GHOSTS OF THE ALAMO

GHOSTS OF THE ALAMO

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GHOSTS OF THE ALAMO
HISTORY & HAUNTINGS OF ONE OF AMERICA’S
GREATEST LANDMARKS
San Antonio, Texas

The Ghost Book Author & Military
Officer Delves into One of the Most Haunted Places in the American West
in this Special Look at the Alamo’s Ghosts!

Best remembered for the epic battle that took place
between a small group of Texans and an overwhelming force of Mexican
regulars, the Alamo is a most hallowed and sacred place. Here, for the past
160 years, the ghosts of hero’s and martyrs alike have been indelibly etched
into the very fabric of Texas’s most popular tourist attraction.

The History

The Alamo’s beginnings were humble. In the early 1500’s, all of the land
that would later make up the great state of Texas belonged to Spain. For the
next 200 years this vast frontier was molded and shaped by famous explorers
such as Alvarez De Pineda and Ponce Deleon. As important as these two men
were, their accomplishments were overshadowed not by the exploits of another
rival adventurer but rather a “belief” system.

With the arrival of the Spaniards came a little thing called “Christianity”.
During the late 1690’s Franciscan Friars were enlisted to help colonize the
Texas Territory in the name of the King of Spain. The key to this monumental
endeavor was the conversion of the Native Americans living in the region to
Christianity. It was believed that this act of benevolence would not only
save the Indians souls but it would also ease their eventual assimilation
into European culture. Bottom line, the conversion of the native population
improved the odds that the King of Spain would make a considerable profit
from his colonization of the America’s.

Almost from the start, this ill conceived and poorly executed mind washing
campaign met with failure. Hampered by repeated Indian attacks and food
shortages, the Friars were forced to abandon “God’s” plans for the region.
Unable to admit defeat, the Franciscan Friars returned in the 1700’s and
established a series of frontier missions along a line that stretched from
the present day town of Guerrero all the way to the Rio Grand. In 1718, a
group of Monks constructed a small chapel in a cotton grove in San Antonio
DeValero. This new “Mission System” church was named the Alamo.

Life at the mission was harsh for priest and parishioner alike. Disease and
starvation were an everyday occurrence. In 1739 a pal of death descended
upon the Alamo when a small pox epidemic ravished the mission and the
surrounding countryside. For the Friars who found themselves destined for
service at the Alamo, it was anything but a slice of heaven. Most of the
monks considered the Alamo to be at the “end of the earth”. To make matters
worse, the “miserable place” fell out of favor with the greedy Spanish lords
who found the area in and around the Alamo to be all but devoid of natural
gold deposits.

Despite the lack of support from both Church and State, over the next fifty
years, the Alamo slowly expanded into a fortress like mission, changing in
both size and complexity. A small military garrison was stationed at the
“Alamo Mission” and by 1789, a rectangular 8′ high stone and adobe wall had
been constructed around the church and it’s sixteen outer buildings. This
barrier served as protection for the 275 men, women and children living
there from continued Indian attacks.

In December 1802, a full company of Spanish soldiers was posted at the Alamo
in the hopes that the increased military presence would dissuade any ideas
the French or the United States may have had for the Texas territories. As
it turned out, invasion by foreigners was the least of Spain’s worries.

Between 1805 and 1821, a series of unsuccessful uprisings turned New Spain
into a hot bed of rebellion. For sixteen tumultuous years, brave Indians,
Mestizos and Creoles fought and died for their freedom until Spain
relinquished its dominion over Mexico in 1821.

Shortly after its creation, the provisional government of Mexico granted
Anglo-Americans permission to establish colonies within the eastern most
boundaries of the Texas territory. For the most part both the Anglo-American
colonists and their landlords co-existed side by side without incident but
conflicting land claims and the Anglos desire to be free often became a
thorn in the side of the pro-Mexican legislature in Mexico City. Visionaries
such as Sam Huston believed that Texas should be self-governed but one man,
General Santa Anna, would never concede to a free Texas.

Born in Vera Cruz in 1795, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna loved two things,
power and women. Propelled to national prominence at the Battle of Tampico,
Santa Anna was a political hawk who hand an uncanny knack for always coming
out smelling like a rose no matter which way the political wind was blowing.
Disenfranchised with the liberal legislative wrangling in Mexico City, Santa
Anna, who controlled the might of Mexican military with an iron fist, took
over the government in April 1834. His first official act was to proclaim
himself the rightful Emperor of Mexico.

