{"id":25725,"date":"2015-12-10T10:52:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T16:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=25725"},"modified":"2015-12-10T11:01:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T17:01:28","slug":"bigfoot-is-scaring-up-stories-and-tourism-dollars-in-southeastern-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/12\/10\/bigfoot-is-scaring-up-stories-and-tourism-dollars-in-southeastern-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Bigfoot is Scaring Up Stories and Tourism Dollars in Southeastern Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25768\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25768\" alt=\"Charles Benton, who claims to have seen Bigfoot, stands with a statue of the creature in front of Janet's Treasure Chest in Honobia, Okla. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot6-e1449766119465.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot6-e1449766119465.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot6-e1449766119465-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot6-e1449766119465-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot6-e1449766119465-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charles Benton, who claims to have seen Bigfoot, stands with a statue of the creature in front of Janet&#39;s Treasure Chest in Honobia, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The stories go back for generations. Reports of <i>something<\/i> not quite human in the wooded hills of far southeastern Oklahoma. The legend of Bigfoot is growing in McCurtain County \u2014 and attracting tourists.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/236889265&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Bigfoot getting bigger<\/h3><p>Charles Benton says he <i>knows <\/i>what he saw five years ago a few miles north of Broken Bow, deep in the woods near Hochatown. It\u2019s where he says a turkey hunt turned into the scare of a lifetime.<\/p><p>\u201cBehind me I could hear this moaning, this grunting. And I could feel it almost,\u201d Benton says.<\/p><p>He\u2019s tall, burley, with a weathered face and a long white beard \u2014 not Bigfoot, Charles Benton.<\/p><p>\u201cI was on my all fours there for a minute,\u201d Benton says, describing the experience. \u201cWhen I got back to my knees and was getting up \u2014 see the trees that make kind of a \u2018V\u2019? Right there. In between those two trees, down there in that creek.\u201d<\/p><p>He says the creature turned and looked right at him.<\/p><p>\u201cI Ran up this hill, ran past my blind, my tent and all my camping stuff. Ran to my truck and never came back,\u201d Benton says.<\/p><p>His equipment is still there, the colors of the collapsed tent and empty soda cans faded from years of sitting in the sun. And after chatting with people in Hochatown, it\u2019s clear Benton\u2019s story isn\u2019t unique.<\/p><p>There are Bigfoot stories that go back generations in this area. There was even a low-budget 1972 horror movie called &#8220;The Legend of Boggy Creek&#8221; about a creature across the border in southern Arkansas.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E9V44D9xZ70\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>It\u2019s easy to find skeptics, too, like Michele Finch-Walker, who runs a winery in Hochatown. She works part time for the state forestry department, and isn\u2019t convinced about Bigfoot.<\/p><p>&#8220;I don\u2019t know. I really don\u2019t think so,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I hate to say that. It\u2019s more fun to say you believe the legend.\u201d<\/p><p>Southeastern Oklahoma&#8217;s Bigfoot legend is growing and attracting more tourists.<\/p>\n<h3>The curious come to Hochatown<\/h3><p>Sharon Hill runs a blog called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiJhujw2tHJAhUE-mMKHfYMAH8QFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoubtfulnews.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNGKV_z31pNakQPggkcUaCXoyqME9A&sig2=OC98lg2pxdU4r408pRkEOg\">Doubtful News<\/a> that puts a critical eye on monster stories, UFO sightings, and false-flag conspiracy theories. She\u2019s seen this kind of thing before \u2014 like ghost tourism, or UFO attractions in places like Roswell, N.M.<\/p><p>\u201cThese small towns want a way to have a celebration and bring out people and help their businesses. So it\u2019s definitely gaining popularity,\u201d she says. \u201cDark tourism is big \u2014 some things on crime and death. And then there\u2019s strange tourism when there\u2019s like mystery spots, or anomalous lights, or new-age energy vortexes\u201d<\/p><p>Hill has researched most of the country\u2019s monsters.<\/p><p>\u201cThere\u2019s Mothman. There\u2019s also Lizard Man in South Carolina. In Wisconsin or in Michigan there\u2019s the Dogman or the Wisconsin Werewolf,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25735\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25735\" alt=\"Charles Benton examines the destroyed campsite he says he ran from after seeing Bigfoot. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot4-e1449720368806.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot4-e1449720368806.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot4-e1449720368806-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot4-e1449720368806-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/12\/PHOTO-12-10-Bigfoot4-e1449720368806-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charles Benton examines the destroyed campsite he says he ran from after seeing Bigfoot.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>They all have one thing in common: They bring people to those places, like Janet\u2019s Treasure Chest in Hochatown. Janet Cress runs the gift shop, as well as high-end cabins near Beaver\u2019s Bend State Park.<\/p><p>\u201cBigfoot coasters, Bigfoot stickers, Bigfoot pamphlets, Bigfoot t-shirts, Bigfoot hats,\u201d Cress says. \u201cBigfoot\u2019s been very good to me. I cannot complain.\u201d<\/p><p>She says someone comes to her store looking for Bigfoot trinkets everyday. The giant Bigfoot statue in front of the store draws them in.<\/p><p>\u201cThey\u2019re either believers or nonbelievers or someone in their family or somebody at work, somebody they know believes in Bigfoot, all the time,\u201d Cress says.<\/p><p>In Hochatown, there\u2019s Janet\u2019s shop and a new business called Bigfoot Jeep Rentals, and an annual Bigfoot festival in neighboring LeFlore County. Bigfoot marches in Broken Bow\u2019s Christmas parade \u2014 or someone dressed like Bigfoot does.<\/p><p>This is a beautiful part of the state, with many attractions beyond Bigfoot. But real or not, the creature is leaving an economic footprint in southeast Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Benton says he knows what he saw five years ago a few miles north of Broken Bow, deep in the woods near Hochatown. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":25734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[660,661],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25725"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25774,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25725\/revisions\/25774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}