Field Notes From The Unknown: Hello, Casey. And I'm Mackenzie. And this is Field Notes from the Unknown, ⁓ a about your favorite local cryptid. casey: So today we're gonna dive into one of the most mysterious legends ⁓ the American West. ⁓ guesses? ⁓ Mackenzie Hrubey: American West. I can only think of La Llorona. I can't think of anything else. casey: We're gonna talk about water babies. Mackenzie Hrubey: cool! Really? casey: Have you ever heard of water babies? Mackenzie Hrubey: So I have heard of them because yeah it was one of the books that ⁓ my mom would it's actually on a shelf behind me but my mom would read to me like one of her favorite books so yeah water babies. I don't think these are gonna be fuzzy cute gripped though like that was a very wholesome story. casey: And it's not the toy that you had as a child either. I love that. No. This is also not gonna be, you know, the cute little plastic water baby that you you played with as a child either. so yeah. Water babies are ⁓ supernatural beings found folklore of several indigenous tribes through the Great Basin. ⁓ And I'm gonna my best to pronounce the word the names, but Mackenzie Hrubey: Okay. casey: I apologize, including the northern Pepriuit and Shoshun people. While every tribe has its own version of these stories, the water babies are often connected to springs, lakes, and rivers. Places that were not only important for survival, but also considered to be extremely spiritually powerful. Modern depictions of water babies often portray them as small humanoid creatures with long dark hair and pale skin. Sharp teeth No Yeah No ⁓ Sharp teeth, glowing eyes, and even fish like reptilian features. Yeah, right? It's like a it's like a like lizard man had a baby. Mackenzie Hrubey: Cute! The fuck? Yeah, we're flowing lot. casey: Yeah. With the f a great hair. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah. casey: However, traditional stories vary. Some describe them as dangerous spirits, while others describe them ev as beings that must be respected because of their connection to sacred water. Some modern paranormal researchers believe that water babies are connected to unusual geological locations, including v volcanic regions, ancient waters, and remote springs. Mackenzie Hrubey: interesting. casey: I think they're probably at Yellowstone. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, I'm sure they are. Yeah, and fucking divers and shit. Yeah. So do they they live in the water or do they come out of the water? casey: I mean come on. It's really old. They live in the Yeah. Which can go back to like the the the fish like creature. Like features. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah. casey: So today we're actually going to be traveling to Nevada. Mackenzie Hrubey: interesting. casey: Long before even becoming a state, there were indigenous people that lived there and told stories of mysterious lake spirits connected to Pyramid Lake. So located in the Great Basin, Pyramid Lake is a place surrounded by beauty and mystery. The lake site the lake the lake sits on the Pyramid Lake Pauit reservation and gets its name from its unusual limestone formations that rise from the water. For generations the area has held deep culture and spiritual importance. Mackenzie Hrubey: Is it the pie? casey: I U. I think you might be right. P-A-I-U-T-E. Mackenzie Hrubey: I get to you. Yeah, I get to pay you. Also... I also think I've heard that before, ironically for Sasquatch encounters. Yeah. I know. And like, UFOs and shit too. casey: Cayute, I apologize. You've heard? Ooh. Interesting. So one version of the water baby legend tells of a child born with several deformities with little chance of survival. According to the story, the grieving family placed the infant into the water of Pyramid Lake. ⁓ After the disappeared beneath the surface, the cries of the infant were said to continue echoing across the lake. The legend says that those cries became a warning. A person walking near the water might hear what sounds like a baby crying in distress, only to discover there is no child. Mackenzie Hrubey: I'm out of casey: Instead the sound is believed to be the call of the water baby. Mackenzie Hrubey: Boopie. casey: luring right luring it in which anyone with any instinct hears a baby cry you instantly wanna go be like what the fuck you know Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, like, take care of that baby. That's the gut instinct. That's like how they lure you out with baby cries or shit, you know? casey: Yeah. But I can also Yeah. But like I can also kind of understand, you know, depending on the time frame here, why they did that to the baby. Mackenzie Hrubey: So was the baby alive when they put it into the... It was alive when they put... that's wild. Yeah. That's... that's... that's sad. Don't do that. I get it. Kind of, but I don't. casey: But d Yes, the baby i it was alive. Yeah. Yeah. Don't yeah, don't do don't do that. Okay, don't do that. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, that's bad. I think that's what we call bad. casey: This this isn't Shutter Island You know she's not taking the kids to school we don't do that Yeah Some depictions portray the creatures as ghostly infant p with pale bloated skin and dark eyes So different from what we talked about at the beginning Mackenzie Hrubey: It's the summertime. Yeah. casey: with hair drifting through the water like seaweed. Mackenzie Hrubey: What about that the sound so yucky ⁓ casey: Others describe Right While others can be more monstrous, you know, with the sharp teeth and the skin and the unnatural appearance Ugh Not cute. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah. You know what that reminds me of a little bit? So we were at a hotel two weekends ago, I think now, and we were in a pool at the hotel. And it was a decent pool, but the issue was we kept picking up strings of this really long blonde hair that didn't obviously belong to either of us. I hate that when you're like in a public pool and like you get scoops of hair. That's so nasty. I hate it so much. That's what I think about. casey: Yeah. I hate that too. So Pyrid Pyramid Lake itself adds mystery. While the lake is not nine hundred feet deep, as some stories claim, it reaches the depths of more than three hundred feet and can contains dangerous conditions, including sudden storms, extremely cold water, and unpredictable currents. It's almost like there's a spiritual being living in the water. Huh. Mackenzie Hrubey: ⁓ casey: During the Piute War in eighteen sixty, a conflict between settlers and the Paiute people of the region both experienced extreme you know, ⁓ violence and loss of life. Like it it was really bad. As any as any violent war would go. Mackenzie Hrubey: It was really violent. Yeah. Yeah, super deadly. casey: But later people claim to have seen strange lights appear over the lake. during this time. So at night when everyone's resting and they're like, ⁓ conflict avoided s the settlers would see these lights and mysterious cries coming from the water. Mackenzie Hrubey: That sounds like some fucking UFO shit to me. casey: Mm, could be. I if I was a water baby and I witnessed settlers coming in and just trying to, I don't know, kill a bunch of Pyute people, I'd be like, Alright, come on. We're gonna lower you to the water, you piece of shit. Like Mackenzie Hrubey: God damn. casey: But it you're right. You're right, because some people do say they see strange lights over water. Like the Pasagula alien abduction that happened over water. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, but again like Pyramid Lake specifically I feel like I know about it because of UFO stuff like people seeing lights on the UAPs of the lake. casey: Man. Over the years, a numerous stories of strange encounters have emerged. Fishermen have reported feeling as though something was moving beneath their boats, while others claim the water suddenly become water suddenly becomes violent without warning. Mackenzie Hrubey: It's probably a giant stopping turtle. casey: You're probably right. You're probably right. You're right. Because all the waters are all bodies of water are connected through tunnels that sinkhole Sam has formed himself. And then you throw the turtle in there. Yeah, it's just, you know. Mackenzie Hrubey: Hahaha Absolutely. then, you know, he used to go travel. Yeah. You know, he was around. casey: He gets around, yes. Modern internet stories the grand scheme of everything. Everything's connected. All of it. Modern stories continue to spread. One account from 2009 described campers near Pyramid Lake who claim they were awoken around two AM by the sound of a crying baby. According to their story, the cries grew louder. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, this is part of our grant. Sorry. Carry on. Yeah. All of it. casey: As if something was moving around their campsite. By morning, they claimed to have found small footprints leading towards the water before disappearing. Mackenzie Hrubey: Cool. casey: And they didn't have any kids. Mackenzie Hrubey: What if it was alien flip-stops? casey: Another in It could have been. I don't know. Could have been. It did not say. Other than small footprints. Another account from 2016 claims two fishermen saw small figures be moving beneath the surface of their boat. Mackenzie Hrubey: many toes were there? casey: They tried to get a better look at it, however it vanished before they could, only leaving a trail of bubbles behind. In recent years, online challenges and videos claiming to capture strange sounds and lights near Pyramid Lake have continued to fuel this legend. Another location connected to the water babies to the water babies story is Massacre Rock. Mackenzie Hrubey: Look at that. casey: It's actually a state park in Idaho. What an awful name for a state park. However, there