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Tales of Old-Time Texas
It is for good reason that J. Frank Dobie is known as the Southwest's master storyteller. With his eye for color and detail, his ear for the rhythm of language and song, and his heart open to the simple truth of folk wisdom and ways, he movingly and unpretentiously spins the tales of our collective heritages. This he does in Tales of Old-Time Texas, a heartwarming array of twenty-eight stories filled with vivid characters, exciting historical episodes, and traditional themes. As Dobie himself says: "Any tale belongs to whoever can best tell it." Here, then, is a collection of the best Texas tales—by the Texan who can best tell them. Dobie's recollections include such classics in Lone Star State lore as the tale of Jim Bowie's knife, the legend of the Texas bluebonnet, the story of the Wild Woman of the Navidad, and the account of the headless horseman of the mustangs. Other stories in this outstanding collection regale us with odd and interesting characters and events: the stranger of Sabine Pass, the Apache secret of the Guadalupes, the planter who gambled away his bride, and the Robinhooding of Sam Bass. These stories, and many more, make Tales of Old-Time Texas a beloved classic certain to endure for generations.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
About the author
J. Frank Dobie
220 books53 followersCalled the "Storyteller of the Southwest," James Frank Dobie was born in 1888 on his family's cattle ranch in Live Oak County. During his long life, J. Frank Dobie would live astride two worlds: a rugged life on a Texas cattle ranch and the state's modern centers of scholarly learning.
Dobie came to Austin in 1914 to teach at the University of Texas. In time he pioneered an influential course on the literature of the Southwest. By the late 1920s, Dobie discovered his mission: to record and publicize the disappearing folklore of Texas and the greater Southwest. Dobie became secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, a position he held for 21 years.
J. Frank Dobie Dobie was a new kind of folklorist—a progressive activist. He called for UT to admit African-American students in the 1940s—long before the administration favored integration. Dobie's vocal politics led to his leaving the University in 1947, but he continued writing until his death in 1964, publishing over twenty books and countless articles.
The inscription on Dobie's headstone in the Texas State Cemetery reads: "I have come to value liberated minds as the supreme good of life on earth." J. Frank Dobie was not content to simply preserve Southwestern heritage within libraries and museums. He gave life to that heritage and informed generations of Texans about their rich history.
Dobie came to Austin in 1914 to teach at the University of Texas. In time he pioneered an influential course on the literature of the Southwest. By the late 1920s, Dobie discovered his mission: to record and publicize the disappearing folklore of Texas and the greater Southwest. Dobie became secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, a position he held for 21 years.
J. Frank Dobie Dobie was a new kind of folklorist—a progressive activist. He called for UT to admit African-American students in the 1940s—long before the administration favored integration. Dobie's vocal politics led to his leaving the University in 1947, but he continued writing until his death in 1964, publishing over twenty books and countless articles.
The inscription on Dobie's headstone in the Texas State Cemetery reads: "I have come to value liberated minds as the supreme good of life on earth." J. Frank Dobie was not content to simply preserve Southwestern heritage within libraries and museums. He gave life to that heritage and informed generations of Texans about their rich history.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 19, 2017
Nobody writes Texas, the rural southwestern part, better than J. Frank Dobie!! A book of 28 tales that will enrich your reading pleasure and make you proud to be a Texan!!
March 13, 2026
I first encountered these priceless stories told by a real "O-G" Texas Old-Timer, known affectionately as the "Storyteller of the Southwest," in one of the Landmark series children's books. This adult collection was written by James Frank Dobie, a native-born "Texican" who was born in 1888 on his family's cattle ranch in Live Oak County, Texas. As the author both saw and experienced some of the stories in his book, the "tall tales" he tells couldn't be more genuine, poetic license aside!
That said: Dobie apparently wasn't content to remain a "cow-poke" on his family's ranch all his life. He may have spent his early years becoming toughened prepared for a rugged life on a Texas cattle ranch, but ultimately, he chose a different path. Dobie became a college professor at UT Austin, in 1914, while he was still in his twenties. Over the course of his long life and storied career, he became one of the world's foremost experts on the history of the Old West, especially the American Southwest, speaking with the voice of one who knew - both of the rigors of that life, but also as one who had personally interviewed many of the men he studied, their family members and direct descendants.
