People come from all over the world to see the daily cattle drive at The Fort Worth Historic Stockyards. But the museums, rodeo and Texas Cowboy Hall of fame aren’t the only draw. Ghost hunters visit in hopes of catching a glimpse of the supernatural.
And while it’s common to hear the jangle of a cowboy’s spurs as he walks down Main Street, it’s a rare sight to one cowboy in particular … said to haunt The Front Porch store.
"He's a cowboy with a white long sleeve shirt with faded blue jeans, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, The Front Porch owner Roger Francis said.
Sightings of the weary Bronco-buster, who Francis describes as “just kind of a ghostly figure that disappears,” have happened several times according to him.
But the translucent apparition of a gentle cowhand in search of his steed pales in comparison to other reports of a more playful poltergeist at the Neon Moon Saloon in the same building.
"Sometimes doors slam or shut even…kind of scary," Neon Moon Saloon Marketing Manager, Nick Jones said. .
"There's noises and movement, you hear movement and you're like -- what is that? And you sense it and you feel it. You can walk around the building and feel a presence,” Real Estate Development Manager Karen Lucchesi described.
But a spine chilling feeling isn’t quite the same as seeing objects fly off the shelves.
"I've personally seen cups falling off the shelves for no reason.” Jones said.
Just a stone’s throw away from The Neon Moon Saloon and The Front Porch sits the Cowtown Coliseum, where a historically significant apparition -- Quanha Parker -- is said to appear.
"He kind of hangs around and makes sure things are good still … watches over the place,” Paula Schermerhorn of Fort Worth Ghost Tours said.
From the specter of the last Chief of the Comanche Nation, who once rode in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, to the physical manifestation of a black horse in the Cowtown Coliseum -- Fort Worth has plenty of spirit.
