Historic monster reports in Nevada

1. 1869
2. The Elko Independent. Elko, Nev. · Oct. 20, 1869 · Page 2

   The monster snake of Pyramid Lake

   Pyramid Lake, Nevada approx. · Oct. 1869

   The Elko Independent said miners and prospectors had long passed on a Paiute story of a monster snake in Pyramid Lake, and that local Native people would not go near the water. The paper then gave a new account from men who said they had glimpsed it.

3. 1884
4. Morning Appeal. Carson City, Nev. · Oct. 22, 1884 · Page 1

   A huge buzzing bird over a Carson ranch

   Road from Carson City to Genoa, Nevada approx. · Oct. 1884

   A farmer on the Genoa road heard a strange noise in the air at midnight and saw what looked like a huge bird hovering over his ranch, giving off a buzzing sound. He fetched his shotgun.

5. 1896
6. Lyon County Times. Silver City, Nev. · Nov. 28, 1896 · Page 3

   Nevada men say they saw it weeks earlier

   Silver City, Nevada · Nov. 28, 1896

   After reading the California stories, two Silver City men said they had seen the same airship about six weeks before, though at the time they took it for a meteor or a comet.

7. 1907
8. The White Pine News. Ely, Nev. · June 1, 1907 · Page 1

   A serpent in Walker Lake, Nevada

   Walker Lake, near Schurz, Nevada · May 1907

   An engineer said he watched a black, square-headed animal tear through Walker Lake throwing spray for ten minutes. Later two miners said they rowed toward what looked like a man in a skin and saw a creature they put at 80 feet long. The papers noted that Paiute people by the lake had long spoken of one.

   Also printed in 10 other papers

   • Carson City Daily Appeal., Carson City, Nev., July 13, 1907, p. 1
   • The Washington Herald, place not recorded, Sept. 22, 1907, p. 28
   • Virginia Gazette., Williamsburg, Va., Oct. 5, 1907, p. 5
   • The Marion Daily Mirror, Marion, Ohio, Oct. 7, 1907, p. 1
   • Gilpin Observer, place not recorded, Oct. 10, 1907, p. 3
   • The Prescott Daily News, place not recorded, Oct. 12, 1907, p. 3
   • Tazewell Republican., Tazewell, Va., Oct. 17, 1907, p. 3
   • Unnamed newspaper, place not recorded, Oct. 25, 1907, p. 1
   • The Logan Republican., Logan, Utah, Nov. 2, 1907, p. 6
   • The Delta Independent, place not recorded, Nov. 15, 1907, p. 7
9. 1909
10. The Silver State News. Winnemucca, Nev. · Aug. 31, 1909 · Page 1

    The Walker Lake monster

    Walker Lake, Nevada approx. · Aug. 31, 1909

    Visitors to Walker Lake had long reported a monster serpent or prehistoric beast in the desert lake, and several mining men claimed to have seen it. A new account came via a Reno police captain's brother, mining at Lucky Boy. A Tonopah paper headlined it as Reno booze at work.

    Probably a hoax or tall tale The paper's headline blamed the drink.

    Also printed in 2 other papers

    • Tonopah Daily Bonanza., Tonopah, Nev., Sept. 2, 1909, p. 1
    • Lovelock Tribune, Lovelock, Nev., Sept. 3, 1909, p. 1

Other states

• California 30
• Connecticut 11
• Delaware 5
• Illinois 10
• Indiana 6
• Kansas 8
• Kentucky 7
• Maine 5
• Massachusetts 18
• Minnesota 5
• Missouri 6
• Nebraska 9
• New Jersey 19
• New York 18
• Ohio 7
• Pennsylvania 7
• Washington 7
• West Virginia 7
• Wisconsin 7

All historic encounters

Newspaper pages: Library of Congress, Chronicling America (US newspapers published before 1927 are in the public domain). Text search: American Stories (Dell, Bryan, Carlson and others, CC BY 4.0). Summaries are our own. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).