The
Water Monster,
A Lake Winnebago Legend
Many
years ago, a very large fish-like monster lived
in Lake Winnebago. The Winnebago Indians lived in
villages along the shores and knew of the ways of
this monster. They knew that he had a great appetite
for the moose, elk and deer that lived in the area
and came to drink and swim in the lake. The water
monster lay in the area where he knew the animals
came. When they came near him, he pulled them under
the water and ate them. He ate them whole&endash;
their horns, hides, hoofs and all.
The
Winnebago people knew of the danger of the monster
and never went near the area where it lived. One
day they saw the monster floating on the surface
of the water. It was obvious he was dead. After
looking closer, they saw that there was a large
antler of an elk sticking though his stomach. Because
he had eaten an elk with such large antlers, he
was unable to digest the horns, and this had killed
him.
The
Winnebago say that they never saw another monster
of this size in the lake. Still it is believed that
even today, there live smaller ancestors of the
monster in Lake Winnebago. They are called sturgeon.
Source:
Brown, Dorothy Moulding. "Wisconsin Indian Placenames,"
pamphlet available at some libraries.
