The legend of Bigfoot in Southeastern Oklahoma is growing—and rumors of the creature are attracting more tourists, reports StateImpact Oklahoma.Bigfoot stories go back generations in this area. There was even a low-budget 1972 horror movie called The Legend of Boggy Creek, about a creature across the border in southern Arkansas.
Janet Hess runs Janet’s Treasure Chest in Hochatown. The site has a gift shop, as well as high-end cabins near Beaver’s Bend State Park. Janet sells Bigfoot coasters, Bigfoot stickers, Bigfoot pamphlets, Bigfoot t-shirts, and Bigfoot hats, among other items. “Bigfoot’s been very good to me,” Cress explains.
There are some skeptics in the area, though. Michele Finch-Walker, who runs a winery in Hochatown, says she isn’t convinced. “I hate to say that,” she says. “It’s more fun to say you believe the legend.”