Almost from the start of his dictatorship, the traitorous activities of the
Anglo-American colonies, wore on Santa Anna’s already limited patience. The
colonies refusal to disband their militias and their repeated demands for
self rule only served to ignite Santa Anna’s wrath. Realizing that Santa
Anna could never be dealt with in a rational manner, Sam Huston and John
Austin, the President of the Anglo-Texas colonies, pleaded with their fellow
Texans to stand up and fight for their freedom. The seeds of rebellion were
sown and it did not take long before they blossomed into open conflict
between the freedom loving Texans and the Mexican army.
Both sides thought ill of their counterparts. The Texans saw the Mexican
military, as invaders and Santa Anna believed that the Anglo-American
colonists were nothing more than ingrates. With no hope for a peaceful
settlement in sight, Austin posted a call to arms on September 19, 1835. A
series of early decisive Texan military victories at Gonzales, Goliad and
San Antonio created a false sense that the Mexicans had lost the will to
fight and that the war for Texan independence was all but over. Sam Houston,
the commander in chief of the army of Texas, knew Santa Anna better than
anyone else, and he knew that more blood was yet to be shed in the name of
Texas.

In order to prepare for the fight he knew was going to come, Houston wanted
to fortify the Alamo. He ordered Colonel Jim Bowie to take contingent of men
to San Antonio to assess the situation there. Upon his arrival at the Alamo,
Colonel Bowie conferred with Colonel J.C. Neill the posts commander on
whether or not the Mission should be abandoned.

Several factors influenced Bowie’s fateful decision to keep the Alamo from
the Mexicans at all costs. The first was the condition of the Alamo itself.
Even though the site had been ravaged by the elements and was in a sorry
state of disrepair, it was as a whole, a very defendable position. The
second, and probably the most important factor that helped Bowie to decide
to make a stand at the Alamo was his belief in the courage of the men under
his command and the righteousness of their cause. In each of the three
previous military campaigns, a relatively inferior group of Texans and
non-residential volunteers had defeated an overwhelming superior Mexican
force.

Prior to Bowie’s arrival at the Alamo, Colonel Neill’s garrison consisted of
a mere 104 men, one cannon, and limited supplies with which to fend off an
aggressor. With the addition of Colonel William Barret Travis, David Crocket
and twelve frontiersmen from Tennessee, Bowie gambled that 150 or so brave
Anglo settlers and volunteers could once more defeat a numerically superior
adversary.

In the first few weeks of February 1836, Bowie, Travis and Crocket worked in
concert to improve the defenses at the Alamo. During this same time, Travis
assumed command of the garrison, replacing Neill who had been called home on
personal business.

The stage was now set, and the outcome would forever influence the future of
Texas. A small disorganized, inadequately supplied, band of volunteers who
had a willingness to fight, prepared to square off with a well equipped,
well financed professional army lead by a man who’s goal in life was the
extermination of all American ideals in the Texas territories.

The Battle of the Alamo

When General Santa Anna and his army of approximately 5400 men
and twenty-one cannons arrived in San Antonio on February 23,
1836, he was pleasantly surprised to find that only 150 rebels
defended the Alamo. Believing that he could crush the rebellious
Texans in quick order, Santa Anna immediately laid siege to the
mission.

In short order, the noose was drawn tight around the
Alamo and Santa Anna’s cannon began the arduous task of pounding the walls
of the mission into nothing more than piles of dust and debris. By March
3rd, it was estimated that the Mexicans had lobbed over 200 shells into the
Alamo. As vicious as the scene was, Colonel Travis claimed that not a single
defender had been killed as a result of the steel rain that continuously
pounded the compound each day.

Almost to the very end, Travis and his battered, rag-tag force of freedom
fighters believed in their hearts that General Houston and the “Army of the
People” would come to their aid. Travis had sent numerous pleas for help to
Houston via horse-mounted messenger in the days preceding the battle. This
unrealistic belief that help was on its way was bolstered when twenty-five
reinforcements made their way to the Alamo through the Mexican lines during
the early morning hours of March 1st. Despite the arrival of fresh troops,
the meager relief force could do little to turn the tide of the battle. Now
approximately 188 brave men were all that stood in the way of one of the
finest army’s ever assembled in Mexico.

