(Historic) Smokey Crabtree
J. E. "Smokey" Crabtree grew up in Fouke, Arkansas, among six brothers and sisters.
In 1974, Crabtree self-published the book "Smokey and the Fouke Monster," which was printed on a hand-operated press in a friend's garage. The book detailed encounters with the sasquatch-like creature that had been reported in the area during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1972 the story of the Fouke Monster was filmed as The Legend of Boggy Creek, in which Crabtree played himself.
SMOKEY'S OBITUARY
Mr. Julius Elmo (Smokey) Crabtree, age 88, of Fouke, Arkansas, died Saturday, January 16, 2016, in a local hospital.
Mr. Crabtree was born April 22, 1927, in Fouke, Arkansas, and had been a lifetime resident of Fouke. He was a Nazarene, a retired welder, contractor, publisher, and had owned the Big Stop Grocery Store in Fouke. He served our country as a Merchant Marine, was a member of the Masonic Lodge, VFW, and Pipeliners Union 798. He had also been a boxer and Golden Gloves Champion. He was preceded in death by two sons, Tommy Crabtree and Lynn Crabtree, and a grandson, Jeremy Knight.
