Bigfoot Encounters
Rush, Marion County, Arkansas
Lake night, Summer 1961
Clear and warm
Location: About 3 miles west of Rush
Marion County Rd. # 635
Timber lands with some cattle ranches Ozark Mountains
Nearest Lakes or Streams: About 3 miles from the Buffalo National River
Witness Profile: Male, now 58, 12 or 13 years old at the time of the incident. Resident of the area since birth, hunter/fisherman, well acquainted with the State's recognized indigenous wildlife.
Activities of Witness Prior to Encounter/Incident: Asleep
Details of Encounter / Incident: The witness was asleep in an upstairs bedroom which had a window that overlooked the front yard. The window was open for ventilation. The entire yard was enclosed by a wood plank fence with a gate opening into the vehicle parking area.
During the night he heard what he thought was a person either opening the fence gate or climbing over the fence. He quietly got out of bed and walked to the window. Directly in front of the window in the yard was a large silver propane gas tank. That night the yard and the tank were brightly illuminated by a full moon. As he reached the window and looked down he saw a very large, dark man-like figure walk between the house and the propane tank. The figure wore no clothing and was uniformly covered with black or dark brown hair. He immediately noticed that in one hand the creature was clutching a large wooden club that was 3 to 4 feet long and appeared to be 3 or 4 inches in diameter. The creature was looking and walking straight ahead toward a chicken house that was inside the yard fence. When the animal went out of sight behind the house the witness hurried downstairs and awakened his mother and told her what he had seen. She lightly dismissed his tale thinking he may have had a nightmare and told him to go back to bed, but to call her if he saw anything more. He never saw or heard the creature leave, and after watching and waiting for a while, he went back to bed. In bed he wondered why the family's large hounds had not been alarmed by the creature's presence.
The next night he again heard the sounds of something coming into the yard and dashed downstairs to alert his mother. They both went out onto the front porch and turned on the porch light. They saw the three large dogs crouched, cowering and growling on the porch, and staring towards the chicken house. The dogs refused to leave the porch when the two tried to get them to chase whatever it was in the fenced yard. The two neither saw nor heard anything unusual in the yard, but they did not walk off the porch.
Sometime later, a mare that the family owned had a foal that died, and the carcass was dragged into the woods about a half mile from the house. A night or so after the colt was left on the mountainside, the family heard very loud screaming sounds from that area similar to those made by a woman in pain or in fear.
A year later something tore up the family garden, and they thought feral hogs may have done the damage. One night the witness, his mother and two teenaged friends of the witness slept on top of a flat-roofed outbuilding to see if they could see what was damaging the garden. After they all went to sleep late that night, they were awakened and badly frightened by something violently shaking the entire building. The action soon stopped, and they looked in every direction to see if they could see or hear someone running away. They didn't, and spent the rest of the night on the roof. The next morning they asked the witness's father-who had slept in the house-if he had left the house and shook the building. He said he had not, and told them no man could shake the building as much as they had described.
Description of Animal: A man-like figure walking upright on two feet but taller than a large man, covered in black or dark brown hair, with what seems to be an unusually large and rounded head, slightly stooped shouldered, with large hands and stout build.
Description of Related Sounds: Screaming sound like that of a woman in pain or fear heard after the initial encounter.
Other Details: This general area of the Ozark Mountains in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri has generated numerous reports from residents and tourists who have encountered large hirsute bipedal primates. Many of those reports have been made to the press and law enforcement agencies. In recent years some reports from this general area have been submitted to other Bigfoot research groups and posted on their web sites.
Historical Notes: During the past several years there have been enough press reports and articles about these animals in Missouri the "animal" as a single entity is referred to as "MoMo", an acronym for "Missouri Monster".
Report received and recorded by:
Tal H. Branco, Field Researcher/Investigator, The RFP Research Project
March 20, 2006
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