During the first 12 days of the siege, Santa Anna shelled the Alamo both day
and night in a vein attempt to break the fighting spirit of the Texans. Much
to the credit of “Davy” Crocket and his handful of Tennessee riflemen, the
Alamo defenders gave as good as they got. Despite the deafening howl of
exploding artillery shells, sharpshooters perched high in the battered
parapets of the Alamo unmercifully dispatched any Mexican soldier who dared
to get within 200 yards of the beleaguered mission. This deadly game of “cat
and mouse” continued unabated until the evening of March the 5th. At 10 pm,
Santa Anna’s cannon, now firing from within 200 yards of the Alamo, suddenly
fell silent. A pervasive feeling of dread settled over the exhausted Alamo
defenders as the realization that they were truly on their own finally hit
home.

The cessation of hostilities was short lived. At 5 am, on Sunday March 6th,
the Mexican Army initiated the first of three all out assaults on the Alamo.
During the first attack, withering Texan counter fire from every part of the
mission halted the Mexican advance. In the course of the bitter fighting,
Travis was shot in the head and killed. Before the Alamo defenders could
collect themselves, the Mexican’s regrouped and rushed the Alamo a second
time. This attack was also repulsed with staggering losses. Undaunted, Santa
Anna merged his forces into a large screaming mass and charged the ramparts
of the Alamo a third and final time.

When the Mexicans finally exploited a breach in the wood and earthen redoubt
that had been built between the southwest corner of the chapel and a low
one-story building used as a barracks, they swarmed into the open plaza
killing the retreating defenders. The indiscriminate hand-to-hand combat was
gruesome! Bodies littered the ground.

As the fighting subsided, groups of Mexican soldiers made their way from
building to building killing every Texan they found. One of these roving
bands happened upon Jim Bowie on his deathbed in the long barracks. Bowie
did his best to fight off his attackers but his famed temper and bowie knife
was no match for the long reach of the Mexican’s bayonets. Bowie died alone,
lying on a cot, his body punctured so many times that his blood covered his
attackers from head to toe.

It was at this time, according to one Mexican soldier, that “a tall American
of rather dark complexion wearing a buckskin coat and a round cap made of
fox skin with a long tail hanging down his back” believed to be Davy
Crocket, met his heroic demise. In a scene made famous by John Wayne in the
1960’s movie the “Alamo”, twenty angry Mexican soldiers reportedly cornered
Crocket. The famed frontiersman fought like a ferocious bear but in the end,
he was slashed in the face by a sword and then he was viciously bayoneted by
the assembled mob.

In 90 bloody minutes, the battle for the dominion of the Alamo was over.
Various published and unpublished accounts of the battle provided by
survivors from both sides, tell of the aftermath of the fighting. Within
each of these accounts there is a wealth of conflicting information. Some
say 188 Texans were killed and that 30 non-combatants were spared. Others
say that between183 and 189 defenders were killed and that only Travis’s
slave and a handful of women and children were released unharmed.

The Mexican death toll, estimated at 1500 soldiers and many more wounded,
was equally questionable. Even though Santa Anna’s thirst for revenge was
satiated, he was not eager to promote the true cost in Mexican lives that it
took to secure the victory.

In the end, the Battle of the Alamo was insignificant in terms of stopping
Santa Anna but it galvanized a country that had previously been uninterested
in the liberation of Texas. The slaughter of the defenders of the Alamo had
a psychological effect on the United States. Droves of volunteers heeded the
call to arms and six weeks later, at the Battle of San Jacinto, the cry
“Remember the Alamo” was echoed over and over again. Those words must have
been ringing in his ears when his Excellency Santa Anna surrendered
following his resounding defeat at San Jancinto, thus creating the Republic
of Texas.

Myth and Mystery

Countless hours have been spent proving or disproving the legends, lies and
half-truths that have in them selves been woven into the Alamo’s historical
record. The only problem with trying to debunk the Alamo myths is the fact
that theoretically, all of the American witnesses were killed, one way or
the other, at the conclusion of the battle.

The first and probably most important question is how did Davy Crocket
really die and is the fictionalized account of his death really accurate?
Some historians believe that Crocket did not die in the heat of battle as
immortalized by the Duke. Instead, it is surmised that Davy and several
other survivors located in the ruins of the Alamo were given no quarter and
executed on the spot.

