North Shore Monster: North American Folklore

in folklore •  6 years ago 

The North Shore Monster of Northern Utah is about as strange as sea monsters get. Unlike many timeless fables of creatures resembling prehistoric Plesiosaurus or giant reptillian monsters, the North Shore Monster is quite different in appearance. Legend has it that on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake, a giant alligator with the head of a horse.

File:Great Salt Lake from Sunset Beach.jpg
North Shore of the Great Salt Lake source

Reports of this unusual monster began as early as 1877, when employees of the Barnes and Co. Salt Works company working the north shore of the lake. The workers were startled by the enormous beast, who made a fearsome bellow, and charged at them. The workers managed to escape the charging giant, by running quickly up a hill.

North Shore Monster by boshthehedgehog
amazing artist rendering of the North Shore Monster source

Sightings of the North Shore Monster seem to occur only at dusk. And always the stories speak of a haunting bellow that the monster makes.

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That's a unique and interesting beast indeed. The head doesn't look like it would be great for underwater swimming. But, it survived this long so it must have found a way. Very cool. I keep waiting for you to do a report on the "Ogo Pogo" from kelowna B.C. it's another water serpent like lockness. I want to learn more about that one but I'm relying on your excellent researching abilities :)

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I've never heard of it! I'll definitely look into it, I love a good water monster story!

Nice. I look forward to reading it :)

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That is a pretty amazing artist rendering :) This is definitely an interesting tale. I sometimes wonder where a lot of these half and half monsters originate from. I mean as far back as mythology we see the centaurs and things of that sort.

I always wonder about that as well. I think most of these monsters actual origins can be traced back to a case of bad eyesight and a touch of hysteria.

Haha, you are probably right! Maybe a little chemical impact too!

Another great cryptid profile. How did you get into cryptids? For me it was college biology that led to a fascination.

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They've always been fascinating to me, I suppose it started with the local ones I grew up hearing about, like the Chupacabra, from there I went down the jackalope hole. It's so interesting how every culture and place has these pervasive stories that linger from generation to generation. I love how myth can stick around longer than fact.