669 - American Dragons

Summary

The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Episode 669: American Dragons
Release Date: February 4, 2025

---

Introduction

In Episode 669 of The Dollop, titled "American Dragons," comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds delve into the rich tapestry of American folklore, exploring legendary creatures that roamed the vast landscapes of the American West. The episode uncovers a fascinating blend of Native American myths, Spanish missionary tales, and sensational newspaper reports from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, all contributing to the enigmatic legends of American dragons.

Historical Context and Unipero Serra's Expedition

The episode begins by tracing the origins of one of the earliest American dragon legends to October 1780, with the story of Junípero Serra, a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary in California.

• Dave Anthony [04:00]: "October 1780, year of our Lord J Town, who at this point was one of the badder boys in all of the area, the Americas."

Serra embarks on an expedition from the San Gabriel Mission to explore northern valleys, only to encounter hostile Native American tribes. Surrounded and besieged near what would later be known as La Laguna del Diablo (Lake of the Devil), Serra's group faces relentless attacks. In desperation, a Native American convert relays their plight back to the mission, prompting the dispatch of Lieutenant Pico and Sergeant De Gallo with a considerable military force to rescue Serra and his companions.

The Legend of Elizabeth Lake

As the narrative unfolds, Dave narrates the harrowing legend of Elizabeth Lake, originally named La Laguna del Diablo, where Serra's group was saved through a dramatic confrontation involving demonic forces.

• Dave Anthony [08:47]: "Pico knew demons could be vanquished for many years with the use of a cross. And he pulled out a silver cross. And yelled, 'Behold the cross of Christ.' And the demon trembled and the army of demons fled."

Following this divine intervention, the lake transformed from a place of horror to one of serene beauty. However, the legend persisted as local folklore, with residents reporting eerie sounds and unexplained phenomena emanating from the lake.

Folklore and Reports of Lake Monsters

Gareth and Dave delve into various sensational reports and newspaper articles that fueled the mythos of American dragons. These stories often featured gigantic, winged serpents and other monstrous creatures terrorizing settlers and livestock around Elizabeth Lake and beyond.

• Gareth Reynolds [31:29]: "It moves without effort. It would coil up and then turn over and thrust its head forward to strike, basically like a snake."

One notable account from 1871 describes the discovery of a "petrosaur" by Yale paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, which captured the public's imagination and further cemented the existence of these mythical beasts in American consciousness.

The Rise and Decline of Dragon Legends

As the American frontier expanded and modern journalism matured, the fantastical tales of dragons and other mythical creatures began to wane. However, reports continued sporadically into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often sensationalized by newspapers eager to captivate readers with tales of the unexplained.

• Dave Anthony [50:28]: "So that's the story of American dragons in the American West."

By mid-20th century, the prevalence of dragon legends declined, overshadowed by advancements in science and skepticism. Nevertheless, remnants of these stories persisted, occasionally resurfacing in popular culture and anecdotal accounts.

The Fabrication and Legacy of the Tombstone Thunderbird

A pivotal moment discussed in the episode is the alleged photograph of the Tombstone Thunderbird, a creature believed to be a giant bat-like dinosaur. In 1963, Saga Magazine claimed the existence of such a photo, which was purportedly seen by numerous individuals but never officially published or verified. In 2010, an English enthusiast fabricated the image, perpetuating the myth without any factual basis.

• Dave Anthony [86:28]: "He just created a bunch of guys sitting in front of an old building, holding up a massive bat-like dinosaur creature. And people, those people also think that's real."

This incident highlights the interplay between folklore, media sensationalism, and the human penchant for mythical storytelling.

Conclusion

"American Dragons" offers a captivating exploration of how myths and legends shape and are shaped by the cultural and historical landscapes they inhabit. Through their engaging storytelling, Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds illuminate the enduring allure of mythical creatures in American history, demonstrating how these tales reflect the fears, hopes, and imaginations of the people who told them.

Notable Quotes

• Dave Anthony [08:47]: "Pico knew demons could be vanquished for many years with the use of a cross. And he pulled out a silver cross... 'Behold the cross of Christ.'"

• Gareth Reynolds [31:29]: "It moves without effort. It would coil up and then turn over and thrust its head forward to strike, basically like a snake."

• Gareth Reynolds [50:28]: "So that's the story of American dragons in the American West."

• Dave Anthony [86:28]: "He just created a bunch of guys sitting in front of an old building, holding up a massive bat-like dinosaur creature. And people, those people also think that's real."

---

Note: This summary excludes advertisements, tour announcements, and other non-content segments as per the listener's request.

Transcript

[A]

We're going on tour. And this is.

[B]

It's been a while.

[A]

March 2025 is when our tour is happening. First of all, we're going to Tempe, Arizona, maybe our favorite city of all time.

[B]

It's the best.

[A]

That is on March 16th. And then we go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, maybe our favorite city ever, we've ever gone to. That's on March 17th. And then we go to Oklahoma City.

[B]

Which is our fav. We often say that it's our number one.

[A]

Yeah, it's our number one. The best city I've ever been to. That's on March 18th. On March 19th, we're going to be in Tulsa, Oklahoma, our favorite city, without question. And then we head to Dallas, Texas on March 20th.

[B]

Our favorite city.

[A]

There's never been a better city than better.

[B]

If you don't like it, you're a Dallas hole.

[A]

Thank you. And then we go to Houston, Texas on March 21 City, which is by far the best city. And then we end our tour in Austin, Texas on March 22nd at the Cap City Comedy Club.

[B]

It's the best in the entire world. Number one city in the world.

[A]

You can get [e-mail] tour best work. You're listening to the Dollop. This.

[B]

Let's go.

[A]

This is an American history podcast from the country formerly known as America. And I read his story from the history of that ex country to my.

[B]

Person, Canadian citizen Gareth Reynold, who has no idea what the topic's going to be about. Eh?

[A]

Now you do have English. You do have UK citizens, Ukrainian. So you can leave whenever you want. You can go whenever you want. You're free to go.

[B]

Free to go. But not going to buy myself too much time. But I'm also still in pursuit of Canada.

[A]

Canada is going to be ours.

[B]

I. I don't. I don't know who's It's. I don't know who's going to be who.

[A]

Ours. It's our. It's ours. It's going to be America's 51st state, as I was told today. So you are still an American.

[B]

Well, that's the way I want to be obtained.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I just want to be sought after.

[A]

I get it.

[B]

It's like sister wives. Like the new hot wife always gets treated the best, huh? That first wife is like. That's when that first wife starts going, maybe I don't believe in this.

[A]

Gareth, we're gonna be on tour. Did you know that? Are you aware of that? Do you care at all? Do you know what I Mean, do you care? We're gonna be on tour. Yeah, we're in.

[B]

First of all, you know, we're calling.

[A]

This tour the Sweet Sexy Thighs Tour.

[B]

Bad boys are back.

[A]

That's right. We are going to be starting on March 16th. We're gonna be in Tempe, Arizona. Then we go to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We've added a second show in Albuquerque that's gonna show.

[B]

We're calling it Dallup Classic.

[A]

And then we go to Oklahoma. We're gonna be Oklahoma City. And then we're gonna be in Tulsa. And then we're gonna be in Dallas, Texas, and then Houston, and then we're gonna be at the comedy club, the Cap City Comedy Club in Austin, where we have again added a second show.

[B]

That will also be a classic dollop classic.

[A]

And then in June, we will be starting on the third in Sacramento, then Boise, then Spokane, then Seattle, then Portland, then Bend, Oregon and then San Francisco, California. You can find all of those states at DoLoPodcast. Do get your ticket links, get your hole. Get the whole vibe there.

[B]

Get the whole vibe. Tight, tight plug.

[A]

You know, I keep it tight.

[B]

That was good. Also, we should point out, Dave, that we've been working with a company called Lakeside Animation. Go to their YouTube, which is just Lakeside Animation. And if you want to watch an animated version of the rube, we have that and it is great and we love it and we're going to be doing more. So go there, subscribe, watch their stuff. Also we have our own YouTube. Go there. And a Patreon. A ton of stuff going.

[A]

Do what you want.

[B]

Yeah, we're the bad boys. And we're back.

[A]

October 1780, year of our Lord J Town, who at this point was one of the badder boys in all of the area, the Americas.

[B]

He's a good boy.

[A]

He's not. He's a bad boy. Unipero Serra.

[B]

Who?

[A]

Spanish Unipero Junipero Sarah.

[B]

Okay, Jay, got it.

[A]

One of the all time bats. He was a Spanish Catholic priest and a missionary in, in California. And he leaves on an expedition from San Gabriel Mission to explore the valleys to the north.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And these are the valleys that you would now see as like, oh, when the spring rains happen and all the wildflowers bloom, go out to the bloomy places. That's what we're talking about.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So they're basically now what is north Los Angeles County. And they were quote, pursued, attacked, harassed, and finally surrounded by hostile savages and besieged at a point that was afterward called La Laguna del Diablo, the Lake.

[B]

Devilguna of the Devil. Devil Lake.

[A]

The Lake of the Devil.

[B]

Devil Lake.

[A]

God damn it.

[B]

What? The Lake of the Devil, Devil Lake.

[A]

Stop saying that. We're not. Stop editing.

[B]

It's Ricky's dad.

[A]

So one of their new Native American converts manages to get through the enemy lines and to get a message to the mission at San Gabriel. And they send Lieutenant Pico, who, of course, we all know, has a street named after him. Sergeant De Gallo, also De Gallo, who has. He sends Pico with a bunch of soldiers that they could get every soldier they could get their hands on. Because Sarah's a big deal.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And. And he's going to save Sarah and the others. And of course, it's a godly mission. Right. Because they're going to save a God guy, and he's saving Christians from savages. So it's like a. It's like, you know, it's a serious God situation.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So they quickly head and out, and they quickly get lost in the desert.

[B]

Good, good, good. That'll happen. And it's always when we've heard about this before. As far as.

[A]

You should have made a left, you made a right.

[B]

Yep. No, it's the Bugs Bunny. Yep.

[A]

And the legend says they wandered for three days, just can't find anything. And then the fourth day, they realized how lost they were when they wandered back into the very first camp they made on the first day.

[B]

Now, I understand that that's bad, but also gotta be a little, like, aw, hey, remember us? Think of how hydrated we were back then.

[A]

It's also nice to just be somewhere familiar.

[B]

That's what I mean. It's kind of like your old, like, stomp. You're like, ma, this is where we started.

[A]

This is where I brushed your hair.

[B]

Yeah, this is where. Yeah. This is where Chet died.

[A]

Remember when you sat in my lap and I brushed your hair until you. Oh, that was Chet. He died. Yeah, but I brushed his hair while he was.

[B]

Hey, remember when I was hugging. Remember when I. I held you here and then I started kissing you? And then I was like, wait, this is Chet and Chad's dead and you guys aren't even here right now?

[A]

I do remember that. Yeah. I mean, I don't, but I do, you know, because I'm not here.

[B]

You know when I ate ham and it was Chet, and I didn't tell anyone, and I ate all of it, by the way.

[A]

That was six hours in, man.

[B]

And Chad was still alive.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. The screams were terrifying. Anyway, I'm a ghost. I gotta go.

[B]

Yeah. All right, so.

[A]

They'Re worn out at this point. They've been in the desert for three days. The horses are worn out, they're hungry, they have no water. And this is when the Christian legend kicks in. Oh, Pico said at night he begged, quote, ay, Diablo, what would I give for a good road dialect to the camp of the besieged Christians? I would not only give my soul, but I would pledge my soul of all my kith and kin for generations.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then, uh.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

Gareth. A demon popped up and the demon said, it's a bargain.

[B]

Wow. Okay. So just for those of us who aren't used to demon deals, which is a great website, by the way. That's where I grind her. Yeah, there. Okay. So they are. They want to go find the. The first guy's people. And the Native American. Or the natives are like, hey, I'll. I would make a deal with a devil to go find them. Demon pops up and he's like, not native?

[A]

No, Spanish.

[B]

Spanish. Okay. So they're. And they're like, we'll go. And then the devil, the demon pops.

[A]

Up and is like, oh, hey, let's do it.

[B]

I'll sure be you over there.

[A]

I'll get you. I'll get you there. That's what devils do.

[B]

We have it. Is it a devil or a demon?

[A]

Well, it says the demon first, but it'll transition into a devil situation.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It seems like it is. Yeah.

[B]

And nobody is a little like, hey, hey. I don't know if we should go with this guy. He seems.

[A]

Have you ever been in the desert?

[B]

I. I have been to the desert, but I don't. I've never almost died in the. But I also think that if the devil came up. Hold on. Would you also think. No, I would be like, I. Guys.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

He's not traditionally known as a good dude.

[A]

You say this, but I've heard the stories of you in Vegas.

[B]

That's different. You can dance with the devil and you can dance with the devil in Vegas.

[A]

Different. It also is it.

[B]

That's different.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Luke took shrooms with the devil in Vegas.

[A]

That. This is what I'm talking about. This is the same shit.

[B]

Okay. All right.

[A]

So the demon calls up a legion of other demons. And see, the lead demon does. And then they start cutting a road. They're using picks and spades and axes and hammers, pride bars and torches to work at night.

[B]

They don't have magic.

[A]

They.

[B]

I'm sure they're like demon devils. And they're like, I will put up Some cones, and we'll just shut this whole area down for a little while.

[A]

I mean, I'm sure, you know, everybody uses equipment.

[B]

I mean, I just. See, I honestly, I think it's a group of guys. You're like. Yeah, we're demons with demons. My name's. My name's Leon. I'm the head demon.

[A]

Yeah. Hey, how are you?

[B]

Good. Listen, me and the other demons were a little thirsty, so we're going to need to get. We're going to need. We're going to go buy some beers or something like that, come back, finish the demon chores, and then we'll go get you guys a road right to those guys.

[A]

All right? That sounds.

[B]

Taking a little bit more work than we initially anticipated, Leon.

[A]

Thank you. Leon. Is that what's right?

[B]

Yeah, it's the last name. Exactly. So what's the first name? We're gonna be. Yeah, yeah. So we're gonna be basically shutting this whole area down with some cones and some lights. We're gonna work at night because, hey, it's the desert. It gets pretty hot out here, so we'll sort of shut all that down and. But me and the boys, we're gonna have a couple cocktails just to kind of cool down. Then we're going to build you a little road right over there. Hold on. Can I finish, please? Then you're going to get on a little wagon. You guys are going to go over there. We'll get paid a binga banga boom.

[A]

So quick question. You said you're put out cones and stuff. We're in the middle of nowhere in a desert. So what are the cones for?

[B]

To make sure that anybody who might be coming by or you guys even know that this whole area can't be driving on it right now. It's not gonna work. We're gonna. What basically we're gonna do is we're gonna take everything here and merge it into one. It'll slow them down, but that's why we do it at night. Slow down anyone who's coming through on the. Yeah. To come through here. We just want to make sure. So we're gonna make sure we do that properly, and then nobody will get to hear bing, bang, boom. You know, we'll have it done pretty quick. So that's Lee. Yeah. Lead demon, Leon. And we are demons.

[A]

I'm sorry. Yeah, Okay. I didn't get that part.

[B]

But yeah.

[A]

It just seems weird. You don't seem like demons. You don't see demons.

[B]

We got tails under our pants.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Greg will show you his demon.

[A]

So I would just say, I mean, I'm at the point now where I'm like, shut the fuck up and make the fucking road, you know?

[B]

Yeah, no, I agree. We got to get to work. Without question.

[A]

Yeah. Just shut the.

[B]

So there was some. You had some questions about whether Leon was my first or last name. That's funny to me. We should kind of crack that open again, maybe dig into that for a little while.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

Yeah. Goodbye. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's not goodbye. I mean, we are going to be hanging out for a while. I have a feeling this isn't the last you heard of me.

[A]

Well, all the people who turned it off just now.

[B]

Hey. Or. But what about the people looking for merch?

[A]

So they build the road for miles, miles and miles. And then the devil's, like, almost done. And then, you know, cash in time, I get your soul.

[B]

Did they know that part?

[A]

But Pico. Oh, yeah, Pico, that was the bargain he made.

[B]

Okay, I didn't know that he knew that up front.

[A]

Well, Pico's a tricky boy. Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Pico knew demons could be vanquished for many years with the use of a cross. And he pulled out a silver cross.

[B]

Oh, come on, dude, we're dealing.

[A]

And yelled, quote, behold the cross of Christ. And the demon trembled and the army of demons fled. And Pico and his soldiers joined Sarah's group and saved them. And Pico said he looked down in a valley and he saw fire and smoke come out of the ground and envelop the demon army. Quote. A livid lake of spot of fire spread out all about them. And in the morning, they saw the fire lake had been replaced with a beautiful water lake. And Sarah fell to his knees and thanked God and Gareth.

[B]

Gareth.

[A]

That is the legend of Elizabeth Lake and how it came to be.

[B]

Wait, what?

[A]

And this is true because this is 1780. So we have written record. It's written. It's true.

[B]

I don't think that's enough, though.

[A]

That's it. So that's how Elizabeth Lake happened. Elizabeth.

[B]

What a weird. What is this leading up to?

[A]

In near Antelope Valley up there in north. Up north Los Angeles County. And the legend was written up by a guy named Horace, Major Horace Bell. In 1930, he fully wrote it out. And for years, it turns out locals in that area, it was considered. They were scared of lake. It was. The lake was considered a horrible haunted lake. It's a terrible place.

[B]

Well, because they. That sort of guy. The devil over It's.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, that's not a great story.

[B]

Yeah, it's bad.

[A]

They considered it a hell mouth.

[B]

Ah, hell.

[A]

Natives. So people said they heard.

[B]

That's what you call the anus.

[A]

God damn it. People said they heard horrifying noises coming from deep in the water. Screams and shrieks and groans.

[B]

He's probably worth avoiding that. Underwater screams.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Hey, your kids. Honey, the parking's so easy. I know, but the kids get freaked out because of the underwater screams. Well, some guy screwed the devil out of a deal here.

[A]

It's gonna happen.

[B]

But the parking's great.

[A]

There's gonna be yellows and screams, but look at that. We can get the boat out there.

[B]

Go. Water skill. It's beautiful.

[A]

Just don't. Just don't listen to the groans and the screams.

[B]

Just sing underwater. That's the devil. Some guy vanquished the devil here. He cheated the devil out of some souls.

[A]

So, Gareth, it was believed that these screams came from a monster.

[B]

Yeah. No shit. Well, yeah, a demon. The devil. El Diablo.

[A]

Settlers said native people had known of a thing, a creature there for ages. And no one would settle by the lake, even though it's a very fertile valley. Like, it's a great place to grow crops and stuff. Sure, some tried, but then they would give up and they'd just leave. They'd be like, fuck this.

[B]

The corn fell again because of all the underground screaming.

