Flathead Lake Monster

In the summer of 2021, I spent a week in Kalispell, Montana, a short drive from the crystal clear waters of Flathead Lake. I was excited to be here, as Flathead Lake holds a legendary water monster. According to eyewitnesses, the creature moves with vertical undulations and is seen at times frolicking in the lake. The Flathead Lake Monster is about 10–20 feet in length, although some witnesses have reported that it could reach a length of up to 40 feet. Observers often describe the monster as having several vertical humps visible above the water. It has smooth skin that is gray to black in color and large, dark eyes. When the Flathead Lake Monster swims, it is known for leaving a wake in the water up to 12 inches tall, similar to that of a motorboat. 

Flathead Lake

It would be difficult to find a lake surrounded by scenery that is more gorgeous and breathtaking than Flathead Lake. Moreover, the waters of the lake are enormous in size, and splendid in beauty. The lake is world renowned for its crystal-clear waters. The cleanliness of the lake and its pure waters are nothing short of remarkable. Flathead Lake owes its untainted waters to several factors: low human populations around the lake; its watershed predominately lies within managed lands such as National Park and designated wilderness areas; high precipitation in the form of snow melt from the mountains, and a rapid flushing time. Flushing time is the amount of time that it would take for all of the water in the lake to be replaced. Flathead Lake could replace its water in less than three years. The rapid flushing time helps Flathead Lake to rid itself of pollutants and contaminants.

Flathead Lake is a large, deep lake—quite the suitable habitat for an aquatic cryptid. The lake has a surface area of over 190 square miles and a maximum depth of just over 370 feet. The mean water depth in Flathead Lake is 164 feet. With an average water depth of over 160 feet, the lake is rather deep—which would help a large creature avoid detection. The maximum length of the lake is 27 miles and the maximum width is 15 miles. Flathead Lake is home to several species of trout, as well as other fish, which could serve as a viable food source for a monster.

Sightings

The first verified sighting of the Flathead Lake Monster dates back to 1889, when Captain James C. Kerr, skipper of the passenger steamboat, the U.S. Grant, saw the creature. Captain Kerr, a veteran captain, who once made his living sailing the Great Lakes, skippered steamboats on Flathead Lake from 1886–1909. On the fateful day that would come to be the first documented sighting of the Flathead Lake Monster, Kerr noticed a 20-foot-long creature directly in the path of his boat.

The chance meeting between the U.S. Grant and the Flathead Lake Monster was also a mass-sighting, as many of the passengers aboard the steamer saw the beast as well. The creature was described as a “whale-like monster” and frightened one of the passengers so badly that he opened fire on the animal with his rifle. Fortunately for the creature, and a century's worth of legends to follow, the animal was not hit by the gunfire and was able to dive into the water, escaping unharmed.

Sightings, or at least authenticated sightings of the creature, were sporadic after Captain Kerr’s encounter. It seems that some reports attributed to the Flathead Monster might even be unrelated to the creature. Take for instance an encounter that occurred on May 27, 1937. A man named L. J. Eakins saw something swimming in the Flathead River that he said resembled a large dog. Eakins yelled at the animal, and it raised its head up out of the water at looked at him. It is hard to tell what Eakins saw on the river, and tougher yet to categorize it—but it does not match the description of what Captain Kerr and the crew and passengers of the U.S. Grant encountered or modern-day sightings.

In another seemingly unrelated occurrence, H.W. “Buck” Black claimed to have seen what he believed to be a 10–12-foot sturgeon. While traveling across the lake on a boat with his family, Black saw a large fish with its head under the water and about six feet of its back showing. The gargantuan fish was about 150 feet away from Black’s boat when he saw it.

Black’s sighting certainly lends credence to the theory that many people hold—the Flathead Lake Monster is merely a sturgeon. Another large fish type of sighting, one similar to what H.W. Black saw, occurred on June 12, 1955. Howard Gilbert and his wife saw two extremely large fish swimming and jumping in the water while driving along the lake. One of the fish was estimated to be 8–10 feet long. After watching the fish for a couple of minutes, one dove into the water and was not seen again by the couple. The other fish swam toward the bank.

A report that may or may not be related to the Flathead Lake Monster happened on August 19, 1965. E. E. Funke and his family saw a creature that left a wake in the water the size of a boat. Whatever they saw swam directly toward their boat. It had a dorsal fin and its skin was shiny and black. It seems as though this report could be seen as evidence for the sturgeon hypothesis.

