Lake Monsters - The Bear Lake Monster

We start a new series on what lies beneath the waters of some of the most iconic lakes in the world, or in this case just a really beautiful lake on the Idaho Utah border.  This monster has been described as being any where from 6 to 90 feet long, covered in fur, covered in slimy skin, has horns, with the face of an alligator or fox or even walrus.  This creature has been reported to be living in the lake for many years by the Shoshone tribe, and has even eaten a buffalo that dared to drink from the lake.  Come delve into this amazing story as we discuss this Utah monster.

Thank you for listening to the Paranormal Peeps Podcast.  Check us out on Facebook Paranormal Peeps Podcast or Coldspot Paranormal Research and on Instagram coldspot_paranormal_research

Transcript

Josh Raymond  0:00  
You're listening to the paranormal peeps on the dark cast network. Come to the dark side of indie podcasts with a dark cast network.

Jamey Raymond  0:07  
We have cookies between the realm of the dead and the journeys of the living. Join Josh, Jamie and Elisa as they delve into the vast world of the paranormal, and breathe life back into the history of the departed.

Josh Raymond  0:20  
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the paranormal peeps podcast. Yeah,

Jamey Raymond  0:24  
thanks for joining us.

Josh Raymond  0:25  
It's been a great time this year so far. And we've got another great topic for you guys today.

Jamey Raymond  0:31  
Well, I mean, it may not be everybody's cup of tea.

Josh Raymond  0:35  
It's monsters. Well, it's encrypted. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's exciting in itself.

I think it's been a while since we've done one of these. So this should be good. We haven't done a

Speaker 1  0:43  
cryptid since we did technically the ningun. The carrot, the carrot. That one was bad. Oh, that was such a rough one. That was

Jamey Raymond  0:55  
so rough. There just wasn't a lot of information on it at all. And yeah, that one was bad.

Josh Raymond  1:04  
But it was fun, because it was something we've never heard of before. Yeah, this one we've actually heard of. Most people have. Well, at least most people in Utah and Idaho have probably. So before we unveil this cryptid for everybody, we do have a great event. We want to tell you guys about that you can come and join us for

Jamey Raymond  1:25  
Exactly, yeah. So you know, I mentioned on previous podcasts that we did our first annual Halloween slash ghost hunt last year. Yes, we did. We had a wonderful turnout, wonderful people. And we had a great time and so much though the feedback on it was really positive. So we decided that, hey, let's do it again this year, and we picked a raid Dave. Oh, yeah. Probably the best possible day in my opinion.

Josh Raymond  1:55  
Yes. Well, at least honty spooky day. Right. Which would be Friday the 13th

Jamey Raymond  2:01  
in October in October at Benson grist mill everybody,

Speaker 1  2:05  
which is where we did it last year. Yep. And it's if you guys haven't heard about Vincent, Chris. Moving forward. Please listen to our What about several of our previous episodes about Benson grist mill. It's a great location in Stansbury Park, Utah. Yeah. And it's definitely haunted.

Speaker 2  2:21  
Yeah, it is. We've had a lot of great experiences there. Yeah, it's it's it's a favorite to be honest with you for a number of reasons. But besides the whole haunted location, yeah.

Speaker 1  2:33  
And it's, it's big. It's there's some tons of buildings in cabins and it's just historically neat to see. The Restored big mill and everything else.

Speaker 2  2:42  
Yeah, it's amazing. So yeah, we decided to do it again. And you know, we're gonna have hot cocoa, hot cider. We'll, we'll have bottled water, we'll have little grab bags of chips, and you know, little candy grab bags. For the end of the night when everybody leaves, you'll be handed a bag of goodies.

Speaker 1  3:01  
We're gonna have great photo opportunities, kind of almost like an Instagram wall in a sense, but we're there's gonna be terror dogs. Yeah,

Speaker 2  3:08  
from Ghostbusters. So we got to these Terror Dog props and their movie quality. They're cool. The eyes, the eyes glow red. I mean, they are amazing. And we only brought one last year. I think this year. I want to try for two.

