The Locke Ness Monster

California's Very Own Monster!

Not to be mistaken with the beast in Scotland, California’s Sacramento River Delta boasts its own mysterious underwater creature.

The Locke Ness Monster!

The name wasn’t coined until a newspaper article in 1957, which attempted to draw tourist attention to the region’s own mysterious “monster”. Priot to that, it had no official or colloquial designation. When it was spoken of, the locals would say things like, “you know there’s something out there,” or “I wouldn’t go out there if I was you.”

Locke, California was founded in 1915 after a fire destroyed the Chinatown area of nearby Walnut Grove. It is historically significant as the only town in the United States built by and for Chinese immigrants. During Prohibition, Locke was especially active and even dubbed the “Monte Carlo of California” with its gambling and thriving nightlife.

Locke, CA 1920s

Locke, CA today

Located halfway between Stockton and Sacramento, Locke is now a local tourist location. It is known for its interconnected tunnels, elevated boardwalks, pear orchards, water hyacinth, the historic Dai Loy Museum, and one other thing, a mysterious creature said to lurk in the nearby waters.

The earliest reports of the creature predate the town of Locke itself.

The first claims came from early “49ers” making their way along the waterways to the inland ports of Stockton or Sacramento to purchase supplies before heading into the foothills and mountains seeking gold. Dozens of men reported seeing giant “moving rocks” or beasts larger than their rafts floating in murky waters.

depiction of the beast from the 1850s

There are conflicting stories as to the beasts origin.

Some claim it was a creature native to the region though this hads been widely discredited as there had been no mention of its existence by the indigenous peoples of the area before the California Gold Rush.

Most stories connect it to the Chinese communities who were new to the region. It was most commonly reported near Chinese settlements.

Another theory is that the beast was somehow manifested or conjured by ancient Chinese magic to right the injustices done unto the Chinese migrant population by wealthy white land owners and industrialists.

The most common origin story is that the beast was a stowaway on a ship that sailed from China to California. It then settled in the fresh water delta on it’s arrival. The belief is that the creature is what was called a Xuangui, a creature from Chinese legend.

The Xuangui is said to have the body of a turtle, the head of a bird and the tail of a snake.

In China, the Xuangui was said to live in Gaui Shui which translates to “strange river”.

According to legend, when the hero, Great Yu, was given the task of taming the waters of the Yellow River, it was the Xuangui and one other mythic beast, the Yinglong (a winged dragon) who helped by digging and dredging and redirecting the waters to the sea.

Descriptions of the beast and the beast’s habitat in waters that were similarly diverted and “tamed” as in the Chinese legend lend to this theory.

There are countless man-made sloughs, dug by hand, that still exist today due to the extraordinary effort of Chinese laborers, many of whom also toiled on the Transcontinental Railway.

Chinese laborers constructing sloughs and levees

Events attributed to the beast include numerous steamboat incidents.

In 1856 the luxury steamboat, the Belle, suffered what was later claimed to be a boiler explosion though early eye witness accounts claimed to see something in the water just minutes before. One Leonidas Taylor, a shipping clerk, was thrown overboard. Despite a sizable cash reward, his body was never found.

Monument in memory of Leonidas Taylor

In 1864, another luxury steamboat, the Washoe, suffered a similar explosion. Like the Belle, eye witness accounts reported “something big” in the water. Reports vary, but as many as 67 passengers were never recovered.

The Washoe on left.

The next year, the steamboat Yosemite suffered the same fate. Dozens of bodies were never recovered.

The most famous incident was on March 7, 1870 when the steamer, Pet, travelling from Rio Vista to Sacramento reportedly struck an “underground snag” and sunk at around 9:00 PM. As with the other incidents, eye witness accounts reported seeing something in the water. One witness, Ebenezer Tecklenburg, from nearby Lodi, CA was quoted in the Stockton Daily Independent as saying, “It was dark, and I know I’d been drinking, but I swear on my life something was there.” Fortunately, all passengers and crew survived.

With the introduction of personal motor crafts such as speed boats and jet skis, reports of the Locke Ness Monster have become more and more prevalent though photographic evidence remains elusive.

Photo taken 1986, Earl Franklin

Photo 1967, Emily Staunton-Weber

We are actively investigating the Locke Ness Monster. If you have seen, or have any information, please, don’t hesitate to contact us. You may be included in a future issue of MONSTER REPORTER!

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As always, “The truth is out there”!