Folklore Profile: The Great Lakes Black Dog
Nestled within the confines of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario sits one of the two smaller Great Lakes within North America, the one and only Lake Erie. Carved out and filled at various times by retreating glaciers, the lake we all recognize today only “officially” formed less than 4,000 years ago. After a long and chaotic period of constant change, the lake eventually settled with a recognized length of 241 miles, a maximum width of 57 miles, and a maximum depth of 210 feet. It is widely accepted that Lake Erie holds within it roughly 127.6 trillion gallons of water, and when written out in number form, looks like 127,600,000,000,000. But even with this massive amount of water within it, this Great Lake is still considered by many to be the baby of the bunch.
Officially regarded as the smallest of the five sisters (AKA: the Great Lakes) by both volume as well as depth, “little” Lake Erie still manages to hold its own when it comes to the weird stuff that seems to plague the Great Lakes Region. With documented reports of strange lights seen hovering above the water, multiple accounts of UFOs seen high in the sky, various historical reports of a lake monster seen below the surface, and numerous tales of both ghost ships and haunted lighthouses scattered along its shores, Lake Erie without a doubt has proven itself to be a major contender in the ranking of weird bodies of water. But with all the strange legends and stories which are said to have taken place within “the world’s worst tempted lake,” how does one choose a specific one to talk about? Well, the answer to that is easy, you go with the phenomena that is most often believed to occur primarily within the UK.
Now you may be wondering, what sort of UK Fortean phenomena is also thought to be taking place within the Great Lakes of North America? Lake Erie is roughly 3,500+ miles away from the UK and the geography between the two locations is vastly different. One is considered to be a great inland sea and the other is a landmass nearly the size of New Jersey. What oddly specific bizarre event could link the two locations with a strangely supernatural tether? Simple, Black Dogs. And with that answer you are now probably asking yourself yet again, how does any of this make any sense? Well, let us explain.
To give some quick background on exactly what Black Dogs are in the Fortean world to those who may not know, they are essentially ghosts, and that is the easiest way to explain them. Legends and folk tales exist all over the world about these spectral canines, and yet, while they all revolve around the same type of creature, they do not all represent the same thing. Depending on the location you are in, you can find tales describing various sightings and interactions with a variety of ghostly white dogs, yellow dogs, gray dogs, red dogs, and even transparent dogs. Sometimes these dogs are said to act as spiritual protectors and are signs of good luck, while other times they are thought to be devils summoned to carry out some form of justice or revenge from beyond the grave. It all just depends on where the legend originated from and what sort of culture has long been present within that specific area.
But our story isn’t about angelic white dogs or dangerous hellhounds, no, we are focusing on the supernatural and paranormal Black Dogs. These phantom canines are most often described throughout history as being some sort of death omen for those unfortunate souls who happen to lay their eyes upon it. The appearance of these four-legged ghosts is often described as being uncommonly large with shaggy unkempt fur, the head appears to look “off” (either too large for the body or with an odd-looking face) and the eyes are said to be exceptionally large and full of noticeable emotion. They are also said to possess the ability to glow bright and are sometimes described as red in color.
The look of the dog is said to most often resemble that of larger breeds such as Retrievers, Shepherds, Labs, Mastiffs, and Newfoundlands. They are reported to possess unnatural abilities and historical reports describe them as being able to run faster than a horse-drawn carriage or car, having the ability to grow and shrink at will, and possessing the skill to run through objects and appear or vanish at a moment’s notice. While these Black Dog reports can be found all throughout the world, the vast majority of them originate within the United Kingdom and can be found recorded as far back as the 16th century (1501-1600). And it is because of this verifiable documentation that the Black Dog phenomenon is most often described as being primarily a UK based occurrence.
Now, we’ve mentioned above, there is a lot of bizarre phenomena that has occurred and continues to occur in and around Lake Erie and her four other sisters. A lot of these stories can be found within multiple books that focus heavily on these strange subjects, but when it comes to stories involving the Black Dogs of the Great Lakes, well, those are a bit more difficult to find. More often than not in order to hear stories revolving around this specific subject matter, you need to hear it direct from the source, primarily a local from a location in which a sighting or encounter is believed to have taken place. Outside of that, you can always try searching through obscure paranormal magazine back-issues or old newspapers in hopes of finding any sort of reference to the specific subject, but this can be extremely time-consuming and much more frustrating than one assumes. Lucky for you though, we have already done the hard work and found an old newspaper article that speaks of just such an event.