Speaker 1  3:22  
Yeah, we'll probably probably bring them both out. So that way, you can kind of stand in between them or kneel with them. Yeah. And kind of be like Gozer you know, with the dogs and each side you

Speaker 2  3:34  
will have a will have a backdrop behind them. Yeah, it's to create the scenery for Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. Yeah, so we'll have photo opportunities. We'll have some porch lanterns some porch heat lamps out there so it gets cold just in case it's cold. You can warm yourself we had those last year as well and we needed them because it was cold. It was cold, but everybody had such a great time. We will have Lavinia has eaten out there as a vendor and she was out there last year at our first event and she will be returning for the second one and guys she does amazing work. She has some amazing stones and crystals and she tells sells loose leaf teas

Speaker 1  4:15  
and wire wrapping is top Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2  4:19  
Like probably some of the best. I have seen. Oh definitely. And that's not an exaggeration. I have bought multiple pieces of wrapped jewelry from her

Speaker 1  4:29  
and from other people and by far hers her than me the most intricate

Speaker 2  4:33  
I bought the most I have bought the most from her because her quality is just it's beautiful. It's unique. No two pieces are the same. No. So you're getting a very unique wrapped jewelry piece that she does.

Speaker 1  4:47  
Yeah. And then we're gonna have a food vendor out there. Well, a good even direction. It's gonna be

Speaker 2  4:52  
goodie. So I'm actually I decided that I would be a vendor out there this year and I'm going to be selling homemade caramel. So now I I you know, some people know me. I do caramel every fall and winter. You know I call it Christmas Carmel but I have flavors everything from original to cake batter to mango to black licorice to lemon to orange to almond, pumpkin spice pumpkin spice you guys I mean maple. You name it. I mean I've got a good variety. So I'll be doing that. I'll be doing some little sugar cookies that are going to be decorated with royal icing that are a little ghosts.

Speaker 1  5:27  
They are so neat. They are so cute. Just cute. They kind of remind me of Pac Man ghosts.

Speaker 2  5:34  
Yeah, well, you know last year and I didn't I wasn't a vendor last year but last year around Halloween, I made a PacMan wearing a witch's hat. And then I made the ghosts. Yeah, that was really super cool. And so I was thinking about doing something like that this year and selling them. But I will be making fudge like butter beer fudge, regular fudge. Of course. I've got just a variety of different fudges and cookies and all sorts of goodies. Brazilian truffles I'll be making. So yeah, you know, come check it out. I mean, I

Jamey Raymond  6:06  
it'd be a good time.

Speaker 2  6:07  
It's gonna be a lot of fun. It's it really is gonna be a lot of fun. So but you can find the link on our social media pages. And it our tickets are on sale through Eventbrite. Yes. And you can find them there. We're almost halfway sold out. Not quite. Yeah. So

Speaker 1  6:21  
tickets are moving and they're moving at a pretty good clip. So yeah,

Speaker 2  6:25  
I mean, I think the closer we get to October and spooky season, I think the quicker they will go. We are so excited to meet everybody that comes to investigate. And we will be doing demonstrations at the top of every hour or every other hour. It just depends on how the night goes. And we will be doing demonstrations like with the Oculus, with dowsing rods, the portal. Yeah, we'll be doing the SDS method,

Speaker 1  6:51  
which the last time we did the last, the last public investigation to do with the SES method. It was blast people were laughing Yeah, we

Speaker 2  6:59  
got a sassy old woman. So yeah, it was great. Yeah, it was it was a lot of fun. And all everybody had a great time. And we hope to see some familiar faces back again this year. Absolutely. So yeah, go check it out. Guys.

Speaker 1  7:12  
Check it out. All right. On to our topic. Okay.

Jamey Raymond  7:16  
So what is our topic?

Speaker 1  7:17  
We are going to talk about the Bear Lake monster. Okay. Which is funny, because the first time I ever heard of this creature was when we went to Bear Lake.

Speaker 2  7:29  
Yeah, I had never heard of it before that. I mean, you hear of Loch Ness? Yes. You heard you hear of champ. Yeah. of Lake Champlain. Yep. I had never heard of the bear lake monster.

Speaker 1  7:39  
No, I had never heard of it either. And so there was so we said at this que away and Bear Lake. Honestly a great place to stay if you if you ever get a chance. But there's little book in there. It's called the Bear Lake monster. And

Speaker 2  7:52  
a kid's book was it was a little kid's book. I remember this because you came back and you're like, did you know? And he told me about and I was like, I hadn't ever knew that.

Speaker 1  8:01  
Yeah. Not a clue. And so I was like, Wow, that's crazy. I've never heard of it. So if you've never heard of Bear Lake before, don't feel too bad. It's actually located on the Idaho Utah border. The lake is 20 miles long and eight miles wide. That's crazy. So How deep are we talking? Over 200 feet at its deepest. Wow. And that's over by Cisco Bay. So the the lake has actually been nicknamed the Caribbean of the Rockies, because the blue color of the water is like this turquoise color. Yeah. Isn't

Speaker 2  8:38  
that from like when the snow melts and comes down? It gives it that color?

