Alkali Monster

Western Nebraska is home to a lake monster tradition believed to predate the arrival of white settlers to the region. It has been said that Walgren Lake, formerly known as Alkali Lake, has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster. The creature—Nebraska’s only lake monster—is called the Alkali Monster, and alternately, the Walgren Lake Monster. Generic terms used to refer to the beast include, "horse-head alligator" and "great horned alligator." These descriptions refer to the bony protrusion, a single horn, like that of a rhinoceros, said to jut out of the creature's head.

Walgren Lake is the centerpiece of the Walgren Lake State Recreation Area, located southeast of the town of Hay Springs, Nebraska. Walgren Lake makes up about 50 acres of the 80 acre recreational area. The Walgren Lake State Recreation Area is reached by gravel roads and has 40 primitive campsites—a perfect place for a weekend fishing trip.

Origins of the Monster

The Alkali Monster, if it exists, inhabits a very small lake—less than ideal for a large, aquatic cryptid. There are very few reported sightings of the creature, some of which are questionable at best. That being said, the indigenous people of the area are said to have had encounters with a beast in the lake. 

For quite some time the monster has been well established in the local folklore. According to the Nebraska State Historical Society, author Mari Sandoz (1896-1966) wrote a novelette about the Alkali Monster titled, Ossie and the Sea Monster. The monster is also referenced in a book that Sandoz penned called Old Jules, published in 1935.1

The Alkali Monster gained notoriety in 1923 when J. A. Johnson had an encounter with the beast. Johnson’s story was told by the newspaper, The Omaha World-Herald.According to Johnson, he and two friends saw the massive animal while camping by the lake. The beast was said to have been about 20 yards from the campers when they observed it. According to Johnson, when the creature noticed the men, it let out a “dreadful roar.”  Before it dove into the water and disappeared, it thrashed its mighty tail. The men described the creature as looking similar to an alligator, though much larger. They estimated the length of the animal to be 40 feet, and it was a dull grayish brown in color. The monster had a single horn that protruded from its head between its eyes and nostrils. Some have proposed that what Johnson and his companions saw was an abnormally large beaver.2This would be quite the case of misidentification! I find it easier to believe that Johnson made the story up, that the encounter never happened, than to believe that he thought a large beaver was a 40 foot alligator-like monster.

Talk of the Alkali Monster was not confined to western Nebraska. A St. Petersburg, Florida newspaper,The Evening Independent,ran an article titled, “Anglers’ Club to Wage War on Nebraska Lake Monster,” on July 24, 1923. According to the report, a fishing club had ordered a harpoon and whaling gun from a mail order catalogue. Apparently, people in the area had become fed up with the beast. Two weeks before the article went to print, three tourists, who claimed to have been chased for several yards by the monster, implored the Hay Springs chamber of commerce to rid the lake of the creature. For over two years the animal had been terrorizing swimmers on the lake and had even been snatching livestock. On two occasions a posse was formed to search for the creature. In each case, nothing was found.3

Colonel John G. Maher is credited, or blamed, for creating the hoax of the Alkali Monster. Maher was a sensationalist writer for eastern newspapers, and was known to have perpetrated hoaxes.4The outlandish stories that he wrote were often picked up by papers looking to boost their readership. 

The Nebraska State Historical Society has a picture from around 1950 of the supposed monster. The picture is an obvious fake, a poorly edited picture of a mudpuppy salamander made to look like an enormous monster possibly going after a car.5Interestingly, the mudpuppy is a salamander known to make noise, and the Alkali Monster has a reputation for letting out a dreadful roar. The picture is ridiculous to say the least, although some might find it amusing.

The Alkali Monster in Contemporary Times

Outdoor Nebraskamagazine ran a piece on the monster in their January 1962 issue. An artist’s depiction of the beast attacking livestock is featured on the cover. In 1985, Hay Springs, Nebraska celebrated its one hundredth birthday. A likeness of the legendary monster from Walgren Lake was featured on centennial promotional items such as t-shirts.6Interestingly, also in 1985, the monster made a reappearance. A report in the May 28 edition of The Milwaukee Journalsaid that visitors to the lake on Memorial Weekend saw a creature matching Alkali Monster descriptions. The onlookers saw a green creature over thirty feet in length in the middle of the lake.7

It is hard to know how seriously to take this report. On its face, it seems as though it is not a coincidence that this sighting occurred around the time of the Hay Springs centennial celebration. Maybe the sighting occurred out of a sense of expectancy. All of the attention around the legendary monster could easily cause well-meaning people to mistakenly see something that wasn’t there. There may have been a more nefarious motive—perhaps the attention around the legend was sufficient reason for someone to make up a sighting and report it to the media. I’ve said before—it is hard to understand the mind of a hoaxer. Why do they do it? What enjoyment do they get out of fooling people?

Perhaps though, there is another explanation to the 1985 sighting. Conceivably, it could have occurred exactly as reported. Maybe an unexplained creature was spotted in the lake just as the report states. Could it be possible? After all, legends of a mysterious creature living in the lake predate settlers from the East, newspapers, ridiculously doctored photographs, and hoaxes. Could there be something to these legends? 

As stated earlier, Walgren Lake is less than an ideal home for a large, Loch Ness Monster type of creature. It is a small lake, maybe even a large pond by some standards. During periods of drought, especially in the late 1800s, Walgren Lake nearly went dry. The reduced water level, down to almost a puddle, would have made it easy to find evidence of the creature, if not the creature itself. However, nothing was ever reported. Long after the water levels were replenished and the creature came to fame in the 1920s, how would it have gotten there? A similar case has been recorded in Southern California’s Lake Elsinore. Extended periods of drought, exposing a lake bottom void of a large carcass, have made it seem unlikely that Lake Elsinore was ever inhabited by a lake monster. 

As unlikely as the existence of the Alkali Monster appears to be, I am decidedly noncommittal on the issue. I prefer to keep an open mind to the possibility. If pressed for an answer though, I would have to say that the Alkali Monster probably exists only in folklore. 

End Notes

1. Greg Wagner. "Throwback Thursday: MONSTER!" NEBRASKAland Magazine. April 3, 2014. Accessed August 1, 2015. http://neblandvm.outdoornebraska.gov/2014/04/throwback-thursday-monster/.

2. Wagner, "Throwback Thursday: MONSTER!"

3. "Anglers' Club to Wage War on Nebraska Lake Monster." The Evening Independent, July 24, 1923.

4. Wagner, "Throwback Thursday: MONSTER!"

5. Nebraskahistory.org. Accessed August 1, 2015. http://nebraskahistory.org/images/sites/mnh/weird/monster_big_alkali.jpg.

6. Wagner, "Throwback Thursday: MONSTER!"

7. "Nebraska Revisited by 'Lake Creature'" The Milwaukee Journal, May 28, 1985.

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