Episode 15: The Headless Horseman of South Texas

If you’re driving through the area that is today known as San Diego, Texas, you may just come across the Headless One for yourself…

Episode Transcripts

It’s a ghost story unlike any other.. or at least it was when it was written back in 1820. Yet in spite of its old age and haunting subject matter, this timeless narrative never fails to resurface each year fittingly around Halloween.

So the story goes, a young school master by the name of Ichabod Crane moves into a small town in the Hudson River valley. It’s the early days of the United States and the citizens of the small farming village are a superstitious bunch to say the least.

Almost immediately upon moving in and taking up the position as the local school teacher, Ichabod was flooded with stories and rumors about the very many ghosts said to haunt the quaint town.

According to the locals at least, the township was somewhat of a hotbed for paranormal activity. Though no one was entirely sure why. Many believed it was due to the fact that the town was one of America’s original colonial settlements while others thought the close proximity of the Hudson River was to blame.

But regardless of the cause, one thing remained true: the township had no shortage for ghost stories. However, one in particular stood out from the rest in Ichabod’s opinion and that of course was the story of the headless horseman.

Pause

Back in the days of the revolutionary war, the locals said to Ichabod, a young soldier was riding horseback through the area when he lost his life. Apparently, he had been ambushed by canon fire—losing his head in the process.

Eventually his body was discovered and the young soldier was buried in the town’s cemetery, just outside of the church. Only they never found his head, and as an unfortunate result, they say his soul was never able to find peace.

Instead, this now headless horseman wanders the streets of the township at night, looking for his lost head while seeking vengeance against who took it from him.

Pause

The legend of sleepy hallow, as I’m sure we all know and love, was of course based in fiction—only pulling small pieces of inspiration from the real life town in upstate New York. Although the themes interlaced throughout the tale are not entirely unfounded. If fact at least for the citizens of San Diego, Texas, legends of vengeful headless horsemen are all too real.

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…

Break for music

It was 1803 when the United States signed a treaty with France. And with it came approximately 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. It was one hell of a bargain too.

Cashing in at about 4 cents an acre, the United States doubled in size in a matter moments and before long the fledgling population was thrusted into a world of westward expansion and manifest destiny.

Pause

For better or for worse, in the years that followed this Louisiana Purchase, the majestic yet unforgiving landscape of North America was explored. And with the admission of California in 1850, the United States literally stretched from sea to shining sea—inadvertently creating a wild and lawless territory in between.

It was the gold rush that initially motivated the masses to venture out into this untamed wilderness. As it turned out, the prospect of unparalleled riches was enough to pique the interest of even the most unambiguous of people. And if that wasn’t enough to convince them, the homestead act’s promise of 160 acres in farmland surely would.

However, this is not to say that life on the great frontier was easy or glamorous. Along with the constant threat of disease and the elements, the western terrain of the United States was also breeding ground for crime and anarchy during the nineteenth century.

This, of course, was due to the government’s otherwise short reach on a vast and relatively unclaimed wilderness. Which no doubt was an equally attractive prospect to outlaws of all kinds. Between thieves, killers, and bandits, the Wild West became an unforgiving playground—and within that chaos is exactly where our story begins.

Break for music

Allow me, if you will, to take back you to August of 1850 when the summer sun was blazing over the South Texas plains. There in the grassland  sits the man known only by the name Vidal, who is currently plotting his next move.

You see, Vidal had spent the last several months conning his fellow man, rustling cattle all across the lone star state, while racking up quite the bounty on his own head in the process. Before long, the posters started appearing everywhere he looked with the words “wanted: dead or alive” inscribed across the bottom.

Word of his antics had eventually driven Vidal out of town, leaving him with few resources and even fewer options. As it seemed, his luck—and karma—has finally caught up to him.

If Vidal was wise, he would clear out now—take the riches he had stolen and ride like hell toward the newly appointed southern boarder. Only his pride was standing in his way, and he would not be backing down without one last stand.

