light story in the El Paso Daily Herald for
February 13, 1899, in, of all places, the
railroad column.
February of 1899 was much like the
February of 2014 in the canyons of the
lower Pecos, bitterly cold and disagree-
able. On this particular Saturday in
February a reporter for the Daily Herald
wandered down to the GH&SA train
yards in search of a good story. Herald
reporters often found news at the train
yards, and it was a good bet that one
would turn up on that day.
The weather being so bitter, with
howling winds and frostbite-inducing
cold, he found the railroad men hud-
dled around a pot belly stove at the
yard office, swapping yarns and hoping
not to have to go outside. On this par-
ticular day they seemed to be ganging
up on one old engineer with constant
barbs and jokes, merciless at times. Just
like railroad men will do. They were
“hoorahing” him about a story he
often told and which he firmly defend-
ed as the truth, no matter how hard the
teasing from his buddies. The old man
seemed to be taking it in stride. That
made the reporter curious. “If you
want a good story,” one worker said to
the reporter, “talk to this man, he'll tell
you something rich!” Mercifully, the
reporter decided to wait until the room
cleared when the men went back to
their duties and the old engineer stayed
behind.
He approached the old gentleman
asking, “Hey, what was all this ribbing
about? They seemed to be having a
pretty good time at your expense.” The
old fellow, who had years of experience
running the old steam engines as a
freight engineer between Del Rio and
Sanderson on the GH&SA, leaned for-
ward and said, “They are all good
friends of mine so I let them enjoy
themselves at my expense. I would not
by even one word of contradiction mar
their pleasure.” All the merriment was
caused by his story of an event that
occurred not long after the railroad
opened in 1883. He asked the reporter
to have an open mind and to forget the
wisecracks and jokes of his friends.
Truth be told, he offered, it was not just
this night that he saw the events, but
many times through the years, but he
didn't want his friends to think he had
completely lost his mind.
He began his narrative, “We left
Sanderson at 9:45, just twenty minutes
late, and went against a stiff southeast
wind and soon lost sight of Sanderson
in the darkness. I was on the right hand
side of the engine. We were traveling
along at a lively clip with my thoughts
centered on my family which I had just
left. All at once I beheld the danger sig-
nal swinging to and fro 500 yards in
front of me.” In this case, the danger
signal was a red lantern being swung
back and forth to warn oncoming
trains to stop, a standard signaling
device on the railroad at that time.
“I reversed my engine and stopped.
As the engine came to a standstill the
lights disappeared. I was almost dumb-
founded for a time, but I again applied
the steam without saying a word to my
fireman.
“As I pulled away from that point
the lights again appeared about 100
yards west of the track and traveled
along with the engine for about a mile.
Sometimes a red light would appear
and then the white and green light
would show up.
Cenizo
“On several occasions when I
passed that point the lights would be
visible possibly a mile from the track
and the white light would be indicating
the 'go ahead' signal.
“You may think this untrue,” he
told the reporter, “but if you would
take the trouble to go over the line with
me sometime I will convince you of the
truth of what I have just related."
Unfortunately, the Herald reporter did
not take up the old gentleman’s offer.
If anyone else saw the ghost signal,
they kept mum about it. There was no
need to cause undue remarks and
unnecessary teasing about their sanity
or their drinking habits.
Maybe we should give the final
word to Mr. Fritz Kahl, who has seen
the Marfa Lights and seriously investi-
gated them since his days as a flight
instructor at the Marfa Air Base during
World War II. Mr. Kahl was quoted as
saying, “I still say the best way to see
the lights is with a six pack of beer and
a good looking woman.” If you like
beer and women, that is probably good
advice for any Big Bend endeavor.
First Quarter 2017
13