Ghosts along the Texas Coast (30 page)

Then there's the story of the Mexican laborers who were hired to lay the railroad tracks. Rather than pay them for their labors, their employers paid them off in bullets. They are still out there, looking for the dirty-double-crossing villains who'd rather shoot them than pay them!

Then there are the stories of the Spanish explorers who buried their treasure chests deep within those woods. They never got back to claim their gold, so now their spirits are out searching, guided by, what else? The Saratoga light!

We must not forget the story that ran in the October 31, 1985 edition of the
Beaumont Enterprise
. It tells of a Confederate soldier who went A. W.O.L. from his regiment and was tracked down and shot as a deserter, there in the deep thicket. Somebody, maybe his wife or sweetheart, is still out there searching for his grave.

Now if all these tales were true, there would be a regular “gaggle” of lights bobbing up and down, like a multitude of overgrown lightning bugs! But one story must be true, because there have been so many reports of sightings of the light from all sorts of people from many walks of life for many, many years. There have been lots of articles printed, written by reporters who came out to the Thicket to check out the story. Many of them saw the light and reported back to their papers. Local residents of the southeast Texas area report a light, or lights, being seen, over and over again. Teenagers in old pickup trucks who use the road as a sort of “lover's lane” have seen the huge bobbing light. And, if you stop by the Big Thicket Museum in Saratoga, they'll tell you some more good stories.

There have been reports that the light chases cars, scorches hands, dances on top of cars, and chases people. The light has been described as white, as green, and as red in color. Some say just one great big light bobs around, moving laterally, very, very slowly. Others say the light comes straight at you, looking very much like the big light on the front of a locomotive.

Nobody really knows the source of the Saratoga light, or when, or where, it will show up next. Nobody knows what causes it to shine. All we do know, for “certain sure,” is that it's still out there, illuminating the dark and mysterious woods of the Big Thicket, and giving a tingly, “goosebumpy” sort of thrill to those who see it shining in the night.

Even as this book goes to press, more ghost stories continue to pour in. Perhaps there will be a
Ghosts Along the Texas Coast, Volume Two
some day! Most of the stories contained in this collection are well documented and considered to be true. Others are legends, but because they are so well known, and “expected,” they just had to be included!

I will leave you with this parting thought . . .

Is there anyone who'll boast

That they've ever seen a ghost?

Or heard a footstep on the stair?

Did you ever freeze with fright.

In the middle of the night,

Knowing, surely, “something” was out there?

Have you ever really seen

On the night of Halloween,

“Something” out among the costumed hosts,

That seemed out of place

Because it didn't have a face,

Well, my friend, I think you saw a ghost!

Happy hauntings!

Docia Schultz Williams

Newspapers

Beaumont Enterprise

Oct. 31, 1985

Brownsville Herald

June 13, 1982; Oct. 31, 1993

Corpus Christi Caller Times

Oct. 29, 1992; Oct. 31, 1993

Daily Express
, San Antonio

Aug. 26, 1879

Eagle Images
, Galveston

Oct. 1980

Galveston Daily News

Oct. 31, 1989; Oct. 31, 1990

Houston Chronicle

July 4, 1987; July 29, 1987; April 23, 1989; Oct. 31, 1991; Oct. 29, 1993

Houston Post

March 5, 1961; Oct. 28, 1984; Aug. 3, 1986

Jasper News Boy

Oct. 1993

La Voz Latino de Kuno
(Laredo)

April 1991

Port Arthur News

July 29, 1970; Oct. 27, 1984; Oct. 28, 1984; Oct. 29, 1984; Oct. 28, 1992; Oct. 29, 1992; Oct. 31, 1992

Texas Express
, Goliad

Oct. 31, 1984

Victoria Advocate

Nov. 8, 1992; Nov. 10, 1992

Magazines and Periodicals

Galveston County “In Between”

Oct. 1978

Houston Chronicle Magazine Section

Oct. 25, 1981

Texas Highways

Oct. 1983

Pamphlets

“Discover Historic Galveston Island,” published by Galveston Historical Foundation

