I~O V' l.- ~ ~ U to. ~\ L) t--o. t e () y\ \' ve V'5 I't- '( f
7~e WCL5 hof'n C~V\G\ f'Q;7'4\ 1" Wc:l/$\L;I\L-qi\('~
t) qVYleiYlpe l" of the. LpS Chu(ch .. 1: Wo,5
q1- hef' o.po.,tmeVlt G.V\<A \NC{5 5C\y; nJ 50Yheth~IY\J
qb()ut 5-a,;Vl.t Q"r\5 Re-1- r e<\'t vJhtfL "5he 5q;J tha.l
She K()ew Q")+OI'Y qp>out l'1- o\V\~ t-h,'.s i, t't.
T ~ere.. wa.s 0,)'\ €j c.a.pe& <:'01\\1 ;c.t .f ~OiY\ f-he
fi<'J\To,,\ H'o)p\tU.\ ;" P,....ovo .. 1\ ~eV'e Wa,5 q (\Vf\f1eV'y
1/ p a.. t 5tl ClO'\Vl5 C\ Y\(;\ ~e We-At (/ p rh.-e,v-e. _ /+e '10 t
<1. VI u V\ p f'e 1 V\ <:{ V\ t q V\ c.\ K' \ \ \ e. c\ Cl e 0 (/ j> \ 'e 0 1-~ e V' :5
J rt
-t-I\er. dI5C\.ppeo..v"s. )~~ .nv(\ h.~l\ r~e bo.py Cl.V\cA
cArC \A/vle.J. '\\ ;V\ t~e evol 0.1'\0. t~~re. 4~ 5u?p05e~
t() lYe b load 5+c{\ (\5 5t d\ c Y\ + he bo ttc> IJI). if A ~ Y\ v V\
wer\l- c,rq -z:..y o.~c\ went Vp ;Y\~towel' QJ\c,\ l~veJ"
j-he, th()£/qht tho:'\- she. wetS Q(\cA CCl\JY\~ c\.OW(\ o.n~
k ;It e J Q \ \ +- h eo+-her h J 1\ ~, 5'he h a,d +iA lo w h' \ \--e.
do ~e.r f\l\C\{\S C\i'\c,\ it yo u 40 ue th~{'e C\Ao\ 5e.e
tbeir- eyes Cjlow/'V\j <:jf'eeV\)Of' i{ yoUS~e... her-e.
ye <; l' low 'I h 3 up" 1'\ -t- k. e +0 GV 'e Y' i- h. e tI you w ~ 1\ h c::d­--
1
(Y\C\ k e t 1- 0 v t- <) et he Cq 1'\ yo Y\ a. \ \ v ~ ..
L~ ,I, /~, 1 .. 7
(
(
I •
-------;- =-------==-- ~
--- --____ Idt-L - - 7 - f-~--
(
(
Scott R. Peterson
Library, USU
Feb. 8, 1984
Legend
St. Ann's Retreat
Informant data:
Scott Peterson has lived in Logan for most of his life. He
is 22, an LDS returned missionary and a student at USU. He
is a political science major and plans on attending law
school the fall of 1985.
Contextual data:
Text
I collected this item while I was in the library studying
with Scott. Since he is a native of Logan I thought he
would probably know the story of St. Ann's retreat. I asked
him to tell me his version after hearing one of his friends
tell another version. The three of us were sitting in the
library together when Scott told us this story. Scott does
not believe this story to be true. He thinks that something
probably did happen at the retreat, but he has no idea what
it was.
They had a bunch of nuns killed up there [St. Ann's
Retreat] • On a certain occasion some marshalls went to
investigate it, and when they arrived they found one nun who
was lacking an ar~ and had a golden one instead. When they
got there she was crouched over one nun finishing her off
with a hatchet. They tried to apprehend her, and she ran
off into the hills and was never found. She is still up
there and that is why you shouldn't go.
2
Lisa Canfield
Logan, utah
USU
Folklore
Winter 1984
(
(
Superstition Folk Belief
"GHOST AT SAINT ANN"
Informant Data:
MAFW: L1JA I TE
Logan, Utah
aul'/ 5, 84
Mark Waite~ 18~ was born in Logan, Utah. He attended Logan
High School and graduated in 1984. His father is a bi ·shop. He
loves to go four wheeling.
Conte:.: tual Data:
Mark heard this story last year when he went camping with the
Boy Scouts. He heard it from a guy named Steve Goodson. Steve
was in the story himself.
* * * * * * * *
On one winter night~ Steve and his friend were coming back
from four wheeling and snowmobiling. It was about midnight when
they went through Saint Ann's. Steve tried to start the truck~
but it wouldn't start. After about five minutes, they saw a nun
appear with a Doberman and she pointed in their direction for the
Doberman to attack them. After the first Doberman was attacking
the truck~ they saw the nun disappear and reappear with another
one until there were six of them. Steve eventually got his truck
started and drove away. When Steve got home, his parents thought
he had rolled the truck over, because there were scratches and a
broken wi ndo~'-J. He told them the story and they all went up there
the next day, but they found nothing.
Chi:"lu N. Lam
U.S.U.
History 124
L::;ummet- , :l 984
L;J, ./, /~. / .. 9
(
*
(
r:1nJ .
"c. V e;.r ~ t 0 ~.,
Lc:Je-.... J e..p sf. A'1r1; f{.eh .. f-
7hc
ft...p-l-t..-- thc:)'" /'l1ovC1J up kJq/l CcrzYOY1; -fh~re: (..v'a.F 0-
-fi:t...J ~ /her..! C:Vl d a bout 1"'>0;- 20 /f/<{NU. On e o-P fJ,e tc.. . hcy..!
A.:. J A,:; ~ <!!ye On ol'7c o-P -me Ahll"l J J J he (A./CU "loJt f?? you~
a",d p,..-e-Hy. Dl1e /ltjJ,f he cu/r'!d he/ -In ;)cv /J(~ our
&/1 h C<. ..;;; <.J i-h I '?J.J a /1 c!. he en cI ~ d v/' r-a.j:7 I ~ h <: r •
.5h~ 1h~ 3"+5 ~rCY('74f o",d ..shc. doc.sr1<-/ da.-rc: hI! Ct'1j/in"Jy
Cuv.se she. 1h ... V)~+ th<..y '-4oulJ lJ1I~k. shr: h. .. J ;o~vc.h~ h,~}
he (,J <4.J .5(.nh a... :3 Q. b J fl'1cc..-J. /9n)/ t-'c<y th C r(:-..s +- 0 j2 f-h c /f/ t.lr'l....J
sh~/leJ he,,- b<:co..v.sc .she t..f<CJ -.56 ~r-tII;Y .. WhCVl ,'; hCC<l--n(!
Co b,v;ot.l.; .s he tJc..J vvtih ch; IJ/ ~""evyOvt(> ...s kune J h~r-) So sht.:
fy-/~J hili'?; 1,c:..5 -h:. ct"C;?/,.:", /f; buf ~ /10 "Y1~ 0o(.l/J 6<-.I,,,,,~ ~~r.
50 she C/lJ~ ur :J6/0 qc...-V c.J1"" I~ fJz /'?7ou-lr.jq,;',p- 0'1 J hqv~:V
t?- bA 7- be. y. 5 J, c. rer$ S e J }II~ a'1 J "-c./ he /} h (-~ 0/ cf (-YZ0"J h
she ~1I.s h,y't<J the ..f~7/ "",1",,4 e..,.n;..J~.s h/~ .. Ourl~ 7n1:..r
-hntc she ~'i.r -Ivrned A~ c.. svC'c;:.f- .J I.-I 1-0 0. hcr-h-.-c:d
V<J;lc.h. s::. she ~ ~/'tnJ' 0.. ~y -{!O,... tnz.Y'>1. -f.t:, IT';;I --tk ~ ;ar/c.-J-t-,
me: 60 y '7hC:/l :10<:: J da<-J'1.. O<-? d /,,/IJ -IJ, olcf prz;"'J+ CUI cf
7h'CYl -t'nc.y Jrtll <t'VL~7c.>Y1(;: el.H "'r fhr:::r-c:. The 1C;;CY7c1 ,:J0C"J
--!-h~f. -/he bc;Y ~".f VC'7 ::Por7d of} dO:JJ and ~o li ld sick inc.Y?1
6vl Cto/O-'1C ih",,+ CCtn?C ur --!nere. 50 -the. f'Vtc,h1cr- 4"1d " '':'1''(
hofh. dee of old cvc-/ bJ+ he"' .5tJ'''-'+.J 0-/2 -the. d~.JJ/YJ-tufhrr Q'Ici
50>"'l ctrc: s+Z1l ro~I"""I~ orovVlci".I~ yc.:,J;10 up +her~ ine
cLjs 5/,',;,,+s J ef- you ct"l d ch~v y<:Jo.J up" b<..l+ Je"'-vl!' yo u -10
b~ A, 'I/c.J hy he /"t~ inc:,..~
L . I, /~. J. /0
(
(
I Lejend
li fJ(? : I-e.;e:n" c:.+' Sf. An/}';' Rc +reo. f .
C,'r'\dy 13clrbvr:J
LO:Jal1, U+c. h
/ /18/ 83
In..[;,.(rJrA. +\lIe D~ +.:.. :
C'rldy Echbv,) i,s ~ -h-,~J and nejl,6or ~r c. l<>-r)) -h"me J
5'h~ p~.sc..'f\tjr hu~j' c.t.+ Q/1d is a. Yr. ,~ CG/le..Jc:. ~
~e,- ethn'c G\1"Ic.esh--r IS' .s(.J~edl:sh Q/)d her hc:.bhl·e.,S" l~cI(JJc
phc~ 0.111 0...".-1- • .she:' ~"lJ /o <:>r rJ , '(1 III,".-toi,s I bv+ W<l.J rCl.L~cJ
.
)n Lo~a'l .
CO~~~{ D4+o. ',
L coil<.:c.-I-t/ hi::' I~j e'>1d (...)hr:n vv-.! G-/Cre s,f+,n..; a.round
-h:11,'~ Joke.Jj And ye,y'J~bCY' +hilt+- -this (,...Jov(J be :3~ c> J ~.­'
f-hc -f'o/J.r.!c,rc. clcu$ ... :r1J heq,.J /0+05 c..f V(-rJI"ns he..(:;u-c; these
(r/e .. ~ fv..,o ef fire be..sf.
She -hrs+ hc .. ,..J -fheJc ..sh.-t"e-..s I;' hty ~ schoo I ~j,<'YJ 50/1'1 e
61dc-r- JVY.s (G-vy::I::.ssacso r) -fhqf like +0 +",l\e. .J·,rloS up
the C<Io"y,,/L +0 -h,j.J' p lCl.c.e G,.,d Scare: -/n<.-yYI,.2:+ 1$ SCQry Ish..: -Sctl' J,I
becq(lsC" I+S' 0/'1 a..s -.ver; cJ p{Qce c .... 'l cJ t'hc..--rc. Glrl! doj,s'up 7-h(:'y-<::, ..
I hy
..z- rec:o.--cicJ two. \/C'('"s;"I1S o-P +-hij le"I:"J ~Y>1. C~dy~
Tex'" :
The !eYC-l1d bey'I"..s -fh-~+ c.a.c.hc 'Vq,1t<::7 w<tSn'+ ~vf'\deJ
r'1or/Y1ons/ b ur hy fnc CCi.'fhc/'-cJ rluf se+- tt.p 0, .srnq /1
II';JJ<t.J ~ here. ThC'/1 /he A1o"''''~Q//J Cq."'1 1: II"') Of"d sef Ur' sho(lJ
r'l1. ... kc::;·I"'J'tnC. eo..n,c.r,c..) -Feel oV+- o-P plCK.e; becQ.vJ i: /Vlc./,;'17orlJ
(.,.Je r e ,So d;-Ptt:r-et'\t-. So +h~ ca.fhJ,~.j "'.JCV\+u~ L~Q/'l CCU?Y0rl/
1110...1-+ 6..(' wnun-t ("';C!r-c N un,S/ Q'1 d bv:lf Son1 t:. Cab:"s ~ *
7hcr~ (..vel./' a.. A/VYl Thq, -I /'lob.,.dy ,;I"C!J I G/'l J fn7 sy
nee+- she... vSl"d +-0 s/eer OV-D'<Jl1d w; -h, -f-'hc F.:c-l'hc:r5 0", d the
Plorrr10/1J ,;" fo<.A-I~1 a'l J of'1.c.(:' 1'1"1 a. ... A1~/e .J<I:I. aJ+ a/ld 8~-1- SQ/I'1t::.
SfJ1',Ps o-F booze. So o..lt the: n:..;-f of -fhe Nuns sh<.Jl"lIleJ ht:::.r
a.,., J u.s c d "'/-b J L"v'';: h <r:" r In c rb~ J 'o b oS -/-0 de a ro oJ 1'1 d -In C
c.Ctb(/I,S / ' I. "0::. Sc.rlJ b -t-I,<.:. ~IQ e>rJ 0"1-' J svch, S c> OAe dc~y -f-his Nol')
L.:(. /~ J~. J. II
~d he. J J·Vj.J- abou-t- e'l1ov.jh o~ h(;!,,-c h4SJ~).$ OI,-z ct
5tv.{.p. She (A.,r"-J GL de \f'~u...s N v t'l150 She (.A/(_"Yl-f a. 11111<:. erCl< z-y
OY')C nlyh+ cUld dec.;JeJ she (,.JoulJ je.-\- rid crP a.1l 0+ fh(;>~.
Sc> she. -look: so~e 1r~;Pcs/ fh~r 0.1{ slc-r+/'r, b •. 1I'l1:r5) she:
f 5~,...-hJ .5/d-,~ fh .... oQ.+s o..f r/ll'e NuY).s an J killed -fnC"Y"1. Q./I.
{Here I dc-f-a.'/.$ 0-1' f-he k,"/I,?J o.r"C o..dded by ("".A1ce./(.-r- iJ ~II;':J
the S.f-ory) She s'h II h .. J +'he F~thC'r.s +.:, k; If I fh 7 'd be
h."",.-c/cr be:co.vsc- ih7 t.../l.-rr.:. sfn.t"\.Jc-r I h .. rl- oh-""/c.-r- 0.--1' /-he tY"I.
She (.dCY1+ scn::",h'f'n..; ~ fhc-n:. f'"b6""'" f<' F .... fne-r/ h:.. -hc:,- c.cY"'1 C-therc-.
J ..Jc.~efh.~ f.,I'-/l'7>Y1j he<re \\ J Cl"l J a...! fhy C4~e oU+
shf! si,1 --tnerr In.,-oo.f..r .. Sb she... go";' ef.11 -the !n,d/eJ G"1d
du..J Glo h~/e three..; fhco"Yl ,;." She 7hc.."YI. I,vcl tne n::.s +-o+'
hey- I, h o<.J+- U(J f'here ..
NoL..l/ all the s~;r;h c+ inc. d~~J bod/c.:.J o...-z,d ht ... f- (
(lfvns 5;4;';" f o..rc: tit' -hH-V-C.... Sb J--f1 VoJ (Je up fl,e-,c:: your
r~U:: JS \ l"n V/ ; +h .5r ' 0j("; J....r I Q" cI --I1z ~ IV ''''1:.r Std. ,->t- do <=:S " / I (.,../l;f /J +
yqiJ Up tYz. er~ .
7hcrc. if cJ..s~ G... ..5<.A./In'1rnl:V (000 I -fh ... + J::,,,Ot -A:..'r!y rec:cY) H'y
b0·\\t up there c.A tnt:. ~o\c: fh • ..f.. ~~d d~<d bod/e.s /',.-, If.
0su
Am. 1=0 Ilr/orr:
W 01 -h-r fU r 19li3
(
STbQ.\(
\' ~r ANN~ R.q~TII
tJ,"m Ames
HAY 4,94
, J
(
(AT nttS -PDINr , ASk-EO ~/H 1~ ·1lt1S
W A t> -rYlU.£ I HE TUJ2NEO Hi5 ~ ro
PIlC:£ H6 ,ttND S/11~ Yc.s. ~T fH\)1) *'tS
FRlEND5 c.fttvt£ INTO J8;5 ~t Gt+r IWTER..-
~ fNCi DENTJ vvt-hT"E As G-/tf;5r~D
EN&L 46q
btNIV. OI
U11t# S71frE UN I V .
(
Kevin Kartchner
Library, USU
Feb. 8, 1984
Legend
St. Ann's Retreat
Informant data:
Kevin Kartchner was born and raised in Logan, Utah. He is
22 years old, LDS, a returned missionary and majoring in
Business.
Contextual Data:
Text
I collected this item while I was stu~ng in the library
with my fiance. Kevin is a friend of my fiance, and when I
asked Scott to tell me the legend of St. Ann's retreat, he
thought Kevin would know more about it. Kevin learned the
story in bits and pieces as he was growing up in Logan. The
only audience was Scott and me. After Kevin told his
version of the story, Scott told his ,and they compared
legends. Kevin does not believe that his story is entirely
true, but he does believe that something did happen at ST.
Ann's, and that at least part of his story is based on
truth. I used as m~ of Kevin's own words as I could as I
recorded the story in tonghand while he told it to me.
These cowboys were out on the range about 1920. There were
a bunch of nuns that lived up there. The cowboys that were
in the area were lonely and rowdy. They went up there [St.
Ann's Retreat] and raped and killed them.
1
Lisa Canfield
Logan, utah
USU
Folklore
Winter 1984
L..{ I. / ~. 1_ /3
(
(
Superstition Local Belief
"SAINT-ANN-RETREAT"
Infot-mant Data:
MARK FLUCKIGER
Logan, Utah
June,8Lf.
Mark Fluckiger, 18, was born in Logan, Utah. His family
been members of the Mormon church. He recently went to Boot
in Fortknox, Kentucky. He likes to ride dirt bikes,
basketball and he used to be my co-pilot in races.
Conte:-: tual Data:
have
Camp
play
Mark heard this story from his neighbor.
from other people in different versions. He
He also heard it
seemed to believe
them all.
I collected this story while we were out dragging Main on a
Saturday night. We were bored of Main street and decided to do
something else. Mark suggested that we go up to Saint-Ann. We
didn't really know what it was, so he told us the story. (There
were five of us in the car)
::I< :I< * * * * * *
Saint-Ann was a nunery a long time ago. As Catholic, nuns are
not suppose to have sex or any relationship with male.
some nuns up at Saint-Ann had broke the rule and got pregnant.
When the babies were born, the nuns killed the babies by drowning
them in a pool in the back of Saint-Ann. Some of the nuns felt
guilty and killed themself also. Now, the nuns sometimes appear
back to visit the place. There is a watchman with two dobermans
and a gun to keep the public out.
Chau N. Lam
U.S.U. Campus
U.S.U.
Hi f~;tory 12Lf.
Summer, 1984
L ;). I. I ~. /. I!
(
(
Story
St. Anne's Retreat
Informant data:
Karen Oakden
Logan, Utah
October 6, 1983
Karen Oakden is my sister. She was born in Logan, Utah on April 12,
1961. She graduated from Utah State with a 2 year Secretarial degree.
She is of Swiss defent. She is presently employed at U.S.U. She is an
active member of the L.D.S. Church.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Contextual Data:
Karen heard this story when her and her friends were up driving in Logan
canyon one night. Her friends told her the story. They were all
scaring each other with scary stories. She was terrified, she spooks
easily. She related the story to me because I had a friend who spent
the night at st. Anne's Retreat.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Text: St. Anne's Retreat
At one time St. Anne's Retreat was used as a nunnery. The nuns lived far
away from everyone else so they got away with things other nuns could not get
away with. The nuns often found themselves pregnant. In order not to get in
trouble for doing things they shouldn't, they would drown their babies in the
swimming pool that is at the retreat. If you go up to St. Anne's Retreat in
Logan Canyon at night, you can still hear the babies crying.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Janet Rust
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
English 124
Fall 1983
L~, I, I~. I .. is
· - (
f
\
Legend
Saint Annis Retreat
Informant Data:
Tony Gil bert
Logan Canyon
August 1981
Tony is a friend live grown up with. He was raised in Lewiston,
Utah, on a dairy farm. ' He is active in the L.D.S. Church, which he
- is preparing to serve a mission for. He attended Utah State last year
n, n frp~hman. He is very talented as a musician and a dancer, and
has always b'een active in perfOrnIllg groups such as Calico 'D'arice '
Company, 'which he presently belongs to. He was on the Student Body
Council during all three of his high school years, and is very good­natured.
Con'textual Data:
Tony related this story to me one night as we were driving home
ffom Pickleville Playhouse; which is ov~r on Bear Lake. I worked
there this summer as a p~rformer, and he had come over to watch me
on this particular night. He happens to know that I get scared very
easily, and driving through Logan Canyon at one o'clock in the
morning makes me even more jittery than usual. The story he told me
scared me to death, and I didn't dare drive through the canyon alone
for the rest of the performance season. I fact, I don't think I will
ever drive tbe canyon alone again!
Text:
"0nce not so long ago; Saint 'Ann I s was an active nunnery. There
were' dver a hundred nuns who lived there. and a priest who stayed
" there to \,!:!!(;h o'.'eY' them. WE'll, it tlJrned nut thp orlPst couldn't handle
the life of celibacy, I guess, so I guess he got fr~endly with some of
the nuns . Pretty soon the sound of cryi ng babi es fi 1.1 ed the air.
Actually, they were a l~t more discrete than that--the priest would just
go get the poor unfortunate victim real late at night and take her and
their baby down to the pond and drown them. Of course it was soon
noticed that several of the nuns were ,disappearing, and so one of the
nuns, who was very pure and had no idea what was going on, was asked
to investigate and see where they were disappearing to. So one night
she followed the priest and one of his favorite nuns down to the pond.
When she saw what he was doing, she yelled out and tried to jump on
him to save the poor nun and her child. But it was too late--they were
already dead. The priest was really scared this righteous nun he hadn't
been able to victimize and blackmail would tell on hjm, so he grabbed '
her by the neck and choked her to death. Then he threw her body into
the pond.
The next mornin§, they found her body--and the priest was gone!
They searched for him for a long time, but so far, they have not found
him. They say the nuns that were killed are still roaming around up
in thp r~nvnn lnnkinn fnr ~ w~vtn rpvpnnp him--~nrl thpv ~lsn sav that
if you kneel down and look into the pond-from t~e right' angle, you can
still see the body of the righteous nun floating in the pond."
(Thi~ is verbatim, as I had him repeat it to me for this report.)
Dana Erickson
Richmond, Utah 84333
Logan, UT 84321
Utah St~te University
Folklore/English 124
Fall 1981
L- :<., /. I ~. I. It,
(
Legend
"St . Anthony ' s"
Annetter~'ialous
Logan , Utah
198J
Annette r:alous lives on Logan, Utah.
She vvas born .i.arch 15 , 1965 in Chicago , Illinois . Annette
attended school in Logan , Utah . She graduated fro~ Logan
::i gh School . Annette ' s father is a practicing attorney in
logan, Ctah and her Elother is a school teacher . ;:)he is cur­rently
a student at Jtah State University. "1nnette enjoys
skiing and other outdoor activities . ,she ' s a active me:nber
of the.-resbyterian Church.
Annette Collected this story when she was in high school.
The boys VJQuld al\vays take the girls up to St. Anthony ' s
and tell them this story . The reason the guys would tell the
story was to scare the girls so that they would cuddle up
closer to the:::-n . The story was always very enjoyable to the
boys to watch the girls get scared. The girls always were
scared because usally they were up at St . Anthony ' s and the
setting would always start the:n hearing strange noises and see­ing
the red eyes of the Dov9:r:man .
Along time ago before there was a road up to St . Anthony's
(St. Anthony ' s is a nunnery up in Logan canyon. It has
a lot of big buil dings and a swimming pool . ) A certain man
would bring supplies up to the nuns once a month on his mule.
There were five nuns that lived there . Once he came up dur­ing
the night and he couldn ' t fined anybody. So he started
wandering around looking for them finally he found four of
the nuns dead in the swi,l1Ining pool. He then started look­ing
for the other nun, because he thought she might be in
trouble . Then all of a sudden he saw her up on top of the
,110untain with a dovernman dog with red eyes . So then he
knew that she was still alive and her name was Hexal . She
then started to chase him so he jumped on his mule and start­ed
to head back to Logan as fast as he could .
Now you can go up at night and they say you can see the red
eyes of the dovernman .{ everyone claims they have seen them .)
Karie Chatlin
Bountifui, Utah 84010
Utah State University
.2nglish
Fall , 198J
L:(. 1/ 1;(. I .17
(
\
(
(
Legend
"St. Ann's Retreat"
Informant Data:
Robert Schwanavelt
Logan, Utah
February 8, 1983
Robert Schwanavelt was born in Logan, Utah summer of 1966. He is
currently attending Logan High School and works part-time at El Sol
Mexican Restaurant as a dishwasher. Robert is kind of a rowdy fun
loving guy and said he enjoys scaring girls. He is a member of the
Mormon chuch, but is inactive and apathetic toward it.
Contextual Data:
I collected this item from Robert at El Sol whenre:i I also work. He
