Within Idaho Monsters
Why Did the Bear Lake Monster Survive?
The Bear Lake Monster is a shared Idaho-Utah legend where a confessed hoax became lasting local folklore.
On this page
- Joseph C. Rich and the 1868 story
- Idaho's share of the border legend
- Hoax, tourism and playful belief
Page outline Jump by section
Introduction
The Bear Lake Monster survived because it became more useful as folklore than it ever was as evidence. The creature is remembered as a long, fast, serpent-like animal in Bear Lake, the large turquoise lake shared by south-eastern Idaho and northern Utah. Its modern story began in 1868, when Joseph C. Rich published second-hand claims in the Deseret News; later accounts say Rich recanted the tale as a hoax or marketing joke. Yet the monster did not disappear. It kept travelling through local talk, newspaper retellings, tourism, festivals and jokes, turning a dubious frontier report into a border legend claimed by both states. Bear Lake itself helps the story endure: it is roughly 20 miles long, eight miles wide and split between Idaho and Utah, giving the creature a big, dramatic stage and two local identities to inhabit.[deseret.com]deseret.comDeseret NewsBear Lake Monster: Is it real? Behind Utah history and sightings – Deseret News…
Joseph C. Rich and the 1868 story
Joseph C. Rich’s 1868 report is the hinge of the whole legend. Rich was writing from Paris in the Bear Lake Valley, on the Idaho side of the lake’s cultural world even though territorial lines and local identities were still being settled. His letter, later reproduced from the Deseret News, is not a simple eyewitness statement. It is a lively frontier correspondent’s piece full of humour, local complaint and dramatic storytelling before it reaches the section headed “Bear Lake Monster”. That matters, because the monster enters print in a voice already comfortable with exaggeration and comic flourish.[The Boy Monk]theboymonk.comjoseph richs original 1868 report about the bear lake monsterThe Boy MonkJoseph Rich’s original 1868 report about the Bear Lake Monster – The Boy Monk…
Rich opened the monster section by saying that “all lakes, caves and dens have their legendary histories”, then described a tradition of a serpent-like lake creature with short legs, able to come a little way onto shore and spurt water from its mouth. He then shifted to recent settler claims: people had supposedly seen a huge, strange animal in the water, but many earlier stories had come from lone witnesses and had not been widely credited. The 1868 excitement grew because Rich presented several named accounts as if they formed a fresh cluster rather than a single isolated tale.[The Boy Monk]theboymonk.comjoseph richs original 1868 report about the bear lake monsterThe Boy MonkJoseph Rich’s original 1868 report about the Bear Lake Monster – The Boy Monk…
The most memorable account involved S. M. Johnson near South Eden, on the Utah side of the lake. Johnson reportedly first thought he saw a drowned person, then watched what looked like the head and neck of an unfamiliar animal rise from the water, with ear-like bunches on the sides of its head. Another group supposedly saw a large animal swimming so quickly that one witness compared its speed to a locomotive. Rich’s report even multiplied the creatures, describing several large and small monsters moving through the lake, which gave the story the feel of a species rather than a one-off apparition.[The Boy Monk]theboymonk.comjoseph richs original 1868 report about the bear lake monsterThe Boy MonkJoseph Rich’s original 1868 report about the Bear Lake Monster – The Boy Monk…
From an evidence-aware point of view, the problem is obvious: Rich was reporting what others said they saw, not presenting a body, a photograph, a captured animal or a repeatable observation. The descriptions also vary in ways that are typical of lake-monster folklore: serpent, fish, animal, head, wake, speed, size, and distance all blur together. That does not make the story uninteresting. It makes it a case study in how a local claim becomes durable: names, places, distances and confident witnesses gave readers enough detail to picture the scene, while the lack of hard evidence left room for argument.
