Since the time I was a young child one of my favorite songs is one that many consider the best country/western song ever. In 1948, Stan Jones wrote “Ghost Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend,” recorded by over fifty artists, including Johnny Cash, Peggy Lee, and The Sons of the Pioneers. The song is about ghost cowboys damned forever to chase a herd of red-eyed cattle with flaming brands and hooves of steel. The song thrilled me with its mystery and drama. It also gave me nightmares.

Those who live near the city of Center, close to the Texas and Louisiana border, are also kept awake at night by a herd of ghostly cattle. On Bone Hill, late at night, when the winds howl through the trees and moonlight casts mysterious shadows, the sounds of crying cattle can be heard for miles as these lonely strays search for their former caretaker and friend.

Prior to the 1850s, cattle rustlers roamed the woods and prairies of east Texas doing their best to avoid the wrath of the Texas Rangers. Often, as they were running from the law, a cow or two would run free of the pack. These strays often wandered for weeks before finding others in similar circumstances and eventually a large group of strays settled on a hilltop near Center, Texas. A few adventurous townspeople occasionally tried to rustle up the strays, but the herd stayed strong for years.

One day, a cowboy rode into town. His name was Don Torbellino and his own herd had been stolen from his fields back in Mexico. He promised to care for the ever-growing herd of cattle on the hilltop and keep them out of crop fields with the condition that he be allowed to occasionally cull a cow or two for his own herd. Torbellino was a great animal lover and the orphaned cattle quickly grew attached to him. At the sound of his voice, they would run to his side.

In 1845 a particularly severe winter struck eastern Texas and many of the cattle died, their bones left to rest on the hilltop, which was eventually renamed Bone Hill. That same winter, Torbellino disappeared, leaving his horse, saddle, and rifle behind. Soon after, passing settlers reported hearing the sounds of crying cattle near the hill, sounds that can be heard to this day. Some say the cattle are searching for their friend and companion, Don Torbellino. Others say they are crying out in fear, each reliving a nightmarish ride with cattle rustlers…like the red-eyed, silver-hoofed herd in “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”       

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