ITEMS

Collection of St. Anne's legends

Folklore fieldwork collection assignments featuring St. Anne's Retreat in Logan Canyon.

Supernatural Legend
"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

Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, FOLK COLL 8a

Reproduction for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is only permissible with the consent of the USU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, phone (435) 797-2663.

USU student folklore genre collection of supernatural nonreligious legends, 1960-2011 FOLK COLL 8a

http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv63192

St. Anne's Retreat

http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16944coll20/id/6

SCAFOLK008aGr07Bx008Fd11.pdf