A single boat at desk on a calm Bear Lake, Utah.
THE Logan
Republican newspaper had a followup to another 1907 sighting with the headline:
“Quil Nebeker sees monster. Verifies Mooney and Horne’s story of the Bear Lake
Terrorizer and gives own experience” on Sept. 21, 1907.
Aquilla C. Nebeker
was a very notable Utahn. He had not only served as President of the Senate of
Utah, but as acting governor of the State for a brief time.
So, just
like Charles C. Rich, a prominent leader, believed in the Bear Lake Monster in
the 19th Century, so did Nebeker in the early 20th
Century.
The Logan newspaper
account stated it had received much response to its initial 1907 report.
It then
published a lengthy report from Nebeker:
“In response
to your inquiry, I can confirm the main facts of the "Bear Lake monster"
story published in your last issue, but Messrs. Looney and Corn were probably
too greatly excited to give you the details in an unexaggerated form. The eyes
of the "monster' were not as large as wagon wheels, as stated, but they
might easily have been mistaken for the headlights used on Logan automobiles,
and it is an undisputed fact that either eye shed forth a light ten times more
intense than any Logan street fixture.
“But, of
course, this is of minor Importance. That the animal, monster, leviathan,
prehistoric saurian, ichthyosaurus, pterodactyl, or mastodonaflshlcus, or whatever
It may have been, was as vicious and bloodthirsty as the villain in Lincoln J.
Carter's plays is evidenced in the fact that after killing the horse mentioned
by your Informant, this same reptile (unless indeed there were two of them out
on the fateful night)
Came to the
Nebeker ranch, overturned the pigpen, devoured eight of my finest shoats, and
on the return trip to the lake ate a stack of hay (small stack) and terribly lacerated
two of my finest milkers. The monster came up near the house between 11 by and
1 o'clock and we were awakened by the glow from the creature's eyes, the whole
country around being flooded with light.
“We all
rushed to the windows, and there in the
brilliant light we could see this terrible monster, easily fifty feet long, fifteen
feet high, and covered with scales like armor plate. There were countless arms
and legs, and the two that extended from the rear of the head were shaped llke
grappling hooks. It was with these that he (I merely presume it was or
masculine gender) tipped over my pig-pen, and then as the porkers attempted to
scamper away, these grappling hooks again came Into play with disastrous
effect.
“He would
pick up a 200-pound pig, toss it high in the air, and catch It In the descent,
just like it had been trained In a circus. In less than eight seconds my eight
fine pigs had found a resing (resting) place In the monster's "bosom"
and it still seemed dissatisfied. It's eyes took on a greenish hue, It's face a
ghastly, ghoulish appearance, and it began to swish it's tail at such a rate
that the commotion in the air was well-nigh like a cyclone.
“In it's
enhungered fury the monster tore down a dozen bales of barbed wire standing
near my barn and gulped them down as though they were delicate morsels. By this
time all of the folks but me were terribly frightened, and they confidently
expected that the monster would smell the fresh-baked pies in the cellar and
turn over the house In order to get them.
“Confidentially,
I rather hoped he would in some way get the pies, but I sensed the danger to my
loved ones and set my mind at work to devise ways and means to divert the animal's
attention in case he decided to come up our way. At this juncture my dog, which
seemed mesmerized before, let out a terrible howl that attracted the monster
and here he came full tilt, mouth open wide enough to swallow the front porch.
“Here was my
time for action, and while I dislike to speak of myself, I must confess that I
arose to the emergency. As I attempted to kick my dog Into silence, I noticed
my large graphophone standing on the table ready for use. An inspiration struck me --
I called to mind the value of music in taming the snakes and wild animals of
the forest and I decided to try It.
“Hastily
winding up the machine, I opened wide the front door, squarely in the face of
the approaching monster, and turned loose my music. As It happened, the record
on the machine was that incomparable tune, "Home, Sweet Home," and as
its strains floated out on the midnight air, I noticed that the monster halted,
then stopped. His head being low, a reminiscent smile played o'er his features,
and as the chorus was readied we were surprised to see the monster's tall
switch 'round toward his neck.
“As we
watched we noted a stringed Instrument, something like a Iyre, at end of the
animal's tail, and us "Home, Sweet Home" continued, that monster
didn't do a thing but utilize his several hands or feet In playing an accompaniment
to that grand old tune. Ah, but It was sweet, and as "the band played
on" we really fell in love with the Bear Lake monster. As I moved to his
side, the monster seemed to welcome me as a friend of other days, and before
"Home, Sweet Home" was ended the animal's head rested on my shoulder
and we were mingling out tears together.
“All was
going splendidly and I had definitely decided to adopt the animal and make him
it member of my family. but just here sorrow, deep and tearful sorrow, shook
the frame of my newly made friend, and
he began to weep. Great streams of tears poured from his eyes, and finally they
flowed so copiously that the monster floated away in them. Thoughts of his
subterraneous home were too much for him, and though he seemed loth to go, he
waved us a sad farewell and disappeared from sight.
“A point of
particular Interest just here Is that as the monster passed the barn it left my
barbed wire stacked up nicely, and on top the pile left that lyre on which it
had played that accompaniment. Imagine my surprise at discovering that stringed
instrument to be a portion of a bale of that wire and a part of my pigpen
worked up Into the most approved form.
“Now, boys,
this is the straight of that "Bear Lake monster" story, but don't
call him a "monster" any longer, for he is truly wondrously human. He
was my friend and I learned to love him. Kindly convey my regards to all my
friends in Cache and say to my Logan friends that If they want any further
proof of this monster's re-appearance on Bear Lake's shores, I can show them
the barbed wire he ate and the graphophone wlth which he was subdued. Yours
respectfully and truthfully, AQUILLA C. NEBEKER.”
-An
unbelievable account, or an imaginative work of fiction? One has to decide for
themselves.
-RESEARCH conducted and compiled by Lynn Arave in 2015.