Dewey Lake Monster Comics - Issue #1

 

Leader Publications | Article (Published 1:55 pm Thursday, February 23, 2017)

"It Came From Dewey Lake"

Leader Publications

By Joe Kuharic

Legacy

Dewey Lake Monster

“It was one of the strangest times in 33 years of southwestern Michigan law enforcement.  We investigated it long and hard, but were never able to come up with whatever it was. But some good, honest, legitimate people reported it.”

–  Paul Parrish, Cass County Sheriff (ret.)

The Sculpture

The Sculpture

















4' x 10' Bronze


Build it and they will come.  (Or will they recoil in terror?)

The proposed 10' tall bronze sculpture would is based on the cumulative descriptions of 30+ persons over 50 years.



This is one in a series of five statues proposed for the area, which would be placed at strategic locales throughout the Dewey Lake Corridor in homage to it's most famous resident.


One sculpture at the tree line across an open field.  Another in woods.  Another secured in the actual water just off-shore in Dewey Lake. A fourth near one of the Dowagiac city limits. 







And the last one at the point of the most famous sighting -- the one that gave the monster its name.


In comparative analysis it is expected this sculpture (1/5) would create a considerable increase in tourism in the area.  It is expected that a wide range of people would come in from the surrounding area e.g. Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, Grand Rapids, etc.  as a recreational day trip wherein the snap pictures with the thing.



See Loch Ness, Stonehenge, Roswell, Jolly Green Giant, etc.

The Painting

The Thriftstore Painting



The Thriftstore Painting

In 1983 Sam DeNisi found a painting at a Niles area thrift-store.

DeNisi would often times search Goodwill and Salvation Army stores for interesting items. So when he came across this painting he liked it.

The painting was buried under a bunch of random frames and tossed among other canvases. But when he saw what was written on it -- he knew he had to have it.

It was dated "1964" and written along the bottom of the canvas were the words "Dewey Lake Monster."

On the back, along the wooden frame, was written the words "It lives in Sister Lakes Michigan" and "I saw the devil."

Hoax v. Truth

Hoax v. Truth

By

David Soloman

The 16 Point Analysis

What follows is the 16 point argument for why the Dewey Lake Monster is real and NOT a hoax.  Maybe it's a Kodiak bear, maybe it's an escaped gorilla, maybe it is a bigfoot, maybe something else, but one thing is for sure ... it is not some dude running around in a hairy costume.

And here is why ...

1. LOCATION:

Random appearances in remote, isolated areas, which would have revealed a planned stunt e.g. parked card on isolated road is difficult to miss.

2. HUNTERS:

What kind of hoaxer, even a dumb one, would jump out at hunters (with quick access to guns)?

3. DOG:

Even the best “bigfoot” costume would offer no protection from a full-grown attack dog.  So, smacking and injuring a dog dressed as a bigfoot would have a very embarrassing ending for the hoaxer..

4. ODOR:

The consistent issue of “smell” as any number of people smelled the strong odor of the thing.

5. WITNESSES:

The people who reported this did not want to.  They were reluctant to do what they felt they had to as they saw something dangerous.  But certainly none of them were looking for fame.  In fact, gaining the reputation for “seeing monsters” in a small town has an inherent deterrent.  Yet, “respectable” people – with considerable careers still came forward.

6. TOURISM:

Dewey Lake Monster did not reap the tourism exploitation of the Loch Ness Monster or Roswell UFO, yet the incident had considerably more documentation at the time of its “initial” sighting.  So, if it was done for tourism – they certainly did not reap the benefits.

The local area (Sister Lakes) basically reaped one month of increased tourism; then none of local businesses promoted the “monster” thing anymore.  And to this day do not “capitalize” on the notoriety.  Which does not sound like an organized publicity stunt.

7. INACCESSIBILITY

The monster was seen in pretty inaccessible places e.g. briar patches, swamps, prior to the 1964 incident wherein I got its name “Dewey Lake Monster.”

8. HISTORY

A remarkably similar animal was recalled and documented by French Fur traders in that part of Western Michigan, centuries prior.  This thing was consistently defined as having the same characteristics as the thing from Dewey Lake e.g. bad odor, stringy-matted reddish-brown hair, 8 to 10 feet tall, etc.

9. ARCHIVES

The books, the drawings, the diaries found which articulated the monster by locals, years prior to the most famous sighting.