As bad luck would have it, a perfect storm was brewing just to the north of where he stood. You see in recent weeks, there had been raids throughout the Comanche nation. And as a result, the conflict called the vast majority of Texas Rangers away from the nearby settlements.

Now, as you probably guessed, their absence presented a golden opportunity for Vidal to exploit. The way he saw it, if the rangers were truly hundreds of miles away, there would be no one to prevent him from carrying out his own raid of sorts.

So he awaited nightfall, and under its cover, Vidal and his goons road to the nearby San Antonio River, to retrieve a heard of stallions before riding south to Mexico. And the plan likely would have worked too, if it weren’t for a minor detail working against this ban of thieves.

As it turned out, this was not just any herd of stallions, as there was a rather special colt hidden in the drove. And in the end, it would be this lone horse that became Vidal’s downfall.

Pause

Though Vidal was ignorant to this fact at the time, the Colt belong to none other than Creed Taylor. Now if you don’t recognize the name, don’t worry, you wouldn’t be alone there, so allow me to fill you in.

For some contextual background, Creed Taylor was not exactly an unknown individual to the settlers living in south Texas in the 1850s. In fact, Taylor was one of jurisdictions most accomplished rangers and evidently he had opted out of the Comanche raid to the north.

Instead, Taylor had stayed back in the southern jurisdiction, possibly even to deter any of the more opportunistic outlaws from taking advantage of the otherwise tempting circumstances. Oh and, not to mention, this particular herd had been grazing well beyond the confines of Taylor’s property line.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Vidal was blissfully unaware of the severity in his situation or maybe he was too arrogant to care. But regardless, Taylor wasn’t one to take kindly to banditry—especially when it was his prized stallion on the line.

So, after he enlisted the help of fellow ranger Big Foot Wallace as well as a neighbor named Flores, Taylor saddled up and the three men road after the bandits in haste.

It wasn’t long before Taylor and his posse finally caught up to Vidal—locating the outlaw camp just as they were settling in for what they likely had thought would be a well deserved and restful slumber. Only Creed Taylor had a different plan in store.

Now in those days, many believed that theft of livestock was an act more serious even than murder. Which is likely why Wallace and Taylor intended to make an example out of their target. So once Vidal and his men had fallen well into the realm of deep sleep, they emerged and attacked the bandits completely by surprise, beheading Vidal in the process.

And while Taylor likely thought that would be the last of it, this night would haunt the south Texas plains for centuries to come.

Break for music

It wasn’t long before the rumors started. In the weeks that followed Taylor’s act of vigilantism, word of Vidal’s death spread through south Texas like wildfires. And with this news came a rather ghostly superstition.

Apparently, the path that Vidal and his henchmen had been traveling that fateful night was decently trafficked. And after he was slain, the cowboys, bounty hunters, and other various travelers who frequented the area noticed that things seemed… different on the trail.

In particular, there had been a number of reports about something not quite human lurking near the flowing waters of the San Antonio. The entity was said to be little more than a shadow, but an incredibly large one that. Those who encountered the specter described it as the dark outline of a stallion with a lone rider who seemed to be missing its head.

Then upon further investigation, something even more bizarre came into view. There strapped to the saddle of this headless horsemen was a dangling severed head. And being that this was the Wild West, the initial reaction was usually to draw and shoot at the horseman. But to the surprise and horror of these cow boys, the figure seemed relatively unphased by their gunfire. Which only gave credence to the idea that Vidal had returned from the dead, and was now seeking revenge on his killers.

Pause

Before long, stories of El Muerto or the headless one started swirling around south Texas and eventually some of the more skeptical settlers began to question the validity of the tale. So in the weeks in the weeks that followed, a posse of local ranchers decided to investigate the claims for themselves.

They saddled up and rode off in search of the headless one that so many of their neighbors had grown to fear. And against all odds, they found it. Only El Muerto wasn’t exactly what had been described, at least not yet. But what they did find, was perhaps even more disturbing.