Speaker 1  8:46  
Actually, it's the limestone dissolved in the water. It's suspended. And so it gives us the reflection. Oh, that's kind of cool. Yeah. So remember when we win, because like the cool thing is when you come in from the south, you come through this canyon, the Logan Canyon, and you you are up high and you get in you get to overlook the lake.

Speaker 2  9:06  
Yeah, there's this big stopping point up there with restrooms, and it's an overlook and it is beautiful. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I could spend hours just sitting there staring at the lake staring at the lake and surroundings.

Speaker 1  9:19  
Yeah. And so it's just it's just really a neat lake. And so like I said, it's over 200 feet deep at its deepest point. And the interesting thing about it is scuba divers have found underwater caves that go into the mountain. Yeah, cool. Right. And so they believe this is where the Bear Lake monster lives hideout. Yep. Yeah. Which makes sense, right? Because obviously, if you had a big monster inside of the lake, I mean, 20 Miles is a big lake eight miles wide. I mean, that's a lot of water in that in that area. But they have they're gonna have a place to hide because, okay, sure, hot pretty easily,

Speaker 2  9:58  
but I guess my question would be does this thing have gills? Or does it have like actual lungs to where it needs to surface to breathe?

Josh Raymond  10:05  
I don't know. And

Speaker 2  10:06  
because if it's gonna hide down in the cave, it's got to have gills. It's gonna have to have gills unless it's like, you know, like, there's some whales out there that they'll kind of sleep at a vertical angle, and they can hold their breath for like hours and be fine.

Speaker 1  10:21  
Yeah, I would imagine. Or maybe this is one of those things where, you know, no one's really explored the caves. Because let's face it, they're deep. Well, they're deep and hold. cave diving is dangerous in itself. Oh, yeah. And so you just, you just never know how far back they go. And maybe there's an air pocket or something back deep inside where they never know, they can hide out. You never know. The interesting thing is the lake is at an elevation of 5923 feet. Wow. So it's high. Yeah. And some people have actually nicknamed it burn Lake. Because it's a little, it's a little bit cold, right? So it's on the cooler side, but it's a 200 foot, it's 200 feet deep. Like, that's a lot of cold water cycling up and down the lake. And they estimate the lake to be 20, over 28,000 years old. And for quite a while it was actually isolated from the Bear River from because of earthquake activity. Yeah, that that does happen. Yes, we do get earthquakes up here. And so the interesting thing is because of this isolation from the Bear River, right, there are four fish that are found only in this lake. That's kind of cool. Yeah. One of them's called the Bear Lake white fish. You got the Bonneville white fish. The Bear Lake cutthroat, which is a type of trout, and the very rare or so they say, Bonneville Cisco, which is something that ice fishermen favor to go catch. Interesting. Yeah. And so the interesting thing is, because it was this way, right? Isolated, is it possible that something survived? Prehistoric in this lake because of the isolation?

Speaker 2  12:05  
I think it's always possible, usually with a lake that deep and that big.

Speaker 1  12:10  
Yeah. And they, they think it's possible that this was part of the ancient lake Bonneville. So most a lot of Utah was covered by Lake Bonneville, which is why we have what's called the Bonneville Salt Flats. So is this possibly part of that, but it's hard to say? People don't know if it actually reached all the way to where bear Lakes at? Yeah, it's hard to say. Yeah, it has the interesting thing is, like all the lakes that have lake monsters, yeah. All have similar qualities. Right? Yes, they're, they're long. They're deep, then they're deep. Yes. And so if you're gonna hide something, hide it in a place that's got tonsil water?

Speaker 2  12:55  
Well, yeah, I mean, look at the ocean for I mean, I know that these other ones are freshwater. Sure. A lot of them. But look at the ocean. I mean, how much of the ocean? How have we

Speaker 1  13:05  
explored? 10%? Yeah, I think I think that's the number I think is or is it less than 10%? I think

Speaker 2  13:10  
it's right around 10%. But that's so little. Yeah. So can you I mean, imagine of what we haven't explored of some of these deep bass lakes.

