The Story of Bragg Road…

In high school kids spoke of a place called Bragg Road. They made it sound as if it were haunted and scary. I honestly figured it was just a myth, a place where the kids could hang out and drink or party or make out. Just another back road. That was not a place I’d want to go and never had to worry about it because I never knew anyone that wanted me to go.

It was almost 30 years later when I heard that road mentioned again!

At the ripe ole age of 46 I actually went for the 1st time ever! It was in 2015, almost 2 years ago now. It was after a late night of card playing at the hunting lease in Saratoga, Texas.

True story, my boyfriend and I were driving slow watching for deer in the moon light. Often we would see quite a few in the fields and by the road on our way back from the deer camp. We would go up oil rig roads and wind our way around back to the road. He lived there most of his life so he knew every road.  We weren’t seeing too much wildlife, it was late and about the time we were giving up he looked at me with a crooked smile, cocked his head a little and asked me if I had ever been down Bragg road? I said no but I vaguely remember the name. I told him I had actually thought it was a road down hwy 1409 down south of Dayton which was about 45 minutes southwest from where we were.

He said no, it’s not far from where we are now. He asked me if I wanted to go and I said YES!!! At the entrance of the road, not far in, were two trucks with about 5 young guys. One truck had got stuck and the other was pulling them out so we waited for them to exit. The road really as narrow as the picture shows it to be, as in one lane of traffic. It was wet from the recent rains and very muddy. After a few minutes they were gone and we moved forward sloshing through the mud.

Less than 5 minutes in I saw a reddish ball of glowing light on the right side of the road. It was about 15 feet up in the air on the edge of the tree line and then it went up and over into the trees and disappeared. I instantly asked him “Did you see that?!?” he stopped the truck. Now keep in mind that at this point I don’t know the legend. I don’t know the stories. I had never been here. He said “you saw something?” and stopped the truck. I said “yea, there was a round reddish ball of light up there and it looked as if it was maybe 30 feet in front of us by the trees and then disappeared into the trees.” He then asked me what I knew about this place and I told him nothing other than it was supposed to be scary. It seemed to shake him up a bit. He then said “you mean to tell me we ain’t been a half mile up this road and you already seen something?” I just shrugged and wasn’t sure if I wanted to say much more. And let me make myself very clear. We were both sober as a judge. We were not intoxicated at all and in that moment we weren’t sure what we wanted to do. Go forward or start backing up. Both sides of the road was nothing but water and mud. We decided to keep rolling forward. The turnaround point was at a pipeline crossing and it was a long ways up from where we were. I think he may not have believed me but I know what I saw I really did see. But it was just a ball of light. That’s not that scary, right?

He began to tell me the story of the railroad station man that was assigned the job of watching over the station after the railroad had shut down. He said that somebody had been vandalizing the old motel that used to be there. He also said that it was a bunch of young adults, kids to anyone over 30, that was harassing him and ended up killing him and chopping off his head! That was why he was still haunting these woods. His soul couldn’t let go because he wanted to punish the bad kids for what they did and it was his duty to watch over the railroad station.

So here I am on a dark road, a dark muddy road and, after hearing that story, I was wondering what the heck I was doing here!

He laughed at the fear he saw in my eyes and turned on the radio, it had started to rain again, we talked, sang songs with the radio and I laughed at the stories he told about funny things that happened with him and his friends. It was an eery, wet night but we didn’t see anything else for me to worry about so I was able to relax and enjoy the ride for awhile.

That road may only be 8 miles long but you add the darkness of night, a wet muddy road, water on both sides and lightning lighting up the end like a light at the end of a very long tunnel and I have to say it was a very fun adventure for the first 30 to 40 minutes. But then it seemed like we would never get to that darned ole pipeline. The rain was coming down harder, the mud puddles were getting deeper and bigger. I was freaking out a little worried about getting stuck way out there in the middle of no where. He just reassured me that the road base was a good solid gravel road and as long as he stayed in the middle of the tracks we’d be fine but I was beginning to wonder what the heck I had got myself into! Then as if it was a magical moment we saw it! We had finally made it to the pipeline and could turn around! Hallaluah! We were saved! Even the turning around there scared the crap out of me because it wasn’t a road it was all grown up and grassy but we got ‘er done and was heading back to the main highway!

It was slow going in the rain but my spirits were lifted by the thought of getting out of there and we sang a song to the radio and chatted a little while before I settled into my seat and started to fall asleep. It was about 4:30 at this point and I was exhausted. I must’ve dozed off for a while because I was in a sound sleep when I heard him raise his voice and say “WHAT?!” then he said “no way”… I opened my eyes and he had stopped the truck and was just sitting there looking uncertain on what to do or think. I said what, what is it? He said “I don’t know but I saw something.” He put the truck in reverse and slowly backed up. He told me he saw something about 10-15 feet back at the edge of the trees. As the truck eased backwards we were passing a big tree on the side of the road and I SAW IT! I grabbed his arm when I did and that was all the confirmation he needed to know that I saw what he was seeing! We both screamed! He punched it, as in floored it, as in put the peddle to the metal!!! Mud was flying, trees were blurring by the truck we were now going so fast. I was scared. I was seriously scared. I prayed hard to please Lord do not let us go sideways and end up stuck in this muddy hell! Please Lord let us make it to the highway!

What we Both Saw on Bragg’s Road…

We saw the outline of a man standing on the other side of that tree. It was clear as could be. An old, humped back man with two arms and two legs and he was looking right at US! Oh my gosh it just put chills all over my body just telling you the story because it was for REAL! There was no light. Just a gray shadow of a figure standing within 10 feet of our truck on the side of that road. Watching us. I will never forget it and I will probably never go back either.

I’ve told my story to my kids and they acted excited and wanted to go down Bragg road. It is a fun, exciting, scary story to tell but honestly, the thought of going back is not a fun, exciting feeling. I don’t think I have ever been more afraid in my entire life.

Well, true story, this did happen. My suggestion to you is if you do decide to go down Bragg road don’t go on a rainy night, don’t go at 3:00 am in the morning and, well, just don’t go at all!

I don’t know who knows the truth behind the legend of Bragg Road but I did find this one on facebook: The Legend of Bragg Road in Saratoga, Texas. You are welcome to check it out. The legend I was told by my friend that night was a lot different. The man I heard it from is someone that actually lived in Saratoga most of his life but as most stories go they tend to grow the more they are told and maybe nobody really knows the real story about what happened to the train station guard that lost his head but I can tell you he is still guarding that old railroad station and he in the woods watching and waiting. The part I left out was that where we saw him was right across the road from where those boys were stuck earlier. All I know is I hope I never go down Bragg road again. Once was enough for me!

As always, thank you for your interest in my blog,

Judy B.