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Is a mysterious creature lurking in Lake Champlain?
(Photo: Joseph Gagné 2011) |
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had a
particular fascination for lake monsters. Even though nowadays I highly doubt
their existence, their social and folkloric impact still peaks my curiosity. After
all, who doesn’t like the idea of a legendary creature lurking just underneath
the surface of your favourite fishing hole? If you ask me, lake monsters hold
sway in man’s imagination as the embodiment of the mystery in life, as well as
the thrill of potential discovery...
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| The infamous Mansi photograph |
Probably the second most famous lake monster in
the world after the Loch Ness Monster is Champ, or Champy, from Lake Champlain.
Even though Champ has undergone numerous transformations in the public’s psyche
throughout the years, from a giant eel-like creature to an actual “sea serpent”,
his current iteration has been cemented as looking like a modern-day plesiosaur
thanks to the infamous
Mansi photograph.
So why am I bringing up Champ in a blog about New
France?
Well, it turns out that those who wish to
legitimize the existence of a monster in Lake Champlain have been, for years, quoting
the writings of Samuel de Champlain. According to them, Champlain was the first
European to ever set eyes on the said creature. Some newspapers in the past
have been known to claim this as well; this was the case of the Ticonderoga Sentinel who wrote in 1929 that
the lake’s namesake had seen a twelve-foot long creature “with a hide so tough
that a poniard [poignard/dagger] was broken in attempt to spear him”. But the
most famous version of Champlain’s encounter with the beastie has been spread
by Marjorie Porter’s 1970 article, "The Champlain Monster", published
in Vermont Life. According to Porter,
Champlain had witnessed a “serpent-like creature about twenty-feet long, as
thick through [sic]
as a barrel and with a head shaped like a horse”.
But did Champlain really write anything about such
a creature?
Any scholar of Samuel de Champlain’s writings will
giggle a bit and then promptly say, “No.” Sadly, the media just reproduced
portions of Porter’s writing without critical analysis. Those who did sound the
sceptical alarm were simply muffled by the excitement.
To which I would direct the reader to Robert E. Bartholomew’s
excellent book
The Untold Story of Champ.A Social History of American’s Loch Ness Monster. As the title suggests,
Bartholomew sheds light not on the actual creature’s identity itself, but on
the public fascination with the Champ throughout the centuries. From the
monster’s first media appearance through to the infamous Mansi photograph
story, the reader will enjoy a tread through the history behind the “sightings”.
And sure enough, the first “true” account of Champ is not found in the XVIth
century, but in 1808.
As Bartholomew points out, a quick read through
Champlain’s works (easily available online in French or English, and recently
reedited in French by Éric Thierry) reveals that the scariest thing Champlain
ever describes in the lake is a longnose gar. Sadly, the explorer does not mention
anything near the monster he had purportedly described.
Still, as skeptical as I am of the existence of
Champ, I still enjoy the wonderful scenery of the lake and its mountains when I’m
visiting French forts in the area. And I keep a particularly sharp watch on the
surface of the water, just in case...
Wow!
Je ne croyais jamais attirer un tel nombre de lecteurs à mon blogue! Je sais
que récemment mon débit a ralenti à cause de mes études qui doivent prendre le
dessus sur ma liste de priorités, mais quand même! Alors, pour vous remercier,
je vous partage cette animation que j’ai créée de l’arsenal de Rochefort. Il s’agit
d’un de mes premiers essais d’animation de GIFs. J’espère en créer d'autres
pour agrémenter mon blogue. Au plaisir de vous partager de nouvelles
découvertes dans les archives!.jpg)
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