This is a story I wrote for The Daily Texan in like 2003. I still try to swing by the ’Bone a couple of times a year.
If you happen to run your finger over a bullet hole in the wall of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern, don’t worry—it’s just a remnant of rowdier days.
Most of the old-timers who shot up the walls and ceiling of the small rock structure are dead and gone, and the ones still around say they are now too old to bother. Instead, they sit back and drink their Milwaukee’s Best Light, the cheapest beer in the house, and tell stories that mingle legend with history.
For instance, the place is haunted. Always has been.
“Oh, there are ghosts, I guaran-goddamn-tee you,” said Robert Kelly, a regular who said he sometimes sees shadowy figures on a steep nearby ridge called the Devil’s Backbone, for which the tavern is named.
Brushes with the paranormal are to be expected in a place like this, where the face of the Devil himself is manifest in a rock mortared into the stonework above the fireplace at the back wall.
In fact, many claim the Backbone—the ridge and the tavern—is the most-haunted spot in the state.Amanda Joan Couve, a bartender who studies sociology at Southwest Texas State University, has had her share of run-ins with the ghost. He tends to stick to the south end of the place, rearranging furniture, turning off lights and causing all-around mayhem, said Couve. On summer nights when the air is still as death, the door that leads to the adjoining dance hall inexplicably slams to and fro. Other nights, before they went ahead and tied it to the wall, the box fan fell to the floor whenever Couve walked nearby.
“It was weird,” she said. “It was like the ghost was mad at me or something.”
Couve thinks the tavern is haunted by a man shot dead as he walked into the bar years ago, when the place was rowdier. But the older folk, who remember those lawless days, tend to agree it’s a Native American killed in some ancient and forgotten Indian battle. Still others say their spooked friends are full of it.
“My daddy, my grandpa and my great-grandpa lived around here, and we never saw anything,” said Floyd Fischer, who spends most afternoons at the table by the window, swapping stories and sipping on a cold beer.
At 62, he’s frequented the tavern for decades, as his father did before him. He grew up along the Backbone, trapping ringtails that fetched $50 at a time when a full day’s labor could bring in as little as a dollar a day.
Today, he lives in a little ranching community on the other side of the ridge named for his ancestors, the Fischers, German immigrants who settled the area in the 1850s. He maintains a spread of land passed down through the generations, and his cousins still populate the area. In short, Fischer is one of the old-timers.
Fischer distinguishes between several different types of folks at the Devil’s Backbone Tavern. You’ve got your old-timers, the people who grew up around the ridge; college kids driving in from San Marcos; bikers; and the newcomers.
First, there are the guys with the Harleys, who in recent years have begun frequenting the place on nights and weekends: “We’re overrun by bikers, but they’re all good people now,” he said. “When I grew up in this country, they rode the old Indian bikes. Now those were bad people.”
Back in those days, if you saw a bike parked in front of the tavern, you didn’t stop. But now the bikers are mostly doctors and lawyers, a fine sort, he said.
Then there are the newcomers.
They’re the folks who made their money at big-city jobs and then retired to places like Wimberley – where you don’t ask people where they’re from, but what part of Houston they’re from – or they live out on Canyon Lake and commute to Austin and San Antonio.
Pretty much anybody who has moved into the area within the past two or three decades is considered a newcomer, it seems. The winding road to the tavern from Wimberley is dotted by billboards advertising Hill Country land for sale, and people continue to take up the offers in droves.
Development is driving up the cost of land in the area, and Fischer said ignorance on the part of the newcomers has transformed the landscape of the region and has even led to an invasion of coyotes.
“In the old days, my daddy and relatives wiped the coyotes out of this country, or you couldn’t raise sheep and goats and make a living,” he said. “They were gone the whole time I grew up in this country, until I retired. Things got populated, and nobody would cut the cedar or do anything, so, hell, they had all the cover they needed.”
While the coyotes move in, the old-timers’ children continue to move off. Fischer said most have to leave to find a living wage.
“There’s no jobs around here unless you work in the bar or at a convenience store,” he said. “I don’t know what else there is to do but drive a school bus or something.”
Fischer’s only daughter, now 38, found work in Austin and later in San Antonio.
“It was the same way when I grew up,” he said. “When I got out of the military, I said, ‘What am I gonna do? Go back to cutting cedar or shearing sheep and goats?’ No. I went to state work and retired from there, so I can get a pension and all that.”
He worked for the state in San Antonio for 30 years, coming back on the weekends to help the family. When he retired, he moved back for good.
Now he shares his table at the Devil’s Backbone Tavern with all classes of people, rubbing elbows with developers and retirees. They claim to be a little more laid back than the people who haunted the tavern in its early years.
The tavern sits near the tail of the Devil’s Backbone, a narrow, winding ridge in northeastern Comal County that tears through two river basins, the Blanco and the Guadalupe. The ridge, wide enough for a two-lane ranch road and a little shoulder, for years was the vein of commerce between San Marcos and the town of Blanco.