[A]

The screaming? You can sleep through that.

[B]

The land is hot. And then the devil yelled our potatoes out of the soil.

[A]

Right. So the lake is about a mile long and about 500 yards wide. And then along the Carrillos are a old Mexican family who have been getting land grants in the area. And one of these was named Don Pedro Carrillo. They're very rich family, obviously, and they have a lot of land. And he gets. Don. Don Pedro gets this area where the lake is.

[B]

Okay. Does he know about the underwater yelling and screaming and monsters?

[A]

I don't think so.

[B]

Right, so it's like poltergeist.

[A]

So it's like the 1830s when he gets a land gray at Elizabeth Lake. And he's not superstitious. That's not who he is. So he jumps on it. He might have known. I don't know. So he builds a lake house. He puts horse and cattle on the land, and he only lasts three months. And then he flees in the middle of the night. Quote, it was because of the hell raised in and around Laguna del Diablo. Conditions there made me prematurely old. But, yeah, it's up.

[B]

It's up. Did he now? What was his Deal. He didn't know that it was called Devil Lake.

[A]

I think that he knew, but I think he just thought, like, oh, whatever. Yeah, it's a. It's a name. And like, whatever. It's wind blowing through the trees or some. And then he gets up there and he's like, there's a monster here.

[B]

I'm. I'm 80. What the hell?

[A]

And overnight he was 80?

[B]

Yes. A devil in this lake. Oh, no.

[A]

Now, Don Pedro said he saw the monster that was a supernatural being. And. And then after he saw it, there was a huge fire that destroyed stables and storehouses and. And houses. So it's dangerous.

[B]

Yeah, because of the. The devil ruins anyone who comes near it.

[A]

Yeah. So around 1855, Chico Lopez moves onto the land.

[B]

What. What the fuck is with these people? They. I mean, I get that it looks good.

[A]

It's a great. And, like, if you were there, you'd be like, this is fucking great. Like, it's, like, idyllic.

[B]

It's Great Lake. Yeah.

[A]

But I would still be like, sometimes you got to. To have a nice house, you got to have a Satan thing going on.

[B]

That poor real estate agent is just. This is unbelievable. You guys are going to love this. So this part of land here is, like, super cheap, by the way. The ground is so fertile.

[A]

Fertile.

[B]

Any crops you want to grow here will be great. And this lake, look at this. I mean, you can't beat the view. And you're just looking out here, and you can take the kids out here. You can do anything you want.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

It's nice. It's beautiful.

[A]

I will take it.

[B]

I would say build a cabin a little away from the lake.

[A]

I want to get close to the lake because it's a nice lake.

[B]

I would love that for you. I would leave a healthy distance between where you build and the Devil Lake. Did I mention what it's called?

[A]

No. It's Elizabeth Lake.

[B]

No, it's called Laguna del Diablo, which translates to Devil Lake. So I would just leave a big plot in between you and the water.

[A]

I don't. Is there something in the water?

[B]

Yes. The devil is probably under the water screaming at people. And he will scream, and if you go there, you will hear the scream. Screams and things you try to go grow there will not grow.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I should all. Hold on, hold on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I should also point out that you will age very quickly here.

[A]

Okay. I'm actually not going to take it.

[B]

But do you want to even put your head under and hear the devil screaming?

[A]

No, not at all. Actually, I don't. I don't like that.

[B]

Can I just ask you where the. Because nobody's buying this. Where did this pitch fall apart for you? When I was running, you said, stay.

[A]

Away from the lake. There's a devil in there. That was.

[B]

He's screaming at you.

[A]

Yes, that's a really.

[B]

And underwater. You hear him?

[A]

Yeah, I don't. Thank you.

[B]

Okay. I have a couple other places I want to show you.

[A]

I'm good.

[B]

Have you ever been to Demon Zanus?

[A]

Well, I mean the club or.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I think he'd be great there.

[A]

So Chico Lopez takes it over and you know, he builds a house and corrals and he builds up his little ranch.

[B]

Every guy, every person who goes there's like. He's crazy.

[A]

What?

[B]

Steel.

[A]

One day, Lopez's foreman, Vasquez rides up to the house. He's very excited and he's saying there's something in the lake. He saw something in the lake. So a few people you said on the horses. No, he said he's very excited. He didn't.

[B]

Oh, they said. He's saying, well, you're probably wondering why I sang.

[A]

Yeah. And then a bunch of guys get on the horse and they ride down to the shore. And when they get there, they hear this ear splitting sound. And then came a smell that was nause. Nauseating. It was the fetid breath of the monster. Water is being splashed by either giant legs or flippers or whatever it is. It seems like it's trying to rise out of the lake, which is very muddy. And the horses get freaked out by the noise and they take off. And then after some distance they get the horses to stop and they said the smell of the monster's breath was so bad that had the horses not taken off they probably would have all passed out from how terrible it.

[B]

The worst breath of all time.

[A]

So the horses. They get the horses to stop and they turn back and look and they see the silhouette, quote, as large or larger than a great whale.

[B]

Whoa. That's big in a lake.

[A]

But it has large bat like wings.

[B]

Oh my.

[A]

And it's flapping them, trying to get out of the water. But it sounds like it can't.

[B]

Gotta say loving the devil limitations in this one. Mud and water. Yeah, see, not my friend.

[A]

So I think it goes back underwater at that point. And the next day they come back and they're armed. They bring their guns because they're not stupid.

[B]

Well, yeah, obviously. Just shoot it.

[A]

There's no sign of the monster thing, but it still smells the Smell is fucking terrible. And. And then that was it. Then they. No one saw anything for a while. Some time passes, there's really no disturbances. And then all sudden, horses and cattle start to vanish at night.

[B]

Just crazy that this devil has trouble getting out of water.

[A]

Well, at first, Lopez. No, at first Lopez is like, that's probably bears.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But then it's a lot. And he's like, there can't be that many bears. And still he keeps living there. And the animals are disappearing and other.

[B]

Families, you know how much moving, I mean, we know how much moving sucks.

[A]

It's expensive and it sucks.

[B]

And once you get your stuff there, you're like, ah, just.

[A]

You gotta change your Internet. You gotta.

[B]

I can't do this again.

[A]

So other families start to move into the area. Mostly Spanish speaking. Like I said, the land is really good for growing crops.

[B]

Oh, it's great. Nobody's fighting the land.

[A]

But the lake sounds bad.

[B]

Well, there's a devil eating your cattle.

[A]

The Los Angeles Evening Express wrote that it was very alkaline. The water.

[B]

That's good though. We like that.

[A]

Now this monster, Gareth.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

He's not the only one.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

There's other ones in Northern America, other diablos in the west. So in March 1868 in Capiapo, Chile, workers in, they're leaving a mine to have dinner and they, they look up and there's a giant monster flying in the air. Quote, an unknown creature of the air. The rock of the Thousand and One Nights, perhaps, or possibly a leviathan of the deserts.

[B]

Love the. I love being open. That's cool.

[A]

So it flies over their heads.

[B]

Could be a leviathan.

[A]

And then they see that it's a chimera. That's how you say it. Chimera.

[B]

Chimera.

[A]

I think chimera is a chimera. Chimera. Huge wings covered in brown feathers. Has a grasshopper like head. Right.

[B]

Love that, love that for this.

[A]

It has with quote, enormous eyes, wide open and brilliant as stars, covered with something like hair or bristles. I think that not the eyes, the body. I also found another description.

[B]

It's like a hawk banged a grasshopper.

[A]

Well, hold on, I saw another description of it. Said that it had a body like a snake and a face like a lobster.

[B]

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Little lobster snake boy. This thing's delicious.

[A]

Long serpentine body covered in shiny scales and makes metallic sounds. The like scraping as. As it flies.

[B]

Right, Metallic sounds very much.

[A]

Some of the miners smell, a horrific smell like burning arsenic. After some of the men would say it was the devil. Others said they'd seen a very similar creature fly over the mine years before. But this gets a lot of press, right? It's a big deal. I mean a flying lobster head.

[B]

Grasshopper, hawk. Yes, it's maybe a snake lobster.

[A]

Now in 1871, this is like three years later, a Yale paleontologist.

[B]

Yaleontologist.

[A]

A yaleontologist, Otheniel Charles Marsh discovers a petrosaur in North America. It is the largest known genius of the species at that time. Wingspan of over 20ft. So newspapers cover this. Like people are just like, this is fucking amazing.

[B]

Big.

[A]

Yeah, it's a big giant dinosaur bone and bones and newspapers of the day write about it and just everyone. It captures everyone's imagination and people keep writing about this fine for like years. Like it was like a big deal. 25 years later, the San Francisco examiner wrote an article on the quote, most enormous bird of all with illustrations of its size next to a man and also next to a trolley car. So people are thinking of these flying beasts. It's on the tip of the mind, right? It's edge of the brain.

[B]

It's a thing that's happening, whatever, but it's a happening. Yes, right, right, yeah, it's in.

[A]

It's in. Yeah. And it's not that uncommon in America, North America. Besides, there's European dragon legends that people bring with them from Europe. But then Native Americans also have the Thunderbird, which is a bird storm God, like. And there's the legendary Piaza, which I.

[B]

I got to say I do love the idea of like two groups disagreeing on what their flying monster is.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

A fire breathing lizard. I'm afraid not, my friend.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

No, what it actually is is a. A grasshopper hawk.

[A]

Well, I thought it was more of a lobster flight animal.

[B]

A flying lobster.

[A]

A winged. A winged metal lobster.

