Arkansas’ version of Bigfoot is called the Boggy Creek Monster
The hairy, ape-like creature reportedly attacked a family in a house near the town of Fouke in 1971. Large, three-toed footprints were found nearby, and there was some damage to the house. A search was made, but no monster was spotted.
And there it would have ended except for a docudrama called The Legend of Boggy Creek, which came out in 1972 and made a surprising amount of money. Seeing an opportunity to make money, someone created Monster Mart, a gas station in Fouke dedicated to the monster. I stopped by on my way home from Texas, where I’d gone to see a Cave Swallow.
While the outside is impressive and promising, the inside, when I was there, was decidedly run down, as though the owners had stopped caring. (According to the Internet, Monster Mart is since under new ownership — hopefully they’ll be a bit more enthusiastic about it.)
I wandered through the museum, which contained movie posters, newspaper articles, and chunks of plaster that are supposedly casts made of the monster’s footprints.
Lest you be alarmed, an archaeologist from Southern Arkansas University investigated and determined that “There is a 99 percent chance the tracks are a hoax.” The local sheriff at that time chimed in: “I don’t believe in it. But I’d say you don’t argue with people who say they’ve seen it.” And a podcast on the subject reports: “So in total, every last shred of evidence that the Fouke Monster exists at all is anecdotal. Not a single piece is testable.” Color me shocked.
These newspaper articles refer to the initial 1971 sighting.