In an attempt to answer this question, investigators have turned to the
available Mexican records that chronicled the “victors” version of what
happened after the battle. Translated documents written by José Enrique de
la Pena, an aide to Santa Anna, indicate that Crocket, always the
politician, attempted to talk his way out of his dire predicament. Claiming
that he was a citizen of the United States, Crocket spun a yarn saying that
he had sought refuge in the Alamo rather than have his “Foreigner” status
called into question by any Mexican forces that he may have encountered
while coincidently exploring the countryside in and around the old mission.
Apparently the triumphant Santa Anna was unimpressed with Davy’s silver
tongue and he ordered Crocket and 6 other survivors be put death. The
horrified De la Pena writes that upon Santa Anna’s command, several Mexican
officers, “fell upon these unfortunate, defenseless men just as a tiger
leaps upon his prey.”

Even thought this version of Crockets death raises the hackles of Alamo
revisionist’s everywhere, the fact remains that the surrender of Crocket and
his subsequent execution was reported by several highly respected newspapers
of the time. It proves just how barbaric and untrustworthy Santa Anna really
was.
Either way, Davy Crocket died a heroic death as evidenced by De la Pena’s
final words about the execution, “though tortured before they were killed,
these unfortunates died without complaining and without humiliating
themselves before their torturers.”

Another reoccurring conundrum is the location of certain documents and
personal belonging taken from the dead Alamo defenders following the battle.
“To the victors go the spoils”, and as soon as the battle was over, Mexican
soldiers pillaged the Alamo. Nothing was sacred. Every defenders body was
stripped bare and any documents and personal baubles of value were recovered
as spoils of war. Once the bodies of the dead had yielded their booty, they
were burned unceremoniously on several huge funeral pyres.

Any paperwork, which hinted that it might contain information of
intelligence value, was most assuredly seized for Santa Anna’s personal
perusal. Historians continue to debate what documents, if any, were actually
collected by Mexican Officials and if the information exists today.
Unfortunately, if the disputed documents do survive, they are secluded
somewhere within the bowls of the Mexican National Archives where they will
most likely never be made available for public examination.

This one unanswered enigma has fueled the imagination of many would-be
treasure hunters. It is rumored that the Alamo defenders placed their
valuable and personal effects inside a large bell. Prior to last days of the
battle, the bell filled to overflowing with mementos, was buried at a secret
location somewhere within the confines of the mission and has never been
located.

In February 1894, The San Antonio Express News featured an article of
particular interest because it perpetuated the rumor that there was a hidden
treasure buried somewhere within the walls of the Alamo. The article went on
to tell how Leon Mareschal and his fourteen-year-old daughter visited the
Alamo. The pair met with Captain Jacob Coy, the night watch commander. The
Mareschal’s amused Captain Coy by telling him of how young Mary could
communicate with the dead occupants of the Alamo. Having nothing to loose,
Captain Coy allowed Leon Mareschal to hypnotize his daughter. While in this
altered state of consciousness, Mary confirmed the presence of “spirits in
the chapel” and that many of the paranormal activity experienced there was
due in part to the fact that the ghosts were attempting to locate their
buried treasure. If Mary had not captured Captain Coy’s full attention
already, she surely had him hooked when she told him that the treasure was
540,000 dollars in gold coins! Without mincing words, the good captain asked
Mary where the treasure was hidden. She responded by pointing vaguely toward
the dilapidated southwest corner of the crumbling old mission. Only after
relinquishing all that the spirits knew about the gold, did the Mareschal’s
take their leave, vanishing into the night. Unfortunately, the article does
not say if Captain Coy ever found the ghosts missing treasure. Officially,
none of the sanctioned private or public archeological excavations at the
site over the years has been able to put this one nagging question to rest.

The last mystery surrounding the Alamo that we will explore, is what
happened to all of the bodies? Historians continuously question the final
resting places of the dead from both sides. On orders from Santa Anna, the
Texan dead were “stacked like cordwood” on two or three funeral pyres and
burned without a Christian burial. It is said that the fires smoldered for
days and that the charred remains were disposed of at various undocumented
locations on the battlefield.

