Comments on: Why Bear Lake Again?

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Thu, 04 May 2006 09:54:19 +0000

Thank you, MJK, D, and JW. Excellent contributions of what might be happening.

LDS appreciation of pioneer spirit/heritage/legacies + lots of old good sightings and stories there + vacationland setting = repeats often of the Bear Lake material from past centuries by modern newspeople.

By: mjk

mjk — Thu, 04 May 2006 03:08:21 +0000

I am LDS and I live in Logan, Utah, and take several trips to Bear Lake each summer. Although I’ve heard stories of the Bear Lake Monster around the campfire, the tales have never been associated even remotely with a religious framework. It’s just another tall tale like the legend of Old Ephraim (a local bear killed by a sheep rancher). What the LDS culture does bring to the table is a pride in its pioneer heritage. Mormons do tend to like odd bits of frontier lore, but not directly for its spiritual contribution to their faith. Combine that appreciation for history with the fact that Bear Lake is a popular Summer destination for much of the Wasatch Front, and you have yourself some good copy. Just my two cents.

By: Jeremy_Wells

Jeremy_Wells — Wed, 03 May 2006 16:49:27 +0000

Well according to this WONDERFUL “Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep” I’ve been reading, several prominent Mormons have seen it in the past.
Perhaps that is enough evidence to convince the devout that something lived in the lake at one time, if not today.
The LDS seem to have an obsession with all things Native though and fund archaeological digs throughout Latin America through their universities. Of course, either conciously or subconciously, church leaders likely hope to uncover evidence supporting the revelations of Joseph Smith.
Perhaps the obsession with the giant beaver, as a native american legend, is an outgrowth of this. In much the same way that the filming of architeuthis thrilled cryptozoologist, or that we point to the okapi and mountain gorilla as evidence large mammals can remain undetected under our very noses for centuries, perhaps the stories of giant beavers, supported by archaelogical evidence of their bones, lends that kind of circumstantial support to the Mormon faith.
Just an educated guess though.

Jeremy the armchair psychologist

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:07:55 +0000

Yes, all of that and more…but is there something about testimony, legacies, and being a Morman that is interrelated to the Utah Lake Monster stories?

By: Jeremy_Wells

Jeremy_Wells — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:05:30 +0000

Yeah. It’s slow news day filler, history, which small papers love (my most popular stories in the Scioto Voice were local history) and it’s evergreen, meaning they can write it up, hold it, and run it ANY time.

By: dambert

dambert — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 22:32:13 +0000

Tourist attraction? Nothing else to write about?