Speaker 1  13:21  
Well, yeah, exactly. Because it mean, one. I mean, you gotta have people willing to dive and qualified to dive in this stuff. And then you got to be able to want to dive well in

Speaker 2  13:30  
the equipment too, though. Like, I know, we have like sonars and all these other things. Oh, yeah. We don't have good equipment. You have to have the equipment to do it. And I know that, you know, they've searched like Loch Ness and stuff. Yeah. But if this thing if like the Loch Ness Monster is alive, you don't think that it moves around? Oh, what's going to? So if you go up one side Lake and you don't see anything, and then you go down the other side? You can't tell me it's just going to sit in one spot, or you're just going to happen across? I mean, is it possible? Yes. But I think if it's intelligent enough to be alive this long. I think it can outsmart Yeah,

Speaker 1  14:05  
yeah, exactly. Instinct, you know? Well, and the other thing, too, is let's face it, if there's limestone suspended in the water, well, that means it's going to be murky. That's right. That presents another Yeah. So how far can you see? Yeah, I mean, I've never been in the lake, like under the water to go see how far I can see. So if you're relying on your eyes, well, crud like, yeah, if you got six feet of visibility, that means this thing would have to be within arm's reach of you.

Josh Raymond  14:33  
That's a scary thought. Exactly. It exists if it exists, right?

Speaker 1  14:36  
I mean, so like, here's an apex predator within six feet of you and you can't see it. That's not good. Oh, that's like, that is like the terrifying stories of like Jaws and everything else for people.

Speaker 2  14:50  
Like yeah, there's a big cave here. This is bear country here. Let me put on this blindfold and just blindly walk in there

Jamey Raymond  14:57  
exactly. yet. No, fill around for some for

It's not going to work out in your favor.

Speaker 1  15:03  
So both so the big excitement of the bear lake monster was because of a 1868 news article ran in the desert news, okay, which we're going to read for you in its entirety, because we have it, which is really cool, actually. All right, take it away. But before we read that, oh, there we go there. There has been many stories before that from the indigenous people in the area.

Jamey Raymond  15:30  
That's true. So this goes back further. It does.

Josh Raymond  15:34  
So what what are they reporting?

Speaker 2  15:36  
Okay, so it was the shown. They claim that their ancestors recounted a legend that's been handed down generation after generation, about an Indian maiden who was forbidden to be with her true love. So like a lot of these stories, this indigenous woman and man ran away together. So they then were pursued by some of their fellow tribesmen Of course of course the two lovers ended up plunging into the lake and it's legend tells that they were changed by the Great Spirit into two large serpents it was custom of their forefathers to go bathing and fishing in that lake. So it sometimes happen that some of them would not return I mean, in a lake that big you know, Yeah, who knows, right? And some of the in some mysterious way, which the indigenous people did not understand. They were taken away and never to be seen again. So one day as they were bathing in the lake, some large monsters It is claimed burst out of the water and carried off to have their friends cheese, the indigenous people describe these creatures as being of serpent kind, but with legs.

Josh Raymond  16:52  
So are we talking like this sounds like an alligator?

Speaker 2  16:55  
Well, they're talking legs about 18 inches long on which they sometimes walked as they came out a short distance on the shore. So you know, like when killer wells like fly up on the land a little bit and grab a seal? Oh, yeah. You know how they kind of come out there and grab. Yeah, okay. So I'm this, this is how I picture it. Okay, so the monsters they said, We're also able to spurt water upward out of their mouths. And after this terrifying event, the indigenous people named the monsters water devils, and they were often seen at different places in the lake in and around the area. So the story was handed down from their forefathers and to to their memories, and the fear of some command given by the chiefs. This was shown Indians would not camp anywhere near the lake or bathe in its waters any longer. It was also reported that These great beasts preyed on the buffalo when they would come to the edge of the lake to drink water.

Speaker 1  17:54  
That's a big animal duck in 2000 plus pounds. Yeah.

Speaker 2  17:57  
And they just come out and snatch them juice. So when the buffalo vanished in the 1830s, the monster seemed to have disappeared as well, you know, and that's like a lot things when a predator when its food supply, yeah, dwindles or moves it so two moves in order to find and forage. Yeah, so that would make sense. So long, they waited and watched for the creatures to return. And they believed that when the buffalo returned to Bear Lake Valley, the water devils would also return in all their theory and strings. So the buffalo never did return, unfortunately. And the sailors brought with him cattle and livestock and which was a tasty substitute. And they wonder would that bring the Bear Lake monster back?

Josh Raymond  18:52  
Now? The water devils?