Written on October 10, 1931, and showing up in an issue of The Toronto Telegram, a story is told about what was referred to at the time as “The Black Dog of Lake Erie.” The article beings with the following introduction: “Here is, if not explanation, at least illustration, of the Black Dog superstition which once prevailed on the lakes. It is from the recollections of J. J. O’Connor, J.P., District Magistrate for Thunder Bay, who was a lake sailor and a good one, forty years before he was elevated to the bench.” Immediately after this, the story jumps right into the meat and potatoes surrounding the legend. While there is a fair amount of history that we could delve into surround the various ships which are said to have encountered the dog, we are going to keep focused on just the dog itself and what events it is believed to have been associated with. But before we can talk about what it did, we must first talk about where it came from.
Located in Ontario, Canada, the Welland Canal is a 27-mile long shipping canal that ultimately connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Starting construction in 1824, the overall project and its additional extensions were officially completed in November of 1829. When finished, the massive waterway allowed for multiple ships to bypass Niagra Falls and also put an end to the transportation of goods via portage roads located both above and below the falls. This marvel of engineering was a triumph for the shipping industry and helped grow port cities around the lakes into bustling centers of progress. But along with the success, there also came tragedy. Accidents were known to happen frequently within the canal and many an unfortunate soul lost their life within its hard stone body. Many of these individuals simply became a morbid statistic, but others were thought to have become something else entirely, and this is where the Black Dog makes its appearance.
According to the legend, the story of the Great Lakes Black Dog begins on an unknown day in an unknown year (although it is assumed to be sometime in the 1860s or 70s). Within this vague timeframe, a large ship (name also unknown, surprise surprise) is said to be moving through the Welland Canal towards Lake Erie when it arrives somewhere between Lock #7 and Lock #8 at Port Colborne. The ship, which is said to of had a large black Newfoundland dog living on board with the men, runs into a bit of trouble during its time at the lock and starts rocking back and forth. The dog, who was said to proudly patrol around the ship’s edge and keep watch out upon the water, is tragically thrown from the ship during this turbulent time and falls into the canal below. Lucky for the dog, the fall did not kill it. Unlucky for it though are attitudes of the men it once felt were a part of its pack, for as the dog struggled in the water below, the men stood on the edge of the ship gazing down into the canal and laughing as the dog desperately tried to stay above the water.
As the ship continued on towards the great locking gate, the panicked dog tried with all its might to keep up with the ship. The men cheered and hollered every time the dog got close to the body of the ship but laughed even harder when it fell behind as they knew it had no chance of climbing back on board. The life or death situation of the dog was nothing but a cheap show for the men on board, and unfortunately for the dog, that show was about to end.
After making its way through the massive lock, the giant mechanism which opens and closes the gate began to move back into place. The men hollered for the dog to hurry up and the loyal pooch did what its masters commanded. Swimming with all its might, the exhausted dog tried frantically to keep up and not be left behind. However, due to its exhaustion and the speed at which the boat was now beginning to move, it was unable to safely pass the gate and tragically found itself caught within the turning gears. The laughing and cheering from the boat ceased and the men stood silent. The gate attempted to close but stalled due to the mess of flesh and bone stuck within it. Movement in the canal came to a stop. Nobody was going anywhere until the body of the loyal black dog was removed from the gears which ended its life.
A few hours after the horrific event, the ship was once again on its way towards Lake Erie, but almost immediately strange things began to happen. It is said that at night, crewmen aboard the ship would hear unearthly phantom howling and the sound of long-nailed feet walking across the deck of the ship. Some versions of the tale even claim that the men would hear what sounded like the desperate cries of a dog in trouble in the water alongside their vessel while out in the middle of the lake. When sent to investigate the cause of such sounds, nothing would be found. Not long after this, the unnamed ship in the unknown year would vanish from memory. The tale abruptly stops as soon as it begins and all we are left to wonder is if the tragedy involving the Black Dog even happened at all. While some claim it is nothing but an old wives tale, others claim it really did take place, and to help prove their case, they offer up a vast amount of historical shipwreck tales as proof.
