Bear Lake monster
| Other name(s) | Isabella |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Region | Bear Lake on the Idaho-Utah Border |
Coordinates: 42°00′02″N 111°19′59″W / 42.0006636°N 111.332918°W
The Bear Lake Monster is a being appearing in folklore near Bear Lake, on the Utah–Idaho border.
The myth originally grew from articles written in the 19th century by Joseph C. Rich, a Mormon colonizer in the area, purporting to report second-hand accounts of sightings of the creature. However, he later recanted the stories.
In recent years the monster is considered to be a tourist attraction. The last reported sighting of the monster was in 2002.
Not all descriptions of the Bear Lake Monster agree, but one team of folklorists stated that it “is reported to resemble a serpent, but with legs about eighteen inches long on which it marauds along the shoreline.” One article reported that the creature had “a large undulating body, with about 30 feet of exposed surface, of a light cream color, moving swiftly through the water, at a distance of three miles from the point of observation.” Others reported seeing a monster-like animal which went faster than a locomotive and had a head variously described as being similar to that of a cow, otter, crocodile or a walrus (minus the tusks). Its size was reported to be at least fifty feet long, and certainly not less than forty. Some sightings even spoke of a second member of the species and smaller monsters as well.
An 1868 article in the Deseret News announced that, “The Indians have a tradition concerning a strange, serpent-like creature inhabiting the waters of Bear Lake…. Now, it seems this water devil, as the Indians called it, has again made an appearance. A number of our white settlers declare they have seen it with their own eyes. This Bear Lake Monster, they now call it, is causing a great deal of excitement up here” and then the author—Joseph C. Rich—went on to relate several sightings of the creature in recent times. The article created a stir in Salt Lake City and within a month “a news staff member… quizzed many Bear Lake people and found hardly a person who doubted it.”
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