Why the hoax did not kill the monster
The Bear Lake Monster’s strangest feature is not the creature. It is the way the legend survived its own exposure. Utah State University Libraries describes the Bear Lake Monster as a regional legend from the Bear Lake Valley of Utah and Idaho, preserved through folklore items, newspaper articles, interviews and related archival material. The same institutional summary notes the common view that Rich used the tale as a marketing ploy or joke and later said it was not true.[USU Library]library.usu.eduLibrary Bear Lake Monster Digital Collection | Libraries | USULibrary Bear Lake Monster Digital Collection | Libraries | USU
A 2024 historic marker sponsored through Utah State University’s Folklore Program and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation puts the public version even more plainly: the Bear Lake Valley legend tells of a large serpentine monster, the tale was promoted in 1868 by Joseph C. Rich, and Rich later recanted his reports as a marketing ploy to draw people to Rich County, Utah. The marker still treats the story as worth commemorating, not because it proves a hidden animal, but because it became a recognised piece of regional folklore.[William G. Pomeroy Foundation]wgpfoundation.orgWilliam G. Pomeroy Foundation BEAR LAKE MONSTER | William G. Pomeroy FoundationWilliam G. Pomeroy Foundation BEAR LAKE MONSTER | William G. Pomeroy Foundation
That is the key to the monster’s afterlife. A hoax can end a scientific claim, but it does not automatically end a folk tradition. Once a story has been repeated at family gatherings, in tourist literature, in local newspapers and around a lake where visitors are already primed to stare across open water, it no longer depends only on the original author’s honesty. The admission changes the story’s category: from possible zoological report to hoax-born folklore.
The Bear Lake Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau makes that shift visible. Its account says interest eventually faded and Rich admitted the story was a hoax, but immediately adds that sightings continued and that the monster became part of local folklore. In other words, the community did not have to choose between “believe it literally” and “throw it away”. It could keep the monster as a joke, a warning, a mascot, a mystery and a local inheritance all at once. Bear Lake Valley CVB Utah and Idaho[bearlake.org]bearlake.orgOpen source on bearlake.org.
Idaho’s share of the border legend
Bear Lake belongs to Idaho as well as Utah, and that shared geography is central to the monster’s identity. Idaho Parks and Recreation describes Bear Lake State Park as being in the south-eastern corner of Idaho and notes that half of the lake is in Idaho and half in Utah. The department also uses the familiar tourism phrase “Caribbean of the Rockies” for the lake’s intense turquoise water, while pointing to its summer swimming and winter cisco fishing.[Department of Parks and Recreation]parksandrecreation.idaho.govOpen source on idaho.gov.
This gives Idaho a different kind of monster claim from McCall’s Sharlie. Sharlie is strongly tied to Payette Lake and McCall’s civic identity; the Bear Lake Monster is a border creature. Its reported movements and retellings cross state branding lines. Some of the famous early sighting locations, such as South Eden, sit on the Utah side, but the lake’s north and east shores, Idaho parkland, nearby communities such as St. Charles and Paris, and the broader Bear Lake County setting keep Idaho inside the legend rather than merely next door to it.[Department of Parks and Recreation]parksandrecreation.idaho.govOpen source on idaho.gov.
The border setting also helps explain why the tale is so easy to keep alive. A monster in a single town may become one community’s mascot; a monster in a shared lake can be retold by tourism offices, state parks, road-trip writers and local businesses on both sides. BoiseDev framed the creature explicitly for Idaho readers in 2025, introducing it as another Idaho lake monster besides Sharlie and noting that Bear Lake is half in Idaho and half in Utah. That kind of modern retelling keeps the monster inside Idaho’s cryptid map even when many of the older newspaper and festival references lean Utahward.[boisedev.com]boisedev.comOpen source on boisedev.com.
For readers following Idaho monster folklore, this is why Bear Lake matters. It shows that state-level cryptid history is not always neat. Some legends sit on borders, migration routes, watersheds or shared tourist regions. The Bear Lake Monster is not “less Idahoan” because Utah also claims it; its dual identity is precisely what makes it useful in an Idaho context.
What people were supposed to have seen
The claimed creature is usually described as large, serpentine and unnaturally fast. Rich’s 1868 article included reports of a head and neck rising from the water, ear-like side projections, a brownish colour, large wakes and several animals moving south through the lake. Later tourism descriptions often compress this into a long, smooth-bodied lake serpent with thick legs and a head compared variously to a crocodile, alligator, cow or walrus. Visit Bear Lake says reports have ranged from six to ninety feet in length and that most accounts agree on swift movement through the water.[The Boy Monk]theboymonk.comjoseph richs original 1868 report about the bear lake monsterThe Boy MonkJoseph Rich’s original 1868 report about the Bear Lake Monster – The Boy Monk…
The changing description is important. A real animal species should become clearer as reports accumulate; the Bear Lake Monster becomes more elastic. It can be a serpent, a fish, a crocodile-like beast, a cow-headed creature, a walrus-headed creature, a fast wake or a partly submerged head. That flexibility is one reason lake monsters are so durable in folklore. The “monster” can absorb many ambiguous water experiences without needing a stable anatomy.