Built in 1932 on the site of an old blacksmith’s shop, the tavern had originally been a stop at the base of a treacherous stagecoach trail.
People from Hays County, which was dry, began flooding the tavern on the edge of Comal County—the only place for miles where a person could get a beer. Johnny Jenkins, 59, remembers growing up in nearby Wimberley. He and his friends would hang out in the parking lot trying to convince patrons to buy them a few beers, and they succeeded more often than not, he said.
These days, Jenkins is welcome inside the establishment. He meets up with his friend from San Marcos, Rusty O’Bryant, the retired owner of a plumbing supply store who donated the trough in the men’s restroom.
They usually play shuffleboard, another holdover from the rough-and-tumble early days, but lately their opponents have stopped coming by. So instead, Jenkins and O’Bryant sit at a back table drinking Milwaukee’s Best.
“I’m retired, and it gets boring at home,” Jenkins said.
Currently, Jenkins and O’Bryant are mad at one of the bartenders, so they time their visits to coincide with Couve’s work schedule.
But even in the midst of their bartender boycott, they know things will not escalate to the point where pistols are drawn.
“Once in a while we get pissed off at one another and raise hell, but that doesn’t last more than a day or two,” O’Bryant said. “We’re too old to fight.”
This story was originally published Aug. 12, 2003, in The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin. The featured image is courtesy of Flickr user yep.photo.
10,744 responses to “Legend of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern”
magnificent issues altogether, you simply gained a emblem new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your put up that you made a few days in the past? Any positive?
Oh my goodness! an incredible article dude. Many thanks Nevertheless My business is experiencing problem with ur rss . Don’t know why Struggle to sign up to it. Can there be anyone obtaining identical rss problem? Anybody who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Your blog is a true gem in the vast online world. Your consistent delivery of high-quality content is admirable. Thank you for always going above and beyond in providing valuable insights. Keep up the fantastic work!
I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation for this enlightening article. Your distinct perspective and meticulously researched content bring a fresh depth to the subject matter. It’s evident that you’ve invested a great deal of thought into this, and your ability to articulate complex ideas in such a clear and comprehensible manner is truly commendable. Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge and making the process of learning so enjoyable.
I can’t believe how amazing this article is! The author has done a fantastic job of presenting the information in an captivating and educational manner. I can’t thank her enough for sharing such priceless insights that have certainly enriched my awareness in this subject area. Hats off to him for creating such a masterpiece!
Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
This web page is really a stroll-via for the entire info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll undoubtedly uncover it.
This article is absolutely incredible! The author has done a fantastic job of presenting the information in an compelling and enlightening manner. I can’t thank him enough for offering such priceless insights that have certainly enriched my understanding in this subject area. Hats off to him for producing such a gem!
Greetings! I’ve been reading your website for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Houston Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent work!
What an insightful and thoroughly-researched article! The author’s thoroughness and capability to present complex ideas in a understandable manner is truly praiseworthy. I’m totally captivated by the depth of knowledge showcased in this piece. Thank you, author, for sharing your knowledge with us. This article has been a game-changer!
I must applaud your talent for simplifying complex topics. Your ability to convey intricate ideas in such a relatable manner is admirable. You’ve made learning enjoyable and accessible for many, and I deeply appreciate that.
Your writing style effortlessly draws me in, and I find it nearly impossible to stop reading until I’ve reached the end of your articles. Your ability to make complex subjects engaging is indeed a rare gift. Thank you for sharing your expertise!
Just a fast hello and also to thank you for discussing your ideas on this web page. I wound up in your weblog right after researching physical fitness connected issues on Yahoo… guess I lost track of what I had been performing! Anyway I’ll be back once once more inside the future to examine out your blogposts down the road. Thanks!
I do agree with all the ideas you have presented in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for beginners. Could you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say wonderful blog!
Good article. I’m facing many of these issues as well..
Excellent blog post. I certainly appreciate this site. Continue the good work!
This article resonated with me on a personal level. Your ability to emotionally connect with your audience is truly commendable. Your words are not only informative but also heartwarming. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Your blog has quickly become my trusted source of inspiration and knowledge. I genuinely appreciate the effort you put into crafting each article. Your dedication to delivering high-quality content is evident, and I look forward to every new post.
Your blog has rapidly become my trusted source of inspiration and knowledge. I genuinely appreciate the effort you invest in crafting each article. Your dedication to delivering high-quality content is apparent, and I eagerly await every new post.
An impressive share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing a little evaluation on this. And he the truth is purchased me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the deal with! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love studying more on this topic. If attainable, as you become experience, would you thoughts updating your blog with extra particulars? It’s extremely useful for me. Big thumb up for this blog put up!