asked me if I knew of a nunnery up Logan Canyon, and if so, did I know
any stories related to it. He had just gone there the night before
with a friend and a couple of girls to try and scare them. I knew this
would be a great opportunity to prime him for a collector story so I
asked him instead, what he knew of it, and turned on a tape recorder.
Robert learned about the nunnery (St. Ann's Retreat) from some friends that
had gone up there two or three days earlier. The following is a verbatim
transcription from a tape.
Text:
Me and my friend took these two girls up to the nunnery I heard about
to try and scare them you know; I guess what it is up there was a
place for pregnant nuns to go away and stay so they wouldn't shame the
churbh. There was supposed to be this one young nun named Anna or
something and they locked her up in this cabin. She had a bunch
of dogs as pets.
When she had her baby, I guess he grew up and went crazy and killed
his Mom and dogs and a bunch of other people cause he found out he
was a bastard. Anyway I don't believe all that crap about it so we
went to scare girls just for the fun of it.
We parked my car on the side of the highway by where there's a gate
thats locked closed that goes across a bridge and then up to it.
We went to the first building that looks like a castle and all of a
sudden one of the girls screamed and said she seen something running
through the bushes. We laughed and said she was crazy, but then I
heard something too. We went back to the car except I stopped and looked
back and there was a big dobber man pinscer just standing there looking
at me. Except I know it was a real dog, it wasn't no spirit.
Monty Hedin
Logan, UT
U.S.U.
Folklore 423
Winter 1983
(
(
Legend
"The Haunted Convent"
Jay Wilson
Logan, Utah
November 28, 1980
Jay Wilson, 19, was born and raised in Midway, Utah. He
is a member of the L.D. S. church. He is an avid snowmobiler
and loves to ski. He is presently ~sophomore at Utah State
University majoring in Ag. mechanics.
Jay heard this story at a party his first year up at
Utah State. There were both girls and boys at the party and
many "scary-!' stories were circulating around that night. Jay
was surprised when the Old Hyrum part was put in because that is
a story that circulates around the region he lives in, (Wasatch and
Summi t Co.).
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
There used to be a convent up in Logan, Canyon. It's closed down
now because of what happened there. There was this insane man that came,
some say it was Old Hyrum (but thats another story), and he murdered eleven of
the twelve nuns that were at the convent. He put them in a swimming
pool they had there. The twelth nun foundthem and as a result committed
suicide . If you go there at night sometimes you can see the twelth nun
wi th her dog wandering around. Some say they have even heard her crying.
Jan Taggart
Morgan, Ute
Utah State University
English 124
Fall, 1980
L :<. I. ) ~. /. 19
, .
(
(
r
Legend
Spring Hollow Witch
Informant Data:
Vicki Anderson
Logan, Utah
Febru.ary 11, 1980
Vicki lived aroun~ the Intermoun ain region most of
her life. She attended Utah State University and now
lives and works in Logan. Vicki is an active member of the
Mormon church with an Irish-English ancestry.
*************************************************************
Contextuc'll Data:
I was asking a group of girls about folklore concern-ing
Logan Canyon. Vicki related this story who had heard
it from a friend who's brother had been there. This story
was told and retold ~mong friends simply to scare each other.
While Vicki was telling thts sto""y the group that was
I
listening could hardly sit still, many had additions and
corrections.
*************************************************************
Up the canyon there is an old convent called St.
Ann's Retreat. Supposedly there is a witch who lives
there called Witch Hekady. This is supposed to be the witch
of a nun who killed herself at the convent along time ago.
Witch Hekady usually haunts the Spring Hol[ow Campground.
One night two hig~SChOOl boys were up there and started
YelJ.ing taunts to the witch. She didn't like this at all,
dogs started howling and lights came roll'ng off the hill.
1- :<, /, )~. J. ~ O
(
1 )
The boys got scared and decided to get out of there. but
the car wouldn't start. So tney started pushing as fast
as they could. The car didn't start until they were out
of the campground.
Caryn Wunderman
River Heights, Ute
Huntsville, Ala.
U.S.U.
American Folklore
Wjnter 1980
I
I '
L i
(
(
LEDGEN:
TITLE: Witch Hekida
INFOR11ANT DATA:
Kaylene Kidman
Logan ~ Utah
November 11 ~ 1983
Kaylene Kidman was born on December 11, 1963, in Logan, Utah. She
has lived in Idaho and Wyoming. She moved back to Utah 15 years ago
and has lived here ever since. She attended grammer school, junior
high and graduated from Logan High School. She belongs to the L.D.S
Church and is an active member. Her ancestors are from England , Scotland,
Germany and Ireland. She's the oldest of three brothers and two sisters.
She r ecently is planning to be married. She is the receptionist/secreLary
at Orrni Data International. Her hobbies are cooking and sewing; she
enjoys all sports and loves to travel.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CONTEXTUAL DATA:
Kaylene heard this story from a friend when they were in high school.
She and her friend were on ther way to Hitch Hekida's when her friend
told her this story. Kaylene said she was really spooked. When they
walked up the dirt road heading towards the cabin the lights turned on
and no one was there. She said she was really scared. , I've heard alot
of stories about this place, so when our class was talking about this
particular story I decided to ask a few people what they knew about it.
Kaylene seemed really scared just telling me about it, especially
having had the lights turn on in the cabin when she was there . After
she told me the story she said, "Doesn't it just give you the creeps?"
And you know what? It really does! I went to work later and I was
in the office by myself. I kept hearing noises, and it was really
scarey just thinking about it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~ * * * * * * * * * * * * *
One night there was this boy and his girlfriend who wanted to go up
to St. Ann's retreat and park. When they got up there the girl noticed
there was a green light hovering over the swimming pool. She didn't
pay much attention to it, until it seemed to be getting closer and
closer. She called it to the attention of her boyfriend. They noticed
as it got closer, that they could make out the figure of Hitch Hekida
in the green mist.
L ~./, /:(. /. ~ /
)
,
~ :: I I
( Witch Hekida came up to the car and started pounding on the windows
and clawing at them. They locked the doors and just watched in horror.
Finally, Witch Hekida went away. They then attempted to start the car,
but it had gone dead. They waited for a while but nothing happened.
The boy decided he would have to go for help He told her to lock the
door and lay on the floor, and not to let anyone in but him.
After a while she fell asleep. All of a sudden someone was pounding on
the window just like before. She looked out the window and saw a policeman.
She opened the door. He asked her what her name was and then told her
not to turn around. She turned around anyway and there hanging in a
tree by his feet was her dead boyfriend.
(
Liz Johnson
Logan, Utah 84321
Utah State University
History-124
Fall-1983
(
L :.<. ,/, I~ . J • ~ I
T.ale
Vern Larson
Bensori, Utah
November, 1981
~ern Larson yas born in Benson, Utah and has lived there
for the. las~ ' 27 · years. Vern is in his last year of school
at U.S.U.~ majoring in Engineering. Af-tee-graduating he
plans to leave Utah and make some money.
8eing raised on his fathers farn, he knoys that is not
the life for him, though he does enjoy hunting and fishing.
I was talking with Vern and some other friends one afternoon
when someone gegan telling ghost stories. Vern yas full of
them that da;. I don't think I have ever heard so many tales
from one person.
One particular story was new to me, it interested me very
much. Since hearing it from Vern I have heard other versions.
Witch Hecate seems to be quite the sorceress in the vally.
( Vern has never been to find her, but some friends did, he
related the story to me.
****************************************************************~
There was an old woman named Hecate l~ving in a nunnery
up Spring Hollow. She had some hounds, one night the hounds
turned on her and killed her.
To this day when the hounds hear the name Hecate ~hey begin
to HoYI and Howl until dawn.
If you are to go up to spring hollow and call for Witch
Hecate, you can hear the dogs howl.
*****************************************************************
Vern told me of his friends encounter with the howling. There
I
yere tyO guys that went "to check out the tales. After ~etting to
the t~p of the picnic are~ ~nd yaitin~ for the sun to set, they
began to call Witch Hecate. At first there was no reply, so .,
they called lowder and loudpr. Finally in the distance they
could hear something. The sound got louder and louder until
L :{, /, /,;(. I ~~
)
(
(
----
PAGE 2
they were sure it was the sound of dogs. They sat and listened
for awhile, the howling got closer and closer, by this time
they knew the ~ogs were very close and must have been very
large dogs.
Both of them set new speed records for running down out
of Spri~g Hollow and driving out of Logan Canyon. Neither one
has any desire to return.
Lonnie Allen
HyruM, Utah
Intra. ta Folklore
u.S.u.
Fall 1981
(
(
(
Michael Carlisle
Logan, Utah 84321
Legend: "St. Ann's Retreat"
Michael Carlisle is my son. He was born in Brigham City, Utah, December 17,
1961. We moved to Logan when he was four years old and he received a
High School education in the Logan City School District. Presently he
is employed at Morton-Thiokol Chemical Company, is married and has a
baby boy.
Contextual Data: Michael heard this story while attending Logan High.
He and his friend Scott would double date and sometimes take their dates
up Logan Canyon and park at the site of St. Ann's Retreat. To frighten
their dates and perhaps encourage a little cuddling they would tell the
girls this story.
Text: Hedika was the head nun of St. Ann's Retreat, which was a nunnery.
It was her responsibility to keep things running smoothly. Sometimes
groups of miners and sheepherders would travel through and associate with
the nuns. Any babies that were born, Hedika would dispose of. She got
so sick of this terrible duty, and so aggravated with the misbehavior of
her sister nuns that she went crazy and killed all the nuns also. Then
she lived alone in the nunnery with a large group of dogs until she died.
Now when people drive down the canyon at night,sometimes they will see her
large pack of wild dogs standing beside the highway, with their eyes reflecting
in the headlights. Those who are brave enough to park at night near the
nunnery will hear the wild dogs howling and Hedika's voice mourning and
wailing.
*****************
I asked Michael if he believed the story. He told me the
he did believe was that it was a nunnery. I asked him if
on the girls--if they wanted to cuddle after hearing it.
"It depended upon how much they liked us."
only part that
the story worked
He replied,
Colleen Carlisle
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
English 459
Spring, 1984
- -
( )
I (
Urban Legend
"Heckada"
Informant Data:
t
~I J
Troy Anderson
Providence, Utah
Summer 1978
Troy Anderson was born March 23, 1966 in Logan, Utah.
1
His family moved away shortly after. They moved back to Cache
Valley when Troy was in the Fourth Grade. He was not a member
of the Mormon Church but became acquainted with their teachings.
Contextual data:
While sleeping-out in the back yard of a friend's, the
conversation turned to ghost stories. The story I am about
to tell was told to me and one other, by a friend.
If you go up Logan Canyon to 3rd dam and cross the bridge
-k L~
into the Spring Hollow area or go the Q,Yarry up Providence
Canyon, you can summon the Devil's wife, her name is Heckada.
My friends's brother's girlfriend's brother had a friend
that did this very thing. He and a date went up to the Spring
Hollow area, for some romancing. After being turned down he
got out of the car and yelled the phrase "Heckada, come get me".
this was the saying that you needed to say to get Heckada to
appear. After saying it a few times he returned to the car.
His date was scared, which was his main intention for doing
the little prank, or so he thought.
After a few minutes of sitting there they began to hear
dogs barking, they looked up and saw a green glowing chariot
L). ,/' J ~. I . ~ Lj
(
(
2
pulled by six wolves, and a mistress with long flowing hair
at the reins.
At about the same instance the doors locked, the boy and
date was pretty scared by this time so the boy tried to get the
car started but it seemed like the battery was dead, nothing
would start or no lights would come on. By this time the wolves
were on the hood of the car clawing at it and growling. The
mistress stared into the boy's eyes and said "I have come for
you" . The boy freaked out and didn't know what to do, the girl
was screaming and crying. Then the boy remembered to say "In
the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave", at the very
instance of saying that, the mistress and her wolves dissappe2 r ed.
The boy then started the car and returned to Logan.
Upon returning to his date's house they looked at the hood
and saw scratches that the wolves had left.
Troy Anderson
Providence, Utah 84332
Utah State University
Engl/Hist 124
Winter Quarter 1987
Comments: The underlying meaning is that the boy is being agressive, and the
girl is refusing, just like society wants to see and hear it. This refusal frustratesl
the boy, which in turn makes him bring terrible things upon him and the girl. And
at the end of the story there will be a negative image 0n sex, so it is not quite so
attractive the next time.
L:(. /, I~. /. t.j
)
(
(
Legend
"Witch Hackety"
Myself
Logan, Utah
January , 1983
I was born and raised in Idaho on a farm in a community
called Egin . I lived near my grandparents who were of
Scandinavian and Eng~ish ancestory . They waRd often tell stories
to me and all their grandchildren whenever we were with them .
This built a love in me to hear stories and I became fond of
history and folklore .
I am now attending U. S. U., majoring in Elementary Education
with a minor in Social Studies . Several quarters back , I took a
storytelling class . We often told stories to each other and it
was in t his class that one of the students , Polly Baugh from
Smithfield, related this story . She made the atmosphere in the
room very eerie--lights out and a candle burning , etc . I will
retell the story to the best of my memory .
There is a particular canyon near Preston where an old
Catholic monast~ry can be found . It was abandoned after a
particular event had taken place there .
During the summer time , many nuns would go up to the
monastery for a break or for workshops or other reasons . This
one time there was a nun who was quite contanckerous . She was
really against one nun and was always arguing wi th her , back­biting
, or fighting .
Outside one building was a cement swimming pool . (I think
it was either the mess hall or the sleeping quarters!) One
night these two nuns started arguing and wrestling around the
pool . The nicer of the two accidentally pushed the mean one
into the pool and she hit her head on the bottom of the pool
which killed her . This really scared the one nun and she ran
and got the Mother Superior . They didn ' t want to raise a fuss
in the camp and so the two of them hauled her body up the
canyon in the early morning hours and dropped her body over the
edge of some cliffs . No one really missed this nun because no
one really associated with her . They figured she had just got
discusted and left the camp .
The next night after the drowning , the one nun couldn ' t
sleep very well . The wind was blowing and something kept
banging at her door . She finally got up and looked out and
near the pool she could see this mean nun and she had two mean
dogs on a leash whose eyes were burning green and the nun looked
like a witch with red eyes . She started laughing at the nun
which scared her all the more . It was a very wicked laugh at that .
The dogs were barking and snarling with foam at their mouths .
When the nun looked out again , they were gone .
This happened several nights in a row. Sometimes they would
also see this image with a lantern walking along the cliff~s
edge where the body had been thrown .
One night the wind started blowing really hard again and
there was a slight rain . Again the nun could hear things bang­ing
on her door . She looked out and saw this mean nun with her
dogs . As she laughed uncontrolably , she took the lantern she was
holding and flung it at the building . The lantern broke and burst
into flames . The fire got out of control due to the wind .
1-.~. I, /;l,. I. ;)S'
(
(
Due to the damage of the fire and other circumstances , i t was
decided that the monastBry would be closed down . It hasn ' t
been opened since .
Since that time , it has been a fa vorite spot for many
teenages to go to and scare each other to death . One night
Polly and a bunch of her friends decided to drive up the
canyon and take a look at the place . They had two cars and a
pickup.
When they arrived , they were all brave souls and got out
wi t h their flashlights (it was after dark ), and started
walking towards the buildings yelling "Witch Rackety , Witch
Rackety!" Suddenly the lights on their cars and pickup went
out . This really scared them and so they -' started running
back to the outfits . (They had parked them where the dtrt road
had ended .) They worked on all of them trying to get the lights
to go back on . One of them turned on and then they finally got
another pair of lights to go on after working on it for what
seemed a long time . They never could get the pickup lights to
go back on . They decided to drive out of there (fast) with the
pickup between the two cars that had lights on them that worked .
When they finally got back to the main highway , mysteriously the
pickup lights autimatically turned back on .
Trudy Neilson
ID 83445
Logan , Vt . 84321
St . Anthony ,
Rist . 423 , U. S. U.
Winter 1983]]>
Digitized by : Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> legends (folk tales);]]> application/pdf;]]> 12356050 Bytes]]> eng]]> Text;]]> Logan Canyon (Utah); Cache County (Utah); United States;]]> 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 20th century; 2000-2001; 2000-2009; 2010-2019; 21st century;]]>
Legends;]]> legend-tripping;]]> Tammy Durtschi
Utah State University
Fife Folklore Archives
Logan, Utah
Honors 336
Instructor: Wilson
Winter 1981