Bear Lake’s environment encourages that ambiguity. Utah State Parks describes the lake as 20 miles long, eight miles wide, 208 feet deep and vividly blue because of suspended calcium carbonates. Its east-side areas include rocky terrain where the water drops off quickly, and the lake is large enough for wind, waves, distance and reflected light to distort ordinary objects. None of those facts explains every claim, but they do explain why a person could misread a wake, log, fish, bird, swimming animal or wave pattern from far away.[Utah State Parks]stateparks.utah.govState Parks Discover | Utah State ParksState Parks Discover | Utah State Parks
There is also a genuine animal backdrop. Idaho Parks and Recreation notes that Bear Lake is home to the Bonneville cisco, a fish found nowhere else on Earth, and winter fishing for cisco is part of the lake’s identity. Utah State Parks similarly describes the midwinter cisco spawning run, when large numbers of fish come close to rocky shorelines. These real natural spectacles do not produce a ninety-foot serpent, but they do make the lake feel biologically distinctive. A place with unique fish, dramatic colour and sudden drop-offs is fertile ground for monster talk.[Department of Parks and Recreation]parksandrecreation.idaho.govOpen source on idaho.gov.
Brigham Young, capture talk and frontier publicity
The early Bear Lake Monster story did not remain a private lakeside rumour. It entered a frontier media world where church leaders, settlers, correspondents and rival newspapers could all turn a strange claim into public conversation. The Deseret News later summarised how the 1868 article triggered continuing stories, disputes and interest from Brigham Young, then the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Young reportedly took the accounts seriously enough to consider whether something had been seen, while not necessarily accepting the full monster tale.[Deseret News]deseret.comDeseret NewsBear Lake Monster: Is it real? Behind Utah history and sightings – Deseret News…
The most colourful part of this phase is the capture idea. Local retellings say Brigham Young sent or suggested sending a rope to Paris, Idaho, to help catch the monster. The Visitors Bureau version adds that people imagined the captured creature being exploited for show-business value. That detail is easy to smile at, but it reveals something serious about the legend’s mechanics: almost from the start, the Bear Lake Monster was tied to publicity, spectacle and economic imagination. Bear Lake Valley CVB Utah and Idaho[bearlake.org]bearlake.orgOpen source on bearlake.org.
This is where “hoax” and “tourism” overlap. A hoax is usually judged by whether it deceived people; folklore asks what the story did after it was told. Rich’s tale appears to have advertised the region, entertained readers, provoked debate and helped attach a memorable image to Bear Lake. Later claims that he owned or promoted local interests have encouraged the reading that the monster functioned as a frontier marketing device, not just a prank.[Deseret News]deseret.commonster sparks tall talesmonster sparks tall tales
The story also fits a wider nineteenth-century taste for lake serpents and newspaper marvels. Bear Lake was not the only water body in the region to gather monster claims, and later retellings often compare the creature with famous lake monsters elsewhere. But the Idaho–Utah border setting gives this case its own flavour: a remote western lake, settler expansion, Indigenous-attributed tradition, Mormon newspaper culture, local commerce and playful exaggeration all meet in one compact legend.
Hoax, tourism and playful belief
Today, the Bear Lake Monster is less an animal hunt than a local performance. Utah State University Libraries says many locals treat the legend as a cautionary water tale and a well-known local joke. That combination is revealing: the monster can warn children about the lake, entertain visitors, decorate festivals and still leave room for someone to say, half-seriously, that they saw something out there.[USU Library]library.usu.eduLibrary Bear Lake Monster Digital Collection | Libraries | USULibrary Bear Lake Monster Digital Collection | Libraries | USU
Tourism has kept the creature visible. The Bear Lake Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau describes a former Bear Lake Monster Boat shaped like a green lake monster, a Raspberry Days parade joke featuring children labelled “The Real Bear Lake Monsters”, and the annual Bear Lake Monster Winterfest. The current Winterfest site promotes the event as Bear Lake’s biggest winter celebration, with activities centred around the lake and its monster branding. Bear Lake Valley CVB Utah and Idaho[bearlake.org]bearlake.orgOpen source on bearlake.org.
The monster even received a friendly name: Isabella. Visit Bear Lake says the name was announced during the 1996 Raspberry Days festival after local elementary children voted on it. That detail marks a major tonal shift. The 1868 creature was dangerous, uncanny and possibly predatory; Isabella is mascot-like, family-friendly and suitable for festivals. The monster did not vanish because it stopped being frightening. It adapted by becoming fun.[Bearlake]visitbearlake.orgOpen source on visitbearlake.org.
