Devil's Hole Cave, Boone County, Arkansas

[BrucePrime]

No one wanted to dare and climb down to see what was in the cave. Occasionally, local stories apparently come from the cave, but the "gow-row" as the natives supposedly call it, seems to prefer staying down in the darkness.

The story dates back to around 1900 and many believe the monster may be some sort of giant lizard.... but nobody knows for sure.

This is a variation of a werewolf story. The clue is in the supposed name of the creature, "gow-row." The French word for werewolf is "loup-garou." The name of the monster may just be a corruption of this French word.

[Wookietim]

a giant lizard that turns peoples hair white o.O aye karumba!

Just as something that occurred to me - CAN people's hair turn white overnight? I mean, we see it in movies all the time, but is it physically possible for human hair to do that?

[capoeiranger]

Bill: "Hey Ted! Bogus, dude!"

[HollyDolly]

if you type in devil's Hole Cave,Arkansas,I got www.prairieghosts.com,Troy Taylor's site.he recieved an email stating there is a town of Self,Ark. and the directions to get there. It could have been a bear or a big cat.There are still lots of areas for cougars and panthers to roam in Arkansas.

Lots of caves around here.There's Natural Bridge Caverns,and the Bat Cave near Bracken.It's the home of the world's largest colony of mexican free tail bats.There is also near Boerne, Cascade Cavern and the Cave Without A Name, near the ghost town of Kreutzberg.Near San Marcos, is Wonder Cave,and further up the road I think near Georgetown,Tx,is Inner Space Cavern.

While driving on Loop 337 which runs around New Braunfels,one day I noticed a cave opening into the hill side.Most of the ones around here are limestone caves.While driving along ,sometimes you can see trickles of water going down the rock face.

[Smeagol1]

TROGDOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SOUL-DRIFTER]

In the northern part of the state is Boone County and somewhere within the county is said to be a small village called "Self', although I can't seem to find it on any map. There is reportedly a mysterious location here that has proven to be both elusive and fascinating.

Near the village is the Devil's Hole Cave, a strange and unexplored cavern. One day, an indeterminate number of years ago, the owner of the land where the cave is located decided to check out the place.

He climbed down a rope about 200 feet to a ledge where the shaft narrows to a point that can only be crawled through. He suddenly heard a vicious hissing from the darkness, perhaps like a large lizard would do, and he made a hasty retreat.

Some time later, he and some men from town dropped a flatiron tied to a rope to the same place in the cave. They heard a hissing sound and the rope was pulled hard.

When they pulled it back up, they found the flatiron had been badly bent and scored with scratches and teeth marks. They next tried a stone and the rope was pulled taut again. They pulled it back up and the stone was gone.

No one wanted to dare and climb down to see what was in the cave. Occasionally, local stories apparently come from the cave, but the "gow-row" as the natives supposedly call it, seems to prefer staying down in the darkness.

The story dates back to around 1900 and many believe the monster may be some sort of giant lizard.... but nobody knows for sure.

The story closely resembles another pit of this type that is said to be located near Hannibal, Missouri. I can not find any existing records of this hole either, although I have heard a number of stories about it. The tale of the land owner checking out the cave is also said to have occurred here also, but with a bizarre twist.

This time, the land owner was discovered by some friends shortly after his adventure in the cave....his hair had turned completely white and he was wildly insane. Whatever he had encountered down in the cave had broken his sanity.

anyone heard anymore about this story, any locals on the forum?

Self, Arkansas is located north of Harrison. Between Hwy 65 & 281. Or between Omaha & Bergman, Arkansas.

If you are really interested, I would check the library of Harrison, to see what was put in the papers back in 1900.

[Northawke_rs]

I remember hearing a version of this story some years ago and I'm all the way in the Netherlands. Heard it from someone who'd never been on the internet, too.

[draconic chronicler]

I remember hearing a version of this story some years ago and I'm all the way in the Netherlands. Heard it from someone who'd never been on the internet, too.

The native Americans also believed in giant man-eating reptiles that lived in caves, just as the people of europe and the rest of the world. Early French explorers recorded in their Journals how the native americans depicted these creatures. And they look just like Euopean dragons! (The Piasa Bird).

[Wreck7]

Self,AR

Location: Omaha, AR

ZIP Code: 72662

Boone county

N36° 23.904' W93° 6.490'

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp...7comaha%7car%7c

I don't see any caves on Topo USA , Google earth or terraserver

[Syntax]

actually Loren Coleman wrote something very interesting revolving around the 'name game' associated with cryptid sightings...

the name "Devil" seems to have a connotation with paranormal forces and cryptid sightings. However the sightings are seasonal, indicating patterns.

If anyone gets a chance to read his book "Mothman and other curious encounters" they should do so, it is highly recommended.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Syntax

[Starscream]

the Vault Barbelith Underground Temple Dagon in winchester cathedral.

the temple of Dagon which Cerdic had erected, was destroyed by KIng

[Moon*Ghost]

"This time, the land owner was discovered by some friends shortly after his adventure in the cave....his hair had turned completely white and he was wildly insane. Whatever he had encountered down in the cave had broken his sanity."

This is from a movie called "Encounter With The Unknown"

http://www.amazon.com/Encounter-With-The-U...7562&sr=8-1

Edited November 2, 2007 by xymox1971

[Starscream]

[jasonch1112]

I read that story many years ago. Probably in a Robert Green book. I think I remember he tried to fill in the hole but he couldn't fill it no matter what he tried. However, a lizard big enough to do that to a tire iron would have to be pretty big. Way to big to get out that hole if a human would have to crawl through parts of it. There couldn't possibly be enough food underground to feed something that big. With these two things in mind, there must be a much larger entrance someplace else. But, a creature that size would eat a lot and a logical source would be livestock. That would be a good place to start looking. Find the missing or mauled cows. Personally, I think this is just an urban legend.