Speaker 2  18:53  
Yeah, the water devils back now that they have cattle and, and stuff?

Josh Raymond  18:58  
That's interesting. It is.

Speaker 2  18:59  
It is. But then again, it's kind of like when you see cave drawings from ancient people. Yeah. You know, just like this whole alien thing. You know, you see some cave paintings and stuff that resemble, like flying saucers and aliens, you know, and beans from elsewhere. So I imagine that like, This stems from indigenous people's recollection of events that happened, so obviously, there was something out there,

Speaker 1  19:29  
right. I mean, it could be waterspouts. It could be Well, I mean, large fish,

Speaker 2  19:35  
right. But for something to come up out of the water and snatch somebody that's right on the shore.

Speaker 1  19:41  
Well, you gotta wonder if that couldn't be like so by Cisco Beach, right? It drops to 200 feet. Yeah. I don't know if there's a I don't know the topography of the bottom of the lake. But what if there's a big drop off? What if you're sitting there, you know, and you're like, oh, look, you know, I'm bathing and it's it's sinful? feet of water and then you take a step back. And the next thing you know, it's down 200 feet and if you can't swim, but why

Speaker 2  20:07  
why would they say that they saw like this thing come up out of the water and that I couldn't tell that's the part that's like, curious, right? Yeah, yeah. What were they seen?

Speaker 1  20:18  
Obviously something bizarre to say why? Yeah. I mean, because you're talking about stories that have been passed down for generations. So yeah. So how old is that story? I mean, the indigenous people have been here in Utah and in the Rockies for you know, millennia before, you know, we settled here before the Mormon settlers came across the the mountain. So, you know, hard to say exactly. So to the famous story. All right, let's go. So this is from the desert news. And it was written in 1868. Okay, so a while ago, so a while ago, so any of the verbiage and stuff in there might be a little different and it's because well, let's face it, it's from almost 200 years ago.

Speaker 2  21:05  
Yeah, people spoke differently. Yeah. All lakes

Speaker 1  21:09  
caves in dens have their legendary histories. Tradition loves to throw her magic wand over beautiful Dells and lakes and people people them with fairies, Giants and monsters of various kinds. Bear Lake has its own monster tale to tell and when I have told it, I will leave you to judge whether or not its merits are merely traditionary the Indian say there are or sorry, the Indian say there is a monster animal which lives in the lake and that has captured and carried away Indians while on the lake swimming, but they say it has not been seen by them for many years. Not since the buffalo inhabited the valley. They represent it as being of a serpent kind, but having legs about 18 inches long on which they sometimes crawl out of the water or short distance on the shore. They also say it spits water upwards out of its mouth. Since the settlement of this valley several persons have reported seeing a huge animal of some kind that they cannot describe. But such persons have generally been alone when they saw it and but little credence has been attached to the matter. And until this summer, the monster question had about died out about three weeks ago. Mr. S N. M Johnson who lives on the east side of the lake at a place called South Eden was going to the Round Valley settlement six miles to the south of this place. And when about halfway he saw something in the lake which at the time he thought to be a drowned person, the road being some little distance from the water's edge he rode to the beach, and as the waves were running pretty high, he thought it would soon wash into the shore in a few minutes two or three feet of some kind of animal that he had never seen before were raised out of the water he did not see the body only the head and what he's supposed to be part of the neck it had air ears, or punches on the side of its head nearly as large as a pint cup the waves at times would dash over its head when it would throw water from its mouth or nose. It did not drift landward but appeared stationary with the exception of turning its head Mr. Johnson thought a portion of the body must lie out the bottom of the lake or what have drifted with the action of the water. This is Mr. Johnson's version as he told me the next day an animal of a monster kind was seen near the same place by a man in three women who said it was swimming when they first saw it they represented as being very large and say it's swam much faster than a horse could could run on land. These recent discoveries again revive the monster question those who have seen it before brought it brought in the columns a new and many people began to think the story was not altogether moonshine on Sunday. Last as NC Davis and Alan Davis of St. Charles in Thomas slight and J Collins of Paris was six women were returning from fish Haven went about midway from the the ladder named place to St. To St. Charles. Their attention was suddenly attracted to a peculiar motion or wave in the water. About three miles distance. The lake was not rough, only a slight disturbance disturbed by a little wind. Mr. Slide says He distinctly saw the sides of a very large animal that he was supposed to be not less than 90 feet in length. Mr. Davis don't think he saw any part of the body but is positive it must have been not less than 40 feet in length. Judging by the wave it rolled upon both sides of it as it swam and the wake it left in the rear there was going south and all agree that it swam with the speed almost incredible to their senses. Mr. Davis says he never saw a locomotive travel faster and thinks it may made a mile a minute easy which mile a minute is 60 miles per hour.

