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Mysterious Monster of Lake Erie 85

The Mysterious Monster

of Lake Erie

Brent Swancer

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five
North American Great Lakes, sprawled out over
9,910 sq, and is the shallowest and smallest by
volume of its brethren. It was named after the
native Erie people, a shortened form of the
Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning “long tail,”
and stretches between the Canadian province of
Ontario, with the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and New York on its western,
southern, and eastern shores. Like the other
Great Lakes it is more like an inland sea than a
lake, and it has also long said to be the haunt of
something very mysterious prowling through its
monster that everyone had come to know. This particular night, I was awakened
waters.
The Lake Eerie monster would later from my slumber by something rubbing against
The Lake Erie creature itself is most
come to be known as “Bessie,” after the Davis- the bottom of the boat. The noise and the impact
often described as being a 9 to 12 m (30 to 40 ft)
Besse nuclear power plant in Port Clinton, and woke me and I immediately heard a noise that I
long undulating beast, and very serpentine in
continued to be sighted sporadically over the find hard to describe. It was the rushing of water
appearance, with a dark gray or black coloration.
decades and right up into more modern times. In followed by the slap of something against the
Sightings of something very bizarre lurking in the 1980s there was a sighting made by two surface of the lake. I sprang up and grabbed the
Lake Erie go back centuries. The natives of the
fishermen who were throwing in lines near the lantern which I always left burning in the bow of
region told of a great water spirit dwelling
East 55th Street marina in Cleveland, Ohio, off the boat so that no other vessels would plow into
within the lake called the Oniare, a huge, horned
their 20-foot fishing boat, the Cool Breeze. It me at night. Then I lunged to the gunwale and
water serpent with venomous breath that
had been a calm day just after dawn when the held the light over the water to have a look.
prowled the area and capsized boats. Perhaps the
boat was rocked by a disturbance in the water What I saw I will never forget. Before I go any
first known recorded modern encounter with the
that jolted their vessel. When the two startled further, let me say that I was not drunk when I
creature allegedly occurred in 1793, when a
men looked into the water they saw what looked saw what I saw. I had been sleeping for at least
captain aboard the sloop Felicity spotted a
like an immense black shape at least as long as three hours, and I had only had four beers. I am
snake-like creature more than 16 feet long the boat and similar in shape to an alligator, sure what I am about to describe is in no way the
moving through the water while duck hunting
which then grabbed at the boat with its arms and product of any alcohol induced hallucination.
near Sandusky, Ohio.
shook it to send them grabbing for anything they There was a long, thick creature a few
In 1817 there was another well-known
could hold on to before gliding off into the feet beneath the keel of my boat. All
early report, when two brothers named Dusseau
depths. exaggeration aside, this thing was at LEAST
saw an enormous monster, 20 to 30 feet long,
In September of 1990 a Harold Bricker, twenty feet long. It darted with incredible speed
that seemed to have been beached and possibly
his wife Cora, and their son Robert, were out on away from my skiff as I struggled to make out its
dying. In this particular case the beast was said
Sandusky Bay to enjoy a day out fishing. They form beneath the inky black surface of the water.
to look as if it had actual arms, and its
stopped their boat and began preparing when When it was about 30 feet away from my vessel,
appearance was reminiscent of a sturgeon. They Harold claimed to have seen a giant serpentine the beast reared its body up out of the lake.
apparently left and came back later with
creature swimming through the water around Although it was still dark out, it was a clear
company, but all that was left were marks from
1,000 feet from them, described as black in color night with a full moon shinning down on the still
its thrashing and large, anomalous scales. Later
and around 40 feet long. According to the Los surface of the lake. Because of this fact I was
in the 1800s we have the sighting made by the
Angeles Times article on the sighting at the able to clearly make out the long serpentine
crew of a ship headed out across Lake Erie
time, five other witnesses has seen the same body of the animal and its large, round head.
towards Toledo, Ohio from Buffalo, New York
exact thing. This sighting was followed by a That was all I saw before it submerged again
in 1892. As they cut through the waves there was
spate of similar reports from Sandusky Bay, and and disappeared forever. There is no doubt in my
apparently a commotion in the water ahead, and
Thomas Solberg, the owner of Huron Lagoon mind that that thing intentionally slammed into
upon closer inspection it turned out to be some Marina, posted a $100,000 reward for a live my boat. The first instinct I had when I saw it
gargantuan serpent at least 50 feet long, with
specimen, which apparently still stands and has was that I had invaded its territory and it was
long, prominent fins and saucer-like eyes that
obviously never been collected. Another fairly letting me know. Perhaps like a common eel it
were “viciously sparkling.” Then in 1896 there
recent account was given to Weird Ohio, by a had been attracted to the glow of my lantern. I
was an encounter made by four witnesses who
witness calling himself Franklin P. Wainwright, cannot say for sure, but that was the last night I
watched it for 45 minutes as the dog-headed
who says he saw it off near Vermilion, Ohio ever spent alone on Lake Erie. I’ve only gone
beast cavorted about off the shore of Crystal
while out fishing on his 18-foot Boston Whaler. fishing at night a few times in the past two years,
Beach near Fort Erie, Ontario.
The witness says: and never by myself.
Sightings continued, although there were
In early July, I was having one of those Needless to say, the sleeplessness of that
obviously some people who began to have fun
nights where I was just cruising the lake. I summer only got worse after I looked that
with it all. According to cryptozoologist Loren
anchored the boat a few hundred yards off shore monster in the eye. Thankfully since then, my life
Coleman in his book Cryptozoology A to Z, in
and was just lying on my back drinking a few has returned, more or less, to normal. I’ve
1931 two fishermen named Clifford Wilson and
cans of beer. As sad as it is in hindsight, I found remarried, see my kid often, and have a new job
Francis Cogenstose claimed to have not only
that the combination of the rocking of the boat much better than the one I was so worried about
come across the mysterious monster, but to have
and a few beers was one of the only surefire back then. When I think back to that summer, the
clubbed it to death and stuffed it into a shipping
methods of overcoming my insomnia. I don’t only really terrifying aspect of it I haven’t
crate. However, when a curator of the Cleveland
know how many mornings that summer I woke managed to reckon with is the mystery of what I
Museum of Natural History went to investigate
up fully clothed on the deck of my boat with cans saw that night.
it, the creature was found to be merely a very
scattered about. It wasn’t happiest period of my
large Indian python. It was still an unusual thing
life. (Continued on Page 86)
to see in the area, but far from the Lake Erie