White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-05-14
TALES ARE TOLD
Of WALKER LAKE
STORY OF FAMOUS SEA SERPENT
RECALLS THE CAPTURE OF
BIG SALMON FROM SAME BODY
OF WATER.

view in Los Angeles, says that paper,
and We called his attention to the
following, taken from the Tonopah
Daily Bonanza, of April 10th:
w. G. LOWE and Pete Bagoy, who
spent several days in the Cottonwood
country last week, declare that they
saw the famous serpent of Walker
Lake. They were looking over min
ing property in that section and
m~eandered down toward the mouth
of Cotton wood Greek, which empties
into the lake. Looking out upon the
lake both parties saw the serpent
like fish racing through the water at
terrific gait. Mr.. LOWE at first
thought what he saw was a flock of
swans flying single file close to the
water, but on closer inspection prov
ed this to be a mistake. Whatever
the thing is, 1t is about fifty feet long
with a large head and a body about
as big around as that of an average
man. II was swimming about 100
yards from the shore and LOWE want
ed TO go closer to the lake and get a
better view, but Pete said: Not on
your life; may not that thing jump
200 yards and catch us both?"
Mr.. LOWE is a mining man of note,
not given to e~xaggeration nor pre-
varication. and there is not a doubt
that he saw the famous sea serpent
of Walker Lake.
There are others who. in years
gone by, have seen this thing, and
the Indians of the reservation know
that ii has lived in the lake for many
years past. You cannot get n of
them to go bathing in the lake for
fear of being caught by this monster.
1t might be a good idea for the
Smithsonian Institute, or some other
scientific body to put a launch on the
lake and try to capture this i~chthyos-
aurus, or whatever it may be. 1t GER
tainly would be a curiosity in any
museum"
After reading the foregoing care
fully he smiled and said he had made
a trip to Walker Lake when he was
a boy and had had a little excitement,
too. We urged him to sit down and
write it all out and here it is:
when ! was a boy, living on my
fathers ranch oyer in Nevada. my
younger brother and | often went
fishing in the Carson River but. once
a year, father and my uncle would
take a team and make a trip to Walk
er Lake to lay in a supply of salmon
for the winter.
ION this particular trip We two
I lnxvp - allauvaI e. az alanu Tha
wagon body was taken off. the boat
placed on the running gears. our
blankets. fishing tackle and grub
were slowed within. and We started
for the lake. with the Our of us rid
ing on the thwarts of the boat.
1T was a good days drive but, by
making an early start, We reached
the shore of the lake about 4 o'clock
in the afternoon. This gave us ample
time to make camp and get up a good
supply of wood. ! have learned since
what an important thing it is to go
into camp an hour or two before sun
down, SO you can see to select a good
location. without being hurried, and
then have all the time you need to
get up plenty of fire-wood for the
night. No wild animal VIII intrude
as long as the fire is burning and. in
addition, you will often need the
warmth before morning.
I'VE found an old d%ug-out, made
from a cottonwood tree. lying on the
beach. 1t had been made from a log
about eighteen feet long and was per
fectly round on the bottom. Father
looked il owe carefully and decided
il was too cranky for any one to use
with safety.
Our Wagon was backed down into
the water, the boat 6oated off and
moored TO the beach. My father and
uncle, before We left home, had made
a mast with gaff and boom, and now
they proceeded to tack on a spare
blanket for a sail.
after supper. we boys sat around
the camp fire. feeling proud and
quite grown up. listening to the men
telling stories until about 8 o'clock,
when they showed us how TO turn in
by rolling ourselves up in u blank
cts with our feet to the fire.
"When breakfast was over in the
morning, father and uncle took the
boat started off up the lake. telling us
to stay in camp, as the water was too
rough to take us along. This was
something we had not %bargained for
and | think we would gladly have
scuttled their old boat if we could
have done so. Right here | want to
say to any man who takes boys along
on a fishing trip, that he will find 1t
a good deal safer to take them in the
boat than to leave them behind.
I'VE sat on the beach, watching
their boat go off down the lake and
grumbling away as nobody can but
disappointed boys. Finally, we con
cluded we might as well go in swim
ing, so we took off our clothes, rolled
the old dug-out into the water and
would have had a fairly satisfactory