“In 1793, the Spanish Crown issued an order for the missions in Texas to be secularized. The missions were to distribute their lands and assets to the remaining mission residents. Soon after receiving the orders, Mission Valero divided its property among the families and individuals that had inhabited the mission and closed instruction of the Catholic faith at this location. The inhabitants were to attend services at San Fernando, the closest parish to Valero. These men and women continued to farm the fields and build up the growing community of San Antonio. These residents were witness to the coming years of unrest”. The Alamo.org
The Original and Locally Owned Austin Ghost Tours.
Early Texas History
In 1528 the Spanish government sent a group of men, on a ship to explore Florida. Two of these men were Cabeza de Vaca and Este’ban, a slave. Unfortunately, they experienced a shipwreck off the coast of Galveston, were captured by Indians and held hostage for six years, before managing to escape. They then wandered around the Southwest for two years before stumbling upon a small group of Spanish soldiers. While reuniting with the Spaniards, the survivors mentioned hearing the Indians tell of a city made of gold, called Cibola, in the yet to be charted land to the North.
Texas Fight for Independence
In the fall of 1835 many Texans, both Anglo-American colonists and Tejanos, concluded their beliefs did not align with those of Mexico, as reflected in its Constitution of 1824. The dictatorship of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, supported by rich landowners, had seized control of the governments and subverted the constitution. As dissension and discord mounted in Texas, both on the military front and at the seat of the provisional government of the Consultation at San Felipe, the colonists agreed that another popular assembly was needed to chart a course of action.
The Alamo
Father Antonio Olivari’s established the Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1718. The mission served the settlers and Indians alike until 1803, when the Spanish cavalry took over the mission and named it Alamo de Parras
The Ghosts of the Alamo
Alamo’s First Ghosts -Firey Diablos
As told to the Original and Locally Owned Austin Ghost Tours”
The first legend related to the Spirits of the Alamo dates back to a few weeks after the Battle of the Alamo. Following the battle, General. Andrade was left in San Antonio with about 1000 soldiers, while Santa Anna went east to the Battle of San Jacinto. When Santa Ana was defeated, messengers were sent back to San Antonio, and General Andrade was ordered to destroy the Alamo before retreating south to the Rio Grande. He, in turn, handed down the order to Colonel Sanchez, who gathered a group of soldiers together and headed over to the Alamo.
The group of terrified soldiers quickly returned to camp and told General Andrade that they could not destroy the Alamo, and furthermore, They were not going back to try. They explained. That as they try to enter the Alamo shrine, six Diablos. Deviled figures, with swords of fire, or of flaming sabers formed a semicircle in front of the entrance. It would not let them in. General Andrade thought that this was totally ridiculous and decided that he would have to do the job himself. He got together another group of soldiers and went to the Alamo and was confronted by the six ghosts who yelled, “do not touch these walls, do not harm the Alamo”!
The Blonde Haired Boy in the Window
Ghost hunter Dolce Schultz Dolce Schultz as a child remembers visiting the Alamo and clearly seeing a small blonde haired boy in the window outside of the Alamo, above the front door. Years later, she. She returned to the Alamo on one late February afternoon, and again saw the little blonde haired boy. And “I knew I wasn’t a crazy teenager anymore”. Her last visit to the Alamo was in the 1990s and she asked several employees who confirmed the image of the child in the window, as well as other incidents taking place in and around the Plaza.
The Plaza
One of the Alamo Rangers made his rounds, checking to make sure all was well in the Plaza. It was one of those really hot spring days in South Texas, and he had taken off his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. Putting his hat back on, he saw a suspicious looking man walking across the grounds towards the library. The Ranger took note of the man’s strange attire. He wore black boots, a black plantation type hat, and a long black overcoat. Keeping his distance, he followed the man until he reached the shadows of the Chapel building, where he saw the figure fade away.
The Ranger hurried after the stranger, but he found no one hiding in the shadows and discovered no footprints in the flower beds. Checking with other employees at the Alamo, he came up empty handed as no one else had been had seen the peculiar man. The Ranger realized the apparel was not something of present day wear. He described what he’d seen to another Ranger, who thought the attire was from the 1830s.
Since that time, others have seen the same apparition strolling through the Plaza in broad daylight as well as at night.
One school teacher tells of her unusual experience at the Alamo on a rainy day in the afternoon in February.
The bellies of the darkening clouds appeared as if they would burst at any time. Jagged lightning flashed closer to the Plaza with each stripe. Thunder rolled across the threatening skies of South Texas. A downpour was imminent. A few courageous citizens roamed the sidewalks in front of the Alamo, touring the town with friends and family. A school bus rolled to a stop in front of the old Mission, and a group of children with several teachers stepped off as the rain began to pepper the Plaza. The teachers hurried the children inside the main Alamo building so they wouldn’t get wet.
As the last teacher stepped inside, She looked back and saw two ladies in ankle length dresses like women wore in the 1700s. One’s fabric covered bonnet, trimmed with ribbons and flowers, hid her face. The other woman was attired in a full length cloak, covering her dress completely, gathered into a lace edged hood. The ladies didn’t seem to be in a hurry, They simply walked at a steady pace, their heads down and faces hidden from the rain.
Lightning flashed, striking the ground then burning across the sky.
The smaller woman dropped to the ground. Her companion fell to her knees and began screaming for help, but the thunderous racket in the sky kept anyone else from hearing her cries. Bending over her friend on the ground, the woman wept. The teacher, who witnessed this bizarre scene, started out into the rain to help as a streak of lightning split the skies, followed by a clash of thunder. At that moment, the women disappeared. The teacher found a gold ring lying on the Plaza stone that was charred ever so slightly.
Menger Ghosts
The History and Mystery of the Menger Hotel
“A few years after the Battle of the Alamo, which took place on March 6, 1836,, the small hamlet of San Antonio began to grow rapidly, with the arrival of immigrants from abroad and settlers from all parts of the United States. The government of the New Republic of Texas had sent out word far and wide, that newcomers were welcome and choice land was available for homesteading.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the invitation to come to Texas had reached Germany, where it was of special interest to many young men living in that country. The custom had long been for only the eldest son in a family to inherit money, property, or title, upon the death of the parents. Younger and middle sons just had to fend for themselves, often joining the Prussian army, or signing up for the priesthood. Sometimes the young men would apprentice themselves to a Craftsman in order to learn a trade. Seeking a more prosperous lifestyle, a large number of ambitious young men from Germany began to arrive in the new republic”. The Original and Locally Owned Austin Ghost Tours.
More Ghost Stories on The Original Austin Ghost Tours
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