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Arkansas’ White River Monster - Serpent or Penguin?

© Jill Stefko

In 1937, there were numerous sightings of a large creature in the White River. Four people signed affidavits that they had seen this huge monster. By summer's end, thousands of curiosity seekers had invaded the town of Newport in hopes of seeing this strange critter.

During the first week of July, tenant farmers on Bramlett Bateman's plantation told him they saw a monster in the river. Fishing was poor and they believed this creature was the reason why. Although Bateman was skeptical, he went to the river to see this strange beast for himself. He was not disappointed.

After he saw the monster, he contacted D. N. Graves of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. He wanted to dynamite the eddy in the river and kill it. Bateman and his tenants believed the monster was dangerous. He was denied permission because it was illegal to dynamite inland waters. Some fishermen would dynamite the waters to stun fish and take them all out of the waters. Dynamite sticks were called DuPont Spinners.

Whitey had settled into a routine. He surfaced in the late afternoon and stayed up for 5 to 15 minutes before diving back into the water.

Bateman said was about 12 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide. Graves thought it might be a deep sea creature that swam up the river and became trapped in the deep eddy.

News about the strange creature attracted visitors to the area. Some brought cameras, others, dynamite sticks. One brought a machine gun! Deputy Sheriff Z. B. Reid glimpsed the monster and said it looked like a giant catfish. Dr. Dellinger, zoology professor at the University of Arkansas thought that it might be a gigantic sturgeon. One had recently been caught in the Tallahala River in Laurel, Mississippi.

W. E. Penix announced that he would make a rope net, 40 by 15 feet, with 8 inch mesh to snag the monster. He said it would take 10 days to construct the net and would accept donations to help with this project. A West Memphis radio station was making arrangements to broadcast the attempted capture live.

Penix said that he stopped making the net because he had run out of materials and money. The radio stations found that the broadcast would be too expensive, so it cancelled the airing.

Marion Dickens, Newport Chamber of Commerce president, hired an experienced ex-Navy diver, Charles Brown to go into the river and see what he could find. The town posted signs by major roads and invited members of the press to attend. Stores were closed. A communications system was set up so the event could be broadcasted. Visibility in the eddy was less than a foot. The dives lasted for several days and Whitey was not cooperative.

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