A monster lurks in Lake Elsinore

Sept. 13, 1934: A Riverside County rancher named C.B. Greenstreet caused a stir when he said he had seen “the terrifying monster said to inhabit Lake Elsinore,” The Times reported.

Greenstreet, described in the newspaper as “a widely known and reputable valley rancher,” said he had spotted the monster in the afternoon.

“It was 100 feet long and had a 30-foot tail,” he said. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I saw it -- we all saw it, my wife and two children -- and my little girl was terrified.”

The monster, he said, “would move along near the surface of the water lazy-like and then all at once would swish that huge tail and dart like lightning half the length of the lake.”

The Times noted that sightings in the past -- by a family the previous spring, various residents in 1915 and by Indians, who described such a creature’s frequent appearances in their legends.