Woman Hollering Creek
Encyclopedia
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. At one point, it crosses Interstate 10
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...
, between Seguin, Texas
Seguin, Texas
Seguin is a city in Guadalupe County, Texas, in the United States. It is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,011; the July 1, 2009 Census estimate, however, showed the population had increased to 26,842...
and San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
.
The creek's name is probably a loose translation of the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
La Llorona
La Llorona
La Llorona is a widespread legend in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America. Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria killing her children by drowning them, in order to be with the man that she loved. When the man rejects her, she kills...
, or "The weeping woman". According to legend, a woman who has recently given birth drowns her newborn in the river because the father of the child either does not want it, or leaves with a different woman. The woman then screams in anguish from drowning her child. After her death, her spirit then haunts the location of the drowning and wails in misery. The legend has many different variations and there has even been occasional sightings of the restless woman's spirit. The legend also states that if you get too close to the water, the hollering woman will drag you in, hoping you are her child.
Author and poet Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros is an American writer best known for her acclaimed first novel The House on Mango Street and her subsequent short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories...
wrote a collection of short stories entitled Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories is a book of short stories published in 1991 by San Antonio-based Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros...
in 1991.
The creek is the subject of the song "River Called Woman Hollering" by the Electric Boy Rangers.