Thanks for discussing your ideas on this blog. Likewise, a fantasy regarding the financial institutions intentions when talking about foreclosure is that the financial institution will not have my payments. There is a specific amount of time the bank will need payments here and there. If you are way too deep inside hole, they should commonly desire that you pay the actual payment in full. However, i am not saying that they will not take any sort of payments at all. Should you and the standard bank can seem to work something out, a foreclosure approach may cease. However, in case you continue to miss out on payments underneath the new system, the property foreclosures process can just pick up exactly where it was left off.
One thing I’ve noticed is always that there are plenty of myths regarding the banks intentions while talking about foreclosure. One fantasy in particular is always that the bank desires your house. The financial institution wants your hard earned money, not the house. They want the money they loaned you together with interest. Avoiding the bank is only going to draw a foreclosed realization. Thanks for your posting.
Your blog is a true gem in the vast expanse of the online world. Your consistent delivery of high-quality content is truly commendable. Thank you for consistently going above and beyond in providing valuable insights. Keep up the fantastic work!
One thing I would like to say is that before purchasing more personal computer memory, have a look at the machine in which it could be installed. In case the machine is usually running Windows XP, for instance, a memory ceiling is 3.25GB. The installation of more than this would merely constitute just a waste. Make certain that one’s mother board can handle the upgrade volume, as well. Thanks for your blog post.
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the highest quality blogs on the web. I most certainly will recommend this web site!
I have seen many useful factors on your web-site about personal computers. However, I have got the judgment that lap tops are still more or less not powerful adequately to be a option if you frequently do jobs that require a great deal of power, like video modifying. But for net surfing, statement processing, and majority of other prevalent computer functions they are okay, provided you don’t mind your little friend screen size. Thank you sharing your thinking.
?????? ???????? ???????????????? ?????? ? ???? ? ????????? ????????? ????? ??????.
????? ?????? ?????? ?????????????? ?????????? ? ?????????? ?? ? ???????? ?????.
Your positivity and enthusiasm are undeniably contagious! This article brightened my day and left me feeling inspired. Thank you for sharing your uplifting message and spreading positivity among your readers.
I just wanted to express how much I’ve learned from this article. Your meticulous research and clear explanations make the information accessible to all readers. It’s evident that you’re dedicated to providing valuable content.
Your blog is a true gem in the vast expanse of the online world. Your consistent delivery of high-quality content is truly commendable. Thank you for consistently going above and beyond in providing valuable insights. Keep up the fantastic work!
That is really attention-grabbing, You’re an overly skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and stay up for in search of more of your excellent post. Also, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!
I would like to add that when you do not already have got an insurance policy or maybe you do not form part of any group insurance, you could possibly well reap the benefits of seeking assistance from a health broker. Self-employed or those that have medical conditions typically seek the help of a health insurance broker. Thanks for your writing.
Hi, Neat post. There is a problem with your website in internet explorer, would test this? IE still is the market leader and a huge portion of people will miss your magnificent writing due to this problem.
This website is mostly a stroll-through for all of the information you wished about this and didn?t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you?ll definitely discover it.
An additional issue is that video gaming became one of the all-time biggest forms of fun for people of various age groups. Kids enjoy video games, plus adults do, too. The particular XBox 360 has become the favorite games systems for individuals that love to have a lot of activities available to them, and also who like to experiment with live with some others all over the world. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Its excellent as your other posts : D, regards for posting .
I’m not sure why but this web site is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
Found this on Bing and I’m glad I did. Well written article.
I do love the manner in which you have framed this particular challenge and it does indeed give me a lot of fodder for consideration. However, because of what precisely I have experienced, I just trust as the remarks pack on that men and women remain on point and in no way start upon a tirade involving the news du jour. Yet, thank you for this excellent piece and although I do not agree with this in totality, I regard the viewpoint.
Thank you, I’ve just been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered till now. But, what about the bottom line? Are you sure about the source?
Thanks for the suggestions you reveal through this site. In addition, quite a few young women which become pregnant will not even make an effort to get health care insurance because they are concerned they probably would not qualify. Although a lot of states at this point require that insurers produce coverage in spite of the pre-existing conditions. Charges on these types of guaranteed programs are usually larger, but when taking into consideration the high cost of medical care bills it may be some sort of a safer approach to take to protect your financial potential.
Heya! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the superb work!
It?s hard to search out knowledgeable people on this topic, however you sound like you realize what you?re talking about! Thanks
There may be noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in options also.
????? ????????? ?????????? ???????????, ??? ???????? ????????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ? ??????????? ?????? ??????? ????.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say wonderful blog!
????????? ??????????????? ??????????? ?????????????? ??????????? ?????????????? ????? ? ??????? ??????????? ??????.
???????, ??? ?????????? ? ??? ???????????! ??? ????????? ?????????? ? ????? GoToTop.ee