The myth originally grew from articles written in the 19th century by Joseph C. Rich, a Latter-day Saint settler in the area, purporting to report second-hand accounts of sightings of the creature.
[2] All descriptions of the Bear Lake Monster agree, but one team of folklorists stated that it "is reported to resemble a serpent, but with legs about eighteen inches [46 cm] long on which it marauds along the shoreline.
"[3] One article reported that the creature had "a large undulating body, with about 30 ft (9.1 m) of exposed surface, of a light cream color, moving swiftly through the water, at a distance of three miles from the point of observation.
"[4] Others reported seeing a monster-like creature which went faster than a locomotive and had a head variously described as being similar to that of a cow, otter, crocodile or a walrus (minus the tusks).
[7] The Deseret News continued to publish articles about the monster—skeptically at times and defensively at others—while other local newspapers turned to attack the stories of a water devil.
[8] In 1874, LDS bishop William Budge wrote a letter to the editor of the Ogden Junction newspaper, saying he and two friends had seen the monster, which he described as about 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m) long: "Its face and part of its head were distinctly seen, covered in fur, or short hair of a light snuff color.
Twenty-six years following his articles and allegations, Joseph C. Rich finally admitted that it had all been a "wonderful first-class lie".
[17] On another occasion, during the 1996 Raspberry Days, a competition was organized in Garden City to have local school children name the leviathan.