According to local folklore, an elderly resident of Robert's Arm known as Grandmother Anthony was startled while berry-picking by a giant serpent in the lake.

[3] A local resident reported a slim, black shape rise five feet from a patch of churning water before sinking out of sight, in early spring 1990.

He described it as "a black, fifteen foot long shape pitching forward in a rolling motion much as a whale does but with no sign of a fin.

[4] In these reports, Cressie was said to resemble a snake-like creature with a fish-like head:A passenger in a passing car shrieked at the driver as she looked out towards the lake and watched as the monster surfaced, its skin shiny and slick under the summer sun.

He claims the river otter"swims both under water and at the surface where its wake can make it appear much longer, and moves in an undulating (rising and falling) manner...In addition, multiple otters swimming in a line can give the effect of a single giant serpentine creature slithering with an up-and-down movement through water".

[6] For decades, Crescent Lake was used to transport more than half a million cords of pulpwood that was harvested from the surrounding areas and shipped to paper mills.

In 1991, the town of Robert's Arm erected a statue of Cressie at the entrance to the community, along with a storyboard which describes the alleged sightings.

[6] This statue greets tourists to the area, and is depicted with distinctly dragonlike features including green scales, a row of plates along its back, and fearsome teeth.

A 2012 newspaper article promoting local hiking spots used the monster as a potential attraction for hikers: The area is blazing with color in the fall when the birches, aspens and maples are changing colour.

And people will make fun of you and say you're telling lies"[10]In May 2008, local media reported that a production company from Montreal would travel to Robert's Arm to produce a show for the History Channel.