Here There Be Dragons....Tales from the Old West by Oak

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Here there be Dragons
By: Oak

This be a tale of dragons in the old west; before the time of flying machines, Dungeons & Dragons or even the model T Ford. This tale begins in the 1830’s and continues until 1890. The activity centers on Elizabeth Lake near Palmdale, CA which just happens to lie directly above the San Andreas Fault.
The Legend tells that the Devil himself created the lake and placed one of his own pets inside it. If you swim deep enough, eventually you will find a secret passage direct to the underworld. Supposedly Spanish missionaries dubbed the lake Laguna del Diablo and Indian Legend also supports the rumors that the Devil created the lake. The “devil’s pet” has been described by the natives as having bat wings, the neck of a giraffe, the head of a bulldog, six legs, a length of at least fifty feet, and emitting a horrible nauseating stench.
This tale begins when Don Pedro Carillo purchased the land around La Laguna del Diablo and built a hacienda, barn and corral by the lake in the mid 1830’s. He disregarded the superstitions about the place, but only 3 months after construction was completed a fire of unknown origin burnt every structure to the ground in a single night. Don Pedro abandoned the place after stating that “there were supernatural beings nearby and he could not live there any longer”. The land remained vacant for the next two decades and even after the Americans came to the region the lake was shunned as a cursed spot. Which I am sure suited “the pet” just fine. Some years later, Don Chico Lopez settled on the property and what occurred next was told in a manuscript by Don Guillermo Embustero y Mentiroso, who was a guest at the Lopez ranch. According to Don Guillermo, a great agitation took place during his visit. Around noon one day, Lopez's foreman, Chico Vasquez, rode up to the hacienda very upset. He told of strange happenings at the lake and everyone saddled their horses and rode out to the shore. They arrived to find the water calm and quiet and Lopez began berating his foreman for bothering them with foolishness but then stopped as a terrifying scream came from some brush at the edge of the lake. The plants whipped back and forth and the account stated that they were so close to whatever was lurking in the brush that they could smell its foul breath. The men were startled when their horses reared up and began running in fright. As they brought their horses back under control, the men turned and looked back to the lake. Silhouetted against the sky was a large creature with enormous wings. The creature flapped them over and over again as it tried to rise from the mud. It roared and screamed and churned up the water around it. The horses and men fled in a panic. The next morning, all of the vaqueros on the ranch were mustered, armed and sent down to the lake to investigate. There was no sign of the winged monster but it was said that the smell of it still lingered in the air.
In 1883, the Lopez horses and cattle began to vanish. At first, bears or wolves were thought to be responsible but then one night, there was a terrible uproar in the corral. When the vaqueros came running, they found that ten mares and foals had been slaughtered. They said that, outlined against the sky, they saw the huge flying creature as it flapped away into the darkness. Soon the residents had multiple sighting's of the beast. Bullets reportable bounced off the creature's hide. As ranch hands quit, and animals kept disappearing, the land was eventually sold and the ranch abandoned. Dragon two, settlers zero.
Here is where the tale differs. I will tell you the tall tale first and save the more believable for later. Miguel Leonis, a Basque immigrant purchased the ranch next. Leonis was a large and burly man who controlled a large amount of land throughout Southern California. He ruled over it like a dictator, and squatters were often severely dealt with through either lawsuits or armed force.
Several months after he purchased the ranch on Elizabeth Lake, the creature began eating his animals as well. But Leonis would not have it. He lay in wait for the beast and then savagely attacked it when it emerged at night. As bullets bounced off its tough hide, he engaged it closer, beating it with his rifle butt across the nose and then punching it in the eye. So taken back by the ferocity of the attack, that the creature retreated back to the lake, and there lay resting, healing its injured eye. Eventually, it fled from the lake heading east towards Arizona.
Oh my, I can see it now. Man beats up fire breathing dragon with his fists….LMAO.
Now, I will relate the far more believable version. In 1886, the newspaper reported more strange happenings at Lake Elizabeth. The reports stated that a creature had been feeding on cattle, horses, sheep and chickens and had caused terror and excitement among the local inhabitants. On one occasion, the beast had tried to devour a large steer but as the animal bellowed and kicked, the sound attracted the attention of its owner, Don Felipe Rivera. The steer put up a fierce fight and managed to free itself. The angry creature then retreated but not before Rivera got a good look at it. He said that it was at least 45 feet long and had wings that laid flat on its back when not expanded. He pursued the monster as it started towards the lake and fired at it with his Colt revolver. Rivera said that when the bullets struck the monster's side, it sounded as if they were hitting a "great iron kettle".
But Don Felipe was nothing if not enterprising and he made immediate plans to try and capture the creature and sell it to the circus. He even signed a contract with Sells Brothers, who agreed to pay him $20,000 to deliver the beast to him alive. Don Felipe never managed to capture the creature, although it was reportedly seen several times in 1886. The creature was last seen, according to Horace Bell, winging away to the east.
Well either way both tales relate that the dragon left the area heading east and was never seen at Lake Elizabeth again. The dragon finally gave in to the encroachment of the settlers and fled for more quiet surroundings. But the story does not end here.
It continues in Tombstone, AZ in 1890, and once again with two conflicting versions. I will again report on the least likely one first.
This is the exact reprint of an article in the Tombstone Epitaph dated April 26, 1890.