[B]

Can we all just agree we're dealing with a flying devil of some kind?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

All right, let's go from there. It's a lobster, I think let's call it a Boeing.

[A]

So there's this piazza which is a pre European mural of a dragon like creature that was painted on the bluff on the, alongside the Mississippi river in Illinois. So it's, it's. So it's fact someone finds this. Yeah, it's fact. There's this old.

[B]

Because someone painted it so it actually existed, obviously.

[A]

So these things all might be getting mixed together.

[B]

One time in high school, I drew a building with tits and so that's real.

[A]

Thank you. So In June of 1873, two towns in different states report seeing a skysnake just days apart.

[B]

Okay, no, I'm not throwing up anything here. Keep going.

[A]

Obviously, flying over Bonham, Texas, people described seeing a enormous serpent floating in the cloud.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

It. It's as large and long as a telegraph pole and striped yellow.

[B]

Yeah, okay, sure. Absolutely.

[A]

It moves without effort. It would coil up and then turn over and thrust its head forward to strike, basically like a snake.

[B]

What's it striking? Just so we know things on in bottom and land. It's.

[A]

Well, it's just kind of moving forward.

[B]

It's just kind of jutting around through the sky. Around, coiling and jutting. And it's a yellow striped sky snake as they do. Yep. Right.

[A]

Quote, the cloud and serpent moved in an easterly direction and were seen by persons a few miles this side of Honey Grove. The question is, what is it? And where did it come from?

[B]

Yeah, that's the certain. I think at least we know what the questions are.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, the papers. That's what. That's what the local paper is supposed to do. It's supposed to.

[B]

Well, we admit it's real. What now, what the hell is this thing?

[A]

Thank you. Three days later. So it clearly flies across the sky because three days later.

[B]

Well, it's like Santa's sleigh.

[A]

Something similar in Forscott, Kansas.

[B]

Yeah. He's on tour.

[A]

He's on tour. He's moving around.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Quote, the sky was clear and the sun rose entirely unobscured. When the disc of the sun was about halfway above the horizon, the form of a huge serpent was plainly seen encircling it and was visible for some moments.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We have this statement from two reliable parties who witnessed the phenomenon.

[B]

Can I talk to him?

[A]

If necessary, to make affidavit of their assertions.

[B]

Oh, so they are willing to go on record. Yeah, that's. That's big.

[A]

We have too great respect for the sun to rise before it and therefore are innocent of the authorship of this sea serpent of the sun. But we have all confidence in the credibility of our witnesses. What fearful portent is indicated in this wonderful and ominous phenomenon. We shall join a Sunday school and await the solution.

[B]

Right. Yeah. No, where are they going again?

[A]

To Sunday school.

[B]

Right. To just kind of see where this. What this is.

[A]

Talk about. Talk it out.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Figure out if there's been previous skysnake.

[B]

Well, don't we know that there has been. I mean, is.

[A]

Word.

[B]

Word just doesn't travel that well from Bonham to Kansas, I guess.

[A]

No, I think that no, no, they. Yeah, they. I think they knew. They knew.

[B]

They knew.

[A]

Yeah, they knew. They knew that there was a path. A snake about.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Sky snake.

[B]

About sky snake. Just the one, too, probably.

[A]

Yeah. There's a tech. There had been a Texas Skysnake.

[B]

Right. Yep. That's the Joe Rogan's next special title, by the way.

[A]

Some. For some reason, other papers didn't believe these flying snake reports, whereas they. They would believe, like, the Chilean lobster bird, Lobster hawk. But for some reason, they were laughing at the snake.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because the idea of us. Because all the other ones have wings.

[B]

And stuff, but it is a bit silly.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

I mean, we, you know, seeing a grasshopper bunny or whatever it is, that's not that crazy.

[A]

No, with the wings. No, it has wings, but it's a snake. How does it stay airborne?

[B]

Yeah, there's a lot going on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Honestly. Yeah.

[A]

I mean. So the ones that. Then these are papers that believe in, like, sea serpents. Like, the New York Times wrote, quote, it will soon be time for a national prohibitory liquor law if this sort of thing is to continue. And the Rhode Island Newport Daily News, quote, a Kansas editor has seen a snake in the sky. The varmints don't often get higher than the boots.

[B]

That's really great. So you are saying that the New York Times was like, skysnake? I don't think so. Lobster hawk. Yes. Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's just so.

[A]

Or like, oh, there's a serpent in the water that's 90ft long like that. They'd be like, ooh. But this one, you.

[B]

Right? They're like crazy. Brett Stevens.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

1870S Brett Stevens weighing in. She's like.

[A]

In January 18, 1882, the LA Times reported a Southern Pacific train. This is the LA Times, traveling from Colorado Desert to Yuma, Arizona, was attacked by a flying snake. The headline was, quote, one of the most peculiar snake stories told for years.

[B]

I think that's safe to say.

[A]

It begins one of them.

[B]

You need the Sam Jackson character on this one just to shout it once.

[A]

You do. One of the most startling snake stories that has ever been told in these parts for some time was related by the engineer and fireman who came in last night on the Southern Pacific Express and was corroborated by passengers. So we got two guys, but also.

[B]

Everybody, two professionals. But then also, yeah, a bunch of regs.

[A]

They've all seen this.

[B]

They saw this. The snake attack the train.

[A]

Just after the train left Dose Palms, the engineer saw a column of sand about a half mile ahead sure. It was moving slowly and a short distance from the track.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

But it's on a collision course with the train. As the column gets closer to the train, they realize it's not a column of sand.

[B]

It's.

[A]

It's some kind of animal.

[B]

It's a big. Another snake is. This is a ground snake or this is a.

[A]

Well, it's a ground sky snake because it is standing.

[B]

So this. Sure, I guess. Because it's. Is it an invertebrate? No, it's probably. Okay. All right.

[A]

Well, they have bones.

[B]

Yeah, they definitely. They have, like, one bone.

[A]

Do they have bones like you? Yeah, I think they have bones.

[B]

Yeah. Snakes have a bone. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. It is like me. It's funny, but it's just true.

[B]

Let's just take a joke break and just. Let's have a laugh about that. Fun.

[A]

Quote. It was moving in an almost perpendicular position, the tail dragging on the ground and propelled by two large wings. Near the head. Must be fins. They meant to say fins near the head. Wings. Sorry.

[B]

So it has its own wings.

[A]

Two large wings.

[B]

This is a dragon.

[A]

It's got a couple wings up top.

[B]

This is an ear dragon.

[A]

It is an ear. It is a. Yeah, it's a dragon thing. Yeah, it has wings. The previous snakes that were obviously the ones in Kansas and. And in Texas did not have wings, so they couldn't be.

[B]

I mean, none of us are buying that thing. No, this is obvious. This. This, I think might have happened.

[A]

It has wings.

[B]

It's got the frills. It's a snake. It's on the tracks. It's doing the perpendicular thing.

[A]

The paper then said the Animal looked about 30ft long and 12 inches in diameter.

[B]

30Ft long and 12. I mean, that's a pretty. It's kind of a worm.

[A]

It is wormy.

[B]

It's wormy.

[A]

Snake. It's a snake. Got wings, Gareth. Worms don't have wings. No, we're not doing this again.

[B]

Yeah, I. I will do. Have we ever done this on air? I don't know if people know about this debate we've had for a long time. Worms can absolutely have wings.

[A]

They. They do. No.

[B]

Oh, my Lord. That's how they're digging. So they have. They have wings. So that's how they get. Yes. That's why they call them night crawlers. No. Because during the day, they're up in the sky.

[A]

No, they call microclass.

[B]

This is so stupid.

[A]

They're not called day flyers. They are in the ground at daytime. They're in the ground.

[B]

Yeah. Huh. Would you drug. Did you drug dad tell you that one? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but that's just really stupid.

[A]

Let's just leave it for dinner.

[B]

You're saying stupid stuff. No, I would love to finish this.

[A]

You're English, so I would love to.

[B]

Finish this over dinner. Well, we eat. That's how I know. Because we eat flying worms in England.

[A]

I don't want to do this anymore.

[B]

I do not.

[A]

We got in a fistfight.

[B]

Yeah, we broke. Yeah, we know. We broke each other's jaws.

[A]

So pretty much everyone on the train.

[B]

I'm having the dumbest fight with my.

[A]

So pretty much everyone on the train has now opened the windows and they're poking their heads out of the windows to get a look, or they're hanging onto the platforms to look at this huge ass snake. Quote. The train and snake came together, but the snake's tail was not where it should have been, and a portion of its lower extremities was clipped off.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

So they ran over part of the tail, the snake tail, and took that off.

[B]

Snake did not know how to attack.

[A]

A train, so that now the snake is pissed.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Quote. And it prepared for war.

[B]

The snake.

[A]

Snake's going to war. He spins around and starts chasing the train. Now he starts flying through the air. Quote. Can't fly two miles faster than chain lightning. Gareth. I have no idea what that means, okay?

[B]

But it's where I was going. Yeah.

[A]

Fast.

[B]

It sounds like an ACDC song.

[A]

The snake overtook the train and, quote, began war. After the latest snake style.

[B]

May you help there too. Or not. You're walking away from that one as well. Because I just.

[A]

I know these are my Los Angeles people, but I still don't. I don't know, love to know the snake style.

[B]

Yeah. I don't know again, I mean, it's not. I don't know. I'm not really.

[A]

It gave the train a thrashing and roared like a cow in distress. Right.

[B]

I would definitely be hitting, like, the stop button. I'll get quit. Quit trying to outrun it. I'll get off here.

