Read Online THE BEAST OF BOGGY CREEK: The True Story of the Fouke Monster by Lyle Blackburn - Free Book Online
Authors: Lyle Blackburn
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best place for him and his flock. It was then that he made a decisive move to establish a religious colony outside the sinful grip of the big city.
To accomplish this goal, Shaw and fellow churchgoer John E. Snell purchased land from George Fouke 16 miles south of Texarkana. There they proceeded to layout the town just as the American frontier was coming to a close in 1890. Using his own self-published newspaper called The Sabbath Outpost , Shaw promoted the fledgling colony as a place where family, God, and education came first. In many regards, Fouke was a unique town that exemplified the pioneer spirit of early America along with the age-old struggle for religious freedom. It is worth noting that Fouke is one of the few towns in the United States that was started with the purpose of providing a religious haven. However, it would not be without its share of outlaw tales and controversy. It was, after all, a part of the Deep South during the formative years of expansion, a time that inevitably brought forth all kinds of unswarthy people—and apparently, hairy monsters.
Boggytown
People were said to have begun settling in the areas around what would later become Fouke as early as 1830. The creeks and rivers provided ample resources to establish small homes, and the steamships that began navigating the Red River in 1831 served to create an ever-growing lifeline of transportation. Wagon roads began to spring up as well, connecting small hamlet-type villages with the greater Texarkana network.
The coming of the railroad 50 years later brought with it a host of men eagerly seeking fortune. Among them was George Fouke, who arrived in 1875. He and his father-in-law had their eye on the abundance of lumber available in the Miller County area and sought to capitalize on it.
Reverend John F. Shaw, founder of Fouke, Arkansas.
(Courtesy of the Miller County Historical Society)
Mr. Fouke and his family took up residence in Texarkana, and within a decade he entered into business with two other men to form the enormous Gate City Lumber Company. The company, with its main plant based in Texarkana, manufactured all types of finished wood products for the growing construction industry. At the time so many people were building houses and other structures that the lumber business was extremely lucrative. But in order to supply the raw wood needed to pump out so much finished product, the company had to rely on the resources from the outlying woods… including those near a little waterway called Boggy Creek.
In no time, the Texarkana, Shreveport, and Natchez Railroad line was extended into the woods, connecting several lumber giants, including Gate City Lumber, to the seemly endless natural resource. The railroad plunged into the dense woods, eventually terminating at Boggy Creek. According to the Miller County Historical Society, “Its waters would serve invaluably in the preservation of pine logs until they could be sawed up. The stream would also provide steam resources for the big sawmill and planer engines.”
This “big sawmill” is the Boggy Mill, which was constructed on Boggy Creek for the purpose of manufacturing the lumber on the spot, as it was cheaper to transport finished pieces back to Texarkana than the raw logs. So from 1890 to 1904, the Boggy Mill served as the main source of materials for Gate City Lumber, making Boggy Creek’s contribution to the industry a significant one.
Along with the construction of such mills, settlements known as “sawmill towns” would spring up. Like mining towns, these lumber towns would appear quickly and often disappear just as quickly when the gold—or in this case, lumber—dried up. But in the case of the Boggy Mill, which ran strong for approximately 14 years, a fairly solid establishment was able to flourish. Known as Boggytown, it not only had a catchy name, but it was large enough to warrant its own post office. According to the Miller County Historical
To accomplish this goal, Shaw and fellow churchgoer John E. Snell purchased land from George Fouke 16 miles south of Texarkana. There they proceeded to layout the town just as the American frontier was coming to a close in 1890. Using his own self-published newspaper called The Sabbath Outpost , Shaw promoted the fledgling colony as a place where family, God, and education came first. In many regards, Fouke was a unique town that exemplified the pioneer spirit of early America along with the age-old struggle for religious freedom. It is worth noting that Fouke is one of the few towns in the United States that was started with the purpose of providing a religious haven. However, it would not be without its share of outlaw tales and controversy. It was, after all, a part of the Deep South during the formative years of expansion, a time that inevitably brought forth all kinds of unswarthy people—and apparently, hairy monsters.
Boggytown
People were said to have begun settling in the areas around what would later become Fouke as early as 1830. The creeks and rivers provided ample resources to establish small homes, and the steamships that began navigating the Red River in 1831 served to create an ever-growing lifeline of transportation. Wagon roads began to spring up as well, connecting small hamlet-type villages with the greater Texarkana network.
The coming of the railroad 50 years later brought with it a host of men eagerly seeking fortune. Among them was George Fouke, who arrived in 1875. He and his father-in-law had their eye on the abundance of lumber available in the Miller County area and sought to capitalize on it.
Reverend John F. Shaw, founder of Fouke, Arkansas.
(Courtesy of the Miller County Historical Society)
Mr. Fouke and his family took up residence in Texarkana, and within a decade he entered into business with two other men to form the enormous Gate City Lumber Company. The company, with its main plant based in Texarkana, manufactured all types of finished wood products for the growing construction industry. At the time so many people were building houses and other structures that the lumber business was extremely lucrative. But in order to supply the raw wood needed to pump out so much finished product, the company had to rely on the resources from the outlying woods… including those near a little waterway called Boggy Creek.
In no time, the Texarkana, Shreveport, and Natchez Railroad line was extended into the woods, connecting several lumber giants, including Gate City Lumber, to the seemly endless natural resource. The railroad plunged into the dense woods, eventually terminating at Boggy Creek. According to the Miller County Historical Society, “Its waters would serve invaluably in the preservation of pine logs until they could be sawed up. The stream would also provide steam resources for the big sawmill and planer engines.”
This “big sawmill” is the Boggy Mill, which was constructed on Boggy Creek for the purpose of manufacturing the lumber on the spot, as it was cheaper to transport finished pieces back to Texarkana than the raw logs. So from 1890 to 1904, the Boggy Mill served as the main source of materials for Gate City Lumber, making Boggy Creek’s contribution to the industry a significant one.
Along with the construction of such mills, settlements known as “sawmill towns” would spring up. Like mining towns, these lumber towns would appear quickly and often disappear just as quickly when the gold—or in this case, lumber—dried up. But in the case of the Boggy Mill, which ran strong for approximately 14 years, a fairly solid establishment was able to flourish. Known as Boggytown, it not only had a catchy name, but it was large enough to warrant its own post office. According to the Miller County Historical
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