Up until 1991, there was a giant oak tree, out in the middle of an otherwise open space, that was all that marked the once mighty Texas plantation known as Orozimbo. Orozimbo was famed for one momentous event in Texas history: it was there that the captured Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was held a prisoner after he was captured following the Battle of San Jacinto.
During Santa Anna’s imprisonment at Orozimbo, there was an attempt made by Mexicans loyal to him to rescue him and take him back to Mexico. The attempt failed. Legend says the failure was the result of ghostly intervention.
Remember the Alamo!
Remember Goliad!
The Alamo fell in March 1836, its one hundred eighty-odd defenders killed to a man. A few weeks later, at the battle of Goliad, Texians (as early settlers were known) under the command of Colonel James W. Fannin were defeated by Mexican troops. Of three hundred seventy men taken prisoner in the wake of that defeat, three hundred nine–including Colonel Fannin–were killed on March 27 on direct orders of Santa Anna. Others had already died of wounds; twenty-eight had managed to escape.
The massacre at Goliad, following so close on the fall of the Alamo, galvanized Texians. On April 21, at San Jacinto in what is now Harris County, Texas, a Texian force led by former Tennessee governor (and eventual Texas statesman) Sam Houston launched a surprise attack on Mexican forces led by Santa Anna in person. Some seven hundred Mexican troops were killed or wounded, and another seven hundred captured. Santa Anna tried to make a getaway–by doffing his bright officer’s uniform and dressing as a common soldier–but was captured the next day. He was recognized when other Mexican prisoners saluted him as El Presidente! El Presidente!
Although many Texians–including a wealthy Alamo widow who was said to be openly planning to abduct and execute the dictator–favored putting Santa Anna to death, Houston preferred making a negotiated settlement of hostilities, and intended to take Santa Anna to Washington, DC, where he would be forced to deal with the ornery and hard-bargaining American president, Andrew Jackson.
Until then, the dictator needed to be held somewhere safe, beyond the reach of assassins. After attempts were made on his life at Velasco and Columbia, he was moved upriver to a great plantation called Orozimbo. Orozimbo’s owner, Dr. James Aeneas Phelps, had built up the plantation on a land grant he had received in 1824, and had been a surgeon attached to Houston’s army at San Jacinto, where he tended the wounded Houston himself and was with Houston when he confronted the captive Santa Anna.
Santa Anna was held at Orozimbo from July until November 1836. During that time–sometime late in the fall–Mexican loyalists hatched a plan to break him out of his captivity and spirit him away to Mexico City, where he would as a matter of course repudiate any treaties he had made with Houston and the Texians.
The rescue attempt was planned for a moonless night with a misty rain falling.
It failed miserably, Santa Anna had been warned to be ready to flee; a ringer who gave the guards and other retainers in the Phelps household drugged wine had done his duty well, and all were asleep as the rescuers began to approach the house.
All at once, seemingly from nowhere, there arose an ungodly sound–the baying of an immense pack of hounds that have sighted their prey.
One of the servants at Orozimbo, the first to be aroused from his drugged slumber by the howling of the hounds, saw them. He insisted there were only three of them: thin, half-starved looking things. Two of them were an unearthly white that glowed, even on a moonless night; the third was eerily pink, looking almost as if its hair had all been skinned off. All three had odd, glazed-looking eyes, he recalled. Once the alarm had been raised, they vanished.
No one knew where these hounds came from.
There were no dogs at Orozimbo, then or ever. Dr. Phelps owned none.
Santa Anna’s would-be rescuers fled in terror, knowing their presence had been detected. El presidente eventually was taken to Washington, signed various treaties, and returned to Mexico in disgrace–a disgrace that wasn’t of long duration; he eventually won back the presidency of Mexico.
Yet the hounds–now tacitly acknowledged as ghost dogs–still were seen hanging around the plantation on certain moonless nights.
A few years after the attempted rescue of Santa Anna, a man visited Orozimbo and was told the story of the strange hounds.
This man recognized them from the description given of them. They had belonged to a neighbor of his, upriver at a place known then as Washington-on-the-Brazos. They had, he said, followed their owner everywhere, until he left them at home to go fight for Texas independence. The hounds had seemed to know that he wouldn’t return; they had refused to eat and, eventually, vanished. The man found it odd that they had wound up so far from home.
He added, as an afterthought, that their master had been one of the three hundred nine men murdered at Goliad.
The hounds never left Orozimbo. The plantation is long since broken up; a 1932 hurricane destroyed the big house and outbuildings, and the great oak was burnt to a mere stump in a 1991 fire accidentally set by campers. But people have reported seeing them–two white hounds, another oddly hairless–slinking around the old grounds–as recently as 1974.
The story of the Hounds of Orozimbo is told by Ed Syers in his 1981 book Ghost Stories of Texas. A variation on the legend, told in Richard Alan Young and Judy Dockrey Young’s 1991 book Ghost Stories from the American Southwest, says there were no dogs involved at all: that the howling was the voices of the men who died at Goliad, determined that the man who ordered their deaths would not escape.