[A]

It breaks several windows in the attack. Oh, this bastard scares the shit out of the women and children. Apparently.

[B]

The metafine, they are so weak.

[A]

It's just another snake attack.

[B]

Yeah. No wonder we let him go first.

[A]

And then it flies off. Apparently done with the attack.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

As it. As it flies away, the passengers who have guns all start shooting at him or her.

[B]

We are America. We are America.

[A]

We will shoot.

[B]

We will attack the skysnake the shots.

[A]

Have no effect whatsoever.

[B]

By the way. I'm running on one simple platform. It is legal to shoot at sky snakes or train worms with wings.

[A]

Quote. This is vouched for by everyone who is on the train and is given for what it is worth.

[B]

The last part's very strange. Yeah, it's kind of like a. A bit of a throwaway. Okay.

[A]

I can't. I wish I. I can't remember what page this was on. I feel like it wasn't on the front page of the only time.

[B]

Well, you know, there's other stuff was happening besides Skysnakes attacking trains.

[A]

Gareth, the Dollop is brought to you by Public Wreck.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, love.

[A]

I got. I love them. Right. I got several pants at this point.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Stretchy, super comfortable. It's like one of those things where you're like. It's kind of like wearing pajamas, but they look nice, but they.

[B]

Yes. Nobody know.

[A]

Nobody knows.

[B]

You look good and you feel great.

[A]

You got a hoodie, right? Did you get a hoodie?

[B]

Got a couple things, but the hoodie's amazing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Good travel gear. Good travel gear, too.

[A]

I mean, I got the pants and I immediately bought a couple more pair of pants, and I'm gonna start doing the tops because, you know, you enjoy the hoodie.

[B]

Well, because everything's weird for you to be walking around shirtless.

[A]

People love it, though, and they say it looks good with the.

[B]

I don't know if they're saying that.

[A]

So this is Public Rec we're talking about. The pants are. They're a game changer. They're super comfy. They're my favor sweats now, but they're stylish. They can stretch. So if you put on a little like Gareth put on about £80, and they still. So this February, stop settling for the same old stuff. Step up your comfort game with Public Wreck. It's about time you treat yourself. For a limited time, our listeners can get 20% off your entire order with code dollop@public rec.com. that's 20% off. We use code promo code [e-mail] once again. So this February, treat yourself right because comfort is always in season. Upgrade to Public Rec and feel the differ difference. For a limited time, you can get 20 off public rec by using Code Dolph at checkout. That's just head to public rec.com, use code DOLLOP and you're all set. Oh, and when they ask how you found them, be sure to mention our show, the Dollop. It really helps out, find a perfect fit and never compromise on comfort again. Public rec, where comfort rules. Yes, Gareth, we are also brought to you by Helix Sleep. You know I sleep with a watch on. Did I tell you this? I sleep with a watch to track my sleep.

[B]

Now, now.

[A]

So I found out the Apple watch has all the sleep tracking stuff, and I was like, I wonder how I'm sleeping? And I've been doing that for a couple months. And let me tell you something. I sleep like a baby when I.

[B]

Sleep in a hotel versus when I sleep on the Helix. It is. It's almost like when I'm gone, I'm saving up my time to sleep for when I get home.

[A]

Yeah, I just sleep better on a Helix by.

[B]

I'm doing this thing lately where I'm sleeping in your bed when you're not home. I called Goldilocksin. Have you read about this?

[A]

Well, anyway, my sleep's a lot better since I got a Helix. We got my son one. My wife loves sleeping on it. Everyone likes sleeping on it.

[B]

That's the best. Yours is.

[A]

Go to helixleep.com for 20 off site wide, plus two free dream pillows with mattress.

[B]

The pillows are the best too.

[A]

Yeah, they are. That's helixsleep.com dollar for 20 off statewide, plus two free dream pillows with mattress purchases. Helixleep.com dollop let's party. I don't know if we want to party, Gareth.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Party on the bed, Gareth.

[A]

We're also brought to you by Rocket Money. You got. What do you got, subscriptions you forgot about? You paid twice or you didn't realize it, or.

[B]

Or you wanted to watch some TV show. And so you're like, oh, okay, I'll do a week of this, and then two weeks later, you're like, I'm gonna forget about this for six months. And then you're like, oh, no.

[A]

Yeah. And also, like. Like I've said before, I had a toothbrush subscription that just went on and on and on, and Rocket Money canceled that bad boy. They can also. Rocket Money will also alert you to an increase in a subscription price, which is very helpful.

[B]

Well, when you see it all in front of you, organized, you also are going like, do I like this?

[A]

Absolutely. For me, Rocket Money renegotiated my Internet contract and saved me a bunch of money, like, $300. So rocket money is a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Like Gareth just said, all your subscriptions right in one place so you can see it. Know exactly where your money's going. Get rid of the ones you don't want, and Rocket Money can help cancel them for you. Just, boop, press a button. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of 500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year. When using all of the app's premium features, cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com dollop today. That's a RocketMoney.com RocketMoney.com dollop yes, and Gareth, we are brought to you by Squarespace. This podcast, the Dollop brought to you by Squarespace. We love Squarespace.

[B]

Love them.

[A]

We've been with Squarespace for over a decade.

[B]

Original title, like family, was Squarespace.

[A]

Squarespace came to my house for Thanksgiving this year and it was great.

[B]

I'm engaged to Squarespace's daughter.

[A]

I am also engaged to Squarespace's daughter.

[B]

This is like real stuff we're talking about here. A lot of people are like, are you being hyperbolic? This is true.

[A]

It is very true, Gareth. Of course, it's an all in one website domain. It just got everything you want. If you want to have a website, they do everything. They got custom merch, an online store asset library. You can have a video collection, you can throw up a video collection, organize your video library, you can showcase your content, really great video pages. The thing about Squarespace is the templates are amazing. They're easy to use, they look great.

[B]

Everything you would need to make a website the way you want to.

[A]

Yeah, you can have a member access area for your videos.

[B]

But don't take our word for it, Take our word for it. We use it for our individual websites, we use it for the Dollop website, we use it for our source page. So it's not just we're saying it, we also are using it for every website we're associated with.

[A]

That's right. You can have an online store, you can sell your products in the online store, physical digital service products, whatever. They got the tools, everything you need, and custom merch. You want to do custom merch, engage with the audience, scale your brand, design your products, and production, inventory and shipling all handle for you. So head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, go to squarespace.com dollop and save 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain. Yeah, now these aren't rare attacks. There were many People, many people being reported by being attacked by flying winged reptiles. In America's west during the last part of the 19th century and early 20th centuries. There's a lot of headlines about these flying monsters. This is a time during American journalism when it's common to run stories about sea serpents and ape like wild men in haunted houses right alongside the news, like crime and daily politics and stuff like that.

[B]

So. So we just decided to allow a bit of comic. We just like put comic books like as articles near other articles.

[A]

You don't know it's not real?

[B]

No, I just think it's, you know, haunted houses, all that stuff. It's just. It's interesting. No, I. I'm on board. Obviously, I believe in it.

[A]

Yeah. March 10, 1992.

[B]

Oh, my God. 1992.

[A]

1892. Sorry.

[B]

That's way better.

[A]

I jumped too fast.

[B]

Look, we've. We've relocated the Sky Snake.

[A]

That's fire.

[B]

We're gonna fight. We're gonna win. Against Sky Snake.

[A]

March 10, 1872.

[B]

I got in a lot of trouble for pulling my Sky Snake out and showing it to a group of women when I was the governor.

[A]

Who are you?

[B]

I think I'm Bill Clinton. I love my. I got a. I got a worm. I got a worm with wings.

[A]

I bet you do.

[B]

Want me to show it to you?

[A]

No, no.

[B]

I know spread. That's when I spread my scrotum out.

[A]

Everybody's seen it. And I don't want to see the dragon.

[B]

Can I show you ma, please show you one of the wings?

[A]

Can I show you a one eared elephant?

[B]

Can I show you a warnator elephant?

[A]

No.

[B]

Have you ever seen a hose that can wink?

[A]

Nope.

[B]

Don't want to interest in that.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

How about an anteater on an uncle?

[A]

No.

[B]

No interest.

[A]

No.

[B]

I'm gonna take my out.

[A]

Can we start the nuclear negotiations now?

[B]

Well, I would love to. Well, yeah, well, we. Does anyone want to hold on to a trouser vacuum?

[A]

No, thank you. Actually, we're gonna start the negotiations.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Can I show you what a pool noodle looks like outside the water? Come on. Have I ever shown you a field basa? I know, it's like a.

[A]

So we're just gonna go on with this now? Because you're upsetting people. We're gonna.

[B]

All right, maybe I'll get on my helicopter. I'm using my waist.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Coming in for a landing. I'll sit down.

[A]

Okay, thanks.

[B]

All right, let's bite the hook.

[A]

March 10, 1892. Two wood choppers. Were working five miles outside of Herlton, California. It's up in Northern California.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

They were Thomas Campbell and Joseph Howard. They're suddenly startled by the sound of, quote, many wings flapping in the air. Many.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

Many.

[B]

Come on. Do you hear that? Yeah. Sounds like a lot of wings flapping.

[A]

They look up about 40ft above the trees. They see what appears to be a crocodile. What? This is scary for people, Gareth. You're laughing and this is scary? It's 18ft.

[B]

Holy shit. Would you look at that? Whoa. Scarcadile.

[A]

18Ft long.

[B]

Oh, my God. Look at the size of him.

[A]

And flies using six wings along the length of its body. That's where all the wing noises came from.

