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Show Saturday, January 20, 1996 THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah Bv D. ROBFRT Oadtcd Special to The Daily Herald During earlier days in Utah Val-- ; ley, the muffled call of "Walla-la- -; " must have sent chills through the breech cloth of any .,:Shinob-fearin- g Ute warrior who "happened to be near Utah Lake or Provo River. It likely haunted the "dreams of sleeping Indian children. "Walla-la-loo-lowas the tall of the Water Babies, or awapicts, who the Indians believed inhabited the waters of the valley. ' There are various Utah Indian too-loo- f tales relating how these water beings came into existence. According to one, published by the Uintah-Oura- y Ute Tribe in Stories of Our Ancestors, Water Indians were the result of a wrestling match between a stout man named Pahahpooch and Wildcat. Pahah- pooch had never lost a match when he challenged Wildcat. The cat threw him into the middle of a body of water and said, "You will stay in the water all the time now and people will call you Water Indian." Pahahpooch must have eventually become so lonely that he tempted or forced other people into the water to live with him and . ! ; j i ! ! ; keep him company. Apparently the Utes believed ' these Water Indians, also called - Water Babies, assumed a variety of ?orms. Ute informants quoted in j1: Anne M. Smith's book, Ute Tales, Variously described them as being Iihe size of a. man's hand, as large as a 3- - or child, or the size ; of an alluring woman. ;v Most accounts agree that the V Water Beings had long, black hair ",' and cried like babies. Their task was to lure people into the water or swallow them and carry them into 'the depths. The lake or stream then -became the victim's home. It is ; possible these tales were attempts pn the part of the American Indians Jo explain what happened to their people who had drowned. Some of the tales in Smith's book reveal personal experiences with these inhabitants of the deep. For example, John Duncan, a Ute, related a story of a Water Baby that lived near Provo. Duncan said that !in his youth he knew a boy who neither believed in Water Babies nor thought they were bad. He Wanted proof that they existed. Once Duncan and his friend went fishing in Utah Valley and (. ' saw Water Babies on a flat rock ; drying their long hair. They were about the size of a child ; and were crying like babies. Dun-- ; can's friend wanted to see them ; more clearly, so even though the ; boys were afraid, they edged near-- ; er. The Water Babies became alarmed and dove into the water. ; Their, long hair floated on top. Then the water began to rise, and r the frightened boys ran away. That '..I was the only time Duncan ever ' a Water Baby. " full-gro- ' . "-s- When the early pioneers arrived, Native Americans told them about the Water Babies in the lake and river. The new inhabitants placed a different interpretation on these water beings. Many of the settlers came to Utah Valley from ! England and Denmark and were -- familiar with stories of dragons and kraken or sea monsters. The pioneers may not have been ab'e to believe in little people who lived in the lake,, swallowed people and Carried them into the water, but it '""Was apparently less difficult for some of them to believe in something just as chilling and dramatic u- water monsters. In August 1868, a report that a monster had been sighted in Bear Page B7 1 Lake caused the people of Utah Valley to reflect upon former monster sightings in Utah Lake. Salt Lake's Deseret News related that Indians wouldn't swim in Utah Lake because of the monsters that lived in its waters. It stated that the Indians believed "that at Pelican Point, in Utah Lake, one of these monsters swallowed an Indian whole, scalp lock and all!" The same article, which was sent in by Henry1 Walker of Lehi, reported several of what may have been the first sightings by white settlers of supposed monsters in Celebrates the ICENTENN IAL 1896-19Logo Ifsed By Pamssicn of I 96 the Utah Slale flood Cantonal Comwacn the lake. It stated that around 1864 Isaac Fox was hunting along the shore of Utah Lake just east of the source of the Jordan River. He was in the water and quietly moving around a point where some rushes grew when he heard a noise and glanced eastward toward what he supposed to be an animal. To his fear and surprise, he saw what looked like a large snake with dark, piercing eyes and a head that looked like that of a greyhound. The frightened Fox moved toward shore, and the animal followed until it came to within 35 feet of him. It then turned and, being joined by another of its breed, swam straight across the lake faster than a man could run. Fox estimated that the creatures were about 25 or 30 feet long. The following year a young son of Canute Peterson saw similar creatures near where they had been seen earlier by Fox. In 1866 a white man and a Native American were searching the lake shore about two miles east of Jordan River for some wild hay to cut. They heard splashing in the water and thought it was their dog chasing after something. The men the rushes near the water N went into to investigate. According to their story, they were startled by a creature that raised itself up about 50 feet away and "looked them full in the face." The Indian ran off and the other man retreated about 35 feet to higher ground where he turned and looked again at the creature. He reported that "its head was a foot across and shaped like a greyhound's; and it had the wickedest looking black eyes he had ever seen. It darted its tongue out which was red and forked." The color of the "snake" was a "deep yellow with black spots." While many people of Utah Valley believed these stories about monsters in the lake, there were also many skeptics. Peter Madsen, one of the pioneer fishermen of Utah Lake, was one such disbeliever. His opinion was reported in the Oct. 30, 1868, Deseret Evening News. According to Madsen there was on Utah Lake a peculiar type bird which he called a of duck-lik- e "hell diver." The bird, which was probably an American coot, had short wings with very few feathers and neither flew nor walked very well, but could dive and stay under water for as many as 15 minutes. Madsen described another peculiarity of the bird: "It sometimes makes its way across the water with great velocity, flapping its short and almost featherless wings, and leaving a wake behind it that gives the appearance of a serpent . dashing along." He believed this condition may have led some people to believe they had seen a strange creature. Madsen added that in the 14 years he had spent fishing the lake, he had never seen a monster. In spite of Madsen's attempt to discredit the idea that strange creatures lived in the lake, numerous .... A-si&y- f , reports of monster sightings remained in circulation, although interest began to wane after a few years. Then in September 1870 commercial fishermen from Springville brought the monsters back into everyday conversation. While plying their trade on the shores of Utah Lake, the Dallin family found the upper left portion of the skull of some large animal. The teeth were missing, but it was thought they had been as large as those of an ox. Its most remarkable feature was the five-inc- h tusk that projected from the rear section of the jaw. This strange find was judged by some of those who had examined it to be a remnant of the Utah Lake Monster. The Springville correspondent for the News, Charles D. Evans, had the skull in his possession and invited the populace to view it at any time. The Deseret Evening News had the following to say about the subject: "Men, whom we would readily believe upon any other subject, have stated that they saw a monster, and have described it with a minuteness that had left their hearers but little foundation to dispute them." That next spring another man who was likely to be taken seriously spotted the monster. On a clear, calm day, Goshen Bishop William Price was traveling south on the road west of Utah Lake when he, C. G. Webb and another man saw the Utah Lake Monster. It was about one mile from shore and traveling in the same direction. "It had a snakish appearance and stood several feet out of the water like a section of a large stove pipe," reported the Deseret Evening News. The bishop concluded that it was about 60 feet long. Monster stories then seem to have dropped from the papers for a number of years before being revived in the latter 1870s. Again the News reported, "It was stated in Lehi recently that a huge creature of the reptilian order had been seen in Utah Lake." By the 1880s, the News reported that many people were convinced that the lake monsters were a "large species of bug, commonly known as humbug." The Utah County Enquirer mentioned that people in Utah Valley had become "apt to discredit and laugh at the stories concerning the monster that is said to inhabit the waters of Utah Lake." But the Utah Lake Monster's . heyday was not quite over. The most detailed report of a sighting was soon to be made. In June of 1880, both the News and the Enquirer reported a monster sighting. Two truthful and intelligent young boys, Willie Roberts and George Scott, were taking a spring bath in Utah Lake near Provo. The boys had swum out a fair distance when they noticed something that looked like a dog or a beaver swimming toward them. They didn't pay much attention to the animal until roar. they heard a lion-lik- e Looking up, they saw a strange animal approaching them "occasionally raising itself out of the water and showing its four legs which were as long as a man's - Photo courtesy of Utah State Historical Society. A claims of monster sightings at the lake, most ermen did not believe the tales. solitary man dares to fish in the north end of Utah in the early 20th century. Despite the many fish-Lak- e X til ,f H l niTiiiirTn'iiiMiiiiitiif ii nm irimnTOrifi mi Y4 $ 'manum intrrmaBTitiir-iirwif- nwai a Photo courtesy ot Paul Nicholes This portrait of the George C. Scott family was tak- monster in 1830, when he was 8 years old. He said en around 1930. George Scott saw the Utah Lake the strange creature made "savage gestures." It was reported to be a convinced their parents and neighbors that the animal the boys had animal that held its seen was a monster or something head above water while swimequally frightful. ming. It was about four feet long, f Two . weeks later, the letter of black in color, and shaped like a "i another unbeliever was printed in seal. The fisherman was attemptthe Deseret News. D.T. LeBaron of, ing to net the strange beast and "Spring Lake stated that he had bring it to American Fork for a been on the lake hundreds of times special exhibition on July 4.' in 25 years and had never seen a W.W. Robinson, one of the oldmonster. He continued: est residents of American Fork, "I have seen ... animals of 'I remembered how a similar animal s almost every imaginable size and that description had been answering shape, also large vessels, floating seen people about 40 years by many logs, etc., but they always turned It earlier. had never been caught. He bunches of moss, out to be rushes, that the strange beast must ordikind of else thought some pelicans, a in the nearby mountains nary animal or fowl, which being live "partly H . i MM m Photo courtesy of Madsen Family Peter Madsen was an avid fisherman of Utah Lake who tried to discredit the lake monster stories of the 1800s. arm." The animal's head appeared to be 2 or 3 feet long and its mouth, which looked like that of an alligator, looked 1 8 inches wide. The frightened boys swam toward shore as quickly as they could, and the strange animal followed making "savage gestures." When they finally reached land, they turned and saw that the animal was only a few yards from shore. Not waiting to see if the creature could travel on land as well as it did in water, the two friends hurried honie to tell their parents of the experience. n manner in The which the boys told their story terror-stricke- magnified upon the water, multiply their proportions to a great degree. At times a rush not larger than a man's finger drifting at a distance, looks like a mammoth saw log, and any one at first seeing it would declare it to be such ." LeBaron's argument must have been convincing, for no articles attempting to debunk his statement apparently reached the papers. The people of Utah County were probably privately debating the pros and cons of monster life in Utah Lake for many more years, however. Then in 1921 the monster tales were briefly revived, only to sink ingloriously again into the depths of the lake. The American Fork Citizen reported that Frank Grasteit, a commercial fisherman on Utah Lake, and others were looking for. "a strange sea animal of some sort" that had been seen by several people during the last several months near Goshen and Mosida. and partly in the lake." The animal was not caught, but a letter written by Robert Walker and sent to the American Fork paper seemed to successfully debunk the fears of any alarmed citizens of the valley. He wrote that the animal seen was nothing more than a black otter about the size of a dog. Fortunately the animal lived on fish and was not harmful to humans. According to Walker, otters "lived around sloughs and some have been seen near the sugj ar factory pond." It had been years since an animal of this kindjhacj : been seen in the valley. j For more than 70 years now nothing further has been reported on the status of the monster. How ever, future water skiers may want to keep a sharp watch for the missing kraken. D. Robert Carter is a local historian residing in Springville. Gulf war veteran s getting many health problems, little help ; By GENEVIEVE ANTON Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Sgt. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. veteran of Shawn Eisenberg, a " the Persian Gulf War, came to pick up his wife at the Fort Carson hospital a few months ago and collapsed from a massive heart attack outside the front door. He died within the hour. "The doctors were baffled. Eisenberg s arteries were mostly blocked, yet he was his- young and healthy, with no family of heart problems'. tory j But his wife, Barbara, thinks she knows .' ;o ' ,'. ' the reason. the in emergency room that "Sitting it all on me dawned it night, suddenly said. goes back to the desert," she The Eisenbergs were both combat Inedics in a reserve unit that spent four months in the Persian Gulf. They were ll fires, pesticides, untestexposed to ed drugs and possibly chemical agents. :',."He isn't the first person from ourit sunit all to get sick," Barbara said. "I think, it. of matter proving related. It's just a Proving it won't be easy. - This week marks the fifth anniversary of the Persian Gulf War; the acnal bomb oil-we- ing against Iraq began Jan. 17 at '3 a.m. Baghdad time, according to Pentagon officials. The short conflict" ended in victory, but it left a legacy of mysterious illnesses and broken faith. or 1 An estimated 77.300 veterans who the of fought 695,000 against percent have contacted the departments of Iraq defense or veterans affairs to complain of an odd assortment of symptoms such as fatigue, memory loss, joint pain and respiratory or gastrointestinal ills. Many are getting sicker each day. In some cases, their families have gotten sick, too. A few, like Eisenberg, have died. and a cure Yet the search for a cause has turned up nothing concrete. Many sick veterans feel forgotten and betrayed. Some have lost hope they will ever be as war casualties. . counted, or compensated, "We're falling into a big black hole; nothing is happening," said retired Maj. Denise Nichols, head of the Desert Storm ' Veterans of the Rocky Mountain Region. Government officials insist they are committed tt? helping these veterans, but that many of the controversial theories offered by civilian doctors and scientists need a thorough review. 1 "There's undoubtedly a clear mistrust of government; some people wonder if we really have our heart in it," said VA spokesman ferry Jemison. "In part, that's because of our inability to get answers at this point." But veterans say the government has been slow to act, considering that the first reports of health problems among Gulf Indiana surfaced veterans among reservists less than six months after the end of the war. A team of Army scientists determined their symptoms were caused by. "mental stress." It took two years before the military would admit that these cases and similar ones that arose later might have a physical cause. . Congress had to pressure the Department of Veterans Affairs to start keeping track of Gulf veterans by, establishing a Persian Gulf Registry in November 1992. Today, 58,800 veterans have taken or signed up for the free medical exam. In 1993, the VA set up three national referral centers to evaluate and treat the Gulf War Syndrome. Although almost 9,000 Gulf veterans have health problems that can't be explained, only 280 have been sent to referral centers. Veterans affairs hospitals also refused to treat veterans whose illnesses were undiagnosed or couldn't be linked to service in the Gulf until it was ordered to by Congress. A 1994 survey of 2,500 Gulf veterans by the Veterans of Foreign Wars found those who did get care rated it as poor or only satisfactory. Compensation is also a sticking point. A law that went into effect last February allows the VAto award disability benefits to chronically disabled Gulf veterans with an undiagnosed illness that showed up within two years after the war. However, 95 percent of the 6,700 claims examined so far under the law have been denied. VA officials say that's because most veterans had symptoms that were easily diagnosed, not severe enough to affect their work or showed up after the two-yelimit had expired. Karen Anderson, a Maryland reservist who got so sick she quit her administrative job and moved in with; her parents in Colorado Springs, has been waiting two years for the VA to approve Rcr disability request. "I'm really frustrated with the way this has been handled, Anderson said. "I think this problem should, have been, , ar resolved a long time ago." The Pentagon has argued fronTthe beginning that there is no common iUness among Gulf War veterans and that their health problems are no different from those of the rest of the American population. But there are signs that things might turn around. The Clinton administration has set' up an independent commission to evaluate the government's response, and a board has been established to coordinate; research, health care and compensation issues among government agencies. More than 50 studies on Gulf War illness are now under way, including a' VA comparison of 15,000 sick Gulf veterans to a control group that didn't deploy. ' . In 1995, the Pentagon spent more (hail $5 million on related research, and it is declassifying and making public millions of military records that might reyeaj potential causes of the illness. It has set up a reporting hot line and a computer site called Gulfiink read by 2.500 to 4)00 people each week. (Gulfiink can ba it reached on the World Wide Web http:www.me. titech.ac.jp:www.dtic.dl a.milgulfiink) |
