"CLOSE BY THE NIPIGON"

When this poem was first discovered in the effects of a man who died in Nipigon in 1933 the author was unknown. The poem stayed around and eventually "Buzz" Lein came up with the copy. Shortly thereafter the poem was credited to LeRoy W. Snell who had it published in "American Boy Magazine" likely around 1927.

CLOSE BY THE NIPIGON

Far away from streets and cities and the crowded marts of men
Is an unspoiled country where I long to be again:
'Tis a land of stream and forest, where the tall hills nudge the sky
And the lofty pine and spruce, mile on mile go marching by -

Close where Nipigon the mighty tears its racing pathway through
Tangled rocks and sweeping channels, foaming white or silvery blue,
Singing like a doughty warrior, sagas of the days of yore
Till the hills kneel down to listen, creeping to the very shore.

There the warm wind stops to loiter - in the lofty pine top swings
Or drifts gently down the valley, wafting Summer on its wings,
There the wild things roam the forest and the dim trails softly call.
Luring me to lonely places where the misty shadows fall.

The sun is climbing higher and the green is on the trees,
And the geese are flying Northward while the honey-stealing bees
Are a-buzzing round to tell me that it's time for trekking on
To the forest camp that nestles close beside the Nipigon.