As fall begins, October is generally our “spooky” season, and Texas is no stranger to a number of myths, legends, tall tales and stories that could send tingles up anyone’s spine.
Growing up, I remember stories of the haunted railroad tracks in San Antonio. It was on that spot, the story goes, where a busload of children was hit by a train. If you stop before the tracks, sprinkle baby powder on your rear window and place your car in neutral, the children will push you across the track, and you can see the handprints of the children in your mirror. Before it was saved by the daughters, the Alamo complex was used as the police department. An 1894 newspaper account tells of the night sentries hearing footsteps across the roof on rainy nights. At the time, historians thought it rained during the siege, but accounts today vary on this point.
I didn’t know about the Alamo story until I read about it in Donna Ingham’s Mysteries and Legends of Texas. There’s time to catch Donna, writer E.R. Bills and Cynthia Leal Massey at our book festival taking place Saturday, Oct. 1 at Main Plaza. This program, which will cover these myths and mysteries (and more) begins at 2:15 p.m. Head to boernebookfest. com for a complete schedule.
