Texas folklore selections

Published by

Victoria

on

June 2, 2024

I am constantly on the hunt for new sources of Texas folklore. Where else can you find men that herd bees, buried pirate treasure, ghostly longhorns, and railroad building pixies all in one place?

These books serve as points of reference and endless inspiration. I’ve been known to scour eBay for out of print books when I can’t sleep, but I’ve made some of my best finds at used book shops and flea market stalls.

I have read most of the books featured but not all. Not every book on the list is suitable to share with children. Check back for new discoveries!

Whether you’re just getting into folklore, or you’re an armchair expert, you’re bound to find something of interest below.

Books

Texas Tales

Texas Folk Medicine by John Q. Anderson
Mirror, Mice & Mustaches: A Sampling of Superstitions and Popular Beliefs in Texas by George David Hendricks (ever been told your hair is going to fall out for singing at the table? I have!)
Forgotten Tales of Texas by Clay Coppedge (Did you know that Port Arthur was founded on guidance from pixies?)
Spooky Texas: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings and Other Local Lore retold by S.E. Schlosser
Legendary Ladies of Texas by Francis E. Abernathy

J. Frank Dobie, Texas Folklorist

Rattlesnakes
Mustangs
The Ben Lilly Legend
Tales of Old Time Texas
Legends of Texas

Wild Texas

Adventures with a Texas Naturalist by Roy Bedichek
Legends & Lore of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne (one of my favorites to consult)
Science on the Texas Frontier by Gideon Lincecum
Wilderness Walkers: Naturalist in Early Texas by Betsy Warren
Goodbye to a River by John Graves
From a Limestone Ledge by John Graves

East Texas

The Loblolly Books edited by Thad Sitton (an award winning treasure trove of lore collected by east Texas high school students and one of my absolute favorites!)
Land of Bears & Honey by Joe C. Truett and Daniel W. Lay
Legends of the Pineys by Joe F. Combs
Legends of East Texas by Louise Hathcock
Antebellum Jefferson Texas by Jacques D. Bagur
There Ain’t No Such Animal by Bill Brett
Sketches of Early Texas and Louisiana by Frederic Gaillardet
Tales of the Sabine Borderlands edited by Betje Black Klier

Big Thicket

Tales from the Big Thicket edited by Frances E. Abernathy
Archer Fillingim: A Country Editor’s View of Life edited by Roy Hamric

The Gulf

Lost Texas Treasure: Sunken Ships, Rawhide Maps & Buried Plunder by W. Craig Gaines
Jean Laffite, Prince of Pirates by Jack C. Ramsay
I heard the Old Fisherman Say by Patrick B. Mullen

Texas Waterways

Every Sun that Rises: Wyatt Moore of Caddo Lake edited by Thad Sitton and James H. Conrad
Running the River by Wes Ferguson (there are graphic elements in this book not suitable for children)
Caddo Was…A Short History of Caddo Lake by Fred Dahmer
Texas Riverman: the Life and Times of Captain Andrew Smyth by William Seale

History

Maps of Texas and the Southwest 1513-1900 by Robert Sidney Martin, James C. Martin and Robert S. Martin
Oil in Texas: the Gusher Age, 1895-1945 by Diana Davids Hinton & Roger M. Olien
Encyclopedia of Early Texas History by Stephen P. Biles
Digging up Texas: A Guide to the Archaeology of the State by Robert Marcom
Early Texas Oil by Walter Rundell, Jr.

Native Texas

Myths & Folktales of the Alabama-Coushatta Indians of Texas by Howard N. Martin
Karankawa Kadla- Mixed Tongue by Alexander Joseph Perez (an extremely well researched effort to rebuild the Karankawa language)
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
Stone Artifacts of Texas Indians by Ellen Sue Turner