river monsters shirt The White River Monster T-Shirt – Southern Gothic Life

Lurking below the surface of the White River is a strange creature that continues to dismay fisherman and visitors alike. The White River monster is one of Arkansas's most prolific mysteries, and since the early 1900's, along the White River banks near Newport in Jackson County, the monster has been seen and become a local legend.

 Sightings of the creature, given the name "Whitey" by locals, was first seen by members of the Quapaw tribe who passed down tales of the river monster turning over and sinking the canoes of warriors traveling on the White River, before swimming back down to the depths of the river. 

During the Civil War, the monster was credited with overturning gun ships traveling up and down the White River and sightings continued into the 1900s. In July of 1937 Bramlett Bateman, owner of a plantation near the river, claimed to have seen the monster on many occasions. He reported it as having a spiny backbone, gray skin and being "as wide as a car and three cars long." Bateman soon set up a viewing area where he charged 25 cents for a chance at seeing Whitey, however no one ever reported seeing the creature at the attraction. 

More sightings of Whitey continued throughout the 1960s and 70s, fishermen would come back from a day on the water, describing a monster with a tail of a mermaid and long arm-like flippers. In 1971 two men reported seeing muddy tracks along the river bank, crushed vegetation and broken trees were evidence that something large had passed by, and it was assumed the tracks belonged to Whitey. A local man, Cloyce Warren, was even able to a photograph the monster and in 1973, the legislature in Arkansas signed a protective bill, creating the White River Monster Refuge along the White River. 

The refuge is located near the Jackson County State Park, between the southern point on the river known as Old Grand Glaize and a northern point on the river known as, Rosie. The state bill makes it illegal for anyone to harm or kill the creature in the refuge. 

In the last few decades there have been no new sightings of the river monster, but theories about Whitey still abound. Locals believe that Whitey could be anything, from a huge fish to possibly an elephant seal that has somehow migrated from the Mississippi River. However, none of the theories can fully explain Whitey, the White River Monster. 

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