10. MOLTING

The evolving hair along seasonal lines, which is consistent with organic animal fur-growth and shedding.

11. TIMING

The Dewey Lake Monster sighting (1964) was a full three years prior to the Patterson–Gimlin (1967).  So, they were obviously not copying that.

12. HOAXER?

Contradicting assertions of person behind a hoax still surface.  The manager of the Dewey Lake Monster Facebook Page has received more than ten (10) messages from persons claiming that the Dewey Lake Monster was a hoax; however each of them site a different person or persons as the hoaxer – and none of them are the same.  This lack of consistency speaks more to the absence of knowledge rather than any believable insight.

13. SPEED

Distance traveled between sightings without car – impossible to achieve by a person.

14. DEVELOPMENT

Development explosion in the Sister Lakes area at that time may reasonably account for an indigenous animal being dislodged from a much more secretive lifestyle.

15. NO BONES

Water habitat of a low-volume creature may account for lack of bones, DNA, etc., in that if you sleep in the water like a crocodile with the ability to roam the land to hunt like a bear, the number of skeletal remains is greatly decreased and in an area where decomposition is more likely to take place before discovery, i.e. you live in seclusion and eventually die in the thicket of inland Michigan lake or swamp.  Consider the strangeness of the Platypus or false extinction of the Coelacanth, Jerdon Tree Frog, etc.

Ultimately, if a small tribe of these “things” die in the inland lakes – how would anyone ever discover their bones?

Extinct?

16. SIZE

A 10 foot tall creature, which can “run” like a man would be difficult to construct and impose in a non-controlled situation, present day.  How much more difficult to generate back then?  The reports indicated an organic creature proportional to a man-bear with intermittent fur and lizard skin with long arms.  No one ever remarked it was a “6 foot tall man with a 4 foot tall head,” which is what 10 foot tall hoax would look like.  Because there is no way a man on stilts can run as fast as was witnessed and fight off dogs.

Vintage Poster

Vintage Poster

You know you want one!

This poster was purchased at an estate sale on Gage Street in 1974.  It is a poster that circulated the summer of 1965. 

B-Movie

Dewey Lake B-Movie:

“Grindhouse” double feature (Inspired by the “5-Mile Drive In)

REFERENCE: http://5-miledriveinsouthwestmi.com.

Chieftain Comics: The Dewey Lake Monster

Chieftain Comics

Dewey Lake Monster

Chieftain Comics (... and now it's coming for you!)

REFERENCE: https://www.facebook.com/theterrortales

Monster Sandwich

Monster Sandwich

Monster Sandwich:

Reid’s Drive-Inn at Sister Lakes introduced a monster sandwich and monster brew.

REFERENCE: http://www.leaderpub.com/2012/05/31/dear-john-the-sister-lakes-monster-chase/

The Boy-Scout Handbook

The Boy-Scout Handbook

 August 3, 1963

Chapter 3: The Boy-Scout Handbook

The Boy-Scout Handbook                                    

1-block (off M60) Mill Street, Vandalia, Michigan, 49095

This is a slide of inside cover-page of a book entitled "The Boy Scout Handbook" which was taken by Martin Boerman of Vandalia on August 1963. The book was purchased for five cents at a rummage sale of the Calvary Baptist Church, Dowagiac, on August 3, 1963.

This slide was processed on September 1963 nearly a full year BEFORE the first reported incident of the Dewey Lake Monster.

The Zagaron Schoolhouse Photo

The Zagaron Schoolhouse Photo

Saturday, April 4, 1964

Late afternoon

The Zagaron Schoolhouse Photo                        

Glenwood Union SDA Elementary School 51355 Glenwood Road, Dowagiac, Michigan 49047

Picture (right) of a drawing of "The Dewey Lake Monster" found on the Glenwood Schoolhouse blackboard (51355 Glenwood Road, Dowagiac, Michigan 49047) on April 4, 1964. The photo was taken by local resident, John Zagaron, around dusk at Glenwood Elementary School (closed).

The text is difficult to see but has been determined to read (from left-to-right):

"I saw it.

Dewey Lake Street

1964

Dowagiac, Mich."

Followed by the cryptic warning:

"It came from the swamp.

It is watching."

The picture was taken on the SE corner of the schoolhouse facing NW into the small central classroom. The photo was shot through the dirty, side-window as the schoolhouse was locked when Zagaron saw the drawing. Mysteriously the drawing was erased the following week, though the school remained locked.

