Miller County’s location
made it the “Gateway to the Southwestern United States” via its rivers,
stagecoach roads, and Native American trails. Fouke (which is located in the county) is a small town in
southwest Arkansas that is best known as being the locale for the Fouke monster
legend- one of the most popular legends in the state.
The town attracted attention in the early 1970s when a resident of Texarkana reported seeing a
mysterious creature there. A reporter for the Texarkana Gazette wrote an
article about it and a legend was born. Fouke and its monster became famous and
were featured in the 1973 movie The Legend of Boggy Creek.
The Fouke monster has been described as something of a Southern Sasquatch- a “big-foot-type monster.” The
documentary style film on the creature was made by South Arkansas native
Charles Pierce in the early 1970s. The film assured a place in folklore history
for the Bigfoot look-a-like, which has allegedly been seen in and around Fouke
since the 1940s. The low budget, campy movie earned cult status and the
familiarity of this tale and the regular resurgence in the media of yeti,
Bigfoot, and caveman-like characters keep the legend alive.