Apparently the bodies of the Mexican soldiers killed at the Alamo fared no
better. It is said that when the local cemetery was filled to capacity with
Mexican dead, Santa Anna ordered that the remaining corpses be thrown into
the nearby San Antonio River. These remains could have theoretically ended
up in the Gulf of Mexico but mostly likely they were swallowed whole by the
muddy river and secreted away in dark places waiting still to be discovered.

Over the years, the skeletal remains of the Alamo defenders have been
unearthed on an unnervingly regular basis both on and off the grounds of the
mission. In 1937 alone, four different burial sites were located in the
middle of busy San Antonio, not far from the Alamo.

To date, the exact burial location of almost 1000 persons related to the
Alamo throughout its history, remains a mystery. This fact alone could be
the single most important reason why strange noises, ghostly apparitions and
cold spots seem to be an everyday occurrence within the limestone walls of
the Alamo.

The Haunting of the Alamo

Over the years, a large number of skeptics and believers alike have
experienced startling unexplained paranormal phenomena at the Alamo.
Invariably some of these events can be summarily dismissed as the product of
overactive imaginations and some have even been explained by science itself.
But like so many other famous haunted battlefields and forts that have
experienced their own incidents of death, murder and extreme emotional
crisis, the Alamo is probably the best-known psychic “dead zone” in the
United States.

Ghostly tales about the Alamo can be traced all the way back to 1836.
Several weeks after the Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna ordered General
Andrade to raise the Alamo and in doing so ensure that nothing was left
standing. Like any military commander holding the rank of general, Andrade
delegated this unwholesome task to a trusted subordinate, Colonel Sanchez.

Upon the arrival of Colonel Sanchez and his men, all that remained of the
old mission was the chapel. Resolute to carry out Santa Anna’s demands,
Colonel Sanchez instructed his troops to begin tearing down the church. As
the detail set about preparing to carry out the order, work was abruptly
halted when six ghostly monks materialized from the walls of the chapel.

The soldiers watched in stunned silence as these “diablos” slowly advanced
waving flaming swords over their heads, while all the time issuing a warning
in an inhuman screech, “Do not touch the walls of the Alamo”. Heading the
ghostly advice, Colonel Sanchez and his men retreated with their tails
between their legs.

When General Andrade heard of Colonel Sanchez’s cowardice, he returned to
the Alamo himself with troops and a little insurance, a cannon. Andrade
instructed his gunners to aim the cannon at the front doors of the chapel,
but before it could be prepared to fire, the six ghostly monks re-appeared
with fiery swords in hand. As the moaning figures approached the flummoxed
general and his contingent, they again issued their unnerving warning. The
ghosts moaning voices startled Andrade’s horse and the general was unseated.
When General Andrade had regained both his composure and the reins of his
steed, he was disgusted to see his men fleeing for their lives. Considering
the situation this was something the general should have done but instead,
Andrade remounted his horse and turned to look at the Alamo one last time.

To his horror, the general watched as a wall of flame erupted from the
ground in and around the low barracks. The smoke from the unholy fire then
congealed into the form of a large, imposing man. In each of the massive
figures hands were balls of fire, which he hurled at the general like an
avenging angel.

General Andrade retreated from the scene presumably before the fireballs
could hit their mark and no one has dared harm the sacred site since. Folks
at the time believed that the larger than life spirit was an amalgamation of
the spectral energy of all of the dead Alamo defenders that when combined,
it created the missions menacing protector.

Official records and later archeological excavation’s conducted at the Alamo
seem to contradict the engrossing story of General Andrade’s encounter with
the six phantom monks. Factual evidence suggests that Andrade successfully
leveled many of the walls of the fort and dismantled or burned the wooden
palisade that had been erected in front of the church and along the south
wall of the compound. Apparently General Andrade was not as scared by the
fiery giant as the previous story suggests.

During the late 1800’s, the ghostly activity at the Alamo was big “news” in
San Antonio. In 1894, the City of San Antonio pressed the mission into
service as a police headquarters and jail. It was not long before, prisoners
housed in the old barracks started to complain about all kinds of ghostly
activity there.

Several articles printed in the San Antonio Express News in February 1894,
and August 1897, seemed to confirm that paranormal activity was in fact
taking place on a regular basis at the Alamo. The articles detailed fanciful
tales of a ghostly sentry said to walk from east to west on the roof of the
police station. The ghostly manifestations, which included mysterious
shadows and moaning sounds were said to be so prominent that the guards and
watchmen refused to patrol the building after hours. This caused quite a
stir at City Hall. Many of the councilmen felt that making prisoners sleep
with ghosts was “cruel and unusual punishment”. A short time later, the City
of San Antonio abandoned its plans for the Alamo in favor of a jail site
that was less haunted.

