Chasing the history of the Flathead Lake Monster

Since it was first sighted by a steamboat captain and about 100 passengers in 1889, the Flathead Lake Monster has become a part of the culture of Flathead Lake, and has inspired monster hunts, nationally televised documentaries and even a brand of huckleberry soda.

Laney Hanzel, a former Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist who retired in 1994 after 38 years with the agency, has in the past two decades emerged as the unofficial historian of the monster — or “creature,” as he prefers to put it.

“If you think of a monster, in general you think of something that’s hideous, that’s dangerous and could hurt people,” he said. “No boats were crushed, nobody was eaten. They scared people because they didn’t know what it was, but I thought a ‘monster’ might be a little too strong.”

While he said most large lakes, like Washington and Pend O’reille, have their own “lake monster” lore, Flathead is relatively unique given the sheer volume of sightings.

By Laney’s count, the creature has been reported 103 times in its 125-year history. While some reports near Angel Point referred to a fish-like creature, Hanzel said the majority have been remarkably consistent — even before the legend started gaining notoriety in the area.

“It was kind of a unique thing that they described as being a long, eel-shaped thing that would undulate through the water, and it was scaly, black and had black eyes,” he said of the record 13 sightings in 1993. “Even when there hadn’t been anything published, most people described the same thing.”

And lest you jump to the conclusion that the sightings have all come from fishermen or tourists who had one too many out on the lake, Hanzel said he’s gotten reports from lawyers, scientists, doctors and even a visiting policeman from Chicago.

Jim Manley of Polson, a Lake County district judge, is among them.

About 10 years ago, Manley and his wife got in their boat and cruised out to Big Arm Bay for a quiet day on the lake. After docking, they went out for an evening swim in the calm waters. No one else was around, he said, and when they got back to the boat, the battery was dead. They had left the lights on.

He said they called their daughter to come rescue them in her boat.

“We were sitting there, half asleep, and it was really quiet,” he said. “Then we heard a sound from about 75 yards away, like a splashing, and we were looking at each other like ‘What’s making that noise?’ because we knew there weren’t any waves.”

Manley describes the splashing sound as having a regular, rhythmic quality. They walked to the edge of the boat and peered into the darkness.

“I don’t know what we saw, but it was something that was dark, and it had two, three, maybe four humps that were three or four feet out of the water,” he remembers. “It was moving really slowly, and sometimes we’d see what like a different number of humps. I knew it wasn’t a log, and it wasn’t a wave.”

Whatever Manley saw, he said it moved perpendicular to the current and appeared to be headed north toward either Cromwell or Wild Horse Island. He never saw a head or a tail, but said the object appeared to be about the size of their 25-foot boat.

When his daughter and her husband arrived on their boat, Manley said he tried to point to the creature, but they thought he was just waving to them. As they approached, it slowly subsided into the water.

Manley said he’s spoken with biologists, trying to find an explanation for what he and his wife saw that night. For one, it’s hard to explain the steady rhythm of splashes he heard that night. Still, he’s skeptical about the existence of a giant lake monster.

“I’m pretty convinced by the scientists that nothing like that could live in Flathead Lake, because it couldn’t sustain itself,” he said. “All I know is nobody’s been able to explain to us anything that’s consistent with what we saw and heard.”

As a biologist, Hanzel isn’t sold on the idea of a prehistoric creature occupying the depths of the lake, but that doesn’t take away from the fun of hearing people’s stories, and getting to wonder about the reality.

“I’ve visited with a lot of these people, and when I do, I let them do the talking. I don’t lead them; it’s too easy to lead people. I only recorded the information they told me,” he said. “My feeling is I have to believe what these people are telling me, but I don’t know what it might have been.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or swilson@dailyinterlake.com.