9 Disturbing Urban Legends and Myths From the State of Texas

From Ghost Stories to Haunted Locations: The Horror Tales of Texas!

The True Historian
Lessons from History

--

1. The Tale of El Muerto

Image Source: Unusual Horror (No Known Copyright Restrictions)

According to legend, a Mexican horse thief called Vidal targeted Texas Ranger Creed Taylor’s property in 1848. As soon as he realized that his horses were gone, he set out with a neighbor who had suffered a similar loss to track down the perpetrators.

Near Uvalde, they came across Bigfoot Wallace, who consented to join the search. Like the rangers, he had seen it all and had little patience for horse thieves. They tracked down the horse robbers quickly after beginning their hunt and promptly put an end to the gang.

After Bigfoot severed Vidal’s head, he put his corpse securely on the saddle of a mustang and also strapped his sombrero, which contained Vidal’s severed skull, to the saddle!

The wild mustang was loose in South Texas, terrifying the locals. These two were dubbed “El Muerto” and were held responsible and heavily blamed. A few others came together and unfastened the victim from the horse’s saddle, releasing the animal from its ghastly rider.

People are known to say they have seen a headless horseman riding the plains late at night ever since, even though…

--

--

The True Historian
Lessons from History

Archivist, Historian, and Doctoral Student | Anti-Slavery Activist and DEI Advocate