Jamey Raymond  25:03  
That's pretty dang quick. Yeah.

Speaker 1  25:06  
In a few minutes after the discovery of the first, a second one followed in its wake, but it seemed to me much smaller appearing to Mr. Slight about the size of a horse a larger one follow this and so till for large ones in all in six small ones had run southward out of sight, one of the large ones before disappearing made a sudden turn to the West in a short distance then back to its former track. At this Mr. Slight says he could distinctly see it was a brownish color. They could judge somewhat of their speed by observing known distances on the other side of the lake and all agree that the velocity with which they propelled themselves through the water was astonishing. They represent the waves that rolled up in front and on each side of them as being three feet high from where they stood. This is substantially their statement as they told me, Mrs. Davis and slight are prominent men, well known in the county and all of them are reliable persons who veracity is undoubtable I have no doubt they would be willing to make affidavits to their statement. There you have the monster story so far as completed, but I hope it will be concluded by the capture of one sometime, if so large animal exists in this altitude, and in a small and so smaller lake. What can it be? It must be something new under the sun, the scriptural text to the contrary notwithstanding? Is it fish flesh, or serpent and fibia? S? and fabulous? Or a great big fish? Or what is it, I give it up but live in hopes of someday seeing it if it really exists. And I have no reason to doubt the above statements. Here's an excellent opportunity for some company to bust Barnum on a dhikr for the monster, if they can only catch one. Already, some of our settlers talk of forming a joint stock arrangement and see what they can do. In this in the business. They've already extended the letter beyond the limit I designed. The health of the people is good in everything satisfactory, except the rushing buzzing music of the everlasting grasshoppers. As they walk themselves through the air frightened with our grain in the in the milk, may they mash their brains out against the North Pole. very respectfully. JC are

Jamey Raymond  27:25  
that last part didn't sound very respectful.

Josh Raymond  27:31  
They don't like grasshoppers.

Speaker 2  27:33  
very respectfully. In a minute.

Speaker 1  27:37  
Yeah. So what's interesting about that story that was ran in the desert news is the the the writer of the story is recounting other people's experiences, but not his own, but not his own. It's a third, he's telling it, you know, and it's a secondhand story.

Speaker 2  27:59  
So he's basically doing it on their behalf. Yes. So well, that's interesting. I mean, I don't know what do you think that is? Like? A little bit kind of like, huh,

Speaker 1  28:08  
yeah, it's definitely peculiar there for sure. Yeah. It's

Speaker 2  28:12  
like, Hey, I have a tell tale of what I experience what I see. No, I'm going to tell what other people have seen. So yeah, I don't know. Yeah, it is a little weird. It's a little weird. It doesn't mean that's not true. Or, you know, or whatever. But at the same time, it puts a big question mark there for me.

Speaker 1  28:31  
Yeah. So that was only the first of many to come, right.

Speaker 2  28:35  
Three days after the parents of the first article. There's desert news. And this was on August 6 of 1868 told of great excitement that was being exhibited over the story. So before a month had passed, someone from the desert News staff mentioned that he'd actually talked with many of the leading men in Bear Lake Valley, who all firmly believed in the story as it had been published in August 23 19 or 1868. So a letter to the editor of the newspaper, contain a postscript which read Dear brother canon. And it goes on to say, I have with several parties in relation to the monster story and it is Joseph or rich, has stated I am Yours truly, Charlie see rich, hardly a person in the in the valley, doubted the statements that have been made. So a short time later, Joseph rich addressed another article to the desert news and this one was on September 25, of 1868, expressing his sorrow that certain persons in Utah Tao the stories about the monster, I am sorry, he wrote, they don't believe it because they might come up here someday, and through their own belief be thrown off their guard and gobbled up by the water devil. Sounds a little butthurt to me. Yeah.

Josh Raymond  29:53  
My story. Well, you're gonna get eaten alive. Yeah,

Speaker 2  29:55  
I warn you. So there are very few people Even here who disbelieved the monster doctrine. So Mr. Rich wrote further, Mr. NC Davis has recently seen two more of the monsters, and they were amusing themselves in Lake by spouting water about 10 feet high, say a barrel full at a time. A lot of water.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai