Thought They Saw A Sea Serpent
Eau Claire Leader | July 17, 1909

At Lake Chetek, or rather on the Kagamo the cottages saw a curious sight a few evenings ago, and at once the cry was passed along the shore “A sea-serpent.” It turned out to be two venturesome young ladies and a young man. They had rigged up a long ladder, and with only their heads poking through were paddling and swimming across the lake. In the dusk of the evening the spectacle presented was a novel one, and the effect quite startling.

Chad’s Take: Where Did All the Serpents Go?

The important part of this article is not the disappointing fact that the “serpent” turned out to be nothing more than some mischievous youngsters playing a prank. What stands out is the public’s immediate belief that the odd disturbance trolling the water was indeed a real sea serpent. During the 1800s and early 1900s, sea serpents were reported around Wisconsin on a nearly weekly basis. While a few of these reports ended up being easily explained, many of the more dramatic sightings baffled both the public, and the scientists of the day. I have uncovered several dozen Wisconsin sea serpent sightings from every corner of the state. What I have found is that these sightings were prevalent all the way up until the 1930s. Then for some unexplainable reason the media reports of sea serpents abruptly stopped. It is unknown whether the general public no longer spotted these creatures, or whether the newspapers simply did not report them. Regardless of the reason for the stoppage, sea serpent reports all but dried up in Wisconsin during the 1930s.

However, there was one exception to the sea serpent shortage, and that was the regular sightings of a strange animal living in Lake Pepin, which borders Wisconsin and Minnesota. Reports of the affectionately named “Pepie” date back to the early Native Americans who regularly told stories of the majestic creature inhabiting the waters of the lake. Of course all of these sea serpent tales are nothing more than superstitious belief from a time long gone, right? Well some are so convinced that Pepie is alive (or that tourists will come looking for it) that Lake City, MN is offering $50,000 to the first person to gather proof of Pepie’s existence. For the Wisconsin adventurers among you this may be the perfect excuse to dust off the fishing pole and head out to capture both Pepie and the $50,000 reward.

Keep an eye out …