Champ

In American folklore, Champ or Champy is the name of a lake monster said to live in Lake Champlain, a -long body of fresh water shared by New York and Vermont, with a portion extending into Quebec, Canada. The legend of the monster is considered a draw for tourism in the Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York areas. History of the legend Over the years, there have been over 300 reported sightings of Champ. The original story is related to Iroquois legends of giant snakes, which the Mohawk named Onyare'kowa. French cartographer Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Québec and the lake's namesake, is often claimed to be the first European to have sighted Champ, in 1609. The earliest source for this claim is the summer 1970 issue of the magazine Vermont Life. The magazine quoted Champlain as having documented a "20-foot serpent thick as a barrel, and a head like a horse." There is no evidence that Champlain ever said this,, although he did document large fish: