Legend of McCoy Mountain

The Legend of McCoy Mountain may or may not be a true story that took place in the background of the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, which was known as the "Gettysburg of the West" during the Civil War.

The way the legend goes is that three Confederate soldiers were sent to kill three Union lookout sentries at key points along the rugged terrain, to facilitate a Confederate ambush the next day. Two of the Confederate soldiers killed the Union sentries, but the third, Johnny McCoy, an abolitionist at heart, crossed lines and alerted the Union sentry of the Confederate's position and plans. The Union thwarted the ambush at sunrise and demolished the Confederate forces, supposedly resulting in a resounding defeat the Confederacy never recovered from. McCoy had heard Abraham Lincoln speak, and Lincoln's words had exalted his deeper soul.

Local folklore has it that this Confederate defeat at Glorietta Pass was the "tipping point" of the Civil War, though that is dubious.

Upon discovering McCoy's betrayal, supposedly the Confederacy sent a posse out to his cabin to hang him, but it was too late—-they found his wife and two of his three children hanging atop "McCoy Mountain." Did a Union patrol already hang him, believing him to be the enemy? Did the Confederacy hang him as a traitor? Did McCoy hang himself, having seen all his fellow countrymen die upon his betrayal of the Confederacy? They never found his third child, but all around the mountain were the corpses of dead Union soldiers--one man could never have killed them all, "Unless it was McCoy and that golden 45 revolver."

Nobody quite knows which mountain peak around Glorietta Pass is "McCoy Mountain." But the legend has it old McCoy appears once a year in the area—some say begging forgiveness for his betrayal to the Confederacy, and others say seeking vengeance. If asked, supposedly he'll tell the story of the hangings, as well as the final resting place of a golden 45 revolver, but nobody who hears ever lives to retell his tale. Over the years, mysterious hangings, disappearances, shootings, and suicides have oft occurred in the area.

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