Now, jumping back to the Toronto Telegram article, on November 14, 1881, the first reported tragedy said to be associated with the ghostly Black Dog takes place in Lake Erie. The Mary Jane, a 135ft schooner that was tasked with transporting telegraph poles to Erie, Pa., goes missing during a storm. Eight days later, pieces of the ship begin washing up on shore near Dunkirk, NY., no trace of the nine-man crew was ever found. An investigation into the accident reveals that prior to the Mary Jane leaving Port Colborne, a strange and unknown black dog was reported to be seen on the ship.
Dockworkers who helped load the schooner with her cargo that day claim that prior to the ship being pulled out of port, a large black dog with “lolling tongue and eyes like coals of fire” was witnessed poking its head above the stacked cedar poles, shambling over the pile, running across the deck and leaping off the side of the boat onto the dock. After touching down, the dog appeared to just vanish. When an inquiry was made into where the dog came from and where it went, the crew could give no logical answer but jokingly assumed that it was chasing an unseen cat. Not long after this a strong breeze began and helped take the ship out into the lake. At noon workers onshore who were headed to lunch reported seeing her sitting on the water glowing in the sunlight, but by 1 pm when they returned for their shift, she was nowhere to be seen. That was the last time anyone would see the Mary Jane afloat on Lake Erie ever again.
Not long after the Mary Jane went missing, talk started to filter out around the area speculating what could have happened. Lake men from all over gave their two cents and provided insight into what the ship could have encountered or dealt with while out in the water. The lake was a dangerous place, and the men who worked it had first-hand experience on just what those dangers were. So when the well-weathered dock workers who saw the strange black dog started talking, people listened. And as with most bizarre occurrences, once the door was opened for stories of the Great Lakes Black Dog to be told, others came forward to tell their stories involving the paranormal pooch as well.
One such tale that was recounted involved a ship known as the Isaac G. Jenkins which went missing on Lake Erie in November of 1875, six years before the Mary Jane. In this story, a crewman was up one moonlit night manning the wheel as the Jenkins slowly moved across the lake. The water was calm, the sky was clear, and not a soul on board was awake except for just a small handful whose job it was to make sure the ship maintained its course. As the crewman watched the water, he took notice of a strange sight taking place on the side of the ship. With focused eyes, he stared at what appeared to be a large black dog climbing over the ship’s railing, walking across the deck, and jumping over the railing on the other side back into the lake. No sound of a splash was heard, no water dripped off the dog onto the deck, and no trace of the hound was found. It had simply vanished.
Understandably taken aback by what he had seen, the perplexed crewman woke the Captain to report what had just occurred. After hearing the man’s story, the Captain explained that there was no way he could have seen what he claimed to have seen. In fact, the Captain pointed out that what the man probably saw was his own dog that he always brought on board during their shipping journeys and that the moonlight had simply played tricks on his eyes. The crewman, standing firm behind his belief in what he had witnessed did not accept that Captain’s theory and responded back, “How could it have been your dog I witnessed if the one I saw jumped overboard and yours is still here?” The Captain, now caught in a position where he could not answer the question, simply ordered the man to be relieved of his post and forbid the mention of the Black Dog again. The crewman though could not so easily forget.
The next day, the man who had witnessed the Black Dog was in the midst of what appeared to be a mental breakdown. He proclaimed that what he had witnessed could have only been an omen that the ship was destined to go down and that the men should head to shore as quick as they could if they wanted to save their souls. The dog was a messenger from the other side, and all those who failed to heed its message would be doomed to join it on the other side. The Captain, now greatly irritated by the ramblings of what could easily be described as a madman, demanded the ship dock at Port Colborne and once there ordered the man to leave the vessel. Once he was firmly restrained on dry land, the Jenkins continued on through the Welland Canal towards Lake Ontario. A few days later though, on Tuesday, November 30, 1875, the Issac G. Jenkins sank during a storm while only a few miles from Oswego, New York. All nine human lives were lost. The Captain’s dog survived and managed to swim to shore.
A third shipwreck worth mentioning that has (unverifiable) ties to the Great Lakes Black Dog is that of the Thomas Hume. Built in 1870 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the 132 ft long, three-masted schooner acted as a lumber transport ship on Lake Michigan during the lumber boom of the 19th century. After a routine delivery of lumber to Chicago, IL on May 21, 1891, the ship was set to return to Muskegon, MI for a quick reloading and turn around. Somewhere along the way though, the Thomas Hume is thought to have encountered a sudden storm and completely vanished. No bodies were ever found and no debris ever washed up on shore. The ship it seemed, had simply disappeared into the lake. It was later discovered again by recovery divers in the 1990s and officially verified in 2005.