[B]

Talk about a confirmation. It's a scandal.

[A]

Each wing is about 15 inches and shaped like a duck's foot.

[B]

And by the way, here's what I can't get over. The wings are so tiny.

[A]

I know. They're really big.

[B]

Wings are always like baby wings. They're like these enormous amphibians or reptiles with, like fairy wings. They were glittery.

[A]

It has 12 legs, which I assume just dangle down.

[B]

What the fuck?

[A]

12 legs.

[B]

It's like some weird shit.

[A]

That's a lot of legs.

[B]

It's a way. Listen, you would think that it would have more wings than legs, but here we are. Okay.

[A]

Howard, who is obviously the badass of the two, shoots one barrel of his shotgun.

[B]

If he fucking kills this thing.

[A]

Look, that's what you do. If there's a monster just flying over you without a care in the world, take a fucking shot at it, irritate it.

[B]

Yeah. Don't just be like, wow, nature's unbelievable. Be like, we should try to eat that real quick. Hey, how do you think that would stew up? How could that be? In a chili quoted.

[A]

Uttered a cry similar to that of a calf and bear combined.

[B]

This. Honestly, that's. This is almost where. This is where I'm starting to be like, they are adding some details to this stuff.

[A]

I've never been more on board.

[B]

It was like if a baby and a chicken exploded.

[A]

With 19 wings.

[B]

Imagine if a dinosaur and a fish.

[A]

Fought in the sky. In a sky fight, we heard the bullets rattle as though striking a thin piece of sheet iron.

[B]

It was like if it was a wolf rooster.

[A]

No sign of being inconvenienced or injured by the shots.

[B]

So it survived. So it was hit, though.

[A]

Didn't even bother it. Yeah, just like.

[B]

Just was like whatever.

[A]

It was like, it clearly heard it.

[B]

Because it made it. Yeah, because it made the bear scream.

[A]

Yeah, that's true.

[B]

It did. The bear calf.

[A]

This was reported.

[B]

Or maybe they just meant that if, like, a bear got shot in the back of the leg, that could also be a bear calf. I just think it's important to.

[A]

No, no, I get it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

This is reported in the Gridley Herald, who vouched for the two men. Quote, this is the first time we have ever heard of. Of such a creature as this. But our informants are reliable men, hence we cannot doubt their statements.

[B]

A lot of this is just dependent on the fact that two people have never publicly lied before.

[A]

It seems like you at. This is a time when you can. What am I saying? It's now. You can say whatever you want.

[B]

Imagine what you were about to say. You know, in this era, you could kind of say anything, and they'd print it.

[A]

Illinois. I was a. Well, Illinois, kind of in the west at this time.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

In August 1885, a farmer named James Vincent Senior of Blue Mound, Illinois. Here's his. In the middle of night. Here's his lambs bleeding and doing the.

[B]

Here's his lambs bleeding, bleating. Oh, okay.

[A]

And so he goes to investigate.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And he sees a huge reptile raise its head up many feet above the ground.

[B]

These.

[A]

And he's like, holy. So he goes quickly to his friend's house in Fletcher and asked four guys for help. He's like, you guys got to help me. This giant reptile eating my legs. So they go with him, and at the farm, they see the sheep in the field and they're running, and then they notice, oh, it's not one serpent. It's four. Four. There's the big one that he saw, and then there's three small quote, each of which the men claim measured from 18 to 20ft. Those are the little guys. Those are the little guys.

[B]

The big, little.

[A]

Little serpents.

[B]

40Ft, eaten.

[A]

Little ones. The little ones were. They would grab the lambs and then head for the big snake. So they're feeding the feeding lambs to the big snake.

[B]

Right. At one time, I fed a lamb to my big snake. No, I did. Giant mutton.

[A]

John Clingan threw a fence rail at them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I mean, you do. You work with what you do.

[B]

Let's walk through any actions we're gonna do from now on before we do them. Well, that seems to really pissed him off, what I did.

[A]

So the serpents drop the lambs and attack the men. And the men repel the. The serpents with, I guess, fence posts. They're Guns. I think they're guns. And the snakes then turn and go back to the lambs. And that one gives it to the big snake, who just eats it like a snake does. Just down the. Down the hole. Yeah, the men are. The men just start shooting now. And the big. When they shoot at the big snake, it's still for several minutes. Quote. And then the small snakes ran into its mouth. It unfolded its wings and started. But it was some time before it could get out of the field, for it was surrounded by a big hedge fence. So the fence is really the. The fence is how you fight serpents.

[B]

Big fences. Yeah.

[A]

Big fence.

[B]

You know, it's a lot like in signs. When water.

[A]

That was real, though.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Still, it finally got up and starts flying east. And it flies past William Lanster's house. Quote. His sister Katie, who was in the yard, was frightened so badly that is feared she will never recover. So it's not funny.

[B]

No, no. We've made jokes, but, you know, this is tragedy. Yeah. She's. She's been. She's. She's now in a snake coma.

[A]

It went past Mr. Zabel's house.

[B]

Mr. Zabel. Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Mr. Zable.

[B]

Quote, Zabel Stable.

[A]

His daughter Minnie saw it and she has been warned by an overruling power to stay in.

[B]

Sorry, what's going on?

[A]

She's not allowed to go out of.

[B]

The house anymore because of who.

[A]

She saw the flying snake.

[B]

But who told her? And overruled.

[A]

I think her dad.

[B]

That. But is it crazy for you to have Finn start calling you that? He's probably too late. But if there's any more kids involved.

[A]

In our world, it's not crazy at all.

[B]

Overruling power. May I have some mashed potatoes? I suppose.

[A]

It passed over Cooksville, where Doc Shadler and Colonel Wells saw it, but they thought it was birds.

[B]

Well, there's two. There's our two guys. Let's remember those guys fondly in this story. Pretty sure it's just a bird. No, it ain't. A bunch of lambs, asshole. And then a bunch of the little ones went in the big one's mouth.

[A]

Well, God, that woman up with that. She can't even function anymore. At least 20 people said they saw it. A reverend came to the farm minutes later and said he saw several bloody lambs. He also said the men were scared to death.

[B]

Quote. It's so funny. Not funny. I mean, I take this very seriously.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

But how much of the evidence is just things that we see sometimes.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And that people Were scared.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They wouldn't make it up. They were freaked out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What makes more sense, that these two guys didn't see a bird properly or that we have a 6 winged 12 legged psychedile?

[A]

QUOTE John Clingham fell prostate and was carried to Mr. Vincent's house where medical aid was summoned. And it was some time before he came to, so that he hurt his prostate. That guy passed out.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Prostrate.

[B]

Oh, sorry.

[A]

So you might be saying at this point, well, at least things have calmed down at Elizabeth Lake.

[B]

Well, I mean, we hadn't heard about it in a while. We're just.

[A]

Well, no, they haven't, Gareth.

[B]

Uh oh. Still water screaming at this point, the.

[A]

Lake is a fetid nightmare. A visiting reporter from the San Francisco examiner called it, quote, a stagnant pool of putrid water drained from surrounding alkali flats. An odor of a thousand sewer traps and a million tanneries saluted our nostrils. And the stomach, which have turned not away in loathing from camp cookery, begin to show signs of open rebellion. It.

[B]

So it's gross water.

[A]

It's gross. The water's bad.

[B]

Yeah, but that's.

[A]

It could be because all the. They're like. They have animals and stuff and it's all just the piss and. And all the animal stuff is just draining into this lake and they. They slaughter.

[B]

Two options.

[A]

It could be that.

[B]

It could be that because the animals and probably the surrounding people are using it as a toilet. Or we got a screaming devil at the scream.

[A]

Monster. Underwater monster. Devil screaming.

[B]

Pretty.

[A]

Pretty obvious people still live there around the lake. They have now a small town. There's a hotel and two stores and a blacksmith shop.

[B]

That's one of those hotels where you're like, God, this. The. It didn't say anything about this on TripAdvisor. Should see the pictures. No wonder it was so cheap. Devil at the bottom of the lake.

[A]

One night in night in 1883, there's a loud disturbance in Lopez's corral. Yeah, Lopez still lives there. It's been like 30 years. He's still there. The men all run to the corral and 10 horses are missing.

[B]

10. Jesus Christ.

[A]

Quote and against the night sky was seen an incredible griffin winging away, heavy with feasting. So he's. He's fat. He's fat. He just had a big ass meal.

[B]

He's eating up in the air.

[A]

Well, I think he. No, I think he just ate. He just ate the horse. He's a big boy.

[B]

He's a big boy. He's full of Whores.

[A]

That was apparently the end for Chico Lopez. He decided to sell.

[B]

That's it. He's a super motivated seller. I guess he saw a Griffin eat 10 horses from around here. So he is. You could get it at quite a deal.

[A]

I'm actually not interested in a Griff. A Griffin farm ranch.

[B]

Well, let me just walk you through what this property has.

[A]

And don't fly me through because I'm not.

[B]

You've got a great area to grow crops which are just, just. It's awesome. You can grow anything here. Does the griffin eat the crops, the brew, the produce? Hold on. The produce here you're going to grow is great. The vegetation is awesome. The lake has been turned into a toilet. There's a devil down there streaming.

[A]

I don't want a toilet.

[B]

You cannot bring any animals and your child might be put into some weird sort of coma state.

[A]

Hold on.

[B]

There is a griffin who eats anything living.

[A]

Did you see a screaming devil?

