Ozark Howler

In the ancient rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains, some legends are not seen, but heard.

The Ozark Howler is one such creature, a beast defined by the bone-chilling sound that gives it its name.

For generations, travelers and residents in the remote howlers of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma have reported a cry so terrifying it seems otherworldly, a sound that has become the signature of this dark and mysterious predator.

The howl is the heart of the legend.

Its most distinct features are a pair of short stubby horns and piercing, intelligent eyes that glow red in the dark.

While some tales, likely legend, claim that frontiersman Daniel Boone himself encountered the beast, the legend's modern form has been heavily shaped and spread through internet folklore.

The most compelling scientific explanation for the Ozark howler points to a known and equally frightening animal, the cougar.

While officially considered extirpated from much of the region, transient mountain lions are frequently reported in the Ozarks.

Nathan Boone was a officer in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles, which was an army unit charged with exploring the western frontier, and he was stationed out at Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory.

Well, Washington Irving, the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which I would say is probably one of the greatest american halloween tales oh yeah um travel on the indian frontier with nathan boone and with the regiment of mountain riflemen wrote a journal about it so it's an indirect connection but you can go visit nathan boone's homestead out by ash grove highly recommended great site a lot of a lot of great history out there you can really get a feeling for the ozarks frontier and of course daniel boone is supposedly one of the first Anglo-Americans to have a sighting of the infamous Ozark Howler in the early 1800s.

So I know that's a subject that you really like to talk about.

Yeah, that, well,

yeah.

So the Ozark Howler, for those of you who do not know, is a cryptid, I guess.

It's supposed to be black.

Sometimes it's described as big as a yearling heifer with sort of horns and red eyes and some versions of it having tusks.

In the ancient rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains, some legends are not seen, but heard.

The Ozark Howler is one such creature, a beast defined by the bone-chilling sound that gives it its name.

For generations, travelers and residents in the remote howlers of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma have reported a cry so terrifying it seems otherworldly, a sound that has become the signature of this dark and mysterious predator.

The howl is the heart of the legend.

Its most distinct features are a pair of short stubby horns and piercing, intelligent eyes that glow red in the dark.

While some tales, likely legend, claim that frontiersman Daniel Boone himself encountered the beast, the legend's modern form has been heavily shaped and spread through internet folklore.

The most compelling scientific explanation for the Ozark howler points to a known and equally frightening animal, the cougar.

While officially considered extirpated from much of the region, transient mountain lions are frequently reported in the Ozarks.

So who knows? All right, speaking of large cats that nobody can prove whether or not they're real, let's head to the Ozarks.

story number four the ozark howler for our fourth story we're going to the ozarks northern arkansas southern missouri a little piece of northeast oklahoma y'all know where clay lives those folks are kind of wild up there anyway steep hollows limestone bluffs clear creeks caves everywhere you look some of the most beautiful country that's in that part of the world and that's that's a fact And for a long time now, there have been people in those hills who swear that there's something living back in there that makes a sound, frankly, unlike anything else in the woods.

They call it the Ozark Howler, and they named it that after the sound that this animal allegedly makes.

People who say that they have heard it describe a long story.

mournful howl that kind of breaks into something else.

Anyway, this is the kind of sound that if you did hear it, it would make the hair on your arm stand up, even if you're sitting next to a fire.

Now, what does this thing look like? Well, that's where things get even more interesting.

Y'all try to bear with me for this one because this one gets out there, okay? The most common description of the Ozark Howler is something about the size of a bear, but built more like a cat.

So I love that one.

My favorite would have to be either El Duende, the Ozark Howler, or Hell's Gate Bridge.

The Ozark Howler was so cool because it's here.

A lot of it took place in Missouri.

And I found a lot of Daniel Boone tie-ins to the Ozark Howler.

And I even found an old scribbled note that he wrote from him to his sister-in-law that actually mentioned the Ozark Howler.

And so it's really, really cool.

Very, very, very steeped in known history and also lore.

In the ancient rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains, some legends are not seen, but heard.

The Ozark Howler is one such creature, a beast defined by the bone-chilling sound that gives it its name.

For generations, travelers and residents in the remote howlers of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma have reported a cry so terrifying it seems otherworldly, a sound that has become the signature of this dark and mysterious predator.

The howl is the heart of the legend.

Its most distinct features are a pair of short stubby horns and piercing, intelligent eyes that glow red in the dark.

While some tales, likely legend, claim that frontiersman Daniel Boone himself encountered the beast, the legend's modern form has been heavily shaped and spread through internet folklore.

The most compelling scientific explanation for the Ozark howler points to a known and equally frightening animal, the cougar.

While officially considered extirpated from much of the region, transient mountain lions are frequently reported in the Ozarks.

It's a perfect time to go back through the catalog and listen again to some of your old favorites.

When's the last time you heard that episode about the Traveler or the one about the Charman? Remember the Stowaway or the good old creature at the Owl Creek Bridge? Or how about the Ozark Howler from way back in season one? Start in on some of those and before you know it, we'll be back around the campfire again.

Special thanks to the real life Tilly from Maryland whose experiences of the night pale deer inspired this story.

And thanks to her mom, Toria.

And then finally life along the moral.

This was some general stories about, And the final story in the book is one called The Ozark Howler.

It's kind of a Missouri has our own Bigfoot story.

that's been passed down through lore and tradition called the Ozark Howler.

So I have a story about that.

Is its location, just like with Kansas City and St. Louis, its location is key to some historical developments happening outside of the capital, right? What about folks who are not from mid-Missouri? Why would they find this interesting?