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Mar. 22nd, 2014 05:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariOver the years, although a bit more just recently, my mother has been telling me stories about her family's hometown of Losoya, TX, about five miles south of San Antonio. One that she told me was about The Devil's Bridge.
Losoya is bound on the north by the Medina River, and on the south by the Losoya Creek. There used to be a large bridge on the north, and you can still see the bridge approaches through the brambles. But the smaller bridge over Losoya Creek was the one to be afraid of. When visiting my great grandmother, my mother was told never to go near that bridge, because then devil lived there. There was also a monument there she was afraid of as a child, because it had a scary face on it.
We were in the area, when Mom told me all this, and I got to thinking - what was the monument? I asked her to describe it, and she couldn't really describe it well. Mainly because she wouldn't go near it. It was grey, square, and had a face on it. And when they turned South Flores Road into FM 1937 (taking my great-grandmother's house with it), the monument dissapeared.
After poking around the area, I did find a few monuments, including one from 1936 that was apparently moved when they expanded South Flores Road. The heavily vandalized monument was one of the standard hisotrical markers that were done for Texas' 100 Year Celebration - a wide obelisk looking slab, with the seal of the Republic of Texas on it. I'm fairly sure, that was the "face." The monument to the Battle of the Medina has been havily vandalized, but is sitting on the corner of Martinez-Losoya Road and US 281.
When I asked about the bridge some more, Mom mentioned that her brother Leo told her some natives were living under the bridge. She'd always been curious about them, as she went to school with a few of them during the few years she was in Losoya.
Liz's step dad is from the area, and has a TON of historical knowledge of the area, especially when it comes to the Native Americans living there. I'd mentioned my mom was from the area, and we've talked a bit about the history of the area (They told me their were spirits on the property who had fought against each other, but had made peace in the afterlife...I told them their property was pretty much on a straight line between the Battle of the Medina battlefield and Del Carmen church, where many of them were buried).
Mom had suggested I ask Liz's Stepdad about the Indians living under the bridge, and I did. He not only knew who they were (a small tribe of Tigua who moved on shortly after the road was widened in the late 50s and early 60s), but independently confirmed that that was the Devil's Bridge! He didn't know about the monument, but says the Devil still shows up every so often at the bridge.
It's really a wierd feeling knowing that stories and legends and history can come together from so many different directions, and not only match up, but are confirmed. I've driven over that bridge many many times, as we visit the Del Carmen cemetary often (apparently, Mom wants me buried there, but that's a whole 'nuther post). I should go back and check it out.
Mom did make it past the Devil's Bridge when she got a little older. My grandfather, and a...let's say unique uncle had managed to steal a cow, and drove over the bridge to pull off the side of the road and process it right then and there. She cried a lot, so they sent her back to the truck.
1950s Mexican Texas was a very interesting place.
Losoya is bound on the north by the Medina River, and on the south by the Losoya Creek. There used to be a large bridge on the north, and you can still see the bridge approaches through the brambles. But the smaller bridge over Losoya Creek was the one to be afraid of. When visiting my great grandmother, my mother was told never to go near that bridge, because then devil lived there. There was also a monument there she was afraid of as a child, because it had a scary face on it.
We were in the area, when Mom told me all this, and I got to thinking - what was the monument? I asked her to describe it, and she couldn't really describe it well. Mainly because she wouldn't go near it. It was grey, square, and had a face on it. And when they turned South Flores Road into FM 1937 (taking my great-grandmother's house with it), the monument dissapeared.
After poking around the area, I did find a few monuments, including one from 1936 that was apparently moved when they expanded South Flores Road. The heavily vandalized monument was one of the standard hisotrical markers that were done for Texas' 100 Year Celebration - a wide obelisk looking slab, with the seal of the Republic of Texas on it. I'm fairly sure, that was the "face." The monument to the Battle of the Medina has been havily vandalized, but is sitting on the corner of Martinez-Losoya Road and US 281.
When I asked about the bridge some more, Mom mentioned that her brother Leo told her some natives were living under the bridge. She'd always been curious about them, as she went to school with a few of them during the few years she was in Losoya.
Liz's step dad is from the area, and has a TON of historical knowledge of the area, especially when it comes to the Native Americans living there. I'd mentioned my mom was from the area, and we've talked a bit about the history of the area (They told me their were spirits on the property who had fought against each other, but had made peace in the afterlife...I told them their property was pretty much on a straight line between the Battle of the Medina battlefield and Del Carmen church, where many of them were buried).
Mom had suggested I ask Liz's Stepdad about the Indians living under the bridge, and I did. He not only knew who they were (a small tribe of Tigua who moved on shortly after the road was widened in the late 50s and early 60s), but independently confirmed that that was the Devil's Bridge! He didn't know about the monument, but says the Devil still shows up every so often at the bridge.
It's really a wierd feeling knowing that stories and legends and history can come together from so many different directions, and not only match up, but are confirmed. I've driven over that bridge many many times, as we visit the Del Carmen cemetary often (apparently, Mom wants me buried there, but that's a whole 'nuther post). I should go back and check it out.
Mom did make it past the Devil's Bridge when she got a little older. My grandfather, and a...let's say unique uncle had managed to steal a cow, and drove over the bridge to pull off the side of the road and process it right then and there. She cried a lot, so they sent her back to the truck.
1950s Mexican Texas was a very interesting place.