[Starscream]

There couldn't possibly be enough food underground to feed something that big. With these two things in mind, there must be a much larger entrance someplace else. But, a creature that size would eat a lot and a logical source would be livestock.

they eat each other mostly they are like snakes and

reproduce very fast they have a chain of order too

[candyreddime]

I live in Baxter county, in mtn home. Which is two counties over, i'll travel down there and try it out if ya guys want me to?

[Archosaur]

By all means.

Any large reptile like this would have to had some impact on he sounding environment. North America is home to cave salamanders (able to survive in the cols and lightness conditions) but they are quite small, usually an inch or two long.

As for dragons, DC beat me to it...

[cherrypine]

I saw that movie Encounters with the Unknown and it was extremely creepy. One of the creepiest I have ever seen. The one movie that had a hole in the ground and the other stories are supposedly true stories.

[candyreddime]

Its in omaha arkansas which is only a few miles out from harrison which is only 35 miles away from me. I can go and take a camera and ask some people if it exists, which i doubt cuz i've never heard of it.

[Carcharoth]

It's obviously Godzilla hibernating down there.

[cherrypine]

There's another strange hole in the u.s. Perhaps everyone's heard of it. It is called Mel's Hole. There is a website on the net pertaining to the hole. It is supposed to have strange things that went on in it. Don't know if its true or not but interesting.

[Cyaneyed]

Had a nosey on google and found a couple of relevant things:

"The Gowrow and the Devil's Hole"

For more than a century, inhabitants of rural Arkansas have spoken of a twenty-foot-long tusked lizard called the gowrow, reputedly lurking within caverns and under rock ledges. In 1897, one was supposedly killed near Marshall by traveling salesman William Miller, who claimed that he dispatched its carcass to the Smithsonian Institute, but there is no record of its arrival.

Sometime prior to 1935, near the village of Self in Boone Conunty, a gowrow allegedly inhabited the Devil's Hole, a deep cave who's mouth opened on the estate of E.J. Rhodes. One day, after hearing a commotion emanating from the Devil.s Hole's undergound recesses, Rhodes decided to investigate by lowering himself into its shaft and descending via rope to a ledge 200 feet beneath the opening.

Below this point the shaft was too narrow to permit further descent, so Rhodes failed to satisfy his curiosity - which was probably just as well. When some men lowered a flatiron down to the same level that Rhodes had reached, a loud angry hising noise was plainly heard. They heard it again when they repeated the procedure, this time using a large stone attached to the rope. Moreover, when they drew the rope back up they discovered that the stone was gone. The section of the rope holding it had been completely bitten through!

Slightly different account there huh?

Also I found an article on espn.com of all places, apparently there is a bay in Arkansas near some power stations called Devil's hole which is a popular fishing spot.

Maybe someone heard talk of the fishing spot and made their own assumptions from the name, and through a series of chinese whispers we came to this point. Hmm.

[CaitSith]

I live a county over in MO. I haven't heard of it, but then again there are lot's of caves in the area.

The best thing I can think of is a very large snake or snakes, and not a lizard. You would be surprised how big our rattle snakes in the Ozarks get. My family and I have seen rattlers as big as full grow boa constrictors. Even I can't believe it sometimes. Although it's probably not impossible for a lizard to get that big, I've never seen one in the area or heard one of being reported. Maybe someone let a pet loose.

Also in some of those caves could be hives for large snake colonies.

Other things could be mountain lions, they hiss and such.

If you want something more far fetched, maybe a Bigfoot. There have been a few reports in the Ozarks, but not many.

You never call tell what's up in them there hills.

Hannibal is actually pretty far from the Ozarks, I actually live there though. There are many caves around here and a lot of weird stories but as far as I know there is no giant lizard related to them

[Jet-Lee]

Sorry to bring back from the dead, but thought this might be a little interesting for ya'll.

I found this thread during a search for the location of Devil's Hole, as Self, AR is only a couple hours from me and I intend on trying to find the cave.

During an earlier search on Ted's Cave, I found the following:

http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/InterstateMap.рdf

Interstate Cave in Utah.

Take care!

-Jet-

Edited November 30, 2007 by Jet-Lee

[Jet-Lee]

Sorry to bring back from the dead, but thought this might be a little interesting for ya'll.

I found this thread during a search for the location of Devil's Hole, as Self, AR is only a couple hours from me and I intend on trying to find the cave.

During an earlier search on Ted's Cave, I found the following:

<a href="http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/InterstateMap.рdf" target="_blank">http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/InterstateMap.рdf</a>

Interstate Cave in Utah.

Take care!

-Jet-

I’ve done a bit more [successful] digging.

Devil’s Hole Cave is NOT located in Self, AR. It is owned by E.J. Rhodes and is now known as Diamond Cave. It is located about 20 miles southwest of Yellville, or right next to Jasper and Ponca. It’s closed off, as well. How’d I find out? Here:

Look at bottom for land owner and location of “Devil’s Hole”:

http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/v04/rnd04_09.shtml

Look towards bottom for name of cave:

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/dat...ticleID=0029934

Look at location of Diamond Cave:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=di...sa=N&tab=il

One in the same? I think so. I think the thing in Self, AR is just that, a sinkhole.