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In Arkansas folklore, the Fouke Monster , also known as the Boggy Creek Monster and the Swamp Stalker, is purported to be a humanoid creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, that was allegedly sighted in the rural town of Fouke, Arkansas during the early 1970s. The creature was alleged to have attacked a local family. It has since become a part of Arkansas folklore. Stories of the creature influenced the 1972 docudrama horror film The Legend of Boggy Creek, which became the 11th highest-grossing film of 1972 and is today considered to be a cult classic.
The creature was named by journalist Jim Powell, who reported on it for the Texarkana Gazette and the Texarkana Daily News.
A variety of tracks and claw marks have been discovered which are claimed to belong to the creature. One set of footprints reportedly measured in length and wide, while another appeared to show feet that only possessed three toes.
Local residents claim that the creature had roamed the area since 1964, but those sightings had not been reported. Local folklore also holds that the creature can be further traced back to sightings in 1946. Most early sightings were allegedly in the region of Jonesville as the creature was known as the "Jonesville Monster" during this period.
In 1955, the creature was allegedly spotted by a 14-year-old boy who described it as having reddish brown hair, sniffing the air, and not reacting when it was fired upon with Shotgun shell. Investigator Joe Nickell observed that the description was consistent with a misidentified black bear ( Ursus americanus).
According to Elizabeth Ford, the creature, which she initially thought was a bear, reached through a screen window that night while she was sleeping on a couch. It was chased away by her husband and his brother Don. During the alleged encounter, the Fords fired several gun shots at the creature and believed that they had hit it, though no traces of blood were found. An extensive search of the area failed to locate the creature, but three-toed footprints were found close to the house, as well as scratch marks on the porch and damage to a window and the house's siding. According to the Fords, they had heard something moving around outside late at night several nights prior but, having lived in the house for less than a week, had never encountered the creature before.
The creature was allegedly sighted again on May 23, 1971, when three people, D. C. Woods, Jr., Wilma Woods, and Mrs. R. H. Sedgass, reported seeing an ape-like creature crossing U.S. Highway 71. More sightings reports were made over the following months by local residents and tourists, who found additional footprints. The best known footprints were found in a soybean field belonging to local filling station owner Scott Keith. They were scrutinized by game warden Carl Galyon, who was unable to confirm their authenticity. Like the Ford prints, they appeared to indicate that the creature had only three toes.
The incident began to attract substantial interest after news spread about the Ford sighting. The Little Rock, Arkansas, radio station KAAY posted a $1,090 bounty on the creature. Several attempts were made to track the creature with dogs, but they were unable to follow its scent. When hunters began to take interest in the Fouke Monster, Miller County Sheriff Leslie Greer was forced to put a temporary "no guns" policy in place in order to preserve public safety. In 1971, three people were fined $59 each "for filing a fraudulent monster report."
After an initial surge of attention, public interest in the creature decreased until it gained national recognition in 1973 when Charles B. Pierce released a docudrama horror film about the creature in 1972, The Legend of Boggy Creek.
By late 1974, interest had waned again and sightings all but stopped; only to begin again in March 1978 when tracks were reportedly found by two brothers prospecting in Russellville, Arkansas. There were also sightings in Center Ridge, Arkansas. On June 26 of that same year, a sighting was reported in Crossett, Arkansas. During this period the creature was blamed for missing livestock and attacks on several dogs.
Since the initial clusters of sightings during the 1970s, there have been sporadic reports of the creature. In 1991, the creature was reportedly seen jumping from a bridge. There were forty reported sightings in 1997 and, in 1998, the creature was reportedly sighted in a dry stream bed south of Fouke.
According to Schambach, the tracks could not be from a species of ape, as claimed by witnesses, because they were from a three-toed creature, whereas all , including hominids, have five toes. In addition to the number of toes, Schambach cited several other anomalies as part of his conclusion: the region had no history of primate activity, ruling out the possibility of the creature being the remnants of an indigenous species; all apes are completely Diurnal animal, as the Fouke Monster was reported to be nocturnal.
By 1986, the mayor of Fouke, Virgil Roberts, and former Miller County Sheriff Leslie Greer, were of the opinion that the alleged Fouke Monster tracks were man-made. Greer's working colleague at that time, Chief Deputy H. L. Phillips, said that he had not taken calls regarding the monster in years. He does not believe the creature exists, stating, "...I don't believe in it. But I'd say you don't argue with people who say they've seen it. Many were respectable and responsible folks".
The Skeptoid podcast concludes "So in total, every last shred of evidence that the Fouke Monster exists at all is anecdotal. Not a single piece is testable. The Fouke Monster fits very poorly with the model of a living animal, but fits very well with a local legend."
In 1999, Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues was parody in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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