The negative was developed at Rexall Pharmacy in Dowagiac Michigan in April 1964 and maintains a corresponding date-stamped receipt.

The Cave Drawing

The Cave Drawing

Friday, March 30, 1962

Approximately 2 PM

22859 Dewey Lake Street

The Dewey Lake Cave Drawing

This photo was taken in 1962 in the woodland marsh area located at 22859 Dewey Lake Street by visiting Anthropologist Abraham Stein.

The drawing was discovered by accident by Dr. Stein who was in the area with a group of graduate students on a search for Potawatomi or Miami arrowheads.

As the group followed a path of increasing artifacts primarily concentrated in a small section of the SE corner of the thick woodland (above the expansive swamp) it lead directly to a hillside cave otherwise covered in thick brush.

Dr. Stein took several pictures of the wall painting just inside the cave opening. As the doctor and two students proceeded deeper into the cave, a loud "grumbling" sound forced the group to cease their ingress until they could return with proper equipment and personnel.

The doctor believed the noise that was heard to be an echo of the swamp-water/underwater-stream convergence deep inside the cave.

When the doctor returned to the cave the following week, the entrance was collapsed into the marsh and surrounding brush strewn about the swamp below. The entrance collapse caused the cave/tunnel to flood.

As the county was not clearing brush in the area, the collapse was considered to be the result of an early spring tornado or, more likely, a simple collapse initiated by the disturbing of the long-since untouched structure.

Considering the substantial clay pits and argillaceous limestone along the marshland surrounding the swamp. No further investigation was pursued.

*

The ground in the area cited here in fact does contain limestone, more specifically argillaceous limestone, as well as, clay.  Just as the article states.

As MIchigan is the home to the biggest limestone quarry in the world (LINK: http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=S0214.htm), I should think it would behoof anyone claiming absence of limestone at any given location in the state to do some research first.  Because the fact it ...

1.  There are several exposed Marl (argillaceous limestone) pits on both Ball and Bond Road(s) less than 2 miles away from this very spot referenced.  

2.  Two (2) mining companies in Cass County list their primary mineral extraction as "LIMESTONE".  LINK:  http://www.us-mining.com/michigan/cass-county

3.  Larger "industrial" limestone mines can be found as near as neighboring Barry County.

LINK: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/GIMDL-MI1953_302552_7.pdf

4.  Michigan has the largest limestone mine in the world located in Rogers City, Michigan, located north of the Huron Forest in the lower pennisula.

LINK: http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=S0214.htm

Michigan has a considerable amount of varied types of limestone throughout the state.  

This is well-documented.  

To claim otherwise, or more specifically, to assert that a referenced area, less than two miles from open argillaceous limestone pits, could NOT POSSIBLY contain any "limestone"  is based on nothing and exhibits rank ignorance of the terrain.

SIGHTINGS MAP

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The Dewey Lake Monster is the name given to a large biped creature approximately 10 feet tall (3.048 meters) and weighing about 500 pounds (226.7 kilograms), which first came to national prominence in June 1964 after several reported sightings near Dewey Lake in Dowagiac, Michigan.  It is also referred to as the Michigan Bigfoot and Sister Lakes Sasquatch.

The beast had already been known to locals in the area for several years prior to the June 1964 events and was rumored to exist primarily along a 15-mile stretch of swamp-land extending from Dowagiac/Sister Lakes toward Decatur Michigan (along Dewey Lake Street); however in 1964 it gained national attention after several notable attacks and spottings initiated investigation by authorities, which prompted coverage by national newspapers and caused a flood of curious thrill-seekers and monster hunters to besiege the local community in the Summer of ’64.

Though the monster was never captured nor the mystery resolved, footprints were photographed and plaster casts taken as well as sketches rendered.

Former Cass County Sheriff, Paul Parrish, was quoted as saying “it was one of the strangest times” in his "33 years of southwestern Michigan law enforcement.”  He added “We investigated it long and hard, but were never able to come up with whatever it was. But some good, honest, legitimate people” reported it.

The mystery remains to this day as do the sightings; and perhaps the most curious aspect of all is the people who witnessed the “beast” are still reluctant to discuss what they saw. They only want to forget it and are not interested in having their names associated with the “thing” they encountered.