Humor, Human Interest and Folklore section of Treasured Tidbits

              SECTION FOUR Humor, Human Interest and Folklore. The Bear Lake Monster Western folklore abounds thoughout the Rockv Mountain area
Unless one is a purist, all he has to do is accept the version that suits him best. The original might be harder to trace. Often times we find the beginnings steeped in the early legends of the area Indians. Occasionally, some prominent character of time such as Jim Bridger or "Peg Leg" Smith promoted a camfire yarn that caught on and became a legend of the area. Such local characters as "Six Shooter Sal", "Caribou Jack" or "Peg Leg" can still be recalled by some residents, but it is doubtful if any individual or legend, prefabrication of trapper, or custom of Indian gained as much prominence for an area or captured the attention of so many people as did the story of the Bear Lake Monster. It spewed forth from the fertile mind of Joseph C. Rich in the late 1860's and became a prominent topic of conversation for the next forty years. As to why the monster was born, there is considerable controyersy. Some authors say that Joseph, the versatile son of Bear Lake's founding father, Charles Coulson Rich, was in love and created the monster to show his beloved, Ann Eliza Hunter of Salt Lake City that life was just as exciting in the wilderness of Bear Lake as it was in the bigger metropolis. Another claimed that the young lawyer had lost his father's