One Hundred Documented Reports

Laney Hanzel, a retired biologist who spent 30 years working on Flathead Lake, collects and records sightings of the Flathead Lake Monster. There are about 100 documented sightings. Although Hanzel has never seen the creature himself, he takes sightings of the animal, and the people who report them very seriously. In an interview, Hanzel said, “With the evidence that I’ve seen, I would say they have been telling me the truth.”

Among the most intriguing reports that Hanzel has collected, is that of the Flathead Lake Monster being observed on two separate occasions by the same witnesses. Seeing the Flathead Lake Monster even one time is incredible—after all, Hanzel has spent over 30 years on the lake without a sighting. Getting a glimpse of the monster twice would almost be equivalent to being struck by lightning two times! However, this is exactly what happened to George Cote and his son Neal. On May 25, 1985, the pair saw a dark creature which they described as being twice as thick as a telephone pole. They claim that the animal was also about the length of a telephone pole. The creature had a snake-like head, and a tail reminiscent of an eel. Incredibly, on July 1, 1987, George and Neal Cote observed a creature matching the description of their earlier encounter.

Sightings of the Flathead Lake Monster hit their crescendo in 1993 when Laney Hanzel received seven reports. Paul Fugelberg, former editor of the Flathead Courier, who has also cataloged sightings— particularly early reports—received several witness statements as well. Hanzel could not point to anything, such as the weather or other factors, that would lead to such a rise in activity in the monster.

In 2005, Jim and Julia Manley were stranded on the lake after their boat had broken down. The couple were relaxing on the deck as they waited for help to arrive. Suddenly, they began to hear splashing in the water. The Manley’s then noticed a creature with several humps moving against the current!

Fortunately, Jim and Julia Manley came forward with their report so that it could be properly documented. Not everyone does. The fear of ridicule and the thought of damage to one’s reputation is a strong disincentive. Jim Manley said, “So many people afterwards came up to us and said, ‘You know, we saw something just like that but we never told anybody because we didn’t want everybody laughing at us.”

Did I Spot the Flathead Lake Monster?

During one of my visits to Flathead Lake, I was driving north on Montana Highway 35, just north of Bear Dance. Something about thirty feet long caught my eye in the lake. I slowed down and watched the water. I saw something dark in color that appeared to have a couple of humps suddenly dart beneath the surface. My wife asked, “Did you see that?” I told her I did, and asked her to keep watching. The road is narrow where we were driving and all the property is privately owned and there aren’t any pull-offs. Neither of us saw whatever it was come back up out of the water, and to this day, we wonder what we saw.

Did we see the Flathead Monster? I’m not ready to say that we did, perhaps it was a wake from boaters on the lake (although there were no boats nearby at the time), but whatever we saw was odd. I’ll leave it at that.

“You have a better chance of winning the Power Ball Lottery than experiencing a rare opportunity of sighting the Flathead Lake Monster.”

—Laney Hanzel

If you would like to read about the fascinating places I visit in my travels, consider checking out my Detours Into the Paranormal series of books.

The Flathead Lake Monster is featured in my first book, People are Seeing Something: A Survey of Lake Monsters in the United States and Canada.

Works Cited:

Baumler, Ellen. "Spirited History." In Montana Moments: History on the Go. (Helena, Mont.: Montana Historical Society Press, 2010), 147.

Eberhart, George M. Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Vol. 2. (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2002), 352.

Hanzel, Laney. "Flathead Lake Monster." Flathead Lakers. July 1, 1995. Accessed June 27, 2015. http://www.flatheadlakers.org/index.php?page=flathead-lake-monster.

"'Monsters and Mysteries in America': Flathead Lake Monster." Aol.on. Accessed June 27, 2015. http://on.aol.com/video/monsters-and-mysteries-in-america--flathead-lake-monster-517731421.

Lawrence, Ed. "Meet Flessie, the Monster of Flathead Lake." In Mysteries and Legends of Montana: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained. (Guilford, Conn.: TwoDot, 2007), 101.

Zoltan, Scott. "Tracking Flathead Lake Monster, Kalispell Man Records Sightings." NBCMontana. July 6, 2012. Accessed June 27, 2015. http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/Tracking-Flathead-Lake-monster-Kalispell-man-records-sightings/15423266.

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