LEGENDS OF LOGAN CANYON
Tannny Durtschi
Logan, Utah 84321
Utah State University
Mormon Folklore
Honors 336
Winter Quarter, 1981



TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Essay ......................................... o •••••••••• ii
Autobiographical Sketch •..•....•....•.••.•...••.••••..•...••••.• v
List of Informants ............................................. vi
Witch Hecida
Title Informant Item
How Witch Hecida Came Into Being ..• Lutz .•• ltem #l •..• Page # 1
Witch Hecida •.........•.•.....••.• Siler •.. Item #2 ••.• Page # 2
Witch Hecida ..•..................• Gates .•. Item 11=3 .... Page # 3
Personal Experience with Hecida .•.• Lutz .•• ltem #4 •... Page # 4
Saint Anne's Retreat
-Ti-tl-e Informant Item
St. Anne's Retreat .•••..•....•....• Lutz .•• ltem # 5 ... Page
St. Anne's Retreat .•.•....•..••... Siler .•• Item 11= 6 .•• Page
St. Anne's Retreat ••.•..•.•......• Hugie ... Item 11= 7 ••• Page
St. Anne's Retreat •.•..•.•......•• Gates •.. ltem # 8 ... Page
Personal Experience at St. Anne's.Hugie ••• ltem # 9 .•. Page
The "Real" Story of St. Anne's ..... Lutz ••• Item 11=10 ••• Page
Miscellaneous Legends <"
-Ti-tl-e
# 6
# 8
11= 9
11=10
11=11
#14
A fresence in Logan Canyon .•.•..•• Siler .•• ltem #ll ••• Page #15
The Man of Logan Canyon ••.......••. Ward •.• ltem #12 ••. Page #16
i



COVER ESSAY
This has been an intriguing project to undertake. People's
reaction when asked to be interviewed varied from one extreme
to another. The great diversity in the version of the story from
one person to the next was remarkable. In the following essay
I will attempt to explain these statements as well as make some
additional assertions.
The topic I chose for my paper is the Ledgends of Logan Canyon.
I concentrate most on Saint Anne's Retreat and Witch Hecida.
Items 11 and 12 are just miscellaneous stories about Logan Canyon
that I chose to include because I wanted to illustrate that
there are many, many other ledgends about Logan Canyon other than
the two main stories of St. Anne's and Witch Hecida.
St. Anne's is located about five miles up Logan Canyon.
There are many people who are sure that they know the "real"
story about what happened there, but they all disagree about it.
One of the "real" stories that I heard indicated that nuns were
never at St. Anne's Retreat. (Item 1fl0) Another "real" story
said that a family built ~he retreat, but then they decided to
donate it to Utah State University. The University was too slow
in accepting it so the family decided to donate it to the
Catholic church.
I was only able to obtain a very limited amount of facts
about St. Anne's. It was built sometime during the 1930's and it
eventually burned down. The ledgends are built around the demise
of the retreat. The stories range from a hermit coming down out
of the hills and killing all of the nuns to a story where it is
actually the Mother Superior who does the killing. There is alot
of diversity in who was really killed. One story states that
all of the nuns got killed, whereas another story tells of
babies that belonged to the nuns were drown in the swimming
pool.
The most detailed description of St. Anne's is found in
Item #9. All that is now left of the original retreat is a
swimming pool and the cement foundation of the original building.
ii



