Can Finding Bigfoot Find the Fouke Monster?

Editor’s Note: This is a post by Bigfoot Evidence contributor Vicki W.

For many Bigfoot enthusiasts the movie "The Legend of Boggy Creek" sparked an interest and for some an obsession about the existence of the big guy commonly called Bigfoot. It's about time the Finding Bigfoot team visit the town that inspired so many. Finding Bigfoot is traveling to Arkansas in hopes of finding the legendary Fouke Monster! According to a Facebook posting by Mayor Terry Purvis, the show's all too familiar town meeting will take place Friday, January 18th. As you may recall, Ranae Holland made mention of the classic movie in Sunday's Louisiana episode, remarking that the area was as close as she could imagine to seeing the iconic Boggy Creek location. This episode deserves to be a 2-hour special, don't you think?

It will be interesting to see some of the locations as they look today as well as some of the players involved, hopefully including members of the Crabtree family. The recent novel (correction: non-fiction book) authored by Lyle Blackburn, "The Beast of Boggy Creek", assembles the information that inspired the film and continues with sightings well into the 21st century. (It's a page-turner--highly recommended for BF buffs). The last sighting covered in the book was in 2010, which means the monster is still there, though it must surely be the monster's grandkids creating the fuss nowadays.

Although the Fouke Monster legend became well known in the 1970s due to the movie, the first report on record detailing a hairy man-beast took place in 1851. According to Blackburn's "Beast of Boggy Creek" it was reported in both the "Arkansas Gazette" and the "Memphis Enquirer" on May 9, 1851.

"Two hunters near Greene County were startled when they came upon a large, hair-covered animal as it was trying to catch a calf from a herd of cattle. When the creature noticed the men, it stopped it's pursuit of the calf and just stood there eyeing them. Then suddenly, it turned and ran. They described it as 'an animal bearing the unmistakable likeness of humanity. He was gigantic of stature, the body being covered with hair and the head with long locks that fairly enveloped the neck and shoulders.'

Blackburn further writes, "Upon investigation, the men reportedly found human-like tracks that measured 13 inches long. This is quite remarkable since the length correlates with the size of modern day Bigfoot tracks. The reporter at the time theorized that the beast was a human survivor of an earthquake that occurred in northeast Arkansas on December 16, 1811."

A post-movie incident that was investigated by the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy happened in 2000 near Mercer Bayou is also detailed in "Beast of Boggy Creek". A group of men were coon hunting when the witness followed his dog's alert toward a treed raccoon:

"Suddenly I heard something walking in the flooded timber. I could tell by the gait that it was someone coming in the flooded woods. So I called out to them, thinking it must have been one of my hunting companions. To my dismay no one answered--instead all I heard was a deep-throated, gurgling growl and {smelled} the awfullest putrid smell. The smell was like when you kill a wild hog and grab him by the hind leg and then you give out dragging him and put your hand up to your nose and the smell knocks you over. I also heard a whining kind of whistling sound. My dogs were on my leash and were whimpering. These were UKC Lipper-bred Walkers, they probably weighed in at close to a 100 lbs. They could rip a 20 lb. coon apart, yet there they were cowardly crouched behind my legs whimpering. I couldn't understand it. Still in all, I was not concerned about any of this and got my dogs and started back across the swamp.

After a few minutes I heard this sound of someone or something walking in the water again. So I stopped and turned around and standing right behind me was a creature of immense size. Talk about the hair on the back of your neck standing up, I was scared. I don't ever remember being that scared. He made a hissing sound and reached down and took his hand and started scooping water and throwing it up at me and making a deep throaty noise. My dogs started chomping at the leash and growling to get at it, having regained their bravery. I grabbed the leash and tore out across that swamp so scared that, for awhile, I went in the wrong direction. I got to a big Cypress knee and caught my breath. I could hear the thing behind me, it sounded like it was about a hundred yards or so back. It followed me for a ways, then after a while I could hear it across the bayou making a moaning sound and moving away slowly.

I got my breath and my compass and my bearings and started back to the truck. When I got there I didn't say a word to my friends about what I saw and heard for fear they would laugh me down. Needless to say I never returned to Thornton Wells nor do I plan to. For a long time, I kept this to myself. I even had nightmares about it."

Another sighting which occurred near Fouke in October of 2000 was reenacted on the "Swamp Stalker" episode of "Monster Quest". Bow hunter Stacy Hudson appeared on the episode and described a dark-haired creature that paid him a visit while he was fully camouflaged in a tree stand. When the creature reached up and touched the sharp broadhead of one of his arrows, it let out a loud and terrifying scream, after which Hudson admits to screaming and "cussin" himself.

The most recent sighting covered in Blackburn's book took place in 2010. "Monster Mart" (Fouke's famous market and tourist attraction) employee and non-believer Liz Rowton had just finished her shift at the store. Her husband and fellow non-believer Michael arrived to pick her up around 11 pm. Driving down the road, Michael noticed something squatting in the grassy area between the road and the trees. The thing stood up and crossed in front of them. When they looked towards the direction it ran, they both saw it's outline as it escaped into the woods. Did they see the Fouke Monster? Or was it a 7 foot tall prankster in an ape costume cleverly attempting to convert the two doubting Thomas'?

Let's hope Matt, Ranae, Bobo and Cliff will hear even spookier tales at the customary town meeting. With a little, okay--a lot--of luck perhaps they will dredge up some evidence. Why not join a group of coon hunters for their night investigation? Follow along and meander away. Maybe they could repeat the witness' experience detailed above. No shooting, of course. Whether they spot the beast or not, it will surely be a memorable stop for the cast and crew as well as for the townspeople and for all the "Finding Bigfoot" fans.

Watch Stacy Hudson tell his story here: (move counter to 8:45)