Origin & History

"The Patamoke hunters were a suspicious clan. The most important thing in their lives, more important than wife or church or political party, was the totality of the hunting season: "You got to have the right gun, the right mates, the right spot, the right eye for the target and, above all, the right dog. And, frankly, I doubt the Labrador." The pups did not sell.

Tim had faith. He talked with Lucifer constantly, encouraging him to leap more quickly into the cold water. He showed what ice was like , and how the dog must break it with his forepaws to make a path for himself to the downed goose. Using every training trick the Choptank had ever heard of, he tried to bring the handsome Labrador along step by step.

He failed. In January, when the real ice formed along the edges of the river, the men went hunting along the banks of the Bay itself, and when Jake Turlock knocked down a beautiful goose, it fell on ice about two hundred yards from the blind - -"Hey-You-Dog, get the bird!"

And the big Chesapeake showed what a marvelous breed he was by leaping into the free water, swimming swiftly to the edge of the ice, then breaking a way for himself right to the goose. Clutching the big bird proudly in his jaws, he plunged back into the icy water, pushed aside the frozen chunks and returned to the blind, entering it with a mighty, water-spraying leap.

"That's what I call a dog," Jake said proudly, and the men agreed.

The Watermen (from CHESAPEAKE)

by James A. Michener

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