The Mysterious Wimpus, Captured from Lake DeSmet, July 1915

Just after the 4th of July in 1915, Sheridan shuddered with excitement at the presentation of a strange creature, the mysterious wimpus.

From the July 6 edition of the Sheridan Post.
Click to enlarge.

An unnamed fisherman, seeking "a good mess of festive carp," pulled the wimpus up from Lake DeSmet's murky depths, "that famed home of sea-serpent and dinosauria." The creature's unwilling chaparone took his ward to town, showing it at the Mint Saloon, where the wimpus soon became the talk of Main Street.

The historic Mint Bar in 1992, mostly unchanged since its early days.
Photo by Anita Nichols. Click to enlarge.

Awed locals were beside themselves. Described as "[having] a bull head and three horns on each side...about as long as a short piece of rope and as big around as two sweet potatoes...in color, it resembles lead, being neither black nor gray," the wimpus stupefied and befuddled. Its horns were "built like a buffalo's horns, a water buffalo's...that is, they turn backward." The wimpus was supposed to be "deadly poisonous" as well.

The article pondered whether such a  beast had been swimming DeSmet's bottomless depths-- a creature that might have been "the last of strange animals which inhabited the swampy reaches of the earth" that fled to DeSmet's waters when "the last dry wave swept the country."

Theories swirled in the Mint Bar; some, grounded, suggested the creature was a variant of different known species while others insisted the beast was a prehistoric remnant, alive and well, in the modern age. One imagines a ruckus of raised voices with the slamming of beer mugs onto bar tables, punctuating colorful "scientific" diatribes.

With the bar atmosphere deemed a touch "incredulous," "Mr. Wimpus" was moved to the Pioneer Park Zoo, where he would live in the company of "gaters [sic] and other varmints" the rest of his days.

Pioneer Park in 1911. From the Gunstrom Collection.
Click to enlarge.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek, the article suggested that, with the right pink ribbon wrapped around its tail, the wimpus might "make an elegant substitute for a lapdog." With the many tall tales of Lake DeSmet's monster--some of which you can read about here--it's clear many in Sheridan had not only a sense of wonderment but humor about the otherworldly creature.

Without further ado, we present to you a picture of one of Mr. Wimpus's modern day relatives--a.k.a. a water dog-- in its resplendent glory:

Photo from Animal-Image.com.
Click to enlarge.