STATE FILE · MO
Cryptids of Missouri
What cryptids are in Missouri? The best-known are Momo (the Missouri Monster) and Bigfoot.
Missouri’s best-known monster is Momo – short for “Missouri Monster.” On July 11, 1972, children in the small Mississippi River town of Louisiana, in Pike County, said they saw a tall, hairy, foul-smelling creature with a dead dog under its arm near their home on Marzolf Hill. More reports followed that summer, armed posses searched the woods, and newspapers across the country picked up the story. The town has since embraced the legend, featuring Momo in local events and its Colorfest celebration.
Cryptids reported in Missouri
Momo (the Missouri Monster)
Louisiana, Missouri (Pike County)
A foul-smelling, seven-foot hairy beast reportedly seen clutching a dead dog in Louisiana, Missouri, in July 1972 – sparking posses and a festival.
REGIONAL LEGEND
HOMINID · 1958
Bigfoot
Pacific Northwest forests, reported across North America
North America’s most famous cryptid: a huge, hairy, upright ape-like being reported from the Pacific Northwest to Florida since the 1958 “Bigfoot” tracks.
WIDELY REPORTEDThe legends of Missouri
Southern Missouri is Ozark country, a dissected plateau of springs, caves, rivers and hardwood forest. The Mark Twain National Forest covers about 1.5 million acres here and produces many of the state’s Bigfoot reports, while the hills also share the legend of the Ozark Howler, a large, horned, cat-like beast said to have a chilling cry, with neighbouring Arkansas. Lake of the Ozarks and the state’s big rivers add occasional water-monster tales.
Skeptics suggest that Momo reports may have involved a bear, a hoaxer or the excitement of a summer media flap, and that the Ozark Howler is largely an internet-age invention built on older tales of mystery cats. Still, Missouri’s river towns and Ozark hollows remain popular with enthusiasts looking for classic 1970s monster country.
Hotspots
The river town where Momo was reported in July 1972.
Vast Ozark forest that produces many of Missouri’s Bigfoot reports.
Spring-fed Current and Jacks Fork rivers in remote hill country tied to Ozark Howler tales.
A huge, winding reservoir with its share of lake-monster stories.
Sightings timeline
- July 11, 1972The Harrison sighting Momo (the Missouri Monster)
Doris Harrison, 15, reported a seven-foot, dark-haired creature at the edge of the woods behind her home, holding a dead dog under one arm, while her two young brothers were playing outside. The shaken family briefly moved in with relatives.
- July 1972Reports spread Momo (the Missouri Monster)
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other papers picked up the story, more residents came forward with tales of foul smells, screams and growls. Fire chief and councilman Richard Murray reported an upright, hairy figure in his headlights along a creek.
- July 31, 1972“Missouri Monster Reports Linger” Momo (the Missouri Monster)
The Kansas City Times reported that sightings were continuing, with some witnesses estimating the creature’s height at 9 to 12 feet. By then a posse of armed volunteers had searched the hills without result.
- August 1972Mo Mo Sidewalk Sale Momo (the Missouri Monster)
Local merchants turned the scare into a promotion with a Mo Mo Sidewalk Sale on the first weekend of August – the start of the town’s Mo Mo Days tradition.
- 2019<em>MOMO: The Missouri Monster</em> Momo (the Missouri Monster)
Filmmaker Seth Breedlove’s Small Town Monsters released a feature that mixed interviews about the 1972 events with a pastiche of 1970s B-movies, renewing interest in the case nearly fifty years on.
Latest from Missouri
Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:07
Patterson–Gimlin film (unedited)
Roger Patterson and Bob GimlinThe original 1967 Bluff Creek footage – the most famous and most debated minute in Bigfoot history. Marked public domain on archive.org.
ARCHIVE.ORG4:59
The Film That Made Bigfoot A Star
Oregon Public BroadcastingOPB’s short documentary on how the Patterson–Gimlin film turned a regional legend into a global icon – and the hoax claims around it.
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Sts’ailes Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Tourism Harrison River ValleyShows the festival celebrating the Sts’ailes people’s Sásq’ets, the being behind the word “Sasquatch” (no archive.org equivalent).
ARCHIVE.ORG11:45
Momo The Documentary (The Missouri Monster)
Ronald LichlyterIndependent short film about the 1972 Louisiana, Missouri, scare, described by its maker as a documentary based on actual events; licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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MoMo the Missouri Monster: Louisiana, Missouri’s Bigfoot | Living St. Louis
Nine PBSSt. Louis public television feature revisiting the 1972 scare with local residents.
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MOMO: The Missouri Monster – Full Movie
Small Town MonstersThe 2019 feature mixing witness interviews and history with a playful 1970s-style monster-movie re-creation.