Lake Monster.
Kalamazoo, Mich., July 21 – The big snake which is said to exist in the neighborhood of Carter’s Lake, Barry county, and known as “Carter’s snake,” has been seen again this week, this time by Henry Marble. The snake is variously reported as fifteen to twenty feet long. Marble was terrified and came to Sexton McElwain’s with his horse on the run. Hunts have several times been organized to kill the snake without result.Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 21, 1894.

Thanks for this historical item from Jerome Clark.

For more information, please see Chapter 8, “Giant Snakes,” in Mysterious America, the 2007 edition.