The only logical reason that I can come up with as to why
all of these stories began circulating is because up until
the 1930's there were virtually no other churches in Logan.
besides the Mormon church. When the Catholic church began
prospering in the valley the Mormons resented it. When St. Anne's
actually did burn the locals probably seized upon this as a chance
to exploit the Catholic church and point out that this would
never have happened if the Catholics were not wicked.
Once it was a generally accepted fact that something Rad been
going on at St. Anne's that shouldn't have been going on, the
stories probably had free rein of the imagination. Stories
began circulating that one of the nuns had gone crazy and killed
her sister nuns. Other stories say that a 15 year old girl that
the nuns had been taking care of had killed the nuns.
There are two details that are included in most versions
of the St. Anne's story. One detail is that there are generally
dogs somewhere in the story. No one seems to know where the
dogs came from, but they are there all the same. In most of the
stories the do.gs play the part of being a guardian over the
retreat.
The second detail is the ~wimming pool. The swimming pool
is always used as a means by which someone is murdered. Someone
is thrown in the pool by someone else and drown. The swimming
pool is still there today and is the factor that convinces alot
of people of the validity of these stories.
Witch Hecida stories offer even a greater variation between
versions than doe ,; the St. Anne's stories. In each story Witch
Hecida is in an entirely different location.
up at Third Dam in Logan Canyon. (Item #1).
One story puts her
Another ledgend
says that Witch Hecida resides in a cave in Logan Canyon. (Item #20
Still another story says that Witch Hecida comes down at Spring
Hollow in the form of fog. (Item #3). But the most amazing
story is that Witch Hecida came from St. Anne's Retreat. She
was supposedly the Mother Superior that murdered all of the babies,
and her original name was Saint Hecida •
iii



Some of the people I talked with were anxious to share
their stories with me. A couple of people I talked to told me
that they knew the stories of St. Anne's and Witch Hecida, but
they refused when I told them that their stories were going to
be included in the Archives. Generally once people started
talking and began telling me their stories they loosened up and
would tell me anything I wanted to know.
I recorded my interviews with my informants and then I
typed them up exact~y as they were told. I would ask my informants
questions to help draw similarities between the different versions.
Theyonly editing of their original versdions was by eliminating
repeated segments of their tales and dropping the unnecessary lIand ll s i



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
I was born in Logan, Utah and I have lived here in Cache
V~lley all of my life. I attended Sky View High School and Lam
now a Freshman at Utah State University.
My father is an Economics professor here at USU.
a housewife and has dedicated her life to her family.
My mother is
My parents
are the best anyone could ever ask for. I am the sixth out of
seven children in our family . We have very strong family ties.
I wouldn't trade my family experiences for anything.
The reason I chose to do my paper on the legends of Logan
Canyon is because I have lived here my entire life and I h.have
heard these stories ever since I can remember. I was interested
to see what other people thought of these stories and I was
interested in collecting different versions of the same story.
I am fascinated by people, and I enjoy doing projects that
allow me to gain a better understanding of people and why they
function like they do. This paper has given me an opportunity
to get some insights that I otherwise would never have been able
to gain.
My hobbies include reading, being with and observing people,
and sports. I could watch professional football forever! I also
like participating in almost all sports.
v
• Gates, Larry.
Hugie, Bryon
Lutz, Chris
• Siler, Jon
Ward, Bruce

LIST OF INFORMANTS
Larry was raised in Logan and attended Logan High.
He is presently a Senior at Utah State University
and is majoring in Pre-Med. He is the presently
the president of the Honors Program at U.S.U.
He has served an LDS mission. He contributed
items 3 and 8 in this paper.
Bryon is a Freshman at Utah State University. He
was born in Logan and was raised in College Ward,
Utah. He is currently waiting for his mission call.
Bryon does not play with ouija boards since his
experiences at St. Anne's. He took those events
seriously and will have nothing to do with ouija
boards or St. Anne's Retreat now. He contributed
items 7 and 9.
Chris was the most anxious to tell her stories of
the people I interviewed. She is a Freshman at
Utah State University. She is a non-mormon, but
is ver~ knowledgable about our culture. She
was by far the most cofrorful story teller I talked
to. Items 1,4,5 and 10 belong to her.
Jon is a Pre-Med major at Utah State University.
He has lived in Cache Valley allt of his life.
He is preparing for an LDS mission and will leave
in June of this year. He enjoys skiing and playing
racquetball. He contributed items 2,6and 11.
Bruce was raised in southeastern Idaho. He was
active in the Boy Scout program in Cache Valley.
He served a mission in Alabama. He is currentJy
a student at Utah State University studying Biology.
His hobbies include snow skiing and reading. He
contributed items number 12.
vi

~
i


Chris Lutz
"How Witch Hecida Came Into Being"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item iH
Chris told me this story when I asked her if she knew anything
about Witch Hecida. Chris honestly believes that there is such
a person as Witch Hecida. Her personal experience with Hecida
is recounted in a later item.
There was a camping excersion. She (Witch Hecida) was just
a young girl and they all went up the canyon partying that night.
up at Third Dam in Logan Canyon. They were all partying around
and evidently one of the guys got rough and they took advantage
of her and she was really upsec and really mad. She went after
them and they were all drunk and laughing at her and she said,
"don't do that" and she tried to fight them off, but they jumped
her. She felt really bad, and they were all still so drunk and
afterwards she was just kinda mad at them. She went after them
with a club and they were all laughing and they pushed her into
the water. She was drunk in the place and she drown, a young
girl drown. The guys didn't know what to do. If they went back
to town and were asked how she drown, well, what could they say?
So she died there and thats how come she is in the water
and she comes across like a ball. They call her a witch because
anybody caught drinking or messing around up at Third Dam s~e
will come and get.
1



Jon Siler
"Witch Hecida"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item in
Jon didn't know the people that actually had this experience. He
heard this story from some of his friends when they were driving
up Logan Canyon one night.
This was told to me by a friend. It didn't happen to him,
but he heard it from somebody else who heard it from somebody els~.
Witch Hecida is suppose to be in Logan Canyon. She is suppose
to have seven white mice and seven dogs. These guys were going
through the cave one time and they smelled something and then they
started to hear dogs barking and they thought that was really
strange to hear dogs barking and they thought maybe a dog went in
there and got caught or something. They kept going in there and
they came to a big pit. They looked down there and sawall these
mice and it ended up that there was seven mice and then they
saw some dogs After they saw the dogs they left because they start­ed
getting really scared because they knew about Witch Hecida.
They left and never went back.
,2



Larry Gates
"Witch Hecida"
February, 1981
UEU Campus
Item if3
Larry couldn't remember the story very well. It had been a long
time since he had heard it. The following is the story of Witch
Hecida that he recall hearing from some of his friends in high
school. He said that his friends didn't actually believe in
~~ci~a, it was just a good story to tell •
. -. l . -u
All I know is that a friend of mine, Steve Peterson, who
is now in the Theatre Department used to go up there and do a
little routine. I'm not even sure what it was, I was never with
them. They would go up and call down Hecida in Spring Hollow
and do a little chant and they had a little ritual they would do.
Then the fog was suppose to come down, rolling down the mountain.
You could see this blanket of white fog. It would move down
through the trees toward the hollow. As far as I know they didn't
ever stay around there to see what happened when the fog got down.
I was never there when they did it.
3

e
,e
February ~ 1981
USU Ca!llpus
Chris Lutz Item #4
"PersonaUExperience with Witch Hecida"
Chris swears to this day that she saw Witch Hecida. She refuses
to go up the canyon any more and tell ghose stories. She claims
to have only been up the canyon once since her experience with
Hecida.
This is my Witch Hecida story~ this honestly happened to me.
I'm really scared about things like that and they always told
me that if you go up on Third Dam bridge in Logan Canyon and you
stand there at midnight~ turn around three times and saY'tlWithh
Hecida~ Witch Hecida~ Witch Hecida" and look over the water she
will come to you.
She'll come to you in a little golden ball~ like the good
fairy. She comes across the water in this little golden ball
and she comes to you and stands on the bridge.
I figured it all out because it scared me. But it was
nothing~ we all knew these stories. So one night~ me and my
girlfriend--I guess we were juniors--were going out on a double
date with these two guys and one guy had his brother's new 240Z.
We went to Smithfield and we went to see the Love Bug. After­wards
we were driving into town and we said "Let's go driving up
the canyon and tell ghost stories".
So we drove up the canyon and my friend was telling us about
if you stand on the bridge and turn around three times Witch
Hecida will come to you. We turned to gon onto the bridge and I
said, "I'm scared, you guys, I just have this awful feeling"--it
scared me real bad. So we went to tu~n the car around and we
went to flip a "u" and thats a pretty big place up there, but
the car would only go half way so we were wedged between the
bridge and the road and it was just like in the Love Bug--this
sounds really stupid--I ~; said, "Oh my gosh we are going to . • . "
in the Love Bug we had just saw an hour earlier he went to flip a
"u" and he didn't quite make it and he turned into the hill and
the hill fell down on him. I said, "the hill is going to fall
down on us". We all started screaming and we hurried and backed
up and flipped around and started driving out of there as fast
4



as we could. We were hauling "A", going 90 miles, no kidding. I
lobked over at the speedometer. I said, "slow down, slow down,
there is a car in front of us". It was an old beat up Falcon job.
I said, "Oh my gosh, it's Witch Hecida". The two in the back
were screamJng and laughing, kinda joking. I lOOked forward and there
in the car it looked like her hair was just glowing. It looked
like an old lady with one of those puffy hairdos. It was just
kind oa like hazy-blue, like it radiated from her head.
I said,"It's Witch Hecida, I know it, she knows that we are
here". So we started slowing down and she started slowing down.
There was just one person in the car. We were going 20 miles
and hour. 20. After going 80. So we started slowing down and it::
(her hair) seemed to grow more brilliant, just like cotton candy,
kind of fluffy and mysterious and I was just freaking out.
So we slowed down and we thought that we would just let her
go into town. She slowed down too. We were creeping along 20
miles an:~ hour. When we hit first dam we were going 5. She was
going 5 and we were going 5 miles an hour. I said, "hit it!" and
Vrooooooom •... we went right around her. We hightailed it up that
hill. She started racing us! I said, "she is trying to catch us,
she is trying to catch us." We hauled "A" into town. We were go­ing
90 down Fourth North. We ran a red light at Fourth DNorth
cause we were so scared. She was right behind us, On Main Street
we turned left and we went into that gas station and we turned
around to watch, she was right behind us on that block, but she
never came down to Main Street. We sat there and we just shook
and shook and I said, "why didn't she come after us?" They told
me that she can't come out of the canyon. Fourth North is still
considered part of the canyon because of the slope. She cant turn
onto Main Street. She just disappeared.
To this day I swear that was Witch Hecida. I've never gone
up the canyon and told ghost stories since. I won't. I believe
in it •
5



Chris Lutz
"Saint Anne's Retreat"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item 115
Chris heard this story at her Senior class party that was held
at St Anne's Retreat which is located up Logan Canyon. She doesn't
believe this story, but she was anxious to tell it to me.
St. Anne's used to be a retreat for nuns. In the Catholic
church they believe in taking care of their welfare program.
There was this one girl who was living up there because
evidently she didn't have any parenti. The nuns were taking care
of her while an adoption was goin~ through. She was about four-teen
or fifteen years of age. ',.' ~ ';
She was a gorgeous girl, but ·she had a few mental problems
because she thought no one wanted her. She was living up there
because she was so old and no one had adopted her.
While she was living up there with the nuns she really took
good care of herself. She had this long beautiful hair and every­one
told her how beautiful they thought she was. They would tell
her not to worry and that someone would want someone·'as beautiful
as her.
She goes out on this date one night and she is traveling
through the canyon and they wreck and her face went through :. the
windshield. He died, he got thrown out of the car when the car
started to roll. Her face went through the windshield. It
severed all her hair off. She was lucky to make it. She broke
her arm. Her other arm went through the windshield with her and
it got cut off. And they found her there. She was about half
crazy because she couldn't get out of the windshield. She was
stuck, just like that. He was dead and she was just hysterical
and half crazy when they found her, but she did survive. They
had to shave off all her hair because of the head lacerations.
They had to sew up her scalp again. She had a hook arm because
all the nerves in her ar~were so badly damaged that they couldn't
put it back on.
She was having a lot of trouble adjusting. They took her
back up to the convent and told her not to worry. All of the nuns
were sweet to her, but she was never the same. She would have
6



fits and tremors.
On the first anniversary of the accident was the ending of
St. Anne's. They went up there the next day and every single nun
had been hacked to death with a hooken arm and that girl was gone.
They never found her. That's when they closed St. Anne's.
If you go there at midnight you can see her face looking
into the swimming pool looking at her hair gone because that is
what triggered it off. It was her anniversary, her hair was gone,
and she wasn't the same. She was out walking in the moonlight
and looked in the pool and saw her reflection of her with her long
hair. She was all nice and normal. Then it turned midnight when
it happened and she looked back and she was standing there saying,
"oh ye s, someone wi 11 want me, I'm so great. II
Then it turned midnight and she saw herself as she really was,
all scarred and deformed. Her hair was short and hacked off. And
her arms .•. 0 She went crazy and turned around and ran into the
house and slashed everybody up.
They found hook marks in the door where she tried to claw in.
She broke her way in and killed them and cut off al1 their hair.
Then she ran away in to the hills. They say that if you go back
there at midnight and look into the pool she will appear to you.
7



Jon Siler
" Saint Anne~ s Retreat"
Fe bruary, 1981
USU Campus
Item ~f~
Jon first heard this story while he was driving up Logan Canyon
on his way to Saint Anne's with some friends. He doesrrt personally
believe this story, but he admits that it did make for a frighten­ing
experience at St. Anne's.
I heard that St. Anne's was at first built and owned by the Catholic
church. They would send nuns up there. First I heard that it was
a place where they would send nuns that got pregnant. I heard
that there was this guy that lived up there in the hills that was
a hermit. He would come down and really hassle all the Catholics
there. He would tell them to leave and they never would. So
he started getting physical and violent. It ended up that he
came down and killed these nuns. He killed all the nuns in
different places. There's a shack down lower and one got
hatched there. One got drown in the ~wimming pool.
I have also heard that one nun got pregnant and went and drown
herself in the swimming pool. People have told me that they have
gone up there and they had been walking up the road and there was
a noose hanging from a tree that was swinging back and forth.
They have also sworn to have seen dogs up there.
8



