By Katie Spina (Grade 6)

Well ‘bout fifty years ago in ‘da summer of 1959 somthin’ unbelievable happened! There was a great storm a brewin’ one hot day in Baudette, and ‘da bay was not still or quiet for an instant. All of ‘da Baudette people were sittin’ in their houses waitin’ out the storm. It was black as a cave outside, even though it was 2:00 in the afternoon.

All of a sudden there was a CRACK!! And a great SPLASH!! The people went outside to see what was the matter, and at that very moment, there was a flash of lightning so bright it lit up the whole sky. In the midst of the flash a great walleye jumped out of the water! Well, the whole town went haywire. They were gonna get their rods and reels to go fishin’ but that ended when thunder scared them back to their houses.

The next day it was bright as a whistle outside and all the little children were playin’ in the bay. Little Jonny Samson was playin’ around and he fell right off the bridge! He was about to hit the water when that ol’ Walleye swam, jumped up, and caught Jonny on his back. Jonny’s daddy saw the whole thing and went to save his son. He swam to the middle of the bay and got Jonny off the Walleye.

“Thank you so much, Walleye,” he said. “I’m gonna call you Willie.”

Willie nodded and swam off, never to be seen again.

Now there is a huge memorial for Willie Walleye right on top of Willie Walleye Hill so we can all remember him, Willie, The Great!