The paranormal incidents reported in 1894 and 1897 seem to unabashedly
replay themselves over and over even today. Several recurring stories tell
of a phantom sentry that has been observed walking frantically back and
forth across the top of the Alamo. Some witnesses believe the ghostly guard
is looking for a means of escape while others are certain that the specter
stands watch over the missing treasure of the Alamo.

In addition to the presence of the ghostly sentry, tourists, park rangers
and passers-by have reported seeing a myriad of grotesque man shaped forms
emanating from the very walls of the Alamo itself after hours. Sometimes
this paranormal menagerie is accompanied by disembodied screams and yelling
of men trapped in the throws of an invisible conflict.

Members of numerous tours groups, ghost hunters and psychics who have
visited the site claim that they have felt invisible eyes watching them as
they traveled down the dark corridors of the Alamo.

Ordinary people insist that they have heard voices and whispers that seem to
filter through the very walls of the mission as if they were attempting to
communicate with the world of the living. Others tell lesser stories about
their encounters with vanishing lights, eerie cold spots and a multitude of
unexplained noises.

In one instance, a park ranger at the Alamo encountered the ghost of a man
dressed in attire from the 1830’s. It was a really hot day in late spring
when the ranger first viewed the suspicious man on the fort grounds, walking
towards the library. As the ranger hurried after the man, he observed that
the he was wearing tall boots, a plantation hat and long overcoat. To the
ranger’s surprise, the puzzling man faded away into obscurity when he neared
the chapel. When the ranger investigated further, he could not find any
evidence of the strangers passing. Others have alleged to have seen the same
apparition numerous times in the courtyard of the Alamo, both during the day
and at night.

Generally the most often repeated ghost story about the Alamo defies all
logic. It focuses on the spirit of a little boy who is rumored to haunt the
parks gift shop. Both visitors and park rangers alike claim to have seen a
blonde haired little boy, ranging in age from 10 and 12 years of age,
staring out into the courtyard from one of the stores high inaccessible
windows. The small boy is only visible from the waist up and has never
become a full-bodied apparition. Rangers who have searched the gift shop in
hopes of catching the ghostly prankster have come up empty handed. In each
instance they have concluded that there is no way that a real person could
perch him or herself in the window without something to climb up on or some
way to support themselves. The mystery only gets more convoluted when you
consider the fact that the gift shop was not built until the 1930’s.

Legend says that during the last days of the siege of the Alamo, a small boy
was evacuated from the Mission. It is believed that this little child
returns to the same spot where he recalls last seeing a loved one alive. The
ghostly child may appear to be looking out of the down from the window at
curious onlookers when in fact his eyes only search for a comforting glimpse
of a father, brother, or another other family member who made the ultimate
sacrifice there at some point in the Alamo’s tumultuous history.

One of the more interesting ghosts encountered at the Alamo is that of the
“Duke” himself. As the director and leading actor in the bigger than life
spectacle ” The Alamo”, John Wayne spent over $1.5 million dollars
re-creating an exact replica of the old mission in Brackettville, Texas. In
an effort to make the movie as historically accurate as possible, Wayne
personally toured the original Alamo site and consulted actual blueprints of
the fortress.

While filming the movie, Wayne became obsessed with the sequence of events
that led to the fall of the Alamo. This preoccupation with historical
accuracy drove the Duke to spend a fortune bringing the Alamo to life for
the silver screen. The Alamo set was so detailed that it became a tourist
attraction in its own right.

Shortly after his death, the “Duke’s” ghost was observed at the real Alamo,
walking the grounds. He has also been observed visiting and talking with the
spirits of the forts patriotic dead. The story was so telling, that a
psychic was enlisted to confirm the rumors that John Wayne’s spirit visited
the Alamo on a regular basis.

The psychic substantiated the fact the Duke’s ghost stops over at the Alamo
about once a month but could not shed any light on where he manifests
himself the rest of the time. Many believe that the Duke put so much energy
and enthusiasm into the making of his movie that it seems only natural that
he left a little bit of himself there when he himself passed into the
afterlife.