[B]

Yes. At the bottom of Toilet Lake, which used to be Elizabeth Lake, there is a devil who has diablo the whole thing. And now it's just sort of a gurgly bog where the devil screams. It also is kind of a hot tub vibe. So I don't know what you want to do, but I would recommend buying this because I really am. I'm looking to sell this.

[A]

I just. I gotta be honest. I just. I took the four. Four nights. Five. Five days. Just for the offer to. Like it says, just listen to our offer and then you can stay at the hotel. So I don't want to buy anything. I just, just. Honestly I'm just here. I just. I took the hotel deal.

[B]

Where do you live?

[A]

I live in. In the dark Anus.

[B]

May I come there? Satan, please.

[A]

Which is.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Some people go to Santa Monica.

[B]

That's what Father Christmas is, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

No thanks.

[A]

So he. He's gonna sell it and he sells his land to Don Felipe Rivera who planned to capture the beast and sell it to the sells circus.

[B]

That's what, she's gonna circus it?

[A]

What else would you. This is a guy who's got a fucking plan. Finally.

[B]

You gotta love when that guy says that when he's buying it. Just like you're like, okay, my plan is to catch him and sell him to this circus. Okay, yeah, whatever you think? I think he would be great next to the strongman and the mermaid. Like you're gonna be able to get a lake devil into the circus.

[A]

The craziest idea. So. So at the time the LA Times writes A story about the creature at Lake Elizabeth.

[B]

Now we finally sit down with the Lake Elizabeth creature. Finally, 10 questions with the Lake Diablo.

[A]

When I read the story, it very much seemed like Don Felipe was trying to drum up the story of the monster to try to get a deal with the circus.

[B]

It's just quite a move to be like. Like the circus would be like, yeah, probably not. It seems like he's a little too powerful for what we're doing. Like, let me tell. Let me walk you through what we're doing. We're putting a bunch of clowns inside of small spaces. We're doing like, we have a dog on a unicycle.

[A]

We got a lady with a mustache.

[B]

I mean, we got a bear that could kind of roll on a ball a little bit. And we actually just got a kangaroo that'll box.

[A]

Oh, this guy can put his lower lip above his nose.

[B]

I mean, this guy's got the world's longest mustache. I don't know if that guy, your Lake Devil's gonna fit in.

[A]

The LA Times quote, is attested that at night he comes out of the water, visits the corrals, and fills up with sheep and calves a half dozen at a time.

[B]

The circus.

[A]

The article reports that once the creature had tried to eat a Texas longhorn steel, which fought back, causing Don Felipe to come running. Quote, he saw the python, which at that moment had swallowed the steer to the middle. So.

[B]

So, like, halfway digested.

[A]

Yeah. So it's inside of his.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's halfway in the tummy. The tum tum part.

[B]

Yep. Right.

[A]

But after a terrific struggle, the victim freed itself. So the.

[B]

The jumped out of his center, got.

[A]

Out of his parts.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

The upset monster then fled back to the water. Don Philippe described it as about 45, 45ft long and as big as four elephants. It had a head like a bulldog.

[B]

I like that he's doing, like, his measurements. In circus you do. He's like, that's the way to sell it. It's the size of, like, four elements. Four elephants are like 440 strong, man.

[A]

Eyes like two buckets of popcorn.

[B]

I mean, that look, that. That's like how now we measure everything in football fields. He's about the size of four elephants.

[A]

Head like a bulldog and six legs, two wings. This guy Felipe said he gave chase and ran alongside it and emptied his.44 into its side. Quote, the bullets striking the monster's side sounded just as if they were taking. As if they were staking against a great iron kettle. So again, you shoot these things and it's like just hitting. It's like when the. When the flying talk about it, steer.

[B]

Just jumped out of it.

[A]

Well, that's a. Different.

[B]

Horns. Get it. Bullets.

[A]

I think the steer came back out the top. Oh, I think it, I think it.

[B]

Okay, that's because once a steer gets.

[A]

Halfway into a snake, it's like, all right, that's.

[B]

That's kind of. It was, by the way, the first implausible thing that's happened so far.

[A]

Don Felipe said the next morning you found four bullets, all flat as a pancake.

[B]

Oh, so it is bulletproof.

[A]

It sounds like it. Don Felipe had come to Los Angeles to talk to people to figure out a way to capture it. The Sells brothers of the Sells Floto Circus had sent an agent to the lake to report on the best way to catch it alive and determine how to handle it.

[B]

So there is a circus interested in this. Bulletproof.

[A]

Yeah. They sent a guy who's going to try to figure out how to get it and then also how to keep it in the circus. Like what to feed it.

[B]

Look, leg snake. I totally get it. I mean, you are really crushing it out here. And that's why we're looking. We're not going to give you one of these deals. We're looking to sign you to something big. We're looking to sign you to a five year, okay, exclusive cell circus deal only. And we really, we see this whole thing as the, the snake circus. We want to be in the lake snake business. It's a terrible noxious smell, obviously. Well, look, what we can give you is we can promise you a lot of dog food. That's what we'll feed you, our touring sched. We have a day off every seven days. And you know, you've got a. Look, we're all kind of. We're all kind of compromising our living spaces a little bit, but we really, we see your face on posters. We're gonna bring your headline and shows Lake snake. So that's what we want to do. You know, as far as what. We'll have you do certain things. We'll have you fly, we'll shoot you, we'll flood. We'll see the bullets get flat. We love the idea of a steer jostling out of your mouth, but we're really just. We love you and we want to snag you before somebody else does. Go yourself super crazy to.

[A]

I'm not in it for the money, all right?

[B]

It's just this guy. Performers.

[A]

The contract with Don Felipe read quote that if the Python is such as the party of the first part describes it to be. And if the party of the first part succeeds in taking it alive, then the party of the second part agrees to pay the sum of $20,000.

[B]

So if this doesn't work out, he's going to be on the hook for 20k?

[A]

No, I think they'll just pay it if he catches it and turns it over, otherwise.

[B]

So he's just going to cash.

[A]

Don Flippe has to catch it and turn it over?

[B]

Yeah. Well, no shit, no deal. I mean, what? So do we have a deal if I don't give it to you? Absolutely not. That's crazy. What are you talking about?

[A]

So the monster was cited several times from 1881 to 1886.

[B]

You mean like given a ticket?

[A]

Yeah. Okay, It's a little loud and smelly.

[B]

Unfortunately, it is the middle of the night and you're making your lake gurgles again.

[A]

Soon after returning from Los Angeles, Don Felipe saw it again and he gave chase and it sank into the lake. And not long after, it was seen rising up out of the lake and flying off to the east. And it was never seen at Elizabeth Lake again.

[B]

Imagine trying to catch this thing for the circus.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I can imagine it. Gareth, when life gives you the opportunity to make a fortune, you take it.

[B]

Fair.

[A]

You take it.

[B]

That's fair.

[A]

That's just. When I see that, I'm like, look at all that money. That's all I'm thinking.

[B]

True. Yeah. No, just. And it's easy to catch, I think.

[A]

Easy.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[A]

A little bit of bait. Throw a net over it.

[B]

Yeah, I got a snake that you can bite.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

What? You want a bait snake? I'm your guy.

[A]

On April 26, 1890, the Tombstone Weekly Epitaph in Arizona published a story titled Found on the Desert. The article described how two ranchers riding in the desert between a Whetstone. Whetstone and Huachucha. Huacha. Huachuca.

[B]

Huachaka.

[A]

Huachuca Mountain. When they came across a winged monster that looked like a giant alligator.

[B]

We're back to the sky gator.

[A]

Well, this one's a little different. It has a long tail and a huge pair of wings. So not six pairs of little wings, one big boat.

[B]

So very dragony.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It seems very exhausted. And the men assumed from a long.

[B]

Flight, of course, we've all been there.

[A]

So some people think that this was the Lake Elizabeth monster that flew.

[B]

Yeah, some people. Some people could think that.

[A]

Some people put it together. Like there's experts out there, they. They put this stuff together.

[B]

Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

But now it's really tired, and it's just flying short distances at a time.

[B]

Time spurts.

[A]

Yeah. And the two men start chasing it, and they chase it for miles on their horses, and they finally catch up to it, and they shoot it down using their Winchester rifles. Thank God.

[B]

Thank heroes. Heroes.

[A]

The beast measures 92ft with a wingspan of 160ft.

[B]

So this is legit Wings. That's what I like to hear. It's a big boy, Real wings.

[A]

It has big eyes that protrude out of its head. The head was eight feet long and has sharp teeth. It is very smooth skin and thick, transparent wings with no feathers.

[B]

So he's like 40 elephants?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Crazy.

[A]

The two men cut off a bit of the wingtip to take back to Tombstone as proof. Because you can't just leave that. You gotta take a piece back to show people and be like, look, there's some shit out there you need to know about.

[B]

Well, I know a lot of people doubted that. There are dragons. Here's an inch of wing. Now who's laughing?

[A]

That looks like a. I gotta be honest. That looks like a lizard cowboy boot tip.

[B]

Well, like, snakeskin boot. No, no, no. This is a gator. This is a sky gator.

[A]

There's nothing that looks like.

[B]

Look at that. Look at that size. That we should have. Well, in retrospect, we should have taken a lot more, but, I mean, it's.

[A]

I mean, it's tiny.

[B]

Well, we didn't want to. We didn't want to take a whole wing. It's really hot out.

[A]

Why?

[B]

Because it's hot out. We didn't feel like bringing it all the way back.

[A]

I'll take a foot or something that's like. Not like I've seen.