This is also why the Bear Lake Monster remains useful for Idaho tourism without needing hard belief. Visitors do not have to think a giant serpent is biologically likely to enjoy the story. They can buy into the mood: turquoise water, raspberry shakes, winter plunges, cisco fishing, road-trip stops and a local creature that belongs to the lake’s personality. In that sense, the monster works like many successful cryptid traditions. It makes a place easier to remember.
What the legend shows about Idaho folklore
For Idaho’s wider monster map, the Bear Lake Monster is a reminder that folklore is not just a list of sightings. It is a process. A claim is made, repeated, doubted, embellished, commercialised, joked about and handed down. In this case, the original evidence is weak and the hoax tradition is central, but the cultural footprint is strong. The result is not a confirmed mystery animal; it is a durable border legend with unusually clear origins.
The Idaho side of the story matters because Bear Lake is physically and recreationally shared. Idaho Parks and Recreation presents the lake as a major state-park destination with camping, swimming, boating and winter cisco fishing, while modern Idaho coverage continues to introduce the monster as part of the state’s own lake-monster tradition. That makes the creature a useful counterpoint to Sharlie in Payette Lake: Sharlie is Idaho’s friendly local lake beast; the Bear Lake Monster is Idaho’s shared frontier hoax that grew into cross-border folklore.[Department of Parks and Recreation]parksandrecreation.idaho.govOpen source on idaho.gov.
The best way to understand the Bear Lake Monster, then, is not to ask only, “Was it real?” The better question is the one the legend itself answers: how can a confessed tall tale keep swimming for more than 150 years? Bear Lake gives the story scenery, the 1868 newspaper gives it a starting point, Rich’s recantation gives it irony, and local tourism gives it a reason to remain visible. The monster survives because it no longer has to be believed in one literal way. It only has to be retold.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: deseret.com
Link:https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/5/21/23130943/bear-lake-monster-tale-origins-brigham-young-utah-idaho/
Source snippet
Deseret NewsBear Lake Monster: Is it real? Behind Utah history and sightings – Deseret News...
2.
Source: parksandrecreation.idaho.gov
Link:https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/state-park/bear-lake-state-park/
3.
Source: library.usu.edu
Title: Library Bear Lake Monster Digital Collection | Libraries | USU
Link:https://library.usu.edu/news/collections/monster
4.
Source: bearlake.org
Link:https://bearlake.org/the-bear-lake-monster/
5.
Source: boisedev.com
Link:https://boisedev.com/news/2025/03/03/the-tale-of-the-monster-lurking-in-this-idaho-lakeno-its-not-sharlie/
6.
Source: stateparks.utah.gov
Title: State Parks Discover | Utah State Parks
Link:https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/bear-lake/discover/
7.
Source: deseret.com
Title: monster sparks tall tales
Link:https://www.deseret.com/2004/8/15/19844493/monster-sparks-tall-tales/
8.
Source: deseret.com
Title: bear lake monster resurfaces anew
Link:https://www.deseret.com/2004/7/12/19839660/bear-lake-monster-resurfaces-anew/
9.
Source: deseret.com
Title: MONSTE R OR MERE MIRAGE?On
Link:https://www.deseret.com/1991/3/18/18910708/monster-or-mere-mirage/
10.
Source: deseret.com
Title: bear lake monster
Link:https://www.deseret.com/2023/4/11/23679243/bear-lake-monster/
11.
Source: ilovehistory.utah.gov
Title: rich county
Link:https://ilovehistory.utah.gov/rich-county/
12.
Source: bearlake.org
Link:https://bearlake.org/event/bear-lake-monster-winterfest/
13.
Source: bearlake.org
Link:https://bearlake.org/category/news/winter/
14.
Source: libguides.usu.edu
Link:https://libguides.usu.edu/c.php?g=1414273&p=10477077
15.
Source: wgpfoundation.org
Title: William G. Pomeroy Foundation BEAR LAKE MONSTER | William G. Pomeroy Foundation
Link:https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/bear-lake-monster/
16.
Source: theboymonk.com
Title: joseph richs original 1868 report about the bear lake monster
Link:https://theboymonk.com/joseph-richs-original-1868-report-about-the-bear-lake-monster/
Source snippet
The Boy MonkJoseph Rich’s original 1868 report about the Bear Lake Monster – The Boy Monk...
17.
