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The TownHAVE you *een it—and them?“It is the latest little booklet put out by Charles E. Brown of the State Historical, society and of the Wisconsin Folk-, lore society which is doing so much to -revive interest in the legends and folk stories of this.state. He calls this mighty absorbing booklet Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Wefrd Water Monsters in the Four Lakes, Rock, Red Cedar, Koshkonong, Geneva, Elkhard, Michigan and Other Lakes. ■•J, 4*“Them” be the sarpifits” told about in Dr. Brown’s tales. Be. doesn’t want to scare you plumb to death so he reassures you in the foreword of his book by saying: «4- • 4* ,“The first Wisconsin specimen (of sea serpent) seems to have appeared in 1882. Logs, treetrunks, branches, large fish and overturned boats, floating in the water, may account for some of these water dragons.4* 4* +“More than likely some of the stories were started by real estate promoters, summer resort proprietors or others likely to benefit from the publicity which a lively sea serpent might give to a particular locality.* + 4*“Superstitious and imaginative persons and local jokers assisted.A resort lake without a sea serpent . was behind the timas. Water demons were popular animals in the news columns of 40 to 50 years ago. They still are.• 4* 4* 4*MONONA’S MONSTER44 A CCORDING to this booklet,there have been (maybe still are! BOO-EYi)*sea Serpents in our beautiful chain of lakes here. One is on record as having appeared in Lake Monona on June 12, 1897. It was said to be at least 20 feet long and to have swallowed a dog that was swimming in the lake. A curious monster, perhape this same sea serpent, was also seen oil the shores of Tonywatha and Winne-quah around that time.MENDOTA’S “BOZHO”44 A FISHERMAN angling offthe end of Picnic Pointin Lake Mendota in thefall of 1917, received the frightof his life when he saw a largesnake-like head with large jawsand blazing eyes, emerge fromthe deep water not more than ahundred feet away, says Dr.Brown, who calls this sea monster“Bozho. ,y “ ' :• Boaho-*^ appear* afiata^'awhile* ‘later, this time coming right to town and licking, the soles of a co-ed's feet as she lay sun-tanning her back one day on the pier. Several waterspouts which occurred in Lake Mendota were explained as probably caused by Bozho taking a shower bath. Bozho finally disappeared, possibly by way of the Yahara river..4 4» 4*DON’T MIX ’EM!^^rpHIS water dragon is not to1 be confused, says Dr. Brown, • “with the old Indian water spirits—long-tailed,horned, cat-like animals — believed to have a den in the deep water off Governor’s Island onthe north shore of the lake.+“Several summers after the appearance of the sea serpent in Lake Mendota, a great snake-like creature was reported seen in Lake Waubesa. Could this have been the Lake Mendota specimen which had now taken up its residence there?4* 4* 4*, vWHEW!A SUMMER resident of Edwards Park described thething as being from 60 to 70 feet long and of a dark green color. Later a man and his wife were swimming off- Waubesa Beach and were. frightened almost to death when they saw the head of an unfamiliar creature rise to the surface of the water, its eyes glittering ■ hungrily.4» 4* 4*Lake Kegonsa and Lake Wingra also are reputed to have had their sea serpents in the past, Exist-ing accounts are rather confusing —but intriguing.4* 4* +You’ll get a lot of fun out of this booklet. It tells not only about our local sea serpents but about those that are purported to have been seen from time to time in Rock, Red Cedar, Pewaukee, Elkhom and Koshkonong lakes, as well as in Lake Geneva and Lake Michigan.+ 4* +LITTLE SERPENTSTHE little garter snakes about a foot long, seen crawling leisurely on the cement in the 100 block on W, Wilson ,st. theother day in the warm morningsunshine, may have been greatgrandchildren of one of those sea serpents These snakes come from dens on the bank of Lake Monona in that section. Every year they appear by the dozens. Perfectly harmless!3ig Hole Battlefield National Mon-Lent, in Montana, was visited by 75 persons in 1940.
Newspaper Details
Madison Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Jun 05, 1942
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Uw -.
WI, USA 20 Oct 2021
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