Lake Champlain Monster

[sadie1263]

Champ or Champy is the name given to the Lake Champlain Monster a North American cryptid [1] allegedly living in Lake Champlain [2] a natural freshwater lake located within the borders of Quebec, Vermont and New York state.

The lake discovered in 1609 by Samuel de Champlain and once of great military and commercial importance is known today for its recreational opportunities, beautiful cottages, great fishing, great hiking, swimming, canoeing, cross country trails and of course Champ for which there have been over 300 sightings.

Champ has become a great revenue generator attracting tourists from many countries. Port Henry a costal town has erected a giant model of the elusive monster and celebrates “ Champ Day” on the first Saturday in August, the Vermont Lake Monsters, a Minor League baseball team, use him for their mascot and the “Champ” logo is used far and wide.

The legend of Champ/Champy dates back to pre-European times, the Iroquois and Abenaki, American Indian tribes native to the area referring to it as “Chaousarou” and “Tatoskok” respectively.

The first European to see the monster is often touted as the great French explorer and the lake’s namesake Samuel de Champlain. Unfortunately the supposed sighting appears to have never happened at least not in Lake Champlain and has been traced to an article in the Summer 1970 issue of “Vermont Life” by since deceased writer Marjorie L. Porter.

Today Champ/Champy sightings are commonplace:

In 1873 the crew and passengers of the steamer W.B. Eddy allegedly saw a strange creature in the water near Dresden, New York.

In 1883 Sheriff Nathan H. Mooney claimed to have seen a gigantic water serpent from a distance of 50 yards his story predating the Loch Ness “Surgeon's Photo” by 50 years.

In 1945 a large creature was purportedly observed surfacing mid-lake by the crew and passengers of the S.S. Ticonderoga.

In 1977 tourist Sandra Mansia took a photograph which has arguably became the most famous piece of evidence for the existence of the monster.

In 1993 a baby Champ purportedly swam between two bathers at Button Bay State Park, Ferrisburgh, Vermont.

In 1995 Dennis Hall of Champ Quest recorded images (alleged to be Champ) on video.

In 2003 scientists using underwater microphones recorded high-pitched ticking and chirping noises similar to whale or dolphin noise but were unable to positively identify the source.

Inevitably in a discussion of Champ/Champy (as with all cryptids) the question of validity eventually rears its ugly head. Sightings may be frequent but are they authentic? In the case of Champ/Champy, is it perhaps, as suggested by cryptozoologists, a plesiosaur related to the Loch Ness Monster, or is it something else, something of today's world, ordinary, less exotic?

www.factfictionandconjecture.ca/files/lake_champlain_monster.html

[♫anna♫]

Bring on the monsters!

[sadie1263]

Both Native American tribes that lived near Lake Champlain, the Abenaki and the Iroquois, had their own legends about a large creature inhabiting the lake. It was called Tatoskok by the Abenaki. Samuel de Champlain is often erroneously credited with being the first European to sight Champ, but readings of his accounts show that he saw something near the St. Lawrence river. This body of water was erroneously reported to be Lake Champlain in 1960.

The something he did see in Lake Champlain was ". . . [T]here is also a great abundance of many species of fish. Amongst others there is one called by the natives Chaousarou, which is of various lengths; but the largest of them, as these tribes have told me, are from eight to ten feet long. I have seen some five feet long, which were as big as my thigh, and had a head as large as my two fists, with a snout two feet and a half long, and a double row of very sharp, dangerous teeth. Its body has a good deal the shape of the pike; but it is protected by scales of a silvery gray colour and so strong that a dagger could not pierce them." Volume 2, chapter IX, of Champlain's journal (quoted in Meurger 1988.)

Historians think it was probably a garfish, a class that includes lake sturgeon, which are still living there today.

The next famous account appears in the Plattsburgh Republican of Saturday, July 24, 1819. Captain Crum was aboard a scow on Bulwagga Bay the previous Thursday morning when he reported a black monster, about 187 feet long and with a head resembling a "sea horse" that reared over 15 feet out of the water. He claimed the monster he saw had three teeth, eyes the color of a "a pealed [sic] onion," a white star on its forehead, and "a belt of red around the neck." This is a remarkable level of detail concerning an object that was, according to the witness, some two hundred yards away.

[sadie1263]

What is the color of a peeled onion?? Three teeth? How mean could this thing be?