Date: September 14, 2024
Location: Presidio la Bahia, Goliad, Texas
Presidio la Bahia was home to one of the bloodiest massacres in Texas history when the state was seeking freedom from Mexico in the 1830s. On Palm Sunday in 1836 over 300 soldiers were mercilessly slaughtered in the Goliad Massacre, including Colonel J.W. Fannin. While all of the deaths that day are tragic, the story of Colonel Fannin’s death seems to stand out. When it came time for his own death, he asked the Mexican soldiers to at least do him the mercy of shooting him through the heart instead of the face as they had his men, and he asked them for a Christian burial. Both requests were declined, and the Mexican soldiers stole his watch after shooting him in the face and threw his body on the pyre to be burned with the others. You can learn more about the site and the history of the Goliad Massacre by visiting the Texas Historical Commission's website.
In the present day, visitors to the Presidio often report seeing shadowy figures of the long-dead soldiers as well as hearing gunfire and screams echoing through the fort. Other reports include seeing a woman in white wandering around outside the chapel and seeing a short friar walking the courtyard. We approached this investigation hoping to experience even one of these frequently reported incidents, and while we didn’t necessarily have those encounters, we did not leave disappointed.
After checking in for our night’s stay in the on-site quarters (a cozy little two bedroom suite with a kitchenette and living room), we explored downtown Goliad while we still had daylight so we could see the historic courthouse and the massive “hanging tree” that still grows on the front lawn. After the short drive back to the Presidio we got our equipment set up and began exploring the fort. Early in the night, while out exploring the barracks, Don and John caught an EVP of a male voice saying a quick “no” when asking if anyone wanted to interact with the REM-POD.
Later, around 11:30, when Lilly went out to explore the barracks the group had an interesting experience where there seemed to be an extra shadow being cast on the fort wall, following behind Beverly and Lilly. Around the same time, the K-II meter Bev was using, which had detected no EMF spikes previously, registered low levels of energy in the area. While they weren’t able to capture this brief experience on camera, the personal experience and possibility of something following her was enough to send Lilly running back to the quarters!
Throughout the night we all had some small experiences, such as my flashlight not wanting to stay on in the barracks, but working just fine when walking around the fort and Beverly hearing someone moving around in the kitchen around 3:30 a.m. while she was watching the infrared monitors. At that time, Don was out in the courtyard and the rest of us were lying down for a break. We also captured several unexplainable sounds on our audio recorders, such as strange rumbling sounds when it was a very quiet night, heavy breathing, and several soft vocal responses that we weren’t able to discern.
At one point Don captured a male voice, perhaps the friar who has been seen near the chapel, responding “yeah” when asking about who else might be buried around the chapel. From our research, sightings of the friar often begin with a misty form seeming to rise from the ground before it takes shape and moves off. While we didn’t see a fully formed apparition, we did capture a bluish misty shape on our infrared camera in the courtyard.
In the images below, you can see that in the first image there is nothing on the left side of the monitor, but in the second image, captured just 5 seconds later there is a blue mist. Watching the footage in real time, the mist started at the ground and rose up before it disappeared from view. When this happened, Don rushed outside to where the camera was located in the courtyard outside of our quarters, but there was nothing visible to the naked eye.
Perhaps the most interesting EVP of the night happened around 1:30 a.m. when Don was in the courtyard at the memorial for Colonel Fannin with his audio recorder. Don mentioned that if there was a message the Colonel wanted to share with the world, we could try to make it known if the Colonel would talk to him. After that statement from Don, the recorder captured a soft male voice saying what sounds like, “I did nothing wrong.”
We were really hoping to see one of the often reported apparitions during our stay, and while that didn’t happen we all had a good time and had a few little instances that gave us goosebumps and made us feel like there is definitely a ghostly presence at the Presidio. Hauntings aside, we also greatly appreciated learning about the brutal history of the place and being able to spend time alone in such a unique, historic structure. Goliad may be a bit off the beaten path, but it was well worth the journey to southeastern Texas!
Hayley