“Presidio La Bahia,” Information Pamphlet, Goliad, Texas

“Ride the Texas Tropical Trail,” published by the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation

“Silver King Restaurant Newsletter,” Aransas Pass, year unknown (article sent to me not dated)

Stories

“The Legend of Knox Crossing,” Wilbur Butler

“Joe Lee Never Left Nederland,” Anne Malinowsky Blackwell

“The Ghost of Turtle Bayou,” Kevin Ladd

“The Cove Light,” Kevin Ladd

“The Ghost of Christy Hardin,” Kevin Ladd

Books

1001 Texas Place Names
by Fred Tarpley, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 1980

A Guide to Treasure in Texas
by Thomas Penfield, published 1988 Carson Enterprises Inc., Deming, New Mexico

A University So Conceived, a Brief History of Rice
by John B. Boles, revised edition, 1997, published by Rice University, Division of University Advancement.

American People's Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, published 1956, Chicago, The Spencer Press, Inc.

Black Hope Horror, the True Story of a Haunting
by Ben Williams, Jean Williams, John Bruce Shoemaker, published by Berkley Books, New York by arrangement with William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1993

Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 16, 1940, published by Americana Corporation, New York, Chicago

Ghosts Along the Brazos
by Catherine Munson Foster, published by Texian Press, Waco, Texas, 1977

Ghost Stories of Old Texas
by Zinita Parsons Fowler, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1983

Historical Heritage of Goliad County
, edited and written by Jakie L. Pruett, and Everett B. Cole, 1983, researched by Goliad County Historical Commission, Eakin Publications, Austin

The Jasper Journal
by Nida A. Marshall, 1993, Nortex Press, Austin, Texas

Lafitte the Pirate
by Lyle Saxon, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, Louisiana, 1989

The Legend of Chipita
by Keith Guthrie, 1990, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas

Legendary Ladies of Texas
, Publication of the Texas Folklore Society XL VII in cooperation with the Texas Foundation for Women's Resources, edited by Frances Edward Abernethy, 1981, E-Heart Press, Dallas, Texas

Off the Beaten Trail
by Ed Syers, 1981, Texian Press, Waco, Texas

Readers Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
, Vol. Two, L-Z, Readers Digest Association Inc., Pleasantville, New York, Montreal, 1987

Stories that Must Not Die
by Dr. Juan Sauvageau, 1989, Pan American Publishing Co, Inc., Los Angeles, California

Studies in Brownsville History
, edited by Milo Kearney, 1986, Pan American University Press, Brownsville, Texas

Texas Travel Handbook
, published by Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation, Austin, Texas, 1990

Time and Shadows
by L.I. Adams Jr., 1971, Davis Bros. Publishing Company, Waco, Texas

Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1983 published by Merriam Webster, Inc.

Weekend Escapes, Southeast Texas Edition
, edited by Mike Michaelson, Published by Rand McNally, 1986

Personal Interviews

I wish to especially thank the following individuals who shared information in the form of personal and telephone interviews and through correspondence:

Anne Malinowsky Blackwell, Nederland

Steve and Paula Bonillas, owners, Blackbeard's, Corpus Christi

Wilbur Butler, Beaumont

Donna Briones, Galveston

Julie Caraker, manager, Beulah's, Port Aransas

Tim Case, night manager, The Ale House, Houston

Sue Casterline, Estes Flats

Eleanor Catlow, Galveston

Patricia Chance, Jasper

Diane Clifton Cox, managing editor,
Jasper News Boy
, Jasper

Mary Lou Polley Featherston, librarian, Port Arthur

Clouis and Marilyn Fisher, Rockport

Charlie Faupel, Reeves Thicket

Dr. Joe Graham, Dept. of Sociology, Texas A&M, Kingsville

Yolanda Gonzalez, librarian, Arnulfo L. Oliviera Memorial Library, University of Texas, Brownsville

David Goodbar, Galveston

Kathleen Fink, former director, Williams House Museum, Galveston

John Igo, professor, poet, author, San Antonio College, San Antonio

Ilona Langlinais, former employee, Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon, Spring

Alma Lemm, former employee, Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon, Spring

