Part of our growing Mysteries and Legends series, Mysteries and Legends of Texas explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in Texas’s history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in Texas history.

Texas Myths and Legends explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in Texas’s history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in Texas history. The more than a dozen stories answer questions such as: Is the "Navidad Wildman"—aka Bigfoot—alive and well in Texas? Was the creature in one Texas woman's freezer the legendary blood-sucking beast known as the chupacabra? Just what are the mysterious Marfa Lights? Manifestations of otherworldly beings? Can they be explained scientifically? Is Jefferson the most haunted city in Texas? Or should the title go to San Antonio, which has enough ghosts to warrant at least three advertised ghost hunt tours? From rumors of Jean Lafitte's buried treasures to the hanging of Chipita Rodriguez and the love story of Frenchy McCormick, Texas Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of the state's most fascinating and compelling stories.

There's treasure buried beneath Texas soil or stowed in caves covered over by stones. It might be the mother lode that's waiting to be uncovered or some Spanish pirate's chest of jewels and doubloons. Nearby a ghostly figure walks the dunes, or is it just an illusion brought on by the approaching dust storm? In this new mass market edition, J. Frank Dobie has collected accounts of some of the best known tales of booty hidden in Texas hill and dale as well as some eerie stories and the origins of Texas flowers, names, and streams. You will learn about "The Enchanted Rock in Llano County," "Lafitte's Treasure Vault," and "The Holy Spring of Father Margil at Nacogdoches." These lively stories reveal the love for adventure, independence, and mystery that has made Texas the state it is. And just as Dobie hoped, with these tales readers from all over can see the "richness of their own traditions." Dobie believed that worthwhile literature about this region had to be derived from an understanding of its life, lore, and history. Legends of Texas indirectly led to the founding of the Texas Folklore Society, the nation's second oldest folklore organization.

This Publication of the Texas Folklore Society has something for everyone. The first section features a good bit of occupational lore, including articles on cowboys—both legendary ones and the relatively unknown men who worked their trade day by day wherever they could. You’ll also find a unique, personal look at a famous outlaw and learn about a teacher’s passion for encouraging her students to discover their own family culture, as well as unusual weddings, somewhat questionable ways to fish, and one woman’s love affair with a bull. The backbone of the PTFS series has always been miscellanies—diverse examinations of the many types of lore found throughout Texas and the Southwest. These books offer a glimpse of what goes on at our annual meetings, as the best of the papers presented are frequently selected for our publications. Of course, the presentations are only a part of what the Society does at the meetings, but reading these publications offers insight into our members’ interests in everything from bikers and pioneers of Tejana music to serial killers and simple folk from small-town Texas. These works also suggest the importance of the “telling of the tale,” with an emphasis on oral tradition, as well as some of the customs we share. All of these things together— the focus on tradition at our meetings, the fellowship among members, and the diversity of our research—are what sustain the Texas Folklore Society.

With this compilation of Texas--and Texanized--favorite myths and legends, award-winning tale teller Donna Ingham applies her own unmistakable voice to traverse her home state through such stories as: "The Coming of the Bluebonnet"--an oft-collected Commanche myth about love and sacrifice and the origin of the Texas state flower "The Story Behind the Story"--about two early cattlemen and the basis for an episode in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" "The Life and Times of Pecos Bill"--a selection of tales about this legendary folk hero "Diamond Bill"--about an east Texas rattlesnake who fought in the Civil War "Cupid Was a Mama's Boy"--a Texanized classic Greek myth

Any town that boasts a grave on the courthouse lawn ought to have a ghost or two. Denton, Texas has many! Ghosts, that is. Author Shelly Tucker claims, "People come to Denton and never want to leave...ever!" This book contains a fraction of the ghost stories told in the area. Established in 1857, this frontier town was wild and rambunctious. Denton has been home to some colorful and quirky characters over the years, and legends claim that some remain in the afterlife. Within the covers of this book, you will find tales of the Goat Man at Old Alton Bridge, a ghostly hooligan, and a librarian who never "checked out." There is the tale of the sheriff who protects and serves the community from beyond the grave, and of the outlaw Sam Bass, whose spirit still roams the streets. Find stories of Nurse Betty tending patients from the afterlife, a theater manager who can't leave his job, a Texas hero (who survived The Massacre at Goliad to die in a Denton fire) still searching for his gold, and the spirit of John Denton protecting the town that bears his name Read the stories with an open mind. They are interwoven with the fascinating history of this small Texas town. After reading it, Denton will never look the same in the daylight.