One of Texas' more famous legends is El Muerto, "The Headless Horseman".
The legend started in the mid-1800s. It is said that William "Bigfoot" Wallace (pictured) and John McPeters had caught a band of horse thieves that had been stealing cattle and horses from the local ranchers. As most people know, this horrific crime is only matched by welshing on a bet. All other criminal activity is petty in comparison.
They decided to use one of them as an example of why horses should not be stolen. They had tracked and killed a number of horse thieves to Uvalde. Wallace had the idea to use the body of the leader, Vidal, as the example.
They decapitated him, dressed him in full regalia-spurs, leggings and serape. After they dressed him, they put him on a wild stallion and tied his feet to the stirrups. One of them put his head in his sombrero and tied it to the saddle.
It is said that when the wild horse galloped away across the desert brush that it spouted fire out the nostrils. You could smell brimstone.
Is the Headless Horseman fact or fiction? We may never know.... But he's someone most Texans never hope to come across on a dark, desolate, Texas plain.
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