Bryon Hugie
"Saint Anne's Retreat"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item #7
Bryon first heard this story from his grandmother. He doesn't
know where she heard it from. He has heard this story more than
once and from different people so he figures there is a good chance
some of it is true.
It (St. Anne's) used to be an old nunnery. It was a sin
for the nuns to have kids. Well there was a camp up there and
there was a couple of nuns that did have kids. The mother nun,
I don't know what they call them, found out about the babies so
she stole the kids one night and threw them in the swimming pool
and drown them.
There is a big swimming pool up there and a bunch of old
buildings. The main nunnery where they used to hold their meetings
burned down and all there is is an old building place. The cement
foundation is still there and that is about all.
She threw the babies in the pool and they drown and that same
night the whola place burned down. It all happened in one day and
one night. From what I hear, the nuns aren't permitted up there
any more. They aren't suppose to go up there and they closed it
all down. I don't know if they (the nuns) all left of if they are
still here in the valley.
The original name of that mother nun was Saint Hecida.
There is suppose to be some dogs sitting there watching the place
for Witch Hecida. When ever you go up there you are suppose to
be able to hear their chains or hear them bark.
9



Larry Gates
"Saint Anne's Retreat"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item #8
Larry wasn't too sure on the details, but the main ideas are
included in the story. .He heard the story from some of his
friends quite a few years ago.
It's just a typical maniac nun story. The nun with the
hook, she lost one hand. There were two kids up the canyon
going at it in the back of the car. They heard something
russtling in the bushes. They got real nervous and drove home.
When they got home there was a hook hanging in the door handle.
(The person with the hook was suppose to be a nun from St. Anne's)
10



Bryon Hugie
February, 1981
USU Campus
'Item 119
"Personal Experience with Saint Anne's Retreat"
At first Bryon was a little reluctant to talk about this after
I told him it would be typed up and recorded in the Archives.
Once I got him talking though, he told me everything I wanted to
know.
It all started one night up Logan Canyon. Me and a bunch
of my friends had a big brain storm idea. We would cruise up to
St. Anne's and have a little fun. We had heard a bunch about the
place so we decided to go up and check it out by ourselves.
There was me and three other guys the very first time we
went up there. We got up there and it was pretty quiet and there
was a full moon. We got up there and we started walking up in there.
We thought we heard a bunch of stuff •••
We got up there and we went into the swimming pool. (there
is no water in the pool now.) My friends like playing with ouija
boards. I thought this was going to be super that we would be
playing with a ouija board at the bottom of the swimming pool.
We didn't have one with us that night so we figured that we
would bring one up next time we came.
We looked through all the old buildings and that was pretty
scary. We saw a lot of mounds of dirt with crosses on top of them
with weeds over the crosses. It was pretty weird because they
were allover. They were around the houses, and they were on the
side hills.
We looked around a little bit longer but we didn't stay too
long.
The next night we got a bunch more of people. I think
there was about six, seven of us, maybe eight of us up there.
We took a ouija board and we got up there and played with it at
the bottom of the swimming pool. It was a full moon again. The
board was working super. I swear that I heard dogs chains that
night and so do my buddies. It was weird the way it happened.
We told everybody about it. The next night we went up there
with quite a few more friends. We took a couple car loads up.
When we got up there nobody dared to go in there. There was a
weird feeling there. There is a bridge there before you go in
and it is all locked up. The whole place is chained up and nobody
wanted to go in. 11



I finally told them that I would go in if somebody would
come with me. So me and two other guys went in there and we got
way back in there and there was some people up in there.
It is summer homes up in there now. We knocked on their door,
but nobody answered. So we left.
We went and rumaged through a bunch of old junk that is under­neath
the cabins and looked through it and found a bunch of old
beds and dressers and junk like that.
My mom and a few people that I have asked about the place
don't really care for us to go up there. For a while we were
going up about every night. It was for about three weeks straight.
It was a big thing. We'd take everybody up there and show them
around and show them the things that we had found.
St. Anne's is a weird place. We went up there some nights
and there was no way we could find it. It's in a corner. It's
just off the side of the road and it has a bunch of trees around
the road. It'~ all grown in the there is an old bridge that is chain­ed
up and there is no way you could break that chain.
St. Anne's is pretty neat looking. There is a bridge and
then there is an upper road or a lower road you can go on. It
forks off and right in the center of that fork is where the
swimming pool sits. It sits up on a great big high mound of
grass. It's got a diving board off of it. After that the
right road dies and the left one goes up a canyon. The nuns used
to go up this canyon to do their meditating and being with the
Lord.
It's got a big gate going across the bridge. Some nights we
have gone up there and we have combed that canyon. It's down
from the Girl's Camp and we have combed the right side of the
road fifty times and there was no way we could find that road. We
have all but walked up and down there. We've gone about 5 miles
an hour in the car and there is no way we have been able to find
it. But on some nights we've been able to drive right to it.
I remember one special night. We all jumped in the car and
went way off the side of the road just as slow as we could, but
12



we thought we might have missed it so we went up and down that
road about 10 times and we never did find it. There was a bunch
of us looking, so it's not just a matter of one of us missing it.
There was just no way it was there •



Chris Lutz
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item iHO
"The 'Real' Story of Saint Anne's Retreat"
Chris told me that the following story is the real story of St.
Anne's Retreat. I have no reason to believe that this is not
the real story, but on the other hand, I have no proof to back
this story up. She did not tell me where she heard this story.
There is a Catholic church on Fraternity Row. Some people owned
this church--it was their house. They were Catholic and they
wanted to hold masses and there was no other churches except the
Mormon church. So the Catholics built on that chapel part of it.
They named it Saint John's, because they always name everything
after saints.
~Ci,e!:1 Then it started becoming big and lots of Catholic families
started moving in so they converted their whole house into a
church. You know, with a place for the Father to sleep. And
then they built St. Anne's for themselves as a home.
And it was a home, it was not a retreat for nuns. Nuns were never
there. It has a swimming pool up there. It's a really nice plaee
with a family room and a kitchen and bedrooms and a little deck to
overlook the swimming pool. It's just a house .
--------------------------- ------------



Jon Siler
"A Presence in Logan Canyon"
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item tfoll
This story happened to the brother of one of Jon's friends. He
believes it to be true because it happened to someone he knew
that swears that it actually happened. Jon said this experience
was instrumental in the reason the boy involved in the story
served a mission.
The person this story happened to is the brother of a friend
of mine. He was a pretty rowdy guy.[,:,He was driving through
Logan Canyon by himself one night and all of a sudden he felt
a type of presence or something and so he looked in his rear
view mirror. In the back seat there was two red eyes looking
at him. He drove through the canyon because he didn't know what
would happened if he stopped.
Then all of a sudden somebody started rattling in his 8-track
tapes in the back seat. Then some tapes started flipping around
in the back of his car. He kept driving all the way home and nothing
ever really happened, but he kept looking in the rear view mirror
and those red eyes were right there all the way down the canyon.
When he got home after that he straightened up and went on a
mission.
15



Bruce Ward
"The Man of Logan Canyonll
February, 1981
USU Campus
Item 1112
Bruce heard this story while he was at a scout camp. He doesn't
believe the story himself, but he thinks that some of the people
at the camp did.
The story is about a guy who is suppose to live in the
Logan mountains. He worked in a mine. His foreman for some
reason ended up falling in love with this guy's wife. So the
foreman set a charge that had a delayed fuse on it. They set it
off and it didn't go off and it didn't go off so the foreman sent
Hyrum in after it ti see what was going wrong with the charge in
the mine. Just as Hyrum got in there it blew up.
They thought it had killed him and it really didn't. It just
burned one side of his face real bad. He didn't dare go home
cause he looked so awful, and it made him sick. So he just
lived in the mountains for a long time. He went back and he
killed this. foreman and no one could never figure out how he
had died.
Hyrum was suppose to have been seen by some people, but
he would always run away. No one ever got a good look at him.
Some forest ranger were up there in the mountains one day and they
say they saw this guy that was doing something, but they couldn't
figure out what it was so they got up real close and he turned
around and one side of his face was a11bblack and he had filed his
teeth pointy.
~He started coming after the forest rangers so they ran, and
they got in their truck and the story is suppose to go that
he was so strong that he ripped the door off as they drove away.
They found some old cabins up there that had human ske1tons
hanging on hooks. The story has it that he would go around and
kill people and that he would take them back up to his cabin.
16]]>
Durtschi, Tammy;]]> Digitized by : Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> legends (folk tales);]]> application/pdf;]]> 7640751 Bytes]]> eng]]> Text;]]> Logan Canyon (Utah); Cache County (Utah); United States;]]> 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 20th century; 2000-2001; 2000-2009; 2010-2019; 21st century;]]>
Legends;]]> legend-tripping;]]> "St. Anni s Retreat"
Natalie Hamson
Logan, Utah
April, 1984

Natalie is twenty-one years old. She has lived in the Cache Valley all her life.
She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was Natalie
Boehme before marrying Dale Hamson in 1979. She's been married four years and has a
daughter that is two years old.
Dale and Natalie were at our home watching television when Natalie first told my
husband and me this story. Natalie said that she had been a sophombre at Sky View High
School when she first heard it. After I heard the story I was really interested in the
retreat, but not totally convinced the story was true. Since that time I have heard many
other Cache Valley residents say that St. Anne's was haunted. Most of the people that
could tell me anything about St. Anne's had lived in the Cache Valley many years or all
their lives. St. Anne's is a Catholic Retreat that is located up Logan Canyon.
The story that Natalie told me was that a male friend of hers and a bunch of other
guys went up to St. Anne's one night to see if it really was haunted. They took with them
loaded shotguns, rifles, and pistols. They were exploring around the place and saw
some dogs. The dogs were Doberman Pinchers and when they saw the group of men,they be­,
an barking at them. ~he dogs started chasing the men ready to attact~ The men
started firing at the dogs with their guns, but the dogs wouldn't drop. The dogs· chased
the men back to their truck. The men jumped in and left St. Anne's Retreat.
Natalie told me that she knew other people who refuse to go to Sto Anne's because
of the stories they have heard about it. Shei;aY's ·there"are other's'tories of visitors
seeing St. Anne walking along a cliff with a lantern for a light, then just vanishing.
Natalie also told me that she would like to visit St. Anne's some time, but not at night.
She said that last summer there was some kind of a Catholic childrens overnight meeting
at the retreat, and that you wouldn't catch her up there overnight because she believes
the stories she has heard.
Marion Dart
Logan, Utah
Pasco, WA
Utah &tate University
Intro. to Folklore
Spring, 1984

