Texian Stomping Grounds Page: 113
162 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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THE VOODOO MAN OF
THE BRAZOS
By Archie Steagall
Moe Green, a colored man, sold his soul to the Devil in
Wharton more than fifty years ago. He had been poor, but now
he grew rich. He rode a good mare, which stood sixteen hands
high, had a long bushy tail, a long flowing mane, and a frosty
white face.
Moe, bedeviled as he was, could bend in his saddle-which
was the best hand-tooled saddle in Texas--and see spirits. They
wore costumes and lacked heads. Anyone riding a white or dun
pony could see these spirits. "Bellarm" in the Bible saw them
astraddle an ass.
In the old days the rich white men didn't trust banks. They
put their money in pots and buried them in the earth, killing
the servant who dug the treasure holes. The slain man would not
go back and steal the money or tell anybody of its hiding place-
and his soul would be a guard over it. It was the ghosts of these
slain men that Moe could see. They were furious ghosts, but
Moe drove them off and got their treasures, which he spent on
mulatto women.
Moe sold out with black cat voodoo. He got him a live cat
and boiled it till its flesh grew tender enough to fall away from
the bones. Then Moe stood before a looking glass and passed
the bones through his teeth. He started with the rib bones,
passing them from right to left, watching his face in the glass
all the time. When he struck the good luck bone he went as
blind as a stick. The spell lasted two or three minutes, and when
it was over Moe could steal without being seen. Sometimes,
though, the victim could hear him singing a cowboy song as
he was stealing.
Moe hated common horses. Sometimes he would ride past
a hitching post on his big dun mare. "Hidesl Jess hides! All you
hides git out o' mah way! I rides a good hoss!" There were a good
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Texian Stomping Grounds (Book)
Collection containing sketches of post-war life in East Texas, including descriptions of early recreations and games, stories about Southern food and cooking, religious anecdotes, Negro folk tales, a first-hand account of a Negro folk play about the life of Christ, and other miscellaneous folklore. The index begins on page 159.
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Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964. Texian Stomping Grounds, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67663/m1/121/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.