FHC I 55k
Preston Pond
Logan, Utah. June 19, 19^+6
"In the early days in the history of Cache Valley, and especially
in the early days of Bear Lake Valley, there was nothing but a very
crude wagon road connecting Bear Lake Valley with Cache Valley, and it
was at least a two-day trip to go from Cache Valley to Bear Lake Valley.
At that time it was over Hud Fist and down into Round Valley.
"There was a certain family in Logan that decided they'd like to
go over to Bear Lake and spend a couple of days — there were a couple
of families. They hitched up a team on an old light spring wagon and
spent the first night half-way through the canyon. The next afternoon
about three or four o'clock they arrived at the Lake.
"Everybody thought, 'Boy, wouldn't a swim be swellI1 The beach
was quite open and sandy. They drove the team on to the beach and unhitched the horses and tied them to the wagon and gave them some hay —
quite a bunch of hay. The two fathers and mothers got into their bathing suits and went down on to the slope of the beach, and were just enjoying themselves in a grand way.
"All at once there was a great commotion in the water. Big waves
were coming in. All at once they noticed the water line was receding
down the beach. They couldn't quite understand it. They looked out
into the lake and a great monster was coming up — his head was already
up. He was as big as a couple of box cars. He was marching up toward
the shore. He opened his mouth — just imagine, he had a mouth as big
as a box car — and he was coming towards them. The water was receding
until there wasn't any water near them. They didn't know what to do.
"They called the kids and started toward the wagon, and just as
they were about to reach the wagon the monster opened up his mouth and
was going to take them every one in it, with the wagon and horses, and
a little dog began to bark and it detracted his attention, and he looked
back and saw his ugly self coming up out of the water like a long train
of twenty-five box cars. He saw how ugly he was and he began to cry,
and the tears were so copious that they washed himself back into the
lake."
