Topic Research: Old West Folktales

I've done a little more poking around in search of wild west-themed folktales, and I've come up with a few more sites: The Legends of America rabbit hole led me to some pages that specifically deal with superstitions, lost treasure, and even more ghost stories. That, plus a Mental Floss jumping-off-point and the resource that Laura provided me with should give me plenty of material to work with.

If I did a Western storybook, I'd probably do it in a continuous style with a band of characters telling stories around a campfire. This lets me keep an anthology style (like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which is great) -- maybe my last story ends up involving the characters themselves as they unwittingly sit around the fire. Tentatively, I'm looking at these three stories:

1. "El Muerto" the Headless Horseman: This tale seems perfect for the ghost-stories-around-a-fire vibe. It's got elements of horror, roving bandit gangs, legendary figures in Wild West mythology (i.e. "Bigfoot" Wallace), and more -- it's practically begging to be told by a bunch of cowboys who are trying to outdo the next guy's tale. Sources about this figure are everywhere, and I'm confident that I could find enough info to write about him.

A period advertisement for a collection of tales about El Muerto. Source: Wikipedia Commons

2. "La Llorona": Another ghost story, but more heartbreak and less shoot-'em-up than El Muerto. Supposedly, La Llorona is the spirit of a mother whose children drowned -- at her own hands, some claim. The legend is chilling, and there's even a Mexican folk song that has made the legend famous throughout Spanish-speaking countries.* We discussed La Llorona last semester in one of my Spanish classes, so I'd love to write about her from a slightly different angle and dive into the heart of the myth.
3. Captain Kidd's Treasure: The only way that cowboy stories can get any cooler is if we throw in pirates. Lots of murder (some with the intent of purposefully haunting certain locations), religious superstition, the promise of get-rich-quick gold, etc. I'm a bit torn between this one and the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine story, but the fact that this incorporates pirates -- a topic that I was already interested in -- gives this one the edge.

*Read more about La Llorona (the song) at NPR. Here's a great clip of Chavela Vargas singing a portion of it:

From the movie Frida (2002). The full song is longer, but this gives you a taste. Source: YouTube.