Source: visitbearlake.org
Link:https://www.visitbearlake.org/bear-lake-monster
18.
Source: bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com
Link:https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/
19.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Bear Lake Monster
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Lake_Monster
20.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Bear Lake (Idaho–Utah)
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Lake_%28Idaho%E2%80%93Utah%29
21.
Source: pdsh.fandom.com
Title: Bear Lake Monster
Link:https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Bear_Lake_Monster
22.
Source: itsmth.fandom.com
Title: Bear Lake Monster
Link:https://itsmth.fandom.com/wiki/Bear_Lake_Monster
23.
Source: bearlakewatch.org
Link:https://bearlakewatch.org/factsheet/
24.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/271625487184735/posts/1054051125608830/
25.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/bearlakemonsterwinterfest/
26.
Source: facebook.com
Title: Bear Lake Monster Winterfest in Utah/Idaho Bear Lake Monster Winterfest
Link:https://www.facebook.com/BearLakeValleyCVB/posts/bear-lake-monster-winterfestjanuary-30-2026-january-31-2026held-every-january-th/1443768311088237/
27.
Source: bearlakepremiercabins.com
Title: bear lake monster
Link:https://bearlakepremiercabins.com/blog/bear-lake-monster/
28.
Source: bearlakepremiercabins.com
Link:https://bearlakepremiercabins.com/bear-lake/
29.
Source: bearlakemonster.com
Link:https://bearlakemonster.com/
30.
Source: tripadvisor.com
Title: Bear Lake State Park
Link:https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g56993-d107686-Reviews-Bear_Lake_State_Park-Garden_City_Utah.html
31.
Source: bearlakerendezvous.wordpress.com
Title: the bear lake monster
Link:https://bearlakerendezvous.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/the-bear-lake-monster/
32.
Source: bearlakerendezvous.wordpress.com
Link:https://bearlakerendezvous.wordpress.com/tag/recreation/
33.
Source: instagram.com
Link:https://www.instagram.com/p/DTIUIofj_HY/
34.
Source: gardencityutah.gov
Link:https://www.gardencityutah.gov/raspberrydays
35.
Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/1n4y9el/bear_lake_monster/
36.
Source: ominoussquirrel.blogspot.com
Title: bear lake monster connection to nessie
Link:https://ominoussquirrel.blogspot.com/2016/02/bear-lake-monster-connection-to-nessie.html
37.
Source: visitutah.com
Link:https://www.visitutah.com/articles/bear-lake-monster-winterfest
38.
Source: outdoorsy.com
Link:https://www.outdoorsy.com/guide/bear-lake-state-park-ut
39.
Source: idahohighcountry.org
Title: bear lake monster winterfest
Link:https://idahohighcountry.org/event/bear-lake-monster-winterfest/
40.
Source: bearriverheritage.com
Link:https://bearriverheritage.com/event/bear-lake-monster-winterfest/
41.
Source: koa.com
Link:https://koa.com/campgrounds/bear-lake/blog/bear-lake-history-and-landmark-tour_dc5d913d-8c4f-43fc-b7a5-60fca46030d0/
Additional References
42.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgFgrvSvj2E
Source snippet
The Bear Lake Monster: Is the star of Utah's urban legend the same as the Loch Ness Monster?...
43.
Source: youtube.com
Title: LOST TAPES: Bear Lake Monster
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THDyuFSbBSA
Source snippet
Scott Tolentino (Fisheries Biologist) | Full Interview | Bear Lake Monster Documentary...
44.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOWmyUtfgAg
Source snippet
LOST TAPES: Bear Lake Monster...
45.
Source: bhroberts.org
Link:https://bhroberts.org/records/0RDbhK-AqWEbb/article_on_bear_lake_monster_sightings
46.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/YellowstoneInsidersHub/posts/935198127211421/
47.
Source: instagram.com
Link:https://www.instagram.com/shannonelizabeth/
48.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/BearLakeStateParkIdaho/posts/%EF%B8%8F-folklore-day-feature-the-bear-lake-monster-did-you-know-idaho-has-its-own-vers/1166342825525083/
49.
Source: reddit.com
Link:https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/18u7ke9/unveiling_the_mysterious_bear_lake_monster/
50.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/WGPFoundation/posts/nestled-between-the-utah-and-idaho-border-lies-bear-lake-valley-home-to-a-captiv/1153093380184753/
51.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjUeQ-_mPCM
Source snippet
ARC: Bear Lake Monster Marker...
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