Urban Legend
"Disappearing Babies"
Informant Datal
Betty Warner
Logan, Utah
January 21, 1987
Betty Warner was born c;n January 31 1963, in Logan Utah. She
grew up in a near by town called Smithfield. She now resides in 10gan
and is attending USU. She is an active member of the LDS church
and is working as a Nurses Aid at Sunshine Terrace Rest Home.
Contextual Datal
This story was heard during a childcare class at Sky View High School.
We were all working on quiet books and to pass the time we were telling
stories of things that had happened to us or our friends.
****************************
I once heard of some kids from HIyum that went up to the old
Catholic Nunnery in Logan Canyon. There was three boys and three
girls. It was really late at night when they went, the guys had wanted
to really scare their girlfriends. They got out. of their car, walked
down the path towards the Nunnery. Along the way was a couple of ponds,
When they walked past the ponds little hands reached up.·and grabbed
all of them around the ankles. They were all so scared that they took
off running back to the' car. Some of the guys started asking around
as to why this happened. An old Pr ist that lives here in the valley
told them that when there were people from the church living there,
some of the Nuns became pregnant. by the Priests. The Nuns would carry
the baby to full termJand then to save the Church from embarrassment,
they would drown their babies in the ponds. When strangers enter
\
the property and walk by the ponds the babi~s spirits will grab at
them, they try and pull themsel~ out of the water to keep from drowning.
L ~ , I. I ~. I. I 7
Betty Warner
Logan, Utah
~rgt~~sa~tt~4i987
(
, (
Urban Legend
"The Old Nun"
Informant Datal
$IVI'/
Betty Wa..-rner
Logan, Utah
January21, 1987
Betty Warner was born on January 31,1963, in Logan Utah. She
grew up in Smithfield, Utah. She now resides in Logan and is attending
USU. She is an active member of the LDS church and is working at
The Sunshine Terrac, Rest Home.
Contestual Datal
This story was heard while my child care class in high school
was working on their quiet books. For entertainment we would pass
time by telling stories.
************************
I once heard of some girls that went to girls scout camp up
Logan cany:on, a few years ago. There was about 12 girls plus a few
leaders. The girls were between the ages of tweleve and fifteen.
They were 6i tUng around the campfire telling ecarey stories, one of which
was the "Old Nun" story. This story is about an old nun that died
very angry that she had lost her youth and beauty. She had resided at
the nunnery, also in Logan canyon. Before she died, the nun would
walk past the girls scout camp and long for the days of her youth.
She became so obsessed by this idea that she decided . by drinking
the youths blood she would again be young. Well, the kids of the camp
tried to laugh off their fear not wanting to admit to apy.one that they
really were scared. The group broke up after the story telling finished
and went their seperate ways. The leaders of the camp became increasingly
concerned as the girls began to disappear one by one. They called
and hunted for the missing girls not getting any response at all.
A couple of girls from the camp had gone on a walk together. Suddenly
they came running back into the camp screaming and shaking terribly.
(
. (
page 2 The Old Nun
The girls reported seeing an old lady dressed as a nun, with an
ax and blood dripping from her face walking near the camp. The next day
when the sun came up six of the tweleve girls were found murdered around
camp •
Betty Warner
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
History 124
Winter Quarter 1987
L::<. I. /~. I. :lB.
(
(
(
Urban Legend
"St. Anne's Retreat"
Informant Data:
Unknown
1976
High School friends from Sky View High School, Smithfield,
Utah.
Contextual Information:
Myself and some friends from Sky View High School were dragging
Main Street in Logan. We decided to drive up Logan Canyon because
someone had heard that there was a pla'ce up there that was haunted.
All teenagers are interested in haunted houses or buildings.
*******************************
While driving up the canyon, someone told the story about
how a nun had become pregnant while staying at St. Anne's Retreat
for nuns. When the other nuns found out about what had happened, they
told the unfortunate young girl that she could no longer be a nun.
The young girl was distraught.
That night the girl took an ax and killed everyone. When
she was done she drowned herself in the swimming pool.
Her ghost is thought to still be wandering the area, haunting
St. Anne's Retreat forever.
Scott Lambert
Logan, Utah
Utah State University
English 124
Winter Qtr. 1987
L <, I, I.? I. ~ 1
(
I
Urban Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Jalyn Rinderknecht
Logan, Utah
January 21, 1987
Jalyn Rinderknecht was born January 16,1968 in Logan, Utah. She is a
member of the L.D.S Q1urch and is partly an active member. She attends
Utah State University and is majoring in Pre-veterinary Science. Her
hobbies include horseback riding, skiing, fishing, hunting, camping,
animals and rodeo.
Contextual Data:
On our way up to the Nunnery in Logan Canyon everyone was telling
stories about what had happened when they went up last. This story was
one told.
One night a couple of my friends and I came up here to check the
Nunnery out. We psyched ourselves out so bad that we were a little
scared when we got there.
Walking toward the Nunnery we heard dogs barking from the distance
and a scream. It had been said that this nun used to kill the first
son of the family and little babies.
We heard another scream and decided we'd better get out of there, so
we ran back to our car but when we tried to start it we couldn't get it
to turn over. Feeling really scared, we took off down the canyon and
came back the next day to get the car. When we got there it started
like a charm.
Jalyn Rinderknecht
Logan, Utah
Utah Sta~e University
Winter Quarter 1986-87
(
(
(
Folk Story
Nunery up Logan Canyon
Informant Data:
Martin Mendenhall
Logan, Utah
April 22, 1984
I don't know where Martin was born, but he has lived a good part of his
life in Cache Valley. He is going to school at Utah State University majoring
in Food Science, he is presently a Junior. He comes from a religious background
and is a mormon. He married my best friend, and they have now been married for
1 year. Me and my boyfriend used to double date with them quite often . He is
the second child of 4. His hobbies include, snow and water skiing, and all out­door
activities and sports
Contextual Data:
This story was told to me on another double date with Martin . This was
told on one particular night after visiting the nunery up Logan Canyon . It
had been quite a frightful evening.
Text:
This story starts like this . . .• ....
A long time ago, there was a building called3 a convent where nuns lived. For many
years it was a very holy place, and only practices of good were taken place.
The nun's were forbidden to see any men and were to stay virgins. Things began
to get out of hand and the nun's began sleeping around, after which a few
became pregnant. If they were ever found out it would become a disgrace to that
individual. Therefore they began giving themselves abortions. In the convent
there was a swimming pool that had been emptied of all its water . This is where
they would bury the aborted babies. The problem finaly got out of hand and
they closed it down. But, because of the evil that went on there it is now
haunted with all kinds of spirits, and you can hear them to this day if you dare
to visit.
Michelle Sampson
Nibley, UT 84321
Utah State University
English 124
Spring Quarter 1984
April 22, 1984
L:< . / /,(,1,31
(
Diane Stenquist
Logan , Utah
Fe buary 1985
Legend
The old Nunery
Informant data:
Diane Stenquist was born in Tremonton, Utah. She is of
Swedish decent. She is now attending Utah State University
where she is a senior in bussiness. She is a member
of the Mormon church.
Contextual data:
Text:
Diane and I were on our way skiing one day, up at
Beaver Moutain and as we passed this area she told
me this story.
She says she heard this story alot while she was growing
up, the big kids always told the little kids this
story to scare them.
There is an old nunery up Logan Oayon. Years and
years ago the nuns were sent up here who got prenant
by the priests so no one eles would find out about
thier indiscreations. There was a main house were
everone would meet and there were also four smaller
house were they would sleep. And there was also a
big swimming pool. And as soon as the babies are
born the babies were to be drowned in the pool.
Now this is an old and deserted, but if you go
there at night you can still here the babies cry. ;
Natalie Harman
Utah Stste University
Folklore
Spring 1985
1-:<. If /:(, If 3:;"
(
(
+
Plouirunu) c.J-}Qh
USu
tbWoLL
WlfItVu OUClfl.tv0 tf3~cJ>
(
(
Ghost story
St. Anne's Retreat
Larry Cantwell
Smithfield, Utah
Approx. 1979
Larry Cantwell is the speech teacher at Sky View High Schoo1. He loves
stories, and one of his hobbies is to go around the Valley to different
groups and share his talent. He does a marvelous imitation of Mark Twain.
He tells great ghost stories, and has many humorous readings. He is active
in the L.D.S. Church, and communtiy affairs.
One day in Speech, we turned the lights off and got out a candle and
lit it, and told ghost stories. Mr. Cantwell told us this version of St.
Anne's Retreat.
St. Anne's Retreat was originally established up Logan Canyon for
Cache Valley's Catholic nuns who needed to "get away" from things for awhile.
One nun got herself in trouble and as time passed her problem became
more noticeable. He superiors knew that something needed to be done-- she
couldnlt walk the streets in her condition, so she was sent to St. Anne's
for the duration-. 6f" · her:~ pr~gnam::::y.
The Mother Superior at St. Anne's talked this nun into putting up the
baby for adoption when it was born, because she thought this sort of thing
was horrible. If the nun would agree to do as the Mother Superior said,
the Mother Superior would help her. If not, then she could fend for herself.
Well, as time went by and this nun spent her time reading, thinking,
swimming in the pool, and walking around the retreat and in the nearby woods,
she began to think of this child and knew she could never give it up. She
decided to leave the order and raise her baby.
When the baby was born she told her decision to the Mother Superior.
The Mother Superior did not agree and felt that she had to end this situation.
One day when this nun was sleeping, the Mother Superior took the baby and
drowned him in the swimming pool.
The nun took it very hard, but couldn't believe the Mother Superior
would actually do this. She thought the Mother Superior had taken the baby
and given him to a family, or was hiding him on the retreat somewhere.
As she was recovering, she would take walks around the retreat to see
if she could find her baby. As she walked by the pool one day, the Mother
Superior pushed her in and she drowned. The Mother Superior thought she
had rectified the problem, and now could live with herself after taking care
of this nun.
About three weeks later another nun was sent to St. Anne's to rest and
re~ax for a couple weeks. One day as she was walking past the swimming pool
she saw a nun floating face down in the pool. She screamed, and the Mother
Superior came to see what the problem was. The Mother Superior tried to grab
at the nun in the pool, but the nun disappeared.
The second nun wanted to know what had happened, but the Mother Superior
would not say anything. The second nun called the Father and told him to come
up to St. Anne's because there was something wrong.
the Father came and got to the bottom of what had happened and soon after,
the Mother Superior was taken from St. Anne's. Shortly after this happened,
the Catholic church sold St. Anne's Retreat.
L ~ I I, I~, / I .3Lj
(
(
St. Anne I s is still used as a get away place for various groups and there
have been reports that the one nun is still looking for her baby. Some have
seen her walking around the retreat, and some have seen her floating in
the pool. While there are no reports of anyone talking to this nun, there
are plenty of reports of people who have seen her, so as you go camping
in this part of Logan Canyon, beware of the nun.
Alenda Jolley
Providence, Utah
Utah State University
English 124
Winter 1984
2
(
(
Ghost story
St. Anne's Retreat
Alenda Jolley
Logan Canyon
approx. 1976
Alenda was born in Logan in 1963. She lived ~n Logan for a couple years,
then moved South of Logan to Providence where she has lived for fourteen years.
She is active in the L.D.S. Church, and community affairs. She loves the
outdoors and has spent many hours in io9an Canyon hunting, fishing, camping,
and enjoying nature.
When I was ~n mutual, my ward took all the youth leaderships up to
St. Aime' s Retreat for a leadership meeting. We spent two days and one night
at the retreat. Just before dark the leaders took us on a hike to a meadow
overlooking St. Anne's. There was a cave on the cliff above us. In this
setting one of the leaders told us this story.
St. Anne's Retreat is the place where all the Catholic Nuns came for
a little rest and relaxation. There was cabins, the beauty and recreation
facilities of the canyon, and a swimming pool. All the Nuns loved this place.
On the cliff to the East of St. Anne's is a cave where a hermit lived.
This hermit hated people and he hated nuns worst of all. He devised d
plan where if he killed off a few nuns at a time, no more WDuld come up to
the retreat because they would be too scared.
This hermit came down to St. Anne's on a particularly dark night and
caught a nun unaware as she was going from the lodge to her cabin. He
dragged her to the swimming pool and drowned her.
This happened about three more times before higher officials got word
of what was happening. A search was made for the hermit, but he COUldn't
be found.
The Catholic church got spooked and sold St. Anne's so there WOUldn't
be anymore nuns in Logan Canyon.
There were reports of two or three other people killed in the same
manor while using St. Anne's.
The hermit was never found, and it is said that he still haunts St.
Anne's and neghboring campgrounds, so be careful when staying in this part
of the canyon.
Alenda Jolley
Providence, Utah
utah State University
English 124
Winter 1984
L.:<. /, /d;J.1. ..:l,s-
(
(
Horror Story
Saint Ann's Retreat
Informant Data:
Mary Leisa Pp.ters en
Hyrum, Utah
February, 1979
Mary Leisa Petersen, 20, grew up in Hyrum, Utah, a small Mormon town.
She is of Danish and Swedish decent. She is the first child of a Mor­mon
family, and she is a active member of the Mormon Church. Presently,
she is a Lambda Delta Sigma Chapter president. A junior at Utah State
University majoring in Elementary Education.
Background:
Terry Hansen of Logan told Mary Leisa this story to entertain her (or
to scare her, she didn't know which it was) in 1976 while on a ride
through the Logan Canyon one night.
After Mary Leisa told this story to me she said," It's a good scarey
story but I sure don't believe it."
I have tried to record it as closely to the way she told me as possible.
Text:
During the past summers Nuns lived in this old house in Logan Canyon.
But before it was a Nunnery it was haunted. And before it was haunted
a very wealthy man and his wife bought it and fixed it up and lived
in it.
The winters were really harsh so the man always took his wife in their
horse and buggy to town to shop.
Many years passed and her husband died. The towns people wanted her to
move into town but she wouldn't. So at first the towns people took
turns on a irregular schedule bringing her into shop. After awhile
nobody s topp ed by to bring her into town and she was more or less for­gotten
about. Then one day the towns people started wondering about
her, so a couple of men went out to check on her. They found the doors
open and the house dusty and filled ~vith cobwebs, but she was nowhere
to be found. ' Outside · th~ house they found some tiriy footprints, but not
her, so they boarded up the house.
Years passed and the house also was forgotten. Then one day late in
the fall, during the first snowfall, two hunters ran across it while
looking for a place to camp the night. They unboarded the house and
entered. Then one of the hunters went outside to get some fire wood
while the other hunter stayed in and cleaned the fireplace out so
they could build a fire. As the hunter outside was chopping wood he
heard a very loud, horrid screem from the house. He quickly ran to
the house and as he entered the only one there was his hunting part­ner
die on the floor with a clever in his back. He ran out and as
he did he heard someone in the bushes crying. He looked down ._and there
jn the snow. he saw 'some tiny footprints. Without looking any further
he ran frantically to the highway for help.
Bonnie Vance
Logan, Utah
Mapleton, Utah
Winter, 1979
(
(
Supernatural Legend
"Saint Ann's Retreat"
Informant Data:
Maria Nielsen
Hyrum, Utah
July, 1984
Maria Nielsen, 21, lives in Hyrum, Utah. She was born February
21, 1963, in Logan, Utah. She is a Senior at Utah State Univeristy,
majoring in Elementary Education. She is an active member of the
Mormon church. She is married to Clayton Nielsen.
Contextual Data:
I can not member who told this story to me. The story was told
to me just before I visited Saint Ann's Retreat. I remember it was
a very dark night and I was with my boy friend and three other
couples. I'm a scardy cat anyway and after I heard this story I
was scared to death to go into Saint Anns. I don't really believe
the story is true but it scared me just the same. I could imagine
some crazy man jumping out of the bushes with a big knife and killing
all of us. I decided if there was one place a mad man would hang
out to kill somebody it would be at Saint Ann,s. One thing waB sure,
I was not going to stay in the car by my self, so I went with the
others to explore this place. Nothing happened to us, but I was sure
glad when we finally pulled away from that place in our car.
Saint Ann's is about fifteen minutes up Logan Canyon.
* * * * * * * *
A long time ago there used to be a nunnery at Saint Ann's.
One of the nuns got pregnant by a young priest. She hid the fact
that she was pregnamt for a long time. When she had the baby she was
told she had to leave the nunnery. She was grieved at what had happened
and went out and drowned her baby in the swimming pool, thp.n hung
herself. Her spirit haunts the place in the form of a dog. Sometimes
people can hear dogs howling at Saint Ann's. Nobody has ever seen
the dogs.
Maria Nielsen
Hyrum. Utah
Same
Utah State Unlverity
English 124
Summer 1984
L ;;, I If /:;, /. ~ 7
(
!
(
(
L;(, I, 1:(, /, 38 l)~
!
(
Supernatural Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Jimmy west
Nibley, Utah
April, 1988
Jimmy west is a High school senior who enjoys anything
that has a challenge to it. He hung around the guys the night
