FIELD FILE · ALKALI-LAKE-MONSTERREPTILIANHOAX / DEBUNKED
Alkali Lake Monster
Also known as Walgren Lake Monster, Giganticus Brutervious, Monster of Walgren Lake
A 40-foot horned reptile said to lurk in a small Sandhills lake near Hay Springs, Nebraska – a 1920s newspaper sensation widely blamed on a famous hoaxer.
The Alkali Lake Monster is said to live in a small, shallow lake in the Sandhills of northwestern Nebraska, a few miles from the town of Hay Springs. The lake was renamed Walgren Lake after the 1920s, but the monster kept both names. In its best-known description it is a huge, dull gray or brown animal shaped like an alligator, some 40 feet long, with a horn-like point between its eyes and nostrils.
Rumors circulated in the summer of 1921, and the Hay Springs News carried the story that September. The story took off in 1923, when the Omaha World-Herald carried the account of J. A. Johnson, who said he and two companions had watched the beast from about 20 yards away while camping by the lake. Papers across the country repeated the tale, and it reached as far as the Times of London. Efforts to catch the creature, unsurprisingly, came to nothing.
The story grew wilder with each retelling. Novelist Mari Sandoz mentioned it in her 1935 biography of her father, Old Jules, noting that some local believers thought Satan had placed it there to test their faith. The Federal Writers’ Project’s 1938 collection of Nebraska tall tales added that the monster ate livestock, shook the earth when it moved, made farmers seasick, and breathed out a green mist that left travelers lost.
Most historians credit the legend to John G. Maher of Chadron, a newspaper correspondent and politician with a long record of practical jokes – including a cement “petrified man” – who supplied colorful stories to papers far beyond Nebraska. Whatever its origins, Hay Springs has adopted the monster as a hometown mascot, with shirts, buttons and a green replica built to Johnson’s description.
- Type
- Reptilian
- Status
- Hoax / debunked
- First reported
- 1921
- Best-known location
- Walgren (formerly Alkali) Lake, near Hay Springs, Nebraska
- Also called
- Walgren Lake Monster, Giganticus Brutervious, Monster of Walgren Lake
- Reported in
- Nebraska
What witnesses describe
An alligator-like reptile about 40 feet long, dull gray or brown, with a single horn between the eyes and nostrils. Other versions make it a giant catfish or mudpuppy; tall-tale versions give it earth-shaking footsteps and a disorienting green breath.
Where and when it’s seen
Walgren Lake, a small, shallow, alkaline Sandhills lake of roughly 50 acres southeast of Hay Springs in Sheridan County, Nebraska. Reports came mainly in the early 1920s, often at night or in fog.
Notable sightings
- September 16, 1921The <em>Hay Springs News</em> reports <em>Hay Springs News</em>, Hay Springs, Nebraska
Following a summer of rumors, the local paper reported a monster in Alkali Lake, helping launch a story that would spread nationally.
- 1923J. A. Johnson’s account Alkali Lake, near Hay Springs, Nebraska
Johnson told the Omaha World-Herald that he and two friends had seen a 40-foot, horned, alligator-like animal from about 20 yards away while camping by the shore. The story was picked up as far away as London.
- 1938The tall-tale version Federal Writers’ Project, Nebraska
A Depression-era collection of Nebraska folklore embroidered the story with livestock-eating, earth-shaking footsteps and a mysterious green mist.
What could explain it?
- The legend is widely attributed to Chadron hoaxer John G. Maher, who planted sensational stories in newspapers to sell copy and amuse himself.
- The lake is small and shallow, with no food supply or room for a population of giant reptiles; alligators cannot survive Nebraska winters.
- The Nebraska State Historical Society has suggested that what Johnson saw may have been an unusually large beaver.
- Competing descriptions – alligator, catfish, mudpuppy – are typical of a story spread by rumor and newspaper exaggeration rather than repeated observation.
Legend, culture and tourism
Hay Springs embraces its monster with souvenirs and community events, and the story is a staple of Nebraska folklore collections and of Mari Sandoz’s classic Old Jules. Walgren Lake is now a small state recreation area popular for fishing and camping.
Places to visit
A small state recreation area around the monster’s lake, with primitive camping and fishing.
Where it’s reported
Alkali Lake Monster in the news
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Sources
First published · Updated
