The Legend of Boggy Creek

The Legend of Boggy Creek

Docudrama with numerous reenactments of encounters with hairy giant.

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Fouke Arkansas Monster

The most famous of monster legends in The Natural State is that of the Fouke Monster. Its fame was assured by three movies about a hairy, ape-like creature that supposedly haunts the swampy Sulphur River bottoms of Miller County. The first reported sightings of the "Boggy Creek" monster were in 1946, and it was seen again in 1965. But it was an alleged attack on a farmhouse near the Fouke community in 1971 that brought state and national attention to the region south of Texarkana.

Shaggy-haired, stinky and well over six-feet tall, the creature allegedly clawed its way through a screened window before the men of the house chased the creature back into the woods. Law enforcement officers were called and investigated the scene, taking casts of some strange footprints. Soon after the lawmen departed, the beast returned and was met with gunfire from the homeowners, according to reports.

In 1972, Texarkana native Charles B. Pierce produced a low-budget movie called "The Legend of Boggy Creek," which assured a place in folklore history for the Fouke Arkansas Monster. The pseudo-documentary film became a cult hit and reportedly grossed $22 million in ticket sales, mostly at drive-in theaters.

The hairy humanoid, with arms extending almost to the ground, was accused of stealing hogs, chickens and a calf as its fame expanded. The Fouke Monster also grew in stature, as did Sasquatch sightings in Arkansas, after the movie appeared. By the late 1970s, some eyewitnesses reported the creature to be about 10 feet tall and weigh some 800 pounds. They also noted that it left an odor worse than that of a skunk.

Two sequel films have been made about Arkansas's version of Sasquatch -- also known as Bigfoot -- but it has been several years since a reported sighting.