Indian legends tell of a horned serpent.
Fewer people are aware that a body of water in North America also has a reputation of having a monster. The Iroquois nation lived along the lake before Europeans came. They had stories that said a horned serpent lived within its waters. Many American bodies of water were the source for such legends about water serpents and spirits, and it is difficult to use these as proof of Champ's existence. Some historians place the earliest sighting of the creature by a European with Samual de Champlain, after whom the lake is named.