yes. There's obviously a reason. So that's located along Snake River. Mackenzie Hrubey: Really? Dang, I assumed that there was a massacre that occurred there. ⁓ casey: So water babies are also found in at Massacre Rock State Park in Idaho and the Snake River. And the historic Oregon Trail. Mackenzie Hrubey: Huh. casey: I mean the Oregon Trail was awful. If I was on the Oregon Trail, ⁓ you know, I've died so many times, actually, on the Oregon Trail game. So But if I if I was part of the Oregon Trail and I had a sick, ill child, I don't know what I would do. But I might do something. Mackenzie Hrubey: It was. And a- play- casey: that s might I don't know, ⁓ keep the child from suffering further, you know? Mackenzie Hrubey: Maybe. All I know is whenever I Oregon Trail... I know. know. People got this story, like, constantly. I think it just- I feel like the Oregon Trail was just covered in diarrhea. Yeah. casey: Look, it's the Oregon Trail. People were vicious during that time. You're Yeah. So I'm not saying I would, In a hypothetical situation ⁓ where I be part of the Oregon Trail back then, ⁓ I don't what I would do. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah. And your babies would become water babies. See you in the Snake River. casey: Potentially, yes. Don't come at me, okay? I'm not gonna do it. Because it's a hypothetical. Mackenzie Hrubey: My question is, I wonder if water babies are found in other parts of the Trail. One, and number two, is why is it called Massacre Rock? Like I just, that's terrible. What the hell? casey: I don't know. ⁓ maybe we'll unpack that later. Mackenzie Hrubey: Wild. casey: So along with the cry. That is supposed to l lure travelers out. Into the water. And then they would never return. Mackenzie Hrubey: Ugh. casey: You know what this makes me think of? Mackenzie Hrubey: What? casey: Where's that old abandoned amusement park? The re Lake Shawnee. Mackenzie Hrubey: ⁓ yeah, yeah, yeah. And they say it's like super hot and like people will drag you under. Yeah. Yeah. casey: Yeah Super haunted. So maybe they're also water babies at Lake Shawnee. Shawnee? Shaunty? Shawnee? Yeah. Shawnee is I think it's Shawnee. Mackenzie Hrubey: Probably. Shani, I think it's Shani. Yeah, let's go find out. Let's bring a spirit box. We're gonna go, we're gonna find out, we're gonna look for water babies and we're gonna get you haunted. casey: I have seen several like paranormal things where people don't really last long at Lake Shawnee. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah, it sounds so spooky. a lot of people died. casey: Like it's well, I also think the amusement park was built on a burial ground. Mackenzie Hrubey: like that. Yeah, or like maybe a battleground or something. ⁓ ⁓ casey: Something yeah. Something. So whether these stories are warnings about dangerous waters, memories of past tragedies, or evidence of something unknown living beneath the surface, water babies remain one of the most mysteriously haunting legends of the American West. So are water babies simply folklore? Or are they actually something more spiritual? What do you think? What are you gonna rate my water baby story? Mackenzie Hrubey: like the water babies. I didn't know about the spooky set of water babies. I just remembered my cute, you know, book growing up. I'm gonna rate water babies... I'm gonna go four today. I'm feeling four. I'm feeling generous. Yeah. casey: Alright, you're very generous. I I'm gonna do I think a four also. Yeah, we'll give it a four. I think it's I think it's spiritual in a way. Well, it's definitely fucking spiritual. However, I don't know if it's a warning of waters or they're actually just trying to lure people in because they're out for vengeance. Mackenzie Hrubey: Alright. Yeah. Yeah, I feel like the especially with like Native American legends, the physical and spiritual world are so interwoven I feel like it's hard to say that one's one or the other because nothing is one or the other. It's always both so I don't know. I feel like these are real fucking things you can go see and we should go to pyramid lake and Yeah Batch the rat party casey: Yes. No it's always both. I think they're real things too. I think the real things too. We're gonna go to Massacre Rock and spend the night at Lake Shawnee. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah and Las Vegas and then we'll take some day trips out to these haunted locations. I think like Shawnee's like in Tennessee or something. don't, don't fact check me, I don't know. casey: In Las Vegas. Yeah. We're obviously it's gonna be a giant road trip joint party. Mackenzie Hrubey: We should rent a bus. casey: party bus, yes. Mackenzie Hrubey: Yeah. All right. Listeners, please tell us what you think and please rate the water babies. casey: But alright. Like, share, subscribe, check the links in our bio. And yeah, that's it for us. We'll be back next week, guys. Bye. Mackenzie Hrubey: Thank you. Bye.