they went to the nunnery, but no longer associates with them.
He loves the outdoors and hates school. He works for the Bishop
in the ward and comes from a gigantic family as he put it.
Contextual Data:
I told Jimmy I WaS doing this for my folklore class and I
asked him if he could remember the story as if he were there that
day. We were sitting outside on the front porch steps as he
related the story.
Text:
Last summer we did travel up to the nunnery to find out if
you looked in this mirror you would see the ghost, supposedly
green. I didn't travel inside so I never found out anything, but
the guys who did go in came running back to the car screaming,
"Let's go!" "It's behind us!" The car wouldn't start at all,
everyone was screaming and panicking, then all of a sudden it
started. The whole thing was weird. As were driving away we
felt a bump on the back of the car. The next morning I went over
to see what it was and a big long black mark was on the car.
Sherry Anderson
Nibley, Utah 84321
USU
Folklore
Spring 1988
/?, /. /2 .. f. 31
(
Supernatural Legend
"The Nunnery"
Informant Data:
Clint Yonk
Nibley, Utah
April, 1988
Clint Yonk was a classmate in High School. We both
graduated in 1987 from Mountain Crest High. He workd for Bourns
during the afternoons. He enjoys going to late night shows.
He's from an active LOS family, and he loves the outdoors.
Contextual Data:
We were sitting in a movie theatre going to watch the Mid­night
movie. I asked Clint to tell me the story about when he and
a few others went up to the nunnery. I had heard the story
before in a Sunday School Class after it happened. I was just
interested in if it had changed any since then.
Text:
A couple of friends told me this story. They went up to the
nunnery located in Logan Canyon during the summer last year. It's
said that if you go into the surrounding area, a ghost will chase
you out. A whole group went up to find out if this was true or
not. Two of the guys were the only ones that had decided to go.
They were running back to the car and the car wouldn't start up
than all of a sudden it started. Everyone was screaming, "Let's
go!" As they were driving away they felt a bump on the back of
the car. The next morning there was a big long scratch that
looked like something had been dragging on to the car. They
swore to never do that again.
Sherry Anderson
Nibley, Utah 84321
USU
Folklore
Spring 1988
~;2. //2. I. &/0
(
(
Local Legend
"Killer Nuns"
Informant Data:
Sally Drollinger
Richmond, Ut
April 3, 1988
Sally Drollinger is twenty-four years old. She was
born in California but moved to Richmond when she was small.
There she attended grade school through high school. She
is single and lives with three of the good friends she grew
up with. Sally came from a family of eight children. When
they were young, their father would tell them stories. From
this experience, Sally learned to love listening to and
telling stories.
Contextual Information:
Sally heard this story when she was in junior high.
She and her friends were at a slumber party where ghost
stories were being told. This was her favorite scary story
about the nunnery in Logan canyon.
Text:
There was this nunnery up Logan canyon. Nuns use to go
there for religious schooling. Then it was closed because
of not enough money to keep it in shape. So, the nuns were
divided up among other convents. There was this one convent
that wasn't too far away. Somehow the nuns that went there
were getting pregnant. These nuns were sent back to the L
Logan nunnery to have their babies. After they had them,
the nuns would throw them into the swimming pool to kill
them. Now when you go up there at night you can hear the
babies crying out.
Valerie Drollinger
Logan, Ut
Spartanburg, SC
Utah State
History 124
Spring 1988
/,2, / 12, I fl
(
(
Local Legend
"Cry of Babies"
Informant Data:
George May
Richmond, Ut
April 5, 1988
George May is twenty-three years old. She was born and
raised in Richmond, Ut. She received all of her schooling
there. She is single and lives with Sally and two other
girls she grew up with. She has two younger sisters, one of
which still loves to sit around and tell ghost stories at
night.
Contextual Information:
George is the girl at the slumber party Sally went to
who told the story about the nunnery in Logan. She learned
about the nunnery when she and some of her friends wanted to
go camping over night in the canyon. Her father told this
story to her.
Text:
Up Logan canyon there was this nunnery. Everyone knew
it wasn't a normal nunnery because the nuns that went there
were pregnant. Yet, when they left, the nuns didn't have a
baby with them. There were all kinds of speculation about
what happened to the babies. Most of the people figured
that the nuns threw their babies over the cliffs because
they could hear the cries of the babies as they were falling
You can still hear them if you go up there at night.
Valerie Drollinger
Logan, Ut
Spartanburg, SC
Utah State Univ.
History 124
Spring 1988
~.L. /./,2. I, //L
(
Local Legend
"Dead Babies"
Informant Data:
Gordon May
Richmond, Ut
April 7, 1988
Gordon May is fifty years old. He was born in Smith­field
and moved to Richmond after he was married. He has
been married for twenty-five years and has three daughters.
Gordon works at USU in the engineering dept. He enjoys his
work and is a good mechanic.
Contextual Information:
Gordon May heard this story about the nunnery from a
man he worked with. One day everyone was talking about
things that Logan was kind od historical for and this came
up. He told this story to his daughter to scare her from
going camping instead of saying "NO" again.
Text:
There's this nunnery up Logan canyon. It was a kind of
hideout for pregnant nuns. They would stay there until they
had their babies. After these babies were born, the nuns
would take them and kill them. They did this by throwing
them over the cliffs or down in hidden tunnels. These babes
still cry out at night and their spirits seek revenge on
anyone that goes to the nunnery.
Valerie Drollinger
Logan, UT
Spartanburg, SC
Utah State Univ.
History 124
Spring 1988
~,2./,/,l.1. ~3
(
(
(
Legend
Saint Ann"s Retreat
InfDFrnant:
Date of Bi r-th:
Place Gf Bir-t.ti~
Ethni c Ances t t-:l i
Education:
Occupation:
Hubbies:
Church Membership:
CiHlt-Cf. Activity:
i1ark LeBar-on
08/05/68
Logarl; Utah
Logan J' tJ"Lah
4/-12/-1987
European(German. Swedish. French, English)
Public high school education
Student (Utah State university)
Music. Sports & Athletics
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Very Active
***************************************************************
The following legend is one of those stories that one often
hears, but can't remember from whom or where he heard it first.
I do know that there are several versions of this story.
below is the one I have hear tne most. The story concerns an old
local nunnet-y Dr retreat for catholic nuns known as Saint
complex is now used for youth summer camps
Ann*s
and
*****************************************************************
to the stOFy I heard. a young nun named Hekida,
who is residing in the retreat. becomes pregnant (nobody ever
says by who). Hekida is hated by the other nuns because of the
shame she has brought upon her office. When the child is born,
Hekida throws the child off a cliff and kills herself in the same
irIan}l!? t- ~
dirlnlft
Hekida had tnese pet hounds and the nuns
-= ___ t'
know what to do with them so they chopped dff the LV::/"
The story also says that there is a crude cross marking
the child"s grave and that the spirits of Hekida and her
haunt the grounds between midnight and one o' ciock a.m.
dogs
t1ar-k LeBat-on
Hist -124
,i/. /. /.t . / .v~
(
GENRE: LEGEND
TITLE: ST. ANN'S RETREAT
Jamie Smi th
Kamas, Utah 84036
CONTEXT:
Jamie Smith
Logan, Utah
4-22-87
We were sitting around telling ghost stories. Jamie told us
about something that happened to her friends up Logan canyon. It
was at a place called St. Ann's Retreat. The following story is
written in the manner in which it was told.
STORY:
The legend says that one of the nuns who lived there became
pregnant. Well, the other nuns let her have the baby but made her
drown it once it was born. As a result of the baby been drowned,
the mother went batty and killed herself. After all of this
stuff happened, they closed the nunnery but her ghost still
remains.
This happened to some friends of mine, James
These guys went up up there to set up this deal.
to take these girls and get them scared. So they
all these rocks so when someone tripped the wire,
and Roger.
They were going
went up and set
all of these
rocks would come flying down. They went into the convent and set
things up in it.
Later that night, they brought the girls up. Someone tripped
on the wire but instead of little rocks falling, a big huge
boulder came rolling down. Well, this really scared them so they
decided to go check things in the convent. They went into the
convent and the door slammed behind them and locked. They had to
bust the boards off of a window to get out of there. After all of
this happened, they just picked up and left.
The next day, after everything had happened up a St. Ann's,
they decided to go back in daylight. The rope that had been set
up was cut and all the little rocks had been moved aside. They
couldn't see how the boulder was moved: it hadn't been there the
day before. All they know is that boulder rolled down at them.
Well one night, they were going to take us up there. One of the
guys swore he would never go up there again. He is all buff about
it--a jock you know-- but it scared him shitless.
MY NAME:
Debbie Jenkins
S.L.C. Utah 84121
Utah State University
/ (
( History 124
Spring 1987
(
Legend
Saint Anne's Retreat
Informant Data:
Kris Harris
Logan Utah
October 1981
Kris Harris,21, was born in Logan Utah, but moved to Newport Beach
California when she was seventeen. Her religious background is Mormon,
but she is not a practicing Mormon. Kris is single and attends Orange
Coast College where she is studying commercial art. At the time she
told me this legend, she was really into sppoky stories, and loved to
tell them at parties and social gatherings. Kris has a talent for telling
stories or jokes at the best possible times.
Contextual Data:
When Kris told me this legend, we were up the canyon drinking beers with
about 5 other people. There were no boys with us because once a week it
would be the "girls iiight out." As we were drinking, we started telling
scary stories or scary experiences we had or had heard. When it was
Kris's turn to tell a story, she asked if any of us had heard about Saint
Anne. None 0tlhad heard the legend, so she said she would drive us to
the place where the legend actually happened. We went to a Eatholic
retreat about 3 miles up Logan canyon. There is a swimming pool in the
back and ~ris made us sit on the diving board while she told her story.
We were pretty scared by now, since it was dark out and the old buildings
were really creepy. Kris told us that her Aunt's friend wen to the Retreat
1 year after Saint Anne, and Catholic priests had to
there were evil spirits there. Kris's mom told her tnt;...--±-c~
wouldn't go up there to drink and mess around.
After she told us the legend, we were so scared that we coul~~move
off:.the diving board. Finally we ran back to the car and locked all the
doors and drove back to Logan. I have never been up there again, and
I doubt any of the others have either.
Item:
About 3 miles up Logan Canyon there is an old, abandoned Catholic Nunnery
which locals call Saint Anne's Retreat. Saint Anne was a nun living at the
LL /. I~,/- rtf
J'
(
Retreat for the summer, when she mysteriously became pregnant. She didn't
tell anyone she was pregnant, but one of the sisters found out and asked
Saint Anne how she became pregnant. Since Saint Anne was a virgin, the
other sister assumed it was a child of the devil, and God was punishing
Saint Anne by making her pregnant. The other sister sooned moved to another
Retreat, leaving Saint Anne and her secret pregnancy unknown. One night
in August, Saint Anne had her baby, She took it and wrapped it in sheets and
threw it into the swimming pool. When the other sisters found the baby, it
was dead and Saint Anne was gone. Now, if you go to the ~etreat in August,
you can hear a baby crying. If you call for Saint Anne(usually three times)
she will come down from the mountains looking for her child. Sometimes
you can see her looking around the swimming pool, a ghostly shape wearing
a habit, calling for her poor little child.
Meridith Sorensen
Logan, Ut 84321
Logan, Ut 84321
Utah State University
History 124
Spring 1987
l 1
(
(
S hpho\V"I-I Wh:,e
LO~4 n LA To, A..
"5ephl""b-€, IllS/.[
'::01 k 15el,~f
St. .t\nVl'S e~tt(Ck
r-nRafY"\Q"" + '!JC\.+q:
Sf-E'rhG\ni~ LU"''+e f~ CA 5'-e\l\ ICn 0.+ U+"A. S~uft' U\t\IUerSl+1 ,
~ 15 (jrclmQ./~ f,..~ 'lJ4.S't'c/-ehtt ec./, fOrhi'c., Me' ~Y\~esi-ofs \;V{>(~
~o\'V\.~ ~ '\-\.c ~;rs+ 5\i+tl-e r s I;" CG\C.ht' OG\lle{, S~ e~O~$ ","o{'se­bCACt
fldl~11 $1V\.11~1J b<Asebull) O\.~ "Stlch-ey(~.
CO~ te~+lAc.1 1)c.l-c~:
S4 +c)ld -t~lS -tv so\'V\@ ~ M~ f'(!"1?~~S c..""c1 r oV\-e .·;\11 h4
wkev. Wi· v...)'€re f.e(l,,,,-\ :)o,"'\ie S(Ci.r~ 6}orl~~.
~~f.'
S\-.e +c Id lAS Q'ao""~ ~ le~~~ ~ St, (,\)'\\1\.5 c:"W( ~
I~ J.o~Ct ... eCd/l'--j£YJ-. , 51-..e :)c. ,'J J..k, st~ l.(.H~l-\-f SOMi> \-hi"'-1
Ilt~ this
~ve -t~e{p W~ -\-h(.('p V\V\.V\.$ -\~\- \ IveJ \,\~ C\+ 1-\0
C~\.lfC~' Ohe .~ ~. <k ~OU~\ blA.b~ ~v~ \-Q.","-t o~ ehr So
tl\~~ ncd-·(AQ.1I1 col<- \\- 1'-'· l\e~ d~C\d",~ r() (,Vl\-f \-t.-.o
bcx-b~ "theWls-elve.5 ,crthu t~ IlA"'l'\~ rt- Due, ,"0 ~
CtLfthO(l~:el. l-iifE''' Q. 5~o'(t wh~ If' '5t-«CAV\.~-e ~\-~S S'h,lr\:ed
O((,\An~ \'" tU"c' QfO'IA."",d t-h> ehl.A..rc ~, LocK-tcl d0Cl('S vJe(f
~\"'-\ ()~~ 'oj ~QV"\.S'l \,,{>~ .t " 'M""-&\~ ~C:)\). \ct \0", h~(,,-( d
COV"\v~<, ~«~ \--h., OC'1G\W\. bu.+ h()CII\r€ woulJ \o.e ~\Gt~l""1 A-.
-r~'E' V)t.\."S -\-~~h+ thtA-t \-~ b~~~ 'M'-<{\t)t b-e ~<n"ss-.ec1
G\ V\.t -rlAf"'e b l-t ov.-vt t-o ct lJ\.-\~( I t-~~ , 'l< \ '\ ~+ Q,f -\-e r \-h.e It
-tl-\.o\ed l-I-o \v",b~ cv('< to \-\... a.~orl ~ I q ll +h,.-e~ o1s-l-~
hv.. V\5 W..Q r-t" ""'1.s r--t"flOVU:; I, yY\~rd-e r l?c\-
Ih~"e 1J;)~5 a.."'- Cll.\-+oM-obi1> Qtt\.eJ-e\l\:-t l':"" ~ C(A\I\~l)",
I-~ V\\·"hi t~ bhb~ WtW 'b('C)",,~h+ fv H. c~V\(C h cj- I~ 't(,\~d ~"",~I
l~ Mot~ WC\..S kdleJ -b""f }-l-o \oC4bJ-\~4 w~s ,-,>,t-h t\er
N<-l.l h.()-t ~ O"\.V~' Tht' \0-1( I \-ef f~ 4 h.~ i-1v \"t\.O ~ ~ h()~-t
,L"l. ~/.2, 1 /77 !
(
(
(
, ..,. I
b"'C\A~ht H.~ b~b~ ~ H~ c~l.tfch Ct",J -then 5t-u"d-ed
Q f~""ct t~ C '-t\A.£C l.. .fu $-Q'e n~\0 ~~ C'~dd vl~S t\orv.~. vJ~
H'\;1 Y\u\l\S +Ltr,,~d ~~ 'b"b~ (f\J-fr ttJ ~1A-t~OI'I-h·~.s f1- V"\.o~
~o-t ~, 91"$C vps~-t QY\cl '(V\\Arc/'.Q('e J l-Lo V\\AII\.S,
J-.01C, ~ U+Q
'"
/AfQA S14fe tJJ;7IU.QrSl~"
k"91;s J.... /2.J.i
tJ"11-@r, 1?8-6
t6NT.
L,2, /, /1., I- '11
(
(
Supernatural Local Legend
"Wi tch Heckata"
-\
I nforment Date:
Myself
Logan, Utah
Winter 1990
I have llved in Logan, Utah most of my 11fe. I attended Logan High
School. I am a freshman at USU.
Contextual Information:
I heard this Legend in a class while attending High school. I was
in a psychology class; we were studying a unit on parapsychology.
Students were telling stories that they had heard from friends, relatives,
and from scouting camps that deal with the supernatural.
Text:
Near Saint Anne's retreat up in Logan Canyon there is a small
canyon. It is sai d if you go to thi s canyon around mi dni ght, wi th the moon
full in the night sky, and you call the name Heckata three times she will
appear. She is to come in a hooded black robe that whips in the wind. She
comes toward you 1 aug hi ng. She floats above the ground. I n her hands she
hold the hounds of hell. They are two large black dogs with eyes that glow
red w1th the flames of hell. She is angry at those who enter her canyon
(
(
I
\
and di sturb her rest. She chases those who enter her canyon away.
Nathan N1 ederhauser
Logan, Utah
USU
Engli sh/Hi story 124
Winter 1990
lONf
,e.£./.12./. tV<f'
( Legend
Statue at St. Anne's Retreat
Informant Data:
Nancy Lloyd
Young Ward, Ut.
Nov. 2 , 1988
Nancy Lloyd was born in Logan, Utah and has lived here all her life except
two years in Idaho and 18 mont~in Ecuador, + a year in Provo at school.
She is a senior at U. S. U. majoring in English.
Context Data:
This story was usually told to her in situations like slumber parties,
walking home from late mutual activities and at girls camp .
Item:
At St. Anne's Retreat for nuns, in Logan Canyon, there is a very strange
statue. If touched at the right moment, 12:00 midnight, it will be warm,
as if it were alive.
Matthew Lloyd, 18
Young Ward, Ut. 84339
Utah State University
English 124
Fall 1988
(
Local Legend
"Heckada"
Informant Data:
Rex Womack
Nibley, Utah
July 1980
Rex Womack is three years older than myself He lived in my LDS ward while I was growing up.
He was really a cool dude. He would hang out with us younger boys and bring us up to date on
what's hot and what's not. He was somebody that we all looked up to. He always had something
to say.
Contextual Data:
( We were at a camp out for our scout group and Rex was one of the junior leaders. We were up
Logan Canyon camping at the Girl Scout Camp up Right Hand Fork. We were in the little cabin
in our sleeping bags, just talking. Everyone was trying to scare each other with stories. Rex
succeeded.
Text:
About 40-50 years ago the winter came really early. So early that the deer hunt in October had 2-
3 feet of snow. Back during the 1930's, hunting deer was very popular because of the meat.
People would kill a deer and store the meat for use in the winter months. This one man went out
to get his winter meat for his family. He headed up towards Spring Hollow by Third Dam up
Logan Canyon. He went up early in the morning as most hunters do. He was expected back
around 3:00 or 4:00 at the latest. He was known to be a great hunter and always shot a deer early
and was home by 3 :00 p.m. On this snowy hunting day he didn't make it home. His wife went up
to look for him that night but no body was found. She went back into Logan to get help, but
nobody would go out in the blizzard. She refused to leave her mate up in the snowy mountains so
she went home and got her dogs. She took them up the canyon with her to Spring Hollow and
was never seen again, nor was her husband. If you go to third dam and look up into Spring
Hollow on a full moon and yell Heckada, Heckada, Heckada, you will hear her dogs barking, still
in search for her lost husband.
(
(
I'
Rod Leishman
Logan, Utah
USU
History 124
Summer 1995]]>
Digitized by : Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> legends (folk tales);]]> application/pdf;]]> 12190210 Bytes]]> eng]]> Text;]]> Logan Canyon (Utah); Cache County (Utah); United States;]]> 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 20th century; 2000-2001; 2000-2009; 2010-2019; 21st century;]]>
Legends;]]> legend-tripping;]]> By Anne Gray Perrin
Utah State University
Fife Folklore Archives
Logan, UT
English/History 6770 (Folk Narrative)
Professor Steve Siporin
Spring 2011


