Meet South Dakota’s Version of Bigfoot

A quick little word South Dakota word association here.

When I say 'famous local mythical creature', you'll most likely respond 'jackalope'.

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The half jackrabbit/half antelope legend got its start in Wyoming in the 1930s thanks to two brothers who just happened to dabble in taxidermy. As a prank, they took antelope horns and attached them to the body of a jackrabbit, and the jackalope was born.

Shortly thereafter shops in neighboring South Dakota began selling replicas of the 'creature' and our connection with this 'beast' was solidified forever.

So it would have made perfect sense when CashNetUSA pushed out a list of the most famous mythical creature from each state that the jackalope would be South Dakota's representative.

No so.

Introducing Taku-He, the Mount Rushmore State's version of Bigfoot, except this creature, usually dons a coat and tophat.

According to Cryptomundo, the existence of this beast has a more recent history, with a 1974 incident in an alfalfa field in Jefferson followed up by a 1977 sighting near Little Eagle in Corson County.

The legend of Taku-He was even brought to the big screen in 2017 with a film about the mythical creature.

The movie didn't feature shots of South Dakota though. It was filmed in Tennessee, where the most famous mythical creature isn't Taku-Me, but the Tennessee Wildman, which is described as being seven to nine feet tall with dark grey or dark ginger hair, red, beady eyes, a set of claws, and a horrible stink.

MORE: How Often Has Bigfoot Been Spotted in South Dakota?