Caddo Lake draws visitors for its cypress trees, Spanish moss and quiet fishing waters, but the East Texas lake also comes with a stack of legends. Accounts shared by Texas Highways describe a large hairy, two-legged figure near the shoreline and a creature said to be about 20 feet long beneath the surface. No verified evidence backs up any of it, and that’s part of the charm.

The stories about people stick with you longer. One legend tells of a young woman who waited at the lake for a soldier she loved, learned he died in battle, and vanished. Some versions say her cries still carry across the water. The Caddo have their own account of the lake’s beginning, crediting an earthquake caused by a chief’s disobedience to the Great Spirit.

The documented history is simpler. Around 1800, the Great Raft log jam on the Red River system shifted the water flow and created the lake. So the truth is river engineering on a massive scale, and the folklore is what we added on top. Foggy mornings among those tangled bayous make it easy to understand why. Have you ever had a strange experience at Caddo Lake, or heard a legend closer to home here in Waxahachie?