FOUND IN THE DESERT
A STRANGE WINGED MONSTER DISCOVERED AND KILLED ON THE
HUACHUCA DESERT
A winged monster, resembling a huge alligator with an extremely elongated tail and an immense pair of wings, was found on the desert between the Whetsone and Huachuca mountains last Sunday by two ranchers who were returning home from the Huachucas. The creature was evidently greatly exhausted by a long flight and when discovered was able to fly but a short distance at a time. After the first shock of wild amazement had passed, the two men, who were on horseback and armed with Winchester rifles, regained sufficient courage to pursue the monster and after an exciting chase of several miles succeeded in getting near enough to open fire with their rifles and wounding it. The creature then turned on the men, but owing to its exhausted condition they were able to keep out of its way and after a few well directed shots the monster partly rolled over and remained motionless. The men cautiously approached, their horses snorting with terror, and found that the creature was dead. They then proceeded to make an examination and found that it measured about ninety-two feet in length and the greatest diameter was about fifty inches. The monster had only two feet, these being situated a short distance in front of where the wings were joined to the body. The head, as near as they could judge, was about eight feet long, the jaws being thickly set with strong, sharp teeth. Its eyes were as large as a dinner plate and protruded about half way from the head. They had some difficulty in measuring the wings as they were partly folded under the body, but finally got one straightened out sufficiently to get a measurement of seventy-eight feet, making the total length from tip to tip about 160 feet. The wings were composed of a thick and nearly transparent membrane and were devoid of feathers or hair, as was the entire body. The skin of the body was comparatively smooth and easily penetrated by a bullet.
The men cut off a small portion of the tip of one wing and took it home with them. Late last night one of them arrived in this city for supplies and to make the necessary preparations to skin the creature, when the hide will be sent east for examination by the eminent scientists of the day. The finder returned early this morning accompanied by several prominent men who will endeavor to bring the strange creature to this city before it is mutilated.
End of Article.

Interestingly, a reprint of the original article that appeared in Old West magazine caused a reader to remember another strange incident. He wrote to the magazine in the summer of 1970 and gave a firsthand account of a separate flying monster incident that also occurred near Tombstone. The writer had met two cowboys who told about seeing a
similar creature around 1890, although they had shot at and chased the creature until their horses refused to go any further. This giant “bird” was not killed. Considering the fact that there was never any evidence or follow-up article to substantiate the previous report of killing and recovering the body, I would imagine that this is the accurate account of the happenings that day near Tombstone. Surely if they had dragged a 90 foot dragon into town there would have been a great story and photos for proof. Where the dragon flew from here is anyone’s guess. But he/she did not die that day at the hand of man, of that I am quite certain.