Story and Photos 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, along with their four children, shared the home with Charles and Elizabeth Taylor. Both men had been hired by a local ranch, and the families decided to share the house 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 ultimately pack up and flee the town forever.
The strange events that the Ford and Taylor families experienced began almost immediately after they settled in. On the night of Wednesday, April 28, the family was enjoying a quiet evening when they started to hear noises of something large moving around on the front porch of their home. Someone or something was trying to get inside, and whatever it was seemed to be targeting the family dog. The fear it instilled was so intense that they sneaked out the back door and fled to a neighbor's house. When they returned later, they found no signs 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 set out early to find a good spot in a nearby creek. While exploring the muddy bank, they spotted a strange track. It resembled a human footprint but was much larger and had only three toes. Not wanting to encounter whatever had made the track, they abandoned their fishing trip.
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| The actual creek where Bobby and Corky found the strange track with three toes. The site is just north of the Fords' home on Hwy 71, just outside Fouke. |
Later that night, the mysterious visitor returned and once again roamed around the porch, trying to gain entrance to the house. This time, the two families decided to stay put and wait out whatever was outside. Eventually, the creature grew tired of its efforts to get inside and left.
The following night, despite the previous incidents, Elizabeth Taylor opened one of the living room windows to allow in the cool evening breeze while she relaxed on a nearby couch with a book. Bobby was in the bathroom when, suddenly, he saw the face of a giant, hairy creature staring at him through the window. The sight terrified him, causing him to jump off the toilet and rush into the living room where Elizabeth was. The family dog began to act frantically, and then, suddenly, a giant hairy arm reached through the window, attempting to grab it. Elizabeth initially thought it was a bear and noted that she could see two glowing red eyes through the curtains.
In a panic, Bobby sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife, and returned to protect Elizabeth and the frightened dog.
By this time, everyone was thoroughly unnerved. Don and Charles sprang into action, grabbing a shotgun and flashlights as they headed out the front door. Bobby hurriedly followed, and the group began to scan the area for the creature. They soon spotted it running around the back of the house. One of the men fired a few shots at it but missed. 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 arrived shortly thereafter. Constable Walraven conducted a thorough search of the area but found no signs of the hairy monster described by the shaken eyewitnesses. Convinced that whatever had spooked them was long gone, he offered them an additional shotgun and a second flashlight, just in case the creature returned, before leaving.
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| The legendary Boggy Creek as seen from Miller County Road 9 south of Fouke. There have been sightings of the Fouke Monster at this location for decades. Many of the incidents depicted in "The Legend of Boggy Creek" took place in this area. |
Just as the group began to calm down, the monster returned. A loud crashing noise from the back of the house startled the men into action. They rushed outside and opened fire on the creature as it attempted to kick in the back door. The beast quickly tried to flee into the woods, but according to Don, one of their shots hit its target, and the creature fell. The trio cautiously approached the spot where the monster was last seen when they heard the women yelling from back at the house. Don and Charles sent Bobby back to find out what was happening while they continued to search for the creature.
Bobby returned to the house, but just as he reached for the porch railing, the monster leaped out of the darkness and knocked him to the ground. Terrified, Bobby struggled with the creature for a moment before managing to break free and bolting for the house. Overcome with fear and shock, he ran right through the front door.
Don and Charles arrived moments later and opened fire on the creature as it fled back into the woods. When they returned to the house, they found the women attending to the hysterical and injured Bobby.
Everyone piled into a car and went to Constable Walraven's house. Upon seeing Bobby, he immediately recognized that he needed medical attention. He sent the group to the nearest hospital in Texarkana while he returned to the Ford home to investigate what had just transpired there.
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| The location of the Ford and Taylor home, north of Fouke on Highway 71. The actual house was torn down years ago. Only this old barn remains today. |
The next morning, the area around the home quickly turned into a mob scene as local authorities, reporters, and a crowd of onlookers descended upon it. Much to everyone's surprise, the Fords and Taylors arrived with a U-Haul trailer and hurriedly began moving their belongings out of the house. Their frenzy was only interrupted by periodic interviews from law enforcement and reporters. Once they had loaded everything into the trailer, they sped off and never returned.
According to a couple of residents from Fouke that I spoke with, the entire incident was quite a spectacle and is still discussed today.
One of the reporters in attendance was Jim Powell of the Texarkana Gazette. He wrote an article that was picked up by wire services, and soon, the story of the “Fouke Monster” (the name Powell gave the creature) 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, titled "The Legend of Boggy Creek."
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