You see instead of discovering the shadow figure of a headless horseman, they came across the body of none other than Vidal himself. Apparently, at some point after he was killed, Taylor and Wallace strap Vidal’s headless body onto his horse, before tethering his severed head to the saddle, and sending the horse on its way to, for lack of better phrasing, terrorize any unfortunate travelers who may been passing through.

Now, this band of ranchers eventually agreed that this was no way to lay a body to rest, even if it did belong to a notorious and well-known outlaw. So they took Vidal‘s body from his horse and buried him in an unmarked grave, presumably where he’s still rests today.

Like I said, Taylor and Wallace were at their wits end with the banditry, so they had every intention of making an example out of Vidal. And with the send off that he was given, I think we can all agree they definitely succeeded in that feat.

Because even though the story was ultimately proven to be false, the legend is still around today—ever ingrained into south Texan lore—and if you’re driving through the area that is today known as San Diego, Texas, you may just come across the headless one yourself.

Break for music

There is a parapsychological theory that claims a connection between the human mind and the occurrence of paranormal activity. If this sounds familiar, then you would know we discussed the theory at length in episode two. But in case you missed it, allow me to clue you in.

Theoretically speaking, the more we believe a ghost story to be true and factual, the more likely paranormal phenomena will manifest. Regardless of how true or fictitious the story itself actually is. We saw evidence to this theory, in our discussions of the Goldbrook covered Bridge. And here we are, once again, discussing a haunt that is more or less based on assumption.

As we all know now, the legend of El Muerto was ultimately based on false claims of paranormal activity. And even though I wouldn’t blame anyone for mistaking Vidal’s body in this unceremonious state for a ghost, well it still doesn’t change the fact that this was no spirit of headless horseman.

But all the same, encounters with the headless one were still frequently reported as the years passed. In 1917 for instance, a couple was traveling by covered wagon down that very same trail when they had an inexplicable experience.

Even though it had been nearly a hundred years since the incident, the road the San Diego still felt eerily bleak. So as night fell the couple eventually came to a stop—deciding they would call it for the night and set up camp on the side of the trail instead of trying to continue on in the darkness.

That evening, the couple sat next to a blazing fire, likely cooking supper and seeking refuge from the darkness within its glow. And that’s when they heard it—a sort of crying off in the distance—that unmistakably seemed to be approaching them at a rapid pace.

Before they could even fully assess their situation, the source of the crying was upon them. Speeding by them on the trail was a gray spectral stallion, and as you likely guessed, perched atop this steed was a headless man. Oh and if that wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl you would probably want to know that this headless horseman was yelling, announcing for all to hear “It is mine. It is all mine.”

Now surely you can see why the couple was incredibly startled by this encounter, so upon the following mornings first light, they climbed back into their wagon and high tailed it to San Diego. It was there that they made a formal report and ultimately discovered what it was that they had seen. As it appeared, the story of the headless one may be more than just a legend.

Break for music

It was 1865 when captain Mayne Reid published his own legend of a headless horseman. But unlike Washington Irving’s famed legend of sleepy hallow, this narrative was more or less based in fact.

The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas as Reid had entitled it, was a 20 part series that told the story of a headless horseman that haunted the plains of South Texas. And even though the stories told within these publications were purely fictional, you and I both know that the legend inspiring the series is all too real.

Now given the sheer popularity of these works, you don’t have to look very far to find remnants of the legend today. For example, on the outskirts of San Patricio, Texas there’s a little known spot that locals dubbed the headless horseman hill.

According to one source, at least, the hill is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the old city cemetery—meaning that it’s open to the public. So if you’re brave enough, you can visit this location for yourself.

But before you decide to make the trip out to this haunt, I encourage to heed this warning: do so at your own risk. Because you may just encounter spirit of el Muerto, and if you do, who is to stop him from enacting his revenge?

Break for music

Credits

Sources

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41/41-h/41-h.htm

https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/the-story-of-sleepy-hollow

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/louisiana-purchase-treaty

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-elmuerto/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/old-west-lawmen/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/el-muerto/

https://365daysofterror.tumblr.com/post/103926027454/headless-horseman-hill/amp