vacation tours pegleg or peralta? - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Monsters
or
30 / Desert Magazine / July, 1968
Sea
HEN Don Pedro Carrillo
acquired a grant of
several square leagues
of land in the vicinity
of Laguna del Diablo
in 1835 he built a
beautiful new home, stocked his ranch
with the best horses and cattle and settled
down to a life of leisure. Three
months later an unexplained fire completely
destroyed his house, barns and
warehouses, leaving only charred ruins.
"It is a place owned by the devil," he
said, leaving the area forever. The rich
land lay vacant until squatters settled on
it in 1855. They, too, soon moved away,
remarking, "The place is haunted."
Some years later a Chico Lopez settled
in the valley near the lake, today called
Elizabeth Lake. When one of his vaqueros
reported a terrible monster was
in the water, Chico and several of his
men rushed to the area. They heard a
hideous, screeching, hissing roar and
could smell the odor of the monster
hidden in the tules. Horses were so overcome
with terror they bolted.
Safe on a ridge, Chico said he saw a
tremendous monster with enormous batlike
wings lashing the water of the lake.
By the next morning the monster had disappeared
and was not seen again for
some time. Then Chico Lopez's horses
and cattle began to disappear. At first
he blamed the losses on grizzly bears.
One night there was a terrible com-