We could not in good faith delve into the various hauntings that are known
to take place at the Alamo without discussing the most prominent ghost to
make his presence known at the mission throughout the years. At various
times during the year, park rangers have observed a transparent figure
dressed in buckskin clothing and sporting a flintlock rifle, standing guard
near the chapel. This is believed to be the spirit of none other than Davy
Crocket himself. Other people, who have seen the phantom vigilantly standing
at attention at various locations around the Alamo, describe the phantom
soldier as wearing a coonskin cap, buckskin shirt and moccasins. In several
instancing the figment has been observed by several different people, from
different angles at the same time. These observations in themselves prove
that the ghost, most generally associated with Davy Crocket, is not just an
optical illusion.

Could Davy Crocket’s heroic death at the Alamo be forever immortalized in a
haunted vignette? One of the grizzliest phantom images to play itself out at
the old mission occurs in the Long Barracks. It has all the characteristics
of a “Residual” type haunting but it is also very similar to the “fictional”
way Davy Crocket was said to have perished.

One night, a ranger entered the barracks and observed a hideous scene.
There, leaning against a wall was a man, wearing buckskin clothing typically
worn by frontiersmen during the 1800’s. To the ranger’s trained eye, it
appeared that man’s torso had been riddled with bullet holes! Before the
ranger could react, the spirits of several Mexican soldiers stepped from the
darkness and encircled the stranger with their bayonets at the ready. Like a
coiled spring, the ghostly soldiers pounced, thrusting their long blades
through the incorporeal body of the anguished buckskin-clad specter. In an
instant the encounter plaid itself out and the ethereal apparitions just
faded away, leaving one emotionally drained ranger in their wake.

Conclusion

If the horror of war and other bloody encounters can leave psychic scars on
a landmark, as some noted parapsychologists suggest, then the Alamo
definitely qualifies as one of the most interesting paranormal case studies
in the United States.

Here, over a thirteen day period in 1836, 188 brave Texan volunteers gave
their lives in the defense of an “Ideal” not just a piece of ground. These
were men who died in the crescendo of their lives at the hands of a ruthless
enemy.

But even before one of the most defining events in the history of Texas took
place, the landscape in and around the Alamo had been scared by the psychic
energy left behind by the thousands of Indians, settlers and clergymen who
had succumbed to the harsh realities of frontier life at the mission. These
tragic circumstances coupled with the grizzly outcome of the battle itself,
create ideal conditions for paranormal activity to manifest itself at the
Alamo almost on a whim.

Common, everyday people, dating as far back as 1836, have experienced the
supernatural first hand at the Alamo. Without a doubt, some of these
phenomena can be attributed to over active imaginations or the observer or
in some cases the culmination of one’s own fears. But what is to be made of
the other encounters, the ones that cannot be explained away by technology
and that cannot be attributed to the refraction of light, illusion or just
plain fantasy?

For the countless ghost hunters, tourists and park rangers who have found
themselves exhilarated and enraptured by a brush with the denizens of the
Alamo, there is no question that the old mission is haunted. These select
individuals know they have crossed paths with someone or something from
beyond the pale and for them, the cry “Remember the Alamo” has new meaning!

Contact Information:
The Alamo
300 Alamo Plaza
P.O. Box 2599
San Antonio, TX 78299
(210) 255-1391

Reference Material:
Aron, Paul ~ Unsolved Mysteries of American History (1997)
Chariton, Wallace O. with Charlie Eckardt and Kevin R. Young ~ Unsolved
Texas Mysteries (1991)
Coleman, Elaine ~ Texas Haunted Forts (2001)
Discovery Channel ~ Unsolved History: The Alamo (2002)
Farwell, Lisa ~ Haunted Texas Vacations (2000)
Hart, Herbert M. ~ Old Forts of the Southwest (1961)
Hauck, Dennis William ~ Haunted Places the National Directory (1994/ 1996)
Haunted Holidays~ Discovery Travel Adventures (1999)
Holzer, Hans ~ Travel Guide to Haunted Houses (1998)
Shadowlands Internet Website (2002)
Spaeth, Frank (editor) ~Phantom Army of the Civil War and other Southern
Ghost Stories (1997)
Wlodarski Robert and Anne P. ~ Spirits of the Alamo (1999)
© Copyright 2005 by
David Goodwin. All Rights Reserved.