The Colorful Legend of "Smetty" "E-e-e-ek! It must be the Lake DeSmet monster!" But of course it wasn't. The mass at the end of the fishing pole proved to be nothing more than an old piece of tire entangled in seaweed. The legend of "Smetty," the name attached to the legendary creature said to inhabit Lake DeSmet just north of Buffalo, Wyoming has been passed down through generations. The seven-mile stretch of water lies along Interstate 90 in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountains. Popular for the availability of 12-20 inch rainbow trout and 6-8 inch crappies, DeSmet has long attracted not just sportsmen, but anyone with a penchant for the mysterious. Named for a Jesuit missionary priest to the Indians, Father Pierre DeSmet, who came west in the early 1800's. Rumor has it that the Indians were so frightened by this body of water, they refused to camp along the red shale shores. The longest running mystique stems from the Sioux tribe. They believed the waters had healing powers and the ability to prompt visions. The tribe legend was that a young brave turned against the love of his life because he was overpowered by the charms of a water maiden rising from its depths. His intended wife-to-be was so distraught by his rejection she subsequently drowned herself. Revenge was sought by her father, the tribal chief and justice was swiftly administered to the unfaithful young man. In the darkness of windy Wyoming nights, his spirit supposedly wanders around the shore bemoaning the loss of his Indian maiden. Other accounts about the lake's dark side range from a monster resembling an alligator rising from the waters to a Loch Ness-type creature that seized an Indian papoose and disappeared into the murky depths. Logical reasons for the drownings were attributed to swimmers being caught in the weedy vegetation or experiencing cramps, but according to writer Edward Gillette, author of "Locating the Iron Trail" logical thinking did not sufficiently explain what happened in those tragic events. "They disappeared suddenly without making frantic efforts to keep afloat," he wrote. Since the 1925 publication of Gillette's book, tales of "Smetty" were handed down from local ranchers who saw a 30-40 foot long creature described looking like a "long telephone pole with a lard bucket attached." Other recorded physical characteristics include a "bony ridge along the back, with a resemblance to a horse's head coming out of the water in a swimming motion." When imagination runs high, "Smetty" is said to dwell in the so-called bottomless lake's subterranean caverns sometimes speculated to be a faraway outlet from the Pacific Ocean. Could it be that "Smetty" becomes tired of the heavily populated beaches on the West Coast and retreats occasionally to the smaller, more peaceful confines of Lake DeSmet? No matter how much colorful fact or fiction enhances the mysteries of Lake DeSmet, one thing is certain. It has some of the best trout fishing anywhere and is a boating and water skier's paradise, despite its small size. One veteran fisherman in the area suggests that Lake DeSmet's legends are best perpetuated each Memorial Day weekend when the annual Lion's Club Fishing Derby is in full swing. "If anyone sees a monster he may be drinking the wrong brand, fishing in the hot sun too long and havin' too much fun!" |