Interviewee:
Place of Interview:
Date of Interview:
Interviewer:
Recordist:
TRANSCRIPTION COVER SHEET
Trevor Eschler
Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University
April, 2011
Anne Gray Perrin
Anne Gray Perrin
Recording Equipment: Alesis Pamtrack 24bit Wave mp3 digital recorder
Transcription Equipment: Express Scribe transcription software
Transcribed by: Anne Gray Perrin
Transcript Proofed by: Anne Gray Perrin
Brief Description of Contents Eschler recou ' s bis trips to St. Ann-'s rrtrcl!~; rc~s0ns ' .y he
goes and what he has experienced.
GP: .L rL.'le Gray Perrin
TE: Trevor Eschlcr
NOTE: Interjrrtic1 -::: ~:-irg p::!~~.;:'s o~· '"?_,:_.. . ;ti~::~ in d!R~~~~~ s:~~l ~a$ "11h" a_... ~ st?J~s ar~.~ stop~
in conversations arc not included in transcribed. All additions to transcript are noted with
brackets.
TAPE I'K<\RSC
[00:01] Trevor Eschler: Trevor Eschler
started going up to the Nunnery. So what provoked you to go up there?
and find it. But we weren't able to find it. So I moved up here in August. We were bored one night . .We
started looking on thr i tc~nct for thinGs t0 d~ in L0C:''1, - ~~ h~ rem m!:-('rcc!_ H:: V!'JS try!~z t flr.d the
Nunnery so we kind of found the directions on the Internet and decided to go up there. It was about
11:00 at night when we started out. At 11:00, we gathered up some people.
AGP: And so had you heard tit'"· stories at..out th N.1i·,;-:2fr ;
TE: What Y..'e decided to d~ is we were !ook!!'1[; for do, we dcdc0~ tc rc2.d i t0 th:- to~ic!: t khrl of fr?J1:
( ours_;!".J<.:s cut; to sec ·' :Jt it '/las all about.
1
(
(
AGP: So what had you heard?
TE: A couple of the stores that read was that the cabins up there were summer homes for the Owner of
tried to sell it to the University. The University didn't want it so he ended up selling it to the Catholic
Church, and the Catholic Church took over; and started running the Nunnery out of it. Up there, there's
of wedlock out of there and take them into the swimming pool and drown them. One account we read,
you walk in there and you kind of get this eerie feeling. We tried that out, and it's true.
TE: You 1NJ!k in and th{!re 's just this cold spot; and it kind of sends chills down your back. We read the
fftO!)i rt.:i.-'-•t .. .w· .... ~ ... -· -· i\. -. .. ,...._-1 • i.; ...... . , ;._ .. ,. __ ............... - .... ,.. ____ ....__.; :...: ........... . ....;. - ~---- ,.__ .. . ....... - _ ... _ . . __ . ., .. _ " .. ..... .....
up there, and there's three security guards. They got caught and got tied up in the swimming pool and
. . . ··~ - - a •• y · .mg ::Kt! U •d~.
AGP: You still 'Nan edt go even th •_•gh you heard of this attack?
TE: Yeah. We kind of, I don't know. We're thrill seekers so we tried. If someone says, "Don't do it," we do
it just to prove them wrong, that it can be done.
AGP: Yeah?
AGP: Have you encountered any mortal beings or any security issues?
there with us but the people we go up there with.
stuff?
mile away from the entrance, kind of walk up. You had to cross this bridge, and if you go walking up it, it
looking directly at the swimming pool, and you could see the silhouette of a person; just one person. I'm
• • • • ' • -- I Q• ...,..._ fJ Vi a ll '--'- "- u -7)1 IJ U'- J .... .:ll OJi H .. - ·•~ ; v- ...,.\... L\.C . - "1.,.. •"'"- .=.t.ua ~\,..- i _._ ,, , ; •6 - i - \..oo · i U . I • h .. • i4 ;..·u 1 .. -.;u:J -:...-\,; i"\.:f (!0 UY
clouds. There was nothing. So that really freaked us out. We ventured down into the swimming pool.
Came out. '\nd there's r 3bins s•1rro•Jnning it, a rod . t thi time, like ! c~id, we h ~d re, d all the stories so
2
(
; .. __ . r .. r. __ ; _ . _ r _______ r. . . -• ~ _ . . . . r _ . .-. - . .._ . _ . _ . r r ._ _ _ _ _ .. r I r r-y
·y{;3. ·v-v· ~~~ ciii~ ci-\.iy HCQi·:~;.:l VUi'~~ .. :T\··_-~: UUi.. :~u v-;~ ~~i~- ili:· ~· ~~-~- -..:.~ ~0
... ...., ..... _._ •• ._ ~...;-..·:. -. 1 "";;~ ..... -v~ ·- ...... ;.. .... _.._.:_.. ...........
called us up. He was like, "Dude, let's just take some girls up there and scare them." We were like,
"Alright." So we went up there, kind of scouted it out. Then he came up about a half hour later. We were
;: - 1 - ; - . .- . - '- ~'1 ~ - -- . -- _l- .. - - ... ! 'i t 1 - 1--- . "'....t.. --- -~;:-~-
.u~ '-"""•" .,._""'-'-: o ~, --~t.- \.i:•- -.....-.... .!:J..tttJ ... ,. .. _ ~ -$.-..-~._ - •-~.._ ~'-- _.::.,_•_1;,... i-' .• .,., ,_.,.;: .. :; 1 ~ '--1~• :..1,,..,.,....~: ... -v .. ~:•~~!l.c • .-~- /'-.. .... v-IJ\:::Jt, i . fUill tJIC:::
occasions. It's pretty fun. It's scary, too because sometimes you're in some of the buildings alone by
yourself and you hear the old wood creek. It gives you a rush.
AGP: So had you experienc.ec.i el~e supernatural or is it jusi. the swim ruing pool. io~:u.J}
AGP: Yeah. And so how many of your friends go up there like group-wise?
TE: Let's see. We got, there's probably about eight regulars, and then our groups usually range from
eight to twenty. Anywhere in there.
AGP: So it just depends on like what's going on?
TE: Yeah. It depends on the night; if it's a week day or weekend; wha~' s the next ctay; if thc·rc's te:;.ts
people have to take or whatnot. We try to get as many people as we can to go up there because the
more people, the funner [sic].
AGP: So even thoilgh there's al! these storlt:s, with th .... ati.a .... ~ and th.:: supciTIJh.irc.l, an ' cvu-. though
you've experienced those things, you still keep going?
( TE: Yean.
AGP: So why do you think that is? Why do you go?
i c: It's sornethlng 1u''; ~u cL.
AGP: It's just fun?
. i ;_ .. i. ; •• ...;:.... ... 1 ... .._,....,. ••- -- ...;) -·~ -~'-··.,__- ~ov.:.- .~ .... _ .:_-_
get up there to just have fun. It's kind of fun to take new people up there just to see their reactions.
TE: Because, I mean, pretty much everyone on campus has heard the stories or they know someone
AGP: Yeah. Yeah.
O ·'-· ·...,. • · ~---·-.:..-- .l ;. .. .;.~ - ·• ;,.;_- -- ~:.. ~....! - •' - i -~- ;; ·-.J •• , ~-. -'·J _-..
you up there." And then they call the rest of us, that the people don't know, say, "Hey, we're going up
there at this time. Be there." And so we'll just go around scaring people. We've got it clown to an art sc>
that i.hey c.::;tc>iii words, we'll k cvv how to react.
AGP: Can you give me an example of that?
3
(
(
(
TE: There's one, there's a three story house with a big glass window. It would be on the southeast side of
it. And just south of that big old house, there's three little cabins. And they come walking down, and
they kind of, they're making noise, you know. And we have person that throws on a hood, and they're
standing in the glass window. And what they do is, they'll walk around to the side of the house, and
they'll take a flashlight, and they'll run it over the window; and they'll see someone there. And they'll
kind of freak out, and they'll run it back. And by the time they pass it by the second time, the person
ducks below the window so t hey're not sec11. So you sec a shactov:, <:~ silhci.i~t'.. c o~ a p.:.f5!)!1 at fr JL Th.:: .-,
the second time, it's gone. That really gets to girls. There was a couple times where they'!! come walking
by, and there's just slamming doors shut. Funny experience v,;lth that, is we were preparing ourselves
than fivz fe:3t taiL So you got J '.'.tJJl here, .:md there .. nd so I want to see how loud it would sound, shut.
So l :;l;:,mmcd the -::!oor, Jnd th: de-or j<::m:ncd vn us. So t :::r.:'s three of us. We're all pulling on the door
to come barre! it down vith the shou!d~r, prop it open. It was a pretty funny experience.
TE: Well, at first I was like, "Oh, crap, what to do?" But I realized we were up there with friends. but if I
had been up there by rn\·sc!f, i wouk~'vc been t ·r rificd, 'OLJ knvv •. Btr'. ~ir:u' 1.\''- wcr u;; H:cr::· v ·iii:~
group of people, we're becoming more familiar with area.
AGP: Yeah.
TE: So ycu kind of k~o l\.1 ·.'hat to Gxpect and vhat not to expect.
TE: Yeah. We got to.
AGP: Yeah. Yeah.
and see like this was built in the '60s or 70s and kind of see the structure of it. It's super close to the
highway, but there's so many trees around. If you don't it's there, you'll never notice it.
TE: Just trying to think if there's been anything else. I t hink those are like the main stories.
TE: The main experience where you see the silhouette in the pool. Oh, there's one time, we came out of
" - - ., -1 ~ ' ~ - T" .. ., ~., - 1 'f ~ - l. ;,__'t.,. ":' - t.__. - '
,. ..... - ·-. - -0 , .... - ., -- - -- - . F .... u ...... 0 . - -- • . - · -· , . -- · - -: ..... _. ~ -. ....;: .. : .;.-..;. , -, -· • .:.. :... -· ·- -~· -:. ; _::,~ ~:it:. :.;;~ UlU
bag. It was probably about five and half, six feet tall. We were like, "What the crap?" It looked like a
body bag.
4
(
AGP: Oh!
TE: And we had our freshman roommate, and he was trying to prove himself to us.
AGP: Yeah.
TE: So we dared him to go and check it out because it just looked suspicious. So after about twenty
minutes of convincing him to go down, he went and ripped the bag open. It was just a bag of leaves. It
was just funny seeing that. It's something I think lots of people should go up there and check it out
because it's pretty interesting.
AGP: Do you think, because I didn't really get a lot of responses as far as people going back up to the
Nunnery, so do you think it's rare or do you think? I mean, are you one of the only groups of people that
go up there or do you think other people do it?
TE: If they do, they don't do it as much as us. You know what I mean?
AGP: Yeah.
TE: Because, like I've said, we've probably gone up there a dozen or more times, and we've never seen
another group up there.
AGP: And have you ever heard people talk about it?
( TE: I haven't heard anyone talk about going up there. If we have, it's like people going up there like two
years ago.
AGP: Yeah.
TE: Nothing too recent.
AGP: Well, again, is there anything else you would like to say?
TE: I think that's it.
AGP: I think that's it. Okay.
(
5]]>
Eschler, Trevor]]> Digitized by : Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library.]]> Perrin, Anne Gray]]> legends (folk tales);]]> application/pdf;]]> 1877863 Bytes]]> eng]]> Text;]]> Logan Canyon (Utah); Cache County (Utah); United States;]]> 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 20th century; 2000-2001; 2000-2009; 2010-2019; 21st century;]]>