Myths surrounding a mysterious, amphibious creature that calls Devil's Lake in North Dakota home have been doing the rounds for a long time. Since the lake does not flow into a larger body of water or has no natural outlets, nobody knows how this creature came to inhabit its waters.
Native American legend suggests that the serpent-like creature may have been stranded by retreating glaciers which would then mean it has a life span of over 9000 years!
According to one story, there was a severe drought in the area that lowered the waters of the lake thus making it easier for the locals to catch fish. Once, they woke up to the terrifying sight of a strange, amphibious creature trying to thrash its way out of the dry land it was stuck in. None of the local people dared go near it and soon enough, it managed to slip back into the waters of the lake.
The earliest eyewitness accounts were featured in the October 1, 1894, edition of the New York Sun where the Devil's Lake monster was described as having alligator jaws, glaring red eyes, and an 80-foot-long tail: "The red glare of the sunset sky is often reflected in the eyes of the serpent-like mirrors and the flashes of red light that go darting here and there as the serpent turns its head strike terror into the hearts of those on whom they fall. The serpent moves slowly along about a half mile from the shore, and in the course of a day or two makes the round of the lake."
A year later the Bismarck Tribune would publish a tale about a fisherman who apparently hooked the monster and was taken on a high-speed ride of his life around the lake.
However, it was the 1904 story published in the Wichita Beacon about a Cleveland couple sighting the fearsome beast that gained national attention: "The serpent’s body was very thick, and covered with huge and horribly loathesome-looking black scales. Its head was of snake-like formation, with a flashing, darting tongue, and two angry eyes as big as goose eggs, glowed in the monster’s head."
Some have even gone as far as to suggest that apart from the slender neck, a trait shared by both the Devil's Lake monster as well as the Loch Ness monster, they have little in common as the former is more snake-like while the later is said to resemble a plesiosaur.
Though the stories died down by the 1930s, there are more than a few who believe the elusive creature who roams the depths of Devil's Lake to be real and avidly look forward to sighting it.
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