Did You Know Texas Has Its Own Headless Horseman?

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow is set in New York but you don't have to go that far to find a headless horseman. A quick trip to South Texas will do just fine.

In The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman is the ghost of a soldier killed during the American Revolution. The Headless Horseman of Texas wasn't involved in anything as noble.

The horseman in The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow was decapitated by a cannonball while fighting for his country. Considered to be America's first ghost story, it was written in 1820. The one in Texas was not fighting for God or country, he was all about himself.

The ghostly Texas legend, known as "El Muerto", also goes way back and is said to have been the inspiration for The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas Legend, written in 1866.

What Happened To El Muerto?

The Headless Horseman of Texas is said to be the ghost of a horse thief named Vidal. He was pursued by Texas Rangers who, in those days, were often as mean as the criminals they chased and weren't shy about dispensing "frontier justice" to the bad guys.

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They found Vidal, roughed him up, chopped off his head, strapped his headless body to his horse ... with his head hanging from the saddle ... and sent it off to wander the land. You can read the entire story here.

Today, his ghost still rides the land around Ben Bolt, Texas looking for vengeance.

... and a new head.