Brenda Greene Mitchell, owner, Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon, Spring

Derek Neitzel, assistant to curator, resident graphic artist, U.S.S.
Lexington
Museum, Corpus Christi

Sam Nesmith, historian, psychic, San Antonio

Anita Northington, Egypt

Colonel Larry Platt, Pleasanton

Catherine Polk, La Marque

Nancy Polk, Houston

Susan Purcell, Reeves Thicket

Jerry Salazar, San Antonio

Debby and Jim Sandifer, Port Neches

Sherry Sinini, manager, Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon, Spring

Newton Warzacha, museum director, La Bahia, Goliad

Mark Wilks, employee, “Beulah's,” Port Aransas

Joseph Witwer, Galveston

Henry Wolff, columnist,
Victoria Advocate
, Victoria

Kevin Young, former director, La Bahia, Goliad

All photographs taken by Roy and Docia Williams, with exception of Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon, by Donna Brown, of the “Portrait Copying,” Spring, Texas, and the photographs of the U.S.S.
Lexington
, which are official U.S. Navy photographs, courtesy the National Archives.

The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below

A

Abuela

Aiken, Bruce

Alamo, the

Alazon Creek

Aldrete Crossing

Aldrete Ranch

Ale House

Alford Air Conditioning Company

Alice

Allen, Augusta

Alley Theatre (Houston)

Ammeson, Jane

Anahuac

Anastasio

Andrus, Sybil

Angelina National Forest

Angelle, Denny

Angleton

Ansley, Irma

Aransas

Aransas Pass

Aransas River

Ashton Villa

Attacapan Indians

Aurora

Austin Colony

Austin, Stephen F.

Aztec Indians

B

Baffin Bay

Bailey, Edith S.

Bailey, James B.

Bailey, Margaret

Bailey, Nancy

Bailey, Sarah

Bailey's Lights

Bailey's Prairie

Baker, Capt. James Addison

Balli, Padre Nicholas

Barataria

Barataria Bay

Barham, John

Barton, Gladys

Bass, Sam

Battle of Coleto

Battle of Jones Creek

Battle of New Orleans

Battle of Palmito Ranch

Battle of Sabine Pass

Battle of San Jacinto

Bayou Ranch

Beach City

Beaumont

Benavides

Bellinger, Jack and Mott

Bennett's Ridge

Beulah's Restaurant

Big Hill

Big Thicket

Big Thicket Museum

Bishop, Alan

Bishop, Dorcas

Bishop, Andrew Jackson

Bishop, Cooper Reese

Bishop, John Allan

Bishop, Dessie Mae Stephenson

Bishop, Jack

Blackbeard's

Black Hope Cemetery

Blackwell, Anne

Bloody Mary

Bolivar Peninsula

Bolivar Point

Bolt, Ben

Bonillas, Paula

Bonillas, Steve

Borglum, Gutzon

Bouton Lake

Bracht, Leopold

Bragg

Brazoria

Brazoria County

Brazos River

Brazos de Santigo

Briones, Donna

Brookeland

Brown, George

Brown, James Moreau

Brown, Rebecca

Browndell Community

Browndell Liquor Store

Brownsville

Brownsville Herald

Bruce, Robert

Buffalo Bayou

Bull Head Water Hole

Burke, Viola

Butler, Ann

Butler, Beau

Butler, Pleas

Butler, Stacy

Butler, Wilbur

Butler, Wilma

Buvosa, Mike

C

Cabeza de Vaca

Caldwell, Jimmy

Campbell, a man named

Campbell Bayou

Cameron County

Campeche

Campo de Santos

Captain Jack

Caraker, Julie

Carson, Mayor

Case, Tim

Casterline, Sue

Catlow, Eleanor

Cazarez-Rueda, Luiz

C.C. Beach

Ceccaci, Mario P. Jr.

Cedar Bayou

Chambers County

Chance, Don

Chance, Pat

Chapel, Lady of Loreto

Chavez, Pedro

Chipita's Inn

Chocolate Bayou

Choate

Christ the King Church

Cihuacoatl

Civil War

Claiborne, William C

Clark, John