Minn. city sets reward for legendary creature

[June 04, 2008]  LAKE CITY, Minn. (AP) -- Some in eastern Minnesota say there's a large, serpentlike creature living in the Mississippi River's Lake Pepin below Maiden Rock. If it exists, it could fatten your bank account.

The Lake City Tourism Bureau has helped set up a $50,000 reward for hooking, netting or capturing the creature on a camera.

Larry Nielson owns a paddle-wheeler on the lake and claims to have seen the creature, which the locals have named "Pepie." Nielson and others would like to see the creature draw some tourists.

Boosters say the legend of Pepie comes in part from the native Dakota people that lived in the area. They refused to travel on Lake Pepin in bark canoes because of large creatures that would come to the surface and damage their boats.

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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com/

[Associated Press]

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