Appendix D The Bear Lake Monster
T h e following accounts were provided to the Deseret ~ e w by s Joseph C. Rich, who actively promoted Bear Lake. Though he never claimed to have seen the Bear Lake Monster himself, he implied that many of the most respected members of Bear Lake Valley had. All lakes, caves and dens have their legendary histories. Tradition loves to throw her magic wand over beautiful dells and lakes and people them with fairies, giants and monsters of various kinds. Bear Lake has also its monster take to tell, and when I have told it, I will leave you to judge whether or not its merits are merely traditionary. The Indians say there is a monster animal which lives in the Lake that has captured and carried away Indians while in 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 the serpent kind, but having legs about eighteen inches long on which
