Champ (folklore)

Champ

Artistic representation of Sandra Mansi's 1977 photograph of the Lake Champlain Monster. Illustration by Benjamin Radford.
Sub grouping	Lake Monster / Sea Serpent
Other name(s)	Lake Champlain Monster
Country	United States, Canada
Region	Lake Champlain
Habitat	Water

In American folklore, Champ or Champy is the name given to a lake monster living in Lake Champlain, a 125-mile (201 km)-long body of fresh water shared by New York and Vermont, with a portion extending into Quebec, Canada. The legend of the monster is considered a draw for tourism in the Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York areas.

Over the years, there have been over 300 reported sightings of Champ. Legends of a creature living in Lake Champlain date back to Native American tribes in the region. Both the Iroquois and the Abenaki spoke of such a creature. The Abenaki referred to it as "Tatoskok".

Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Québec and the lake's namesake, is often claimed to be the first European to have sighted Champ, in 1609. However, this legend dates back to a fake quote published in the Summer 1970 issue of Vermont Life. In the Vermont Life article, Champlain is alleged to have documented a "20-foot serpent thick as a barrel, and a head like a horse." This quote has often been repeated, but is in fact apocryphal. Champlain did document monstrous, "five feet long" fish in his journal. He described the fish as having snouts and a "double row of very sharp, dangerous teeth." However, paranormal researcher Joe Nickell writes that this description most likely refers to a gar (or garfish).

An 1819 report in the Plattsburgh Republican, entitled "Cape Ann Serpent on Lake Champlain", reports a "Capt. Crum" sighting an enormous serpentine monster. Crum estimated the monster to have been about 187-feet long and approximately two hundred yards away from him. Despite the great distance, he claimed to have witnessed it being followed by "two large Sturgeon and a Bill-fish" and was able to see that it had three teeth and eyes the color of peeled onions. He also described the monster as having "a belt of red" around its neck and a white star on its forehead.

In 1883, Sheriff Nathan H. Mooney claimed that he had seen a water serpent about "20 rods" from where he was on the shore. He claimed that he was so close that he could see "round white spots inside its mouth" and that "the creature appeared to be about 25 to 30 feet in length". Mooney's sighting led to many more alleged eyewitnesses coming forward with their own accounts of Champ.