{openx:8}Located on the Utah-Idaho border, beautiful Bear Lake is a popular destination for boaters, fishermen and skiers, but according to legend, it is also the home of the Bear Lake Monster. Said to be a huge snake, nearly 90 feet long, it has ears that stick out for its skinny head and a mouth big enough to swallow a man. It also has small legs that allow it to venture out on land.

The Shoshone Indians who inhabited the area for generations told tales of creatures that captured and carried away people. In point of fact, some local tribes believed in “water babies” — dwarf-like creatures that sounded like crying babies would lure people into the water. Such a belief may have helped the native people explain how drownings happened. However, the pioneer settlers didn’t want to believe in such myths. Snake-like monsters in the lakes were a much more acceptable explanation for them.

Historically, the first sightings by European settlers of the Bear Lake Monster took place in the 19th century. Several articles written by Joseph C. Rich, a Mormon colonizer in the area, reported second-hand accounts of sightings of the creature. Rich later recanted the stories.

In 1868, S.M. Johnson was riding along the lake shore when he spotted what he thought was the body of a drowned man in the water. When he approached, the still form suddenly reared up on small legs and blew water from its mouth and nose.

In 1871, the Salt Lake City Herald reported on the capture of a young Lake Monster. According to the story, the creature was about 20 feet in length with a mouth large enough to swallow a man. It had legs and a tail that help move it through the water.

Sightings continue down through modern times, the most recent being in 2004, although it is hard to find any credible descriptions of these later sightings. No scientific evidence has even been found to support the existence of this creature or creatures. However, theoretically, the Shoshone people might have been seeing a creature descended from a dinosaur-like creature or sea lizard that lived in Lake Bonneville, a large inland lake or sea which covered the entirety of this great basin millennia ago. Stories of the creature may have passed down through oral legend of the Native American people for hundreds or even thousands of years, long after such a creature had become extinct.

Does the Bear Lake Monster exist? At least some of the locals will tell you it does and they’ve seen it, while others remain skeptical. However, everyone seems to get a kick out of the legend of the Bear Lake Monster. We suggest an open mind, particularly since such supposedly extinct water creatures like the Coelacanth and the Mega-Mouth Shark do exist and proof (photos and recovered bodies) have been captured in the last few years. If you visit Utah, maybe you’ll get lucky and see the Bear Lake Monster for yourself.