[B]

This wing is not like anything you've seen. Maybe we didn't take this looks like. Well, maybe we didn't. We didn't. We didn't think about. We just didn't want to carry Florida. We didn't want to carry a bunch of back. So we were kind of just trying to figure out what the. Easy. The wing was light it also, we could hold a little bit above it was. I think what we were thinking is we could have. We could bring back a little bit as sort of an amuse bouche. And if you guys liked it, we could take you to where the buffet is. So, you know, if you guys are. If you guys are seeing the little wing slice and you're going, hey, I'd like To see more. Yeah, we'll take you back. That's what we're saying. Yeah. What? Hey, what's.

[A]

What's this? A moose boot. A moves booshi.

[B]

A moose bush.

[A]

A moose bush.

[B]

What's it. It's a happy mouth. Has anyone ever here been to a goddamn dinner party? It's an amuse bouche. No, it's like a tiny appetizer. Makes you happy.

[A]

Can I shoot him?

[B]

No, no, no. You don't want to shoot me. I'm the guy who knows where the sky gator is.

[A]

Look at us, too.

[B]

Well, we both. I guess one of us could go. I mean, if we're. No, don't even say that. We're not even. Well, I'm just saying one of. If we needed one of us to.

[A]

Yes, the guy, the amuse. I can't even remember which one of you guys said.

[B]

I'm pretty sure I said a moose boosh.

[A]

But let's kill this one.

[B]

I, I, well, I, I've. I've used the term, so I don't know if I used it just now, but I've definitely.

[A]

I guess we killed both of you.

[B]

No. You know what? How about this? How about this? Hide under the wing. Yeah, great plan. Now they can't see us hiding under the wing.

[A]

It's not here. Well, how can you hide under the wing if it's not here? They're talking about the little part you have. Yeah, it doesn't look like you're hiding under anything because it's so small they.

[B]

Could see through it. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Regroup, regroup.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

How many people died in Tombstone?

[B]

We're two new guys and we are here. Hold. We're here to look for some of the gold. Yes, yes, we are completely different. Hey, real quick, what is this thing here that looks like a bit of a wing? Yes.

[A]

Someone took a little bit of a alligator wallet off and, well, brought it in to tell us we're gold guys.

[B]

But that's very intriguing piece. We. I agree, we are very intrigued by what we've seen, but we're two separate gentlemen from whoever brought that. If that was brought in by a gentleman too, or such. Well, we should probably get going to the mountains and look for our gold. That's. Oh, no, no.

[A]

Okay, so they bring this part in and they get a group of prominent red men to ride back to the body and take it and ship it back east to be examined by leading scientists. This would become known as the Tombstone Thunderbird. Gareth. In June 1890, a boy, Jimmy Diller, was playing on the hills of Balboa park in San Diego when he saw a massive monster, half bird flying thing. It has bat like wings, a long bill and a tail twisted like a donut.

[B]

He's got a donut tail too.

[A]

I just love that it's a boy.

[B]

It looked like a Cinnabon. It did. I was just playing with my pinwheel up on the bluff and then I seen a devil dog in the sky. But he had a little bit of a donut tail.

[A]

Jimmy dropped as the bird flew down to try to snatch him.

[B]

I'm totally on the bird's side.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

Oh no.

[A]

It missed and flew off. And Jimmy ran home and told his father, quote, papa, I have just seen the devil.

[B]

Quiet boy.

[A]

And then he was shown a drawing of the Tombstone Thunderbird and he said that was what he had seen.

[B]

Ah, so it is real.

[A]

So you can't, after some, after some point, you can't dismiss this stuff.

[B]

And you killed those two guys who brought the wing back.

[A]

Yeah, well, that was. Yeah, that was a mistake. A San Diego man also said he saw the monster that day over Switzer Canal near 28th Street. And he sworn a stack of bibles.

[B]

Boom. How many? How many will make this official for everybody? That's the question. I reckon just the one would be fine.

[A]

I seen a big giant bird bat thing and I will swear on this book of fake stories.

[B]

All right, let's get 20 of them and then he will be for sure telling the truth.

[A]

In Fresno the next summer, people began reporting that they'd seen a pair of pterodactyls living in the swampland around Tulare Lake. They said they were flightless birds, six feet long and wingspans double that that. And people had different descriptions of their heads, long wide bills or alligator snouts. And they flew around and snapped their jaws and that. Giant teeth and they sounded like swans.

[B]

But the thing, the thing that is 6ft is much different than what we've also been hearing about prior to this.

[A]

It is much different. Also this reminds me of a condor, right?

[B]

Which I was like vulture or something.

[A]

I was like 10ft away from one once. And they're terrifying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see it and you're like, well, that's a pretty. That's a prehistoric.

[B]

Well, birds are. I mean, birds are.

[A]

Yeah, I mean especially. Condors are especially like.

[B]

Oh, well, when you see their feet up close, you're like, oh my God, it's terrifying. Yeah, yeah. Well, when we, when I was in Australia and saw cassowary.

[A]

Oh, I thought you're gonna say Will.

[B]

Sorry, Will. What did I say?

[A]

He said cassowary.

[B]

Oh, I don't know what the. A cassowary. That's not even a term. No, Will. Will Anderson. I was like, oh, yeah. Okay.

[A]

Glass. You see its feet?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It is crazy. Oh, my God.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So where was. Okay, so they're these pterodactyls, and they're saying they're around on the lake and they're eating ducks and mud hens and farm chickens. And they left tracks in the mud, which looked like an alligator's track. 11 inches wide, 19 inches long. That doesn't even make sense. Anyway, there were many debates about the pterodactyls. Some thought they were fake or exaggerated or misidentified. But then that was kind of it. So that was kind of it. So as the Wild West America frontier starts to fade, the dragon stories start to go away, too, and kind of like sea monsters on maps that European sailors worried about. People became familiar with areas all over the place. And the dragons just kind of so weird. Went away. In 1963, Saga magazine wrote up a story about the Tombstone Thunderbird. The magazine said there had been a photo taken of the men who brought it back out of the desert, and they were beside the creature as it hung from a building. After that, for years, people would claim to have seen the photo. They would swear they had seen it. People would, for years would be like, I saw that photo. Like, old guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But there is no record of that photo. It was apparently never in the Tombstone epitaph, and no one can produce a copy. And in 2010, an English guy was inspired to create a fake photo of a bunch of guys from that time period standing in front of an old building, holding up a massive bat like dinosaur creature. And people. Those people also think that's real. Like, they'll put it. It'll be posted every once in a while. And people are like, wow. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

What is that photo called?

[A]

Well, it's not. I don't think it's called anything, but people identify it as the Tombstone Thunderbird. So you could. If you. If you go Google Tombstone Thunderbird, that will come up. And it's a bunch of guys sitting in front of, like, an old building.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And. Yeah, you've seen that before, right?

[B]

No, I don't think I have.

[A]

Oh, you haven't? Well, it's.

[B]

I don't think I have.

[A]

I mean, yeah, some guy. I think the guy in England guy In England made that. He was just like, this would be funny. And so people think it's real now.

[B]

It's fucking comical.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

So that's the story of American dragons in the American West.

[B]

Ah, what a pile of all real. It's very UFO ish in the sense that there's just a lot of anecdotal stories.

[A]

Yeah. And then there's also people that just tell a story.

[B]

There's people who see things and maybe. Who knows? And then there's people who see things and because of the who knows stories, they think they see something else. And then there's people who did actually probably just see like a seagull.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And they were like. It was tragic.

[A]

Yeah, it's. Yeah. Sources the Los Angeles Times, the Jacksonville Republican, the New York Times, the Newport Daily News, Kansas City Star, San Diego Weekly, Union, Mark Corvinski, Cowboys and dragons unraveling the mystery of the Thunderbird. Photograph in Strange Magazine, Tombstone Epitaph, Sacramento Daily Record, Union, LA Daily Herald, Thunderbirdphoto.com, the Flying Serpent who battled a train and other American dragons. And on the Old west coast being further Reminiscence of a Ranger by Major Horace Bell.

[B]

Well, it's. It's quite a. It's quite a. Quite a story. Quite a country.

[A]

For real.

[B]

And we'll get back, like, sort of to what you were alluding to. We'll be back. We're already. We're already starting to sniff around these things a little bit. It won't be this, but get ready to think there's like a stock market fairy and.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, that there's going to be like an oil demon who's, like, hoarding the oil and we need to, like, drop a nuke on it.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Fight it.

[A]

I mean, I was like, I wonder what the conspiracy theories about bird flu. And right away that it's. That bird flu is being spread by government drones.

[B]

Oh, yeah, no, that's. There's. There's some really interesting stuff happening. There's. Yeah, it's.

[A]

Yeah, we got it. We're good.

[B]

Yeah. No, the. The straightforward answer is never an option.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

So. Yep. Well, there you go.

[A]

There you go. Happy birthday.

[B]

You're welcome. Oh, hey, doll heads. This is Gareth, part of the Gare Force. Listen, you're part of the Gareth force. Go to garethreynolds.com if you want to see me on the road doing standup, you could find me in Brea, California. February 7, Eureka, California, for two shows February 11 at Savage Henry San Francisco February 12 Sacramento, February 13. Then I'll be in Naples, Florida March 24 Charlotte, April 13 Raleigh, North Carolina April 14 April 15 I'll be in Virginia Beach April 16 I'll be in Richmond, Virginia. Then I will be in Lutherville, Timonium, which is close to Baltimore, I believe. Goobie's Joke House April 17 through April 19. Then I will be in Winnipeg May 29 through May 31. Go to garethreynolds.com for tickets and information.