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| An exhibit of Fouke Monster artifacts at the Monster Mart in Fouke, Arkansas photo by Ken Hulsey |
In the last week of April 1971 two families moved into a rental home just off Highway 71 north of the rural farming town of Fouke, Arkansas. Don and Patricia Ford and their four children shared the home with Charles and Elizabeth Taylor. Both men had been hired on by a local ranch and the families' had decided to share the home to save on expenses. The small town of Fouke seemed like a nice quiet place to settle down, but the events of the next few days would be so terrifying that they would pack up and flee the town forever.
The strange events that the Ford and Taylor families would experience started almost immediately after they had settled in. On the night of Wednesday, April 28, the family was enjoying a quiet evening when they began to hear sounds of something large moving around on the front porch of the home. Someone or something was trying to get into the house. Whatever it was seemed to be trying to get at the family dog. The event scared them so much that they snuck out the back door and fled to a neighbors house. Sometime later they would return and find no sign of the mysterious visitor.
On Friday, May 1, Don's brother Bobby and his friend Corky came to Fouke to visit the family and do some fishing. The two young men headed out early to see if they could catch some fish in a nearby creek. While scouting around for a good place to fish they spotted a strange track in the muddy bank of the creek. It was similar to a human footprint except that it was much larger and had only three toes. Not wanting to encounter what had made the track the two young men abandoned their fishing trip.
Later that night the mysterious visitor returned and was once again roaming around on the porch trying to gain entrance to the home. This time the two families decided not to run away but try a wait out whatever was outside. Eventually whatever it was got tired of trying unsuccessfully to get into the house and left.
The following night, despite the two prior incidents, Elizabeth Taylor decided to open one of the living room windows to allow the cool evening breeze in while she sat on a nearby couch reading. Bobby was using the bathroom when suddenly he saw the face of a giant hairy creature staring at him through the window. The sight of the creature scared him so much, he jumped off the toilet and ran into the living room where Elizabeth was. The family dog began to act franticly and then suddenly a giant hairy arm reached through the window and attempted to grab it. Elizabeth would later recall that she thought at first it was a bear. She also noted that she saw two red glowing eyes through the curtains.
Bobby ran to the kitchen and returned with a butcher knife in an attempt to protect her and the terrified dog.
By this time everyone was thoroughly unnerved and both Don and Charles sprang into action. The men grabbed a shotgun and flashlights and headed out the front door. Bobby followed quickly behind and the group began to scan the area for the creature. They soon spotted it as it ran around the back of the house. One of the men shot at it a couple of times but failed to hit it. They watched as it retreated across a nearby field and into the woods.
The group returned to the house and called Fouke City Constable Earnest Walraven who showed up a short time later. Constable Walraven conducted a thorough search of the area and found no signs of the hairy monster that was described to him by the shaken eyewitnesses. Convinced that whatever had spooked everyone was long gone by now he gave them another shotgun and a second flashlight just in case the creature returned and went on home.
The group had just began to calm down when the monster returned. A loud crashing noise from the back of the house startled the men back into action. The trio bolted back outside and opened fire on the creature as it attempted to kick in the back door. It quickly attempted to flee back into the woods again, but according Don one of their shots hit it's target and the beast fell. The trio began to slowly walk to where the monster was last seen when they heard the women yelling back at the house. Don and Charles sent Bobby back to find out what was going on while they continued to search for the creature.
Bobby returned to the house but just as he reached for the porch railing the monster leapt out of the darkness and knocked him to the ground. Bobby was terrified. The two wrestled on the ground for a few moments before he was able to break free and bolted for house. Suffering from extreme fear and shock the young man ran right through the front door.
Don and Charles arrived moments later and once again opened fire on the creature who fled back into the woods. When they returned to the house they found the women attending to the hysterical and wounded Bobby.
Everyone piled into a car and went to Constable Walraven's house. He took one look at Bobby and knew that he needed immediate medical attention. He sent the group on to the nearest hospital in Texarkana while he returned to the Ford home to see if he could get to the bottom of what had just transpired there.
The next morning the area around the home quickly turned into a mob scene as local authorities, TV and newspaper reporters and a mass of locals descended upon it. Much to everyone's surprise the Fords and Taylors soon arrived with a U-Haul trailer and began to hurriedly move their belongings out of the house. Their frenzy was only interrupted by periodic interviews by law enforcement and reporters. Once they had gotten everything inside the trailer they sped off and never returned again.
According to a couple of Fouke residents that I spoke with the whole incident was quite a spectacle that is still talked about today.
One of the reporters in attendance was Jim Powell of the Texarkana Gazette who wrote an article that was picked up by the wire services and soon the story of the Fouke Monster (the name Powell gave the creature) had gained national attention for the first time.
As many of you know this incident was used as the climactic scene in Charles B Pierce's 1972 film about the Fouke Monster entitled The Legend of Boggy Creek.
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