A Minnesota author is offering $60,000 to anyone who can prove that Pepie, the legendary monster of Lake Pepin, actually exists.
Goran Pesic, a local educator and historical researcher in Lake City, was scheduled to unveil the bounty at the Lake City Public Library in late September, according to KTTC. He says he has spent more than 20 years documenting oral histories and archival records around the lake. His books include Once Upon a Lake in Pepin and The Greatest Mysteries of Lake Pepin.
The money builds on an older prize. Pesic says the new amount honors the late Capt. Larry Nielson, who skippered the Pearl of the Lake paddlewheeler and put up $50,000 for evidence of Pepie back in 2008. Nielson claimed he saw something strange on the lake twice. Once was a huge wake churning across calm water. The other was a log that appeared to float upstream. He also admitted the legend was good for business, noting that Loch Ness was “a heckuva lot better at promoting theirs.”
Collecting won’t be easy. The bounty requires physical biological evidence gathered in the waters, shores, or bluffs of Lake Pepin. A photo alone won’t cut it. A panel of independent marine biologists, such as those from the University of Minnesota or the Minnesota or Wisconsin natural resources departments, has to verify the sample and any media. They must also rule out a giant lake sturgeon, an alligator gar, a swimming deer, a floating log, or a hoax.
That list of lookalikes says a lot. Lake Pepin is a 22-mile-long widening of the Mississippi River, about two miles across and only 63 feet deep, so skeptics point out there isn’t much room for something huge to hide. The old stories are still fun. A lake monster was reportedly seen swimming there on April 28, 1871, according to the Minnesota Historical Society’s almanac. Local lore also says the Dakota avoided thin birchbark canoes on the lake because of large creatures that could puncture them.
Folklorist Chad Lewis, co-author of Pepie: The Lake Monster of the Mississippi River, once said his research pushed him “above the 50/50 mark.” Whether that is real curiosity or just a good cryptid story, the legend has held on for more than 150 years.
My take is that this bounty is built to be tough to win, and that’s probably fair. A real unknown animal would leave real tissue, and a panel of biologists is exactly the right test. But if something is down there, $60,000 is a nice reason to keep looking.
Have you seen something strange on Lake Pepin or another lake? Send your report to Reports@ParaRational.com.
