Ghosts along the Texas Coast (12 page)

The establishment of the Royal Presidio of La Bahia (“the bay”) in the year 1721 was in direct response to the encroachment by the French into the Spanish Province of Texas. The first La Bahia presidio was located on the banks of Garcitas Creek near present-day Lavaca Bay, on the remains of the ill-fated French Fort St. Louis which Robert Cavelier LaSalle had built. In 1726 the Spaniards decided to abandon this location and relocate in an inland position near Mission Valley, just above present-day Victoria. Finally, in 1749, the presidio was relocated to its present location just outside of the town of Goliad.

This presidio became the only fort responsible for the defense of the coastal area and eastern province of Texas. Soldiers from the presidio assisted the Spanish army which fought the British during the American Revolution. This action gives Goliad the distinction of being one of the only communities west of the Mississippi River that participated in the American Revolution!

Another little-known fact is that the cattle industry of Texas had its real beginnings at La Bahia, with the soldiers overseeing the herds from the missions of Rosario and Espiritu Santo, which were located nearby. Troop escorts for the cattle drive which supplied other Spanish settlements of the Southwest were commanded by the garrison at the presidio.

When Mexico won her independence from Spain, in 1821, the La Bahia became a station for Mexican forces. On October 9, 1835, a group of Texas citizens, led by Captain George Collinsworth, entered Goliad, attacked the presidio, and succeeded in taking possession of the fort. Later, at the presidio, the first Declaration of Texas Independence was signed by ninety-two citizens of Texas on December 20,1835. In the Declaration, which was distributed throughout other municipalities in Texas, the settlers boldly stated their desire for full independence from the dictatorial government of the self-styled “Napoleon of the West,” General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Texas forces were soon stationed at the old presidio, under the command of Colonel James Walker Fannin. One of the darkest days in Texas history was Palm Sunday, March 27,1836, when Fannin and 352 of his men were executed a week after they were captured at the Battle of Coleto. First, Santa Anna had put every man at the Alamo to the sword. Joining that valiant force of 189 men in death were all the men stationed at Goliad. As the grim news of the needless execution of so many men reached the United States, volunteers streamed forth to assist the Texans who were at war with a dictator who was determined to fight a war of extermination!

Today, over one hundred and fifty years later, the old walls of the historic fortress and its adjacent Chapel of our Lady of Loreto
sometimes echo with the mournful sounds of spirits returning from that troubled and turbulent time in the history of the great state of Texas.

Presidio of La Bahia at Goliad, Chapel of our Lady of Loreto

Kevin Young, San Antonio historian and writer, was the museum director at La Bahia some years back. He recalls that his living quarters at the presidio were just a few paces away from where James Fannin and his men were summarily executed. Many a day, and night, Kevin said he felt “cold spots,” and uneasy feelings like someone was watching him. He never actually saw a ghost, but he says he knows they are there!

Kevin suggested I contact the current museum director, Newton Warzecha. Only stationed there a little over a year, Warzecha said he has had no ghostly encounters “yet,” but he didn't doubt the stories he had heard from many people who had reported either seeing, or hearing, the unearthly visitors to the old presidio.

The
Victoria Advocate
on Sunday, November 8, 1992, ran a very interesting feature article by a staff writer, David Tewes. Tewes had interviewed Jim Leos, Jr., a guard with Triple D Security Company who had been assigned to guard some equipment at the presidio that was to be used for the Cattle Baron's Ball. Leos, long used to nighttime duty, expected just a routine evening at the quiet old former fort. But just before midnight, strange things began to happen. The quietness of the night was broken by the “eerie, shrill cries of nearly a dozen terrified infants.” It sent shivers down the spine of the veteran security guard and former deputy sheriff from Victoria. Leos said the cries indicated “pain and suffering.” He couldn't locate where they were coming from at first. He finally realized the cries were coming from one of the dozen or so unmarked graves which are located near the Chapel of our Lady of Loreto.

As suddenly as the crying started, the sounds ended, only to be replaced by the singing of a woman's choir. Although he could see nothing unusual, the mysterious music sounded as if it were coming from the back wall of the old fort. Leos said the women were singing words, but he couldn't make out what they were saying, and the tune was also unfamiliar to him.

The strange singing ended in two or three minutes, but then a much more frightening event occurred. A small friar suddenly appeared! At first, there was a vaporous form arising from the ground in front of the double door that leads into the chapel. Leos said the little friar was only
about four feet tall. The robe he wore was black, tied around the waist with a rope. He was barefoot and his face was concealed with a hood.

Leos recalled having heard other people talk about the same apparition. The words of warning came back to him: “Remain perfectly still because this is an aggressive ghost.” The shocked Leos just froze where he stood and watched as the priest wandered around from one corner to the other of the old church. The figure then went to each corner of the quadrangle. Leos says he thinks the hooded figure was praying in Latin.

About an hour and a half after the friar disappeared, the apparition of a woman wearing a white dress, which looked somewhat like a wedding dress, materialized in front of one of the unmarked graves that are situated in front of the chapel. It was the same grave from which Leos had heard the cries of the babies, and Leos said the woman appeared to be looking for one of the infants.

The article in the
Advocate
stated, “Then she turned around and looked at me. She drifted maybe a foot or two off the ground and headed towards the back wall.”

Leos said the ghostly figure just floated over the wall and out of sight as she headed towards an old cemetery established in the 1700s.