While no official story involving the Black Dog being seen on the Thomas Hume prior to its disappearance exists, the tragedy is frequently lumped in with the phenomena simply because of how strange it is. While evidence was found to prove the other ships did in fact sink, the Thomas Hume appeared to have simply blinked out of existence. Multiple theories began to circulate throughout the area which tried to explain the mystery, some were straight-up unbelievable, while others fell easily into the realm of being possible.
One theory was that the ship was ordered to sail to a different port, was repainted under the cover of darkness, and started operating under a different name. Another theory was that the ship was accidentally run down by a large lake steamer which caused it to sink. The Captain of the steamer, understanding the gravity of the situation, swore his men to secrecy and vowed never to talk about the incident. Finally, there were the theories that the ship encountered something supernatural, and this is where the Black Dog made its appearance. It was said to have climbed up the side while the Thomas Hume was en route to Chicago, ran across the deck, and jumped into the lake on the other side. With absolutely no evidence to corroborate this theory, the Black Dog’s legend grew by another tally, and internet pages have been recirculating the lie ever since.
Regardless of how many shipwrecks the Great Lakes Black Dog “officially” has linked to its name, it is most widely believed to be a creature of bad luck and misfortune. Many sailors on the Great Lakes back in those days refused to even mention its name for fear that by doing so, they would invite the dog onto their ship and doom themselves to a watery grave. The fear was real and the Black Dog was not something to involve yourself with in any way, shape, or form. But for those living on Lake Huron, the Great Lakes Black Dog was something else entirely. On this lake, the spectral hound was viewed as more of a protector or guardian for those operating on the water. You were lucky if the dog appeared on your vessel while sailing across the water, and you were even luckier if it chose to avenge you after you had been wronged by someone on land.
While the stories involving the “good omen” Black Dog of Lake Huron are few and far between, there a handful of reports that do mention the canine. Lake lore states that sailors and lake men who were wronged in some way by greedy bankers, conniving lumber barons, and hostile fish merchants, could inadvertently “summon” the Black Dog to carry out a form of otherworldly revenge. Legends claim that as a wronged sailor would bring his boat towards shore, a large black dog would appear near the bow and stand as still as a ship’s figurehead. When the vessel was close enough to land, the paranormal pooch would jump off the ship and hit the ground running. No tracks would ever be left in the sand or mud, but the canine would sprint into the town as clear as day.
The destination was the dwelling or business of the person who had wronged the sailor, and once there the dog would claw at the door and howl/bark until the front door was opened by the wrongdoer inside. As soon as the unfortunate person would lay their eyes upon the dog, it would vanish into thin air, and the “curse” would be set. Over the next few days, the victim would experience either a terrible illness, sores that covered specific parts of their body, or an untimely death. The outcome given by the dog was based entirely on how the victim had wronged the sailor who summoned it.
Eventually, word began to spread that the appearance of a black dog on a ship crossing the lake meant that the ship was under protection for the spirit world. This meant it was best to give the ship a wide berth if encountered and try not to bring any trouble upon it, for it was best not to be the focus of the Black Dog’s gaze. As the story spread, people began to take advantage of the legend and started bringing their own black dogs on board to fill the role of paranormal protector. This eventually shifted into criminal aspects and was used by smugglers to keep people away from their boats after nightfall, but this too eventually ceased when lake patrols by the Coast Guard started increasing.
While not as well known as its cousin from across the pond, the Black Dog of the Great Lakes represents something truly unique about the Great Lakes Region of North America. The legend was crafted out of tragedy and over time, it was shaped and molded into something uniquely American. It did not hang out in or around old castles, it did not prowl church grounds or follow specific families, and it had not been the scorn of Kings and Queens for centuries. This Black Dog was unique as it was involved directly with the working-class citizens who not only crafted the landscape around the Great Lakes but tried their hand at conquering them as well. Because of this back-breaking history, the Great Lakes Black Dog is a unique breed all its own, and for anyone who has the pleasure or misfortune of encountering it in the future, just remember that you are about to come face to face with something unlike anything else in the world. We just hope though, that for your well-being, it is working for you and not against you.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
Image Credit: Fair Use Image
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“…many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees.”