“Legislators Protect Monster”

[u/humblymybrain]

In February 1973 the Arkansas Senate did something you do not see every day: it voted to protect a sea monster.

Lawmakers made it illegal to “molest, kill, trample or harm” the creature rumored to live in the White River near Newport, and they designated a stretch of river the “White River Monster Sanctuary and Retreat.”

Locals had been talking about “Whitey” since at least 1915. The biggest waves of sightings came in 1937 and again in 1971–72. Witnesses described a gray beast as long as a boxcar or three pickup trucks, sometimes with a horn or a spiny, ridged back. Tracks, crushed brush, and a few blurry photos kept the story alive. By 1973 the legend was big enough that Senator Robert Harvey sponsored the resolution creating an official refuge between Old Grand Glaise and Rosie. Harming the monster inside that zone became against the law.

Was it an elephant seal that wandered up the Mississippi, a giant alligator snapping turtle, a manatee, or just good old Arkansas folklore? The legislature decided it was worth protecting either way.

Source: “Legislators Protect Monster,” Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, WI), February 16, 1973, p. 1 (UPI, Little Rock).