Although teased by his coworkers when he told of his nocturnal adventures, Leos is convinced that what he saw was real, and not the spinoff of a bad dream. After all, he doesn't ever sleep when he is on duty! And Leos knows he isn't the only person who has reported bizarre occurrences around the old presidio.

Many residents who live near the fort have related similar stories. Although Newton Warzecha hasn't seen anything since he has become museum director, he says, “I do not know whether there are spirits there, but I could understand if there are such things, because of all the violence that has taken place there.” His assistant, Luiz Cazarez-Rueda, who sometimes lives on the presidio grounds, is rather guarded with his comments when questioned about ghosts. However, the expression on his face indicated to David Tewes, who wrote the article in the
Advocate
, that Rueda knew more than he wanted to tell.

Dorothy Simmons, owner of the Souvenir Closet in Goliad, was watching the museum within the fort one spring day for John Collins, a former director, while he was out running some errands. As she walked through the museum and got to the third room, she heard what she called “celestial humming.” A beautiful soprano voice was singing.
There was nothing scary about it. She could detect the music only in that one room. When she walked out, it stopped. When she returned, it began again. Although she tried to reason it was the wind, it just wasn't enough to account for the very real sound of music which she heard. Simmons says she believes that we can experience time warps or see just a fleeting glimpse of the other side.

Then, there was the time that Irma Valencia, owner of Irma's Cafe in Goliad, agreed to do some volunteer work at the presidio. It was a hot, humid summer day. As Irma began to clean the furnishings and to wax the floor after the last tourist had departed, only Luiz Cazarez-Rueda, the assistant director, was still there. He had gone outside to take down the flags. As soon as he left, Valencia said, she heard organ music begin to play, accompanying the celestial humming of a woman. She said the music was just all around her, but it stopped when Casarez-Rueda came back inside. At first she thought he had been playing a portable radio, but he said, no, he didn't have a radio. Then he asked her, “So you heard it too?” Although she had been there as a volunteer many times before, Irma said she had never heard the music previously. Once was apparently enough for her, as she has stopped going out to the presidio entirely.

It seems that visitors, often complete strangers to the presidio, have reported strange happenings, also. Cazarez-Rueda said a mother and daughter visited the fort about a year ago just before closing time. The mother soon came back to the entrance and asked Cazarez-Rueda if there were historical reenactors on the property, people dressed up in period costumes to add “atmosphere” to the place. He told her, yes, they were there sometimes on special occasions, but there was no one there on that particular day. The lady assured him she had just seen someone, a lady dressed all in black, with a black veil over her face. She was in the chapel, by the candles, and she was crying as if her heart would break. At the daughter's suggestion, the mother stepped forth to ask the lady what was wrong, to see if she could help. In that instant, the figure totally disappeared!

Cazarez-Rueda tried to get the visitor's name, but the lady didn't stay long enough to say who she was. She just said she wanted to get out of there, and didn't ever plan to come back there again!

There was an interesting article in the
Texan Express
back on October 31, 1984, written by Sandra Judith Rodriguez. She mentioned in her story that many people have reported hearing “mumbling
noises,” like a group of people praying, when they pass the Chapel of our Lady of Loreto in the evenings.

And several people from the La Bahia area have reported that every so often when they are in their cars, driving alone, they will suddenly see someone sitting on the passenger side of the car. This happens usually when they are just passing over the San Antonio River. In their confusion, some people have said they first thought somebody was in the back seat of the car and had moved to the front seat. They start to talk to the person, but the person does not reply. As they glance again, the person has disappeared. Some people even claim that the person they saw was headless! Talk about goose pimples!

And the La Bahia Restaurant crew, who work pretty late at night, have reported that some evenings when they pass by the old buildings they notice the chapel lights are burning. They know they had been turned off earlier in the evening. They also have reported hearing the cries of a baby, but no babies are ever found in the area.

During the restoration of La Bahia, one of the workmen stayed very late doing some paperwork. He had his dog with him. Suddenly the animal started growling and moving towards its master. The dog seemed very agitated and frightened. About this time, the man heard the cries of a baby outside the door. It seemed very close. He thought a mother with a sick child might be outside, seeking help. He waited for a knock but heard nothing, so he opened the door and peered out. He was surprised when he found no one there. He said the hair stood up on the back of his neck and he was all “goose pimply.” He looked all around the presidio and could find absolutely nothing. He just left his paperwork and headed off to town as fast as he could drive.

And so the stories continue; a new one now and then, or a repeat of an oft-told tale. Who are these restless spirits? The crying babies, are they little lost souls of pioneer infants, dead and buried before they were baptized? Or, are they the offspring of Spanish militiamen and their wives? How did the little ones die? Did the Indians kill them in a raid, or was there an epidemic that snuffed out their little lives? The young woman in white . . . is her own baby buried somewhere out there in an unmarked grave near the chapel? And who was the little friar in the black robe? Was he a chaplain brought to the presidio to serve the Spanish forces? Is his soul in turmoil because the Spanish forces had to depart when Mexico won her independence from Spain? Or is his spirit disturbed because so many brave men were executed right there next
to his beloved chapel? The lady in black who cries in the chapel . . . was she the widow or mother of a soldier who served there? Why does her sorrowing spirit return to weep at the altar? And the music, angelic voices singing long forgotten canticles and hymns; are they songs of praise, or of supplication?

They are all there, caught in a web of timelessness, a multitude of lonely, lost souls, searching . . . sorrowing . . . seeking . . . singing . . . none quite prepared to let go of that life which they lived so briefly, so long ago, in a lonely outpost called La Bahia.