Looking for the perfect campfire story? Look no further than Arkansas folklore. The Natural State is full of paranormal tales, from wandering ghosts to spectral trains, haunted hollows to wraith-haunted hotels. You can believe them or not, but they sure are a lot of fun to talk about when the wind is hooting in the eaves on a long October night.
One of our favorite subjects when it comes to the weird and spooky in Arkansas is the state's many purported cryptozoological residents — monsters similar to Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Science says these beasts don't exist, but legions of eyewitnesses claim to have seen them in the flesh. Arkansas is home to...
several of these legends, and many of the tales include steadfast sightings to back up the claims. Seen below are our favorite monsters in Arkansas, so read on to learn more about the beasties and grotesqueries that are said to lurk out there, just behind the firelight!
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The White River Monster
Since at least 1915, residents of Newport in far Northeast Arkansas have been reporting sightings of a fearsome river monster (known locally as "Whitey") in the muddy waters of the White River. The best early eyewitness account of the creature comes from July 1937, when a wealthy and respected plantation owner named Bramlett Bateman claimed he saw the monster in the river. Bateman described the creature as having slick gray skin like a seal, blowing up great gouts of water from a blowhole, and being "wide as a car and three cars long." That's in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 feet! Bateman was so convinced of the creature's existence that he helped spearhead the construction of a huge rope net to span the river in an attempt to try and capture the beast. Former Navy divers were even brought in to look for the creature underwater — but to no avail.
Whitey apparently disappeared until 1971, when witnesses along the White River again claimed to have seen a gray, horned monster more than twenty feet long, thrashing in the water. Investigators later found a trail of 14-inch-long footprints, each with three toes, along the riverbank. Interest in the case was so fierce that in 1973, the Arkansas State Legislature (tongue planted firmly in their cheek) created the White River Monster Refuge, making it illegal to harass or harm the monster. Though the White River Monster is now a protected species, sightings have dropped off precipitously in recent years. Some experts suggest the monster might have been a wayward manatee or elephant seal.
The Ozark Howler
The Ozarks at night are full of strange sounds, and Arkansas folklore suggests that the most frightening of those sounds may be produced by the Ozark Howler. This frightful creature is native to North Arkansas and Southern Missouri, producing unearthly cries to chill the blood of anyone who hears them. Descriptions of the Howler are all over the place, but the general consensus is that it's a monster the size of a large bear and has shaggy hair, a thick and stocky body, glowing red eyes, and the horns and beard of a goat. Other accounts say that the Howler is a giant cat around the size of an African lion, with a coal-black hide and glowing eyes. What all accounts seem to agree on, however, is the Howler's terrifying cry, which has been described as a combination of a woman's scream and a wolf's howl.
Stories of the beast have been circulating around campfires in the Ozarks since at least the early 1800s. It seems the legend of the Howler has melded somewhat with accounts of the Arkansas Black Panther, a large cat that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission claims does not exist in Arkansas. Meanwhile, Cryptozoologists — true believers in monsters, which they call "cryptids" — suggest that the creature may be an American cousin to the famous Black Dog of Death that exists in the folklore of Scotland, Ireland and England. The beast is said to have followed the many Scots-Irish Ozark settlers to their new home in America.
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The Fouke Monster
The state's most famous legendary creature is named after Fouke, a tiny town in Miller County in the far southwest of the state. Stories of a large, hairy creature had been circulating in the area since at least the 1940s — but the legend really took off in May 1971. That year, Fouke resident Bobby Ford raced into town to report to local police that his home had been attacked by a hairy creature that stood seven feet tall, stood upright like a man and had bright red eyes. Ford's wife and brother said it all started after they saw the creature on their rural property and took a shot at it with a rifle, knocking it down and apparently wounding the creature. The Fords told deputies that the enraged creature then attacked the house, trying to break in through the windows and doors. At one point, the monster put a long, hairy arm through a window in an effort to grab one of them. After several hours under siege, the Fords were able to escape and drive to town to report what they'd seen.
After Bobby Ford was treated for shock, bruising and scratches at a local hospital, police investigators visited the property and found no monster blood or corpse. However, they did find huge, strange tracks and claw-like gouges on the porch of the house. Newspaper reports of the event the next day coined the name "The Fouke Monster," and the story became a nationwide sensation after it was reported on the Associated Press and United Press International wire services. That surge of interest led to the 1973 low-budget film "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and a sequel, which have since become cult favorites. As for the Fouke Monster, sightings in the area have slowed to a trickle in the years since the purported attack on the Ford home.
The Gowrow
The Arkansas monster with the most tenuous claim on reality, the fearsome Gowrow, took root in the state's pantheon of monsters based on a single story that appeared in the Arkansas Gazette on January 1, 1897. The story, with a byline by reporter Elbert Smithee, claimed to be the account of a Little Rock businessman named William Miller. Miller was traveling on business in the tiny town of Blanco in Searcy County, where he learned that a hideous monster called a Gowrow was killing livestock in the area. After forming a posse, Miller tracked the Gowrow to a cave scattered with bones. There, they set up an ambush for the creature, but it got the drop on them by emerging from a nearby lake with a fearsome roar that caused the earth to tremble. In the account, Miller described the beast as twenty feet long with twin tusks, webbed feet, claws, horns along its spine and a whiplike tail with a sharp blade on the tip.
In the ensuing battle with the posse, the creature reportedly killed several horses, uprooted trees and tore a man's leg off before they were able to bring it down with sustained rifle fire. Miller claimed to have sent the creature's body to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., but it never arrived. Since that account, the legend of the Gowrow has grown, including a witness who said he had encountered a Gowrow at Devil's Hole in Boone County. Like the original story, however, these accounts are littered with the hallmarks of fanciful Ozark folklore and should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe two!
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We hope you enjoyed reading about Arkansas cryptids and the giant beasts of Arkansas. There's a lot of weird stuff lurking around in the woods, hills and hollows of our wild state. If you need a new or used vehicle to help you start exploring, then slither on down to McLarty Daniel Buick GMC in Bentonville, Arkansas. Our great hometown deals and service after the sale will make you a customer for life.
