Upon leaving the highway it is a short drive following the creek up the hollow to Camp Campbell, the Boy Scout camp. It is a pretty drive through forest and clearings with the creek sometimes roaring, sometimes rippling over rocks, and sometimes running quietly. It fills a boy’s mind with anticipation of things to come.

At the camp a grassy clearing is surrounded by woods on the slopes of the hollow. Off to the right a good swimming hole has been made by damming the creek followed here. The clearing provides ample room for numerous activities: athletic games, demonstrations, a campfire, and so on. Across the open field, maybe a couple of hundred yards from the swimming hole sits the dining hall, a most favored place of hungry boys after a few hours of activity. The woods have been thinned out along its edges next to the camp, to provide shady space among the trees for the boys’ tents. Wooden platforms serve as tent floors over the sloping, rocky ground. The tents each accommodated eight scouts. A general-purpose lodge sits in the woods beyond the tent area. It can be used for cold weather camping and many other events. Tents for the camp staff are located near the dining hall, which is used also for staff meetings. These tents sit on a steeper slope than the others, requiring about six front steps up to the entrance.

The swimming hole sports a diving board and stairs for exiting the water. The water is about eight feet deep in the middle. This makes a fine place to practice life saving skills, the toughest part of which is pulling a ten pound rock in a sack from the bottom. Upstream is also a shallow end to the pool.

In July, 1935, boys from several Boy Scout troops arrived a few at a time for the first week of summer camp. Staff members directed the boys to the dining hall where they registered. Each scout was shown to his tent where he could unpack his gear and choose his bunk. The rest of the afternoon was free time so the boys could get acquainted with one another and explore the camp. Some of the boys hung around their tents and talked. Some used the open space for games. Some checked out the woods around their tents. One picked up a rock in the thinned out woods and discovered a squirmy little ground snake about six inches long. This adventurer was soon joined by a few others picking up rocks and catching the little snakes. They later turned their quarry loose. The fun was in the hunt, not the possession. The swimming hole was opened for a short time during the afternoon for those who wanted to take a dip.

The dinner bell rang early that day so that the camp director could have time to inform the boys about camp rules and the week’s agenda. The scouts showed up in uniform, displaying their rank and merit badges. It was a fine looking group. The director and a couple of senior staff members were adults. The other staff members were older scouts of varying rank. The camp director introduced the staff members and cited their primary duties. All but one of the staff were veterans of previous camp sessions. Tommy was the new member who arrived at the camp for the first time that afternoon. After finishing his orientation speech the director warned the boys about wandering into the woods; that there are wild animals there.

“What kind of animals?” a boy asked.

“Snakes, wildcats and other things,” the director said. “Wildcats prowl at night. It is rumored that there is one cat called Caleb that likes to rip out the seat of a boy’s pants.”

Caleb was the main topic during supper. 

“Do you think Caleb is around the camp?” one boy said.       

“No,” said another, “It’s a big woods out there.” 

“I heard that he was here last year,” another chimed in. “I also heard that he’s not afraid of anything but water. He won’t go in the water.”

Murmurs such as these were heard throughout the meal, but they subsided after supper when the scouts gathered for the evening activities. Things went pretty much normally the rest of the evening. The boys retired for the night. Taps sounded and all finally became quiet.

After awhile the still of the night was broken by a loud wailing, growling noise penetrating the whole camp.

“Caleb!” someone said, and a bustle was heard at one of the staff tents, followed by a scream and the sound of a splash coming from the swimming hole. Part of the staff rushed to the swimming hole with their flashlights.

“Tommy, what in the world are you doing in there,” one said.

“Caleb’s afraid of the water,” said the new staff guy.

“He’s gone. Come on back to bed,” came the reply. After much persuasion Tommy came out of the water and back to bed. Tommy had a restless night.

Word of Tommy’s dash and dip was all over camp the next morning. After breakfast a large tin can was found under Tommy’s tent. Attached to the bottom of the can was a well-rosined string. Pulling the string through the fingers set off a weird sound. So! Caleb had not visited after all. Tommy had been the butt of a practical joke, his initiation as a new junior staff member accomplished. Yet, the legend of Caleb was not diminished but lives on to this day.