I like the story better with the dogs. Much more spooky than unembodied human voices, no matter how much they wail. And I also like to think of them as ghost dogs, not just in later years, but right from the start.
This is one of your best so far because of the richness of detail; it kept me reading closely as I went. I had heard of the Alamo, of course, and Santa Anna (no relation); but I’ve never heard of the Goliad, which sounds like it’s straight out of Greek mythology, or maybe even hockey mythology. Nor had I ever heard of Orozimbo, which sounds more to me like a coffee plantation in Venezuela. It’s always a learning experience to come here.
I’ll be anxious to see if you can top this one, Fair. π
Or is that disembodied? Well, I’m sure you get the idea. π
Technically it’s dis, but I got what you meant. π
To be honest, I prefer the story with the dogs too. There’s something so pitiable in that idea, that they grieved themselves to death when he left them–and so–satisfying isn’t exactly the right word, but it’s the only one I can think of in the middle of an almighty sneeze–in the thought that from the other side they were determined that Santa Anna would not get away scotfree.
This one I had a bit of trouble with because there was so much detail, so much backstory to get in to make it hang together. I’d type a while, then realize I’d left something out and have to go back–but I think it works pretty well in the end.
I read somewhere how Orozimbo got its name, but forgot to write it down. I’ll try to look it up sometime and append that. It certainly is unusual.
You did a fine job with this one Fair, such a vivid picture of the dogs on their mission of retribution for their master.
Thanks, Lily. This has long been one of my favorite Texas ghost stories, probably because I love animals and their loyalty. This one is loyalty above and beyond anything save love–
I grew up with this story but back home (West Columbia, Texas, the first capital of Texas) we tell the story a little differently.
Our story starts with the doctor, his family and his three hunting dogs. When Santa Anna was captured a place was needed to house him and keep him safe until he could be taken to Washington. The doctors plantation was not far and the doctor was a very trusted man. Because of this, the doctor was chosen by Sam Houston to house Santa Anna and keep him safe until the weather permitted travel. As Santa Anna was taken away it is said that he told his men that he would rather die than face any Texan’s judgement which would be beneath him. He knew that he would never see Mexico again but he would rather die on his terms than that of his enemies. Santa Anna and a follower came up with a plan for Santa Anna to hang himself from a large oak tree on the doctors plantation. Late one night Santa Anna was able to escape the room where he was being held, with the help of his accomplice he tried to hang himself from the tree. The hunting dogs where chained near the house and began to bark as Santa Anna and his accomplice passed. The doctor was roused by his dogs. He looked out the window in time to see Santa Anna headed for the tree and he followed. Santa Anna hung himself in the tree but before he could accomplish his task, the doctor cut the rope freeing him. The doctor became afraid however that he would be held responsible for the damage done to Santa Anna and for not upholding his sworn duty to protect Santa Anna from harm. That night the doctor fled Texas leaving his wife and family behind. The dogs were so devistated at the loss of the doctor that they refused to eat. The doctor’s wife tried everything in her power to persuade the dogs but to no avail. With the doctor gone, the wife and children could no longer stay at the plantation so the wife unchained the dogs and tried to make them flee. The family left the plantation behind but the dogs refused to leave the land where they had last seen their master. It is said that the dogs can be seen at night hunting the grounds of the plantation waiting for their missing master to come home.
This is the way I have always heard the story and it is definately one of my favorites. I have been to Goliad, San Jacinto and the Alamo. The Presidio LaBahilla is still standing at Goliad and it is incredibly beautiful. If you are at all interested in Texas history I would definately recommend making a trip down there. This is the first time that I have read the story this way but Fairweatherlewis has done a remarkable job and I am glad to see that the story of the Ghost Dogs is still being told even if it is a bit different from the way I know it.
Thank you, Priscilla! I love hearing all the variants of stories like this–and this is the first time I ever heard the story of Santa Anna’s attempted suicide and the doctor’s dogs. It’s a wonderful story, and many thanks to you for sharing it with me. Also, thank you for stopping by my little blog–hope you’ll visit often! π
Actually, I went online to do some research today. I was a bit wrong on the story that I told you. Santa Anna was chained to the giant water oak tree which still stands on the grounds of the plantation. He became so depressed that he attempted to poison himself but the doctor was able to reverse the effects. Also, the plantation itself is named after an indian chief. If you would like information on Santa Anna’s captivity I found a website that you might find of interest it is http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/santaanna4.htm. I hope you find this information useful.
Thank you for putting this story on your blog. Your site is the only one I found that would even give me access to the story. This is one of the stories that reminds me most of home and it is very important to me. Especially on days like this, when I miss being down there. Also, thank you for allowing me to contribute to your blog. It has certainly been fun and I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future!