And, indeed, that eventually became Frank Dobie's life's mission: to document and preserve the quickly-vanishing folklore, the truth and the "tall tales" of early Texas and the American Southwest. His book series on the Old West is his life's work. Dobie later became the secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, working tirelessly to record the experiences and life stories of the men and women who braved and blazed the dusty trails others would follow for generations.
As I was quite moved by the short Landmark volume, I decided to request some of his other volumes from the local library, and I was able to find a few. Many of the tales in this collection, first published in 1928, were told by old-time Texans who were themselves acquainted with the figures featured in the book, which is full of colorful anecdotes. His books were from the 1920s to the 1950s, so the author had the great privilege of hearing from and documenting firsthand experiences from those who in some cases were personally involved in the events he describes.
Some of the more well-known stories include that of the curious Wild Woman of the Navidad, which may have turned to be a bit of a misnomer. One wonders whether it was these accounts which led to the many claims of "Bigfoot" sightings. In about 1837, two mysterious sets of human footprints were being seen in settlements of the lower Navidad, which appeared to be those of a boy and a "woman of delicate feet." The figure would enter houses to pilfer small items, food and sometimes animals (including claims that the being had carted off a fattened hog and replaced it with a smaller one!).
Several capture attempts were made, and it was during one of these that one of the participants who attempted to lasso it claimed that he had seen a slender, unclothed figure which seemed to be covered in dark fur with hair nearly down to its feet. Although the figure escaped, apparently she had dropped a club about five feet long. Some time later, a group of men tracked down and treed a "runaway male slave" in the area, who was subsequently apprehended and later sold... but many still claim that this was not the figure they had seen on the first hunt. The mystery of the figure with the club was never solved.
Another chapter recounted the story of Josiah P. Wilbarger, who survived a scalping, but suffered a wound that never fully healed. His party was attacked by Comanche warriors in August, 1833 whereby two other companions were killed. Apparently, during the attack, a musket ball had passed through Wilbarger's neck, rendering him (temporarily) paralyzed, so the warriors believed that he was dead. They subsequently scalped him and his two deceased companions. According to the story in the book, two other companions escaped and made it to the Hornsby blockhouse fort, a nearby outpost, where they told the owner and his wife what had occurred.
Strangely, that night, the man's wife had a vivid dream where she saw Wilbarger still alive, gravely wounded, sitting under a tree, with a sock or article of clothing covering the wound on his head. She awoke and told her husband what she had seen. He told her to go back to sleep, but she had the dream again, and, then a third time. Despite all efforts to convince her otherwise, she awoke the companions and told them the location of the site, where they discovered the truth of her dream: the man had been scalped, but was still alive. He was, in time, nursed back to health at the fort. He retired from scouting and operated a cotton gin for the rest of his life.
Even stranger: Wilbarger claimed that he himself had experienced a strange vision - a visitation from his sister, Margaret Clifton, who lived back east in Missouri (some accounts say Indiana), telling him to hold on, that men were coming in the morning to rescue him. What he didn't know at the time was that his sister, whose apparition had appeared to him, had the day before passed away, and that she had been buried that very day. Reportedly, the skin at the top of his head never grew back completely, leaving bare skull, so Wilbarger wore a skull cap at almost all times to cover the wound.
The wound did, apparently cause his death, eleven years later: he reportedly accidentally hit the top of his head on a low door frame, which fractured his skull, resulting in his death at age 45. Josiah and his wife were originally buried in Fairview Cemetery, in Bastrop, Texas, but on April 21, 1932, they were reinterred in the State Cemetery. If you want to visit him, he's now buried in the Texas State Cemetery, in the state's capitol of Austin. He's located in Section C1 Row T #7. His FindAGrave ID# is 8079534.
This was definitely a worthwhile read for fans of the American West, as it acquaints readers with a now little-known aspect of our nation's diverse and colorful history. It certainly doesn't hurt that Dobie is a gifted storyteller, incorporating history and folklore into a volume which gives a detailed description of a way of life which has now long passed into history.
One of my greatest regrets -and that of my father - was that we didn't record his grandmother's - and my great-grandmother's - stories, as she, too, was a gifted storyteller. Even if they were primarily limited to family stories of late nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Arkansas, the story of her life was more precious than gold. I'm trying to not make the same mistake with my parents, and am attempting to document their life experiences of the '50s and '60s, in particular, which will one day be as far distant as the Old West.
Because of men like Dobie, however, the memories and experiences of those brave men and women who played a pivotal role in the development of the West are preserved to awe and inspire new generations of readers, which is the entire point of this priceless book.
That said: Dobie apparently wasn't content to remain a "cow-poke" on his family's ranch all his life. He may have spent his early years becoming toughened prepared for a rugged life on a Texas cattle ranch, but ultimately, he chose a different path. Dobie became a college professor at UT Austin, in 1914, while he was still in his twenties. Over the course of his long life and storied career, he became one of the world's foremost experts on the history of the Old West, especially the American Southwest, speaking with the voice of one who knew - both of the rigors of that life, but also as one who had personally interviewed many of the men he studied, their family members and direct descendants.
And, indeed, that eventually became Frank Dobie's life's mission: to document and preserve the quickly-vanishing folklore, the truth and the "tall tales" of early Texas and the American Southwest. His book series on the Old West is his life's work. Dobie later became the secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, working tirelessly to record the experiences and life stories of the men and women who braved and blazed the dusty trails others would follow for generations.
As I was quite moved by the short Landmark volume, I decided to request some of his other volumes from the local library, and I was able to find a few. Many of the tales in this collection, first published in 1928, were told by old-time Texans who were themselves acquainted with the figures featured in the book, which is full of colorful anecdotes. His books were from the 1920s to the 1950s, so the author had the great privilege of hearing from and documenting firsthand experiences from those who in some cases were personally involved in the events he describes.
Some of the more well-known stories include that of the curious Wild Woman of the Navidad, which may have turned to be a bit of a misnomer. One wonders whether it was these accounts which led to the many claims of "Bigfoot" sightings. In about 1837, two mysterious sets of human footprints were being seen in settlements of the lower Navidad, which appeared to be those of a boy and a "woman of delicate feet." The figure would enter houses to pilfer small items, food and sometimes animals (including claims that the being had carted off a fattened hog and replaced it with a smaller one!).
Several capture attempts were made, and it was during one of these that one of the participants who attempted to lasso it claimed that he had seen a slender, unclothed figure which seemed to be covered in dark fur with hair nearly down to its feet. Although the figure escaped, apparently she had dropped a club about five feet long. Some time later, a group of men tracked down and treed a "runaway male slave" in the area, who was subsequently apprehended and later sold... but many still claim that this was not the figure they had seen on the first hunt. The mystery of the figure with the club was never solved.
Another chapter recounted the story of Josiah P. Wilbarger, who survived a scalping, but suffered a wound that never fully healed. His party was attacked by Comanche warriors in August, 1833 whereby two other companions were killed. Apparently, during the attack, a musket ball had passed through Wilbarger's neck, rendering him (temporarily) paralyzed, so the warriors believed that he was dead. They subsequently scalped him and his two deceased companions. According to the story in the book, two other companions escaped and made it to the Hornsby blockhouse fort, a nearby outpost, where they told the owner and his wife what had occurred.
Strangely, that night, the man's wife had a vivid dream where she saw Wilbarger still alive, gravely wounded, sitting under a tree, with a sock or article of clothing covering the wound on his head. She awoke and told her husband what she had seen. He told her to go back to sleep, but she had the dream again, and, then a third time. Despite all efforts to convince her otherwise, she awoke the companions and told them the location of the site, where they discovered the truth of her dream: the man had been scalped, but was still alive. He was, in time, nursed back to health at the fort. He retired from scouting and operated a cotton gin for the rest of his life.
Even stranger: Wilbarger claimed that he himself had experienced a strange vision - a visitation from his sister, Margaret Clifton, who lived back east in Missouri (some accounts say Indiana), telling him to hold on, that men were coming in the morning to rescue him. What he didn't know at the time was that his sister, whose apparition had appeared to him, had the day before passed away, and that she had been buried that very day. Reportedly, the skin at the top of his head never grew back completely, leaving bare skull, so Wilbarger wore a skull cap at almost all times to cover the wound.
The wound did, apparently cause his death, eleven years later: he reportedly accidentally hit the top of his head on a low door frame, which fractured his skull, resulting in his death at age 45. Josiah and his wife were originally buried in Fairview Cemetery, in Bastrop, Texas, but on April 21, 1932, they were reinterred in the State Cemetery. If you want to visit him, he's now buried in the Texas State Cemetery, in the state's capitol of Austin. He's located in Section C1 Row T #7. His FindAGrave ID# is 8079534.
This was definitely a worthwhile read for fans of the American West, as it acquaints readers with a now little-known aspect of our nation's diverse and colorful history. It certainly doesn't hurt that Dobie is a gifted storyteller, incorporating history and folklore into a volume which gives a detailed description of a way of life which has now long passed into history.
One of my greatest regrets -and that of my father - was that we didn't record his grandmother's - and my great-grandmother's - stories, as she, too, was a gifted storyteller. Even if they were primarily limited to family stories of late nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Arkansas, the story of her life was more precious than gold. I'm trying to not make the same mistake with my parents, and am attempting to document their life experiences of the '50s and '60s, in particular, which will one day be as far distant as the Old West.
Because of men like Dobie, however, the memories and experiences of those brave men and women who played a pivotal role in the development of the West are preserved to awe and inspire new generations of readers, which is the entire point of this priceless book.
August 29, 2012
This isn't my typical genre of fiction, but I definitely found it entertaining. Livinga nd working up in New Mexico for the summer, I felt like some of these stories could come to life. I really enjoyed reading some of the taller tales, or more gruesome stories to the boys at the camp. The best part about it was being able to recognize some of the locations in Round Rock and Austin, where I grew up. I like the copy I was borrowing so much, that I had to buy my dad a copy to enjoy. When he opened it, he said it took him back, cause he used to own one growing up.
January 27, 2014
Well, J. Frank Dobie certainly is a good ole boy. His tales are indeed a reflection of his era 20s, 30s, which is still very much in existence in small town Texas now. However, I wasn't' expecting to enjoy the stories as much as I did. I learned not only about Texas legends like James Bowie and his infamous Bowie knife but how colonistic attitudes are handed down through the generations. I also appreciated how Dobie was trying take control of the Texas narrative that at the time was being told by outsiders from the publishing industry in the East. He was a man after my own heart.
September 22, 2025
I borrowed this book from the lending library on vacation. Thought it would be interesting, but it turned into a real dud. There is history in there but plenty more of folklore and tales from the great state of Texas. I cannot believe the University of Texas decided to print this multiple times throughout the years but to each his own. Although not a Texan I thought I could learn something of value but that was not the case. It did the poem entitled "Paradise in Texas" was humorous. Also, what General Sherman remarked when asked about Texas: "If he owned Texas and Hell, he'd rent out Texas and live in the other place..."). The only chapter I somewhat enjoyed was about the Bluebonnet flower.
April 13, 2018
This is the only thing I’ve read by J Frank Dobie and it was SO interesting! He lived from 1888 to, I think 1964, and he was an unpopular local hero in Texas because of his progressive views of the world. There was a wonderful long chapter about the Bowie brothers who are in my ancestry. Unfortunately it wasn’t too flattering, but hey! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and our family bears testimony to that! The book was published first in 1925 and is a journalistic view of life and people from that point of view. It was a pleasurable education for me.
March 18, 2022
I enjoyed the stories, but was disappointed with how they were presented.
July 26, 2015
As a multi-generation Texan, of course I enjoyed this book. Many of these stories I had heard before be it from scouts or just random reading here and there. With two young daughters, I'll consider this more of a reference book that you can open, pick a story, read and put back down. If you're planning a trip to Texas, this would be a fun read before because through it you will start to day-dream about the history and the mystery that you're stepping into. And just think, it might be you that experiences that blue norther or stumbles across the now exposed treasure...just think :-)
October 20, 2014
As a collector of first editions, this book by J. Frank Dobie, first released in 1928,is an excellent compilation of stories about Texas.
His translation of telling into printing does, as it always will, changes the way history books might portray the event. Most of the time he does it well and improves how the history books tell the story.
Dobie's improvement over the history books is similar to the way Shakespeare turned an Italian melodrama into Romeo and Juliet.
His translation of telling into printing does, as it always will, changes the way history books might portray the event. Most of the time he does it well and improves how the history books tell the story.
Dobie's improvement over the history books is similar to the way Shakespeare turned an Italian melodrama into Romeo and Juliet.
July 5, 2013
J. Frank Dobie retells tales from early Texas with his sense of humor. While some of the material sounds historical, these stories are tales about the region and entertaining. Suitable for young readers.
May 31, 2011
All time favorite book
February 4, 2012
A collection of great stories by a master story collector and teller. There's nothing fancy here, but plenty of snakes, bears, indians, outlaws, droughts, and storms.
April 14, 2009
I'm going to raise my own snake army!
November 26, 2017
A definite read again book .
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews