La Llorona in Southern Arizona

Author(s): Betty Leddy

Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Jul., 1948), pp. 272-277
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1497551
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La LloronainSouthern
Arizona
BETTY LEDDY

A SIZABLE PORTION OfthepopulationofsouthernArizonais bilingual.Spanish

is the badge of the culturewhichwe inheritedfrommanyyearsof Spanish-
Mexicanrule-a culturewhichhasbeen dilutedbutmanyrelicsofwhichhave
been carefullypreserved.Amongthemostinteresting bitsoffolklorethatare
'finding theirway intoEnglishis thelegendof theWeepingWoman,orwhite-
clad,nocturnalfigurethatweeps-La Llorona.
Of the forty-two itemswhichcomprisethe basis of this paper, ten were
takenfromthe 1946 contributions of Miss Doris Seibold of Patagonia,Ari-
zona, to theUniversity ofArizona FolkloreArchives;theotherswerecollected
in Englishsince the springof 1946 by my friends,one of mystudents,and
myself.'
This paper is onlya reporton workin progressand is made chieflyin the
hope that other folklorists will be interestedin beginningcollectionsin
theirareas.
The legendof theWeepingWoman in Arizonais continuallyrefreshed by
contactwithMexican sources,eithersocial or literary-byvisitingback and
forthacrosstheborderand thenamongArizonaand Californiafamilies;bya
motionpicture;by a play. In compilingSpanishand Englishbibliographies
ofMexicanmaterialsavailablein Tucson,we foundtheseforms:novel,novel-
etteor shortstory,poem,drama,magazinearticle,folklorecollection.2
As a matterof fact,to appreciatethe Arizonaversionsone shouldknowa
1Credit should be given particularlyto Miss Margaret L. Soto, Tucson; Mrs. Earl L. Jackson,
Tumacacori National Monument; and Mrs. L. Freeland Byars,Nogales. I should like also to acknowl-
edge my indebtednessto Miss Frances Gillmor and to Dr. AlbertW. Bork,both of the Universityof
Arizona faculty,fortheirgenerousadvice.
2 The following literarymaterials concerning the legend of La Llorona have been located in
Tucson:
Gonzalez Obreg6n, Luis. Las calles de Mexico. Tomo I: Leyendas y sucedidos. Segunda edicion;
Mexico, D.F.: Manuel Le6n SAnchez,1924. Pp. xxiii, 247. (Folklorecollection.)
La Llorona. (A novel in Spanish, which was examined, but was sold by the owner before biblio-
graphicdata could be collected; apparentlythe volume cannot be traced.)
"La Llorona," Alianza [Tucson, Arizona],XXXIX (June,1946),8, 18. (Magazine article.)
La Llorona: El espectrode la media noche. San Antonio: Editorial Quiroga, 1916.Pp. 96. (Novelette
or shortstory."Lea usted la novela titulada: El misteriosotesorodel reyMoctezuma. Es una con-
tinuacion de La Llorona.")
Marroqui, JoseM. La Llorona. Mexico, D.F.: I. Cumplido, 1887.Pp. 143. (Historical novel.)
Neve, Francisco. "La Llorona." (Unpublished MS of a drama, in the possession of Dr. Albert W.
Bork,Universityof Arizona; ca. 1900-1920.)
Riva Palacio, Vicente, y Juan de Dios Peza. Tradiciones y leyendas mexicanas. Edited by Manuel
Romero de Terrerosand S. L. Millard Rosenberg.New York: T. Nelson and Sons, 1927. Pp. xxvi,
172. (Poem.)
[272]

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 LA LLORONA IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA 273
littleabout the Mexican background.Undoubtedlytherewas an early,pre-
ConquestbodyofAztecloreabout femininespirits,a traditionthatobviously
could have facilitatedthegrowthoftheLloronalegendand thatmayactually
be partofit."
Luis Gonzalez Obreg6ntellsus thatthe WeepingWoman was firstheard
in Mexico Cityabout 1550, especiallyon moonlitnights.She was dressedin
white,wentthroughthestreetswailingin greatanguish,and disappearedinto
a lake. Among the variousexplanationsofferedwas the suggestionthatshe
was the infamousDofia Marina,who had repentedof her Quislingco6pera-
tionwithCortisand who,as La Llorona,now weptforhersin.
An interestingaccountis givenbyThomasA. Janvier:The WailingWoman
had drownedall herchildrenin thecanalsof Mexico City.Finallyrepentant,
she beganto hauntthestreetsat night,"weepingand wailing,"clad in white.
Meetinga watchmanor a lonelytraveler,she would cryout forherchildren,
thendisappear.He wouldlose consciousness or go mad.An officer whocoaxed
her to cast aside her rebozowas rewardedby the sightof a skeleton;he felt
"an icybreath"and fell,unconscious.Later,havingreportedtheincident,he
died. To hear her is frightening; to see, to stop, to speak to her is very
dangerous.'
The samesourcerecountstheversionused byVicenteRiva Palacio. Luisa,
a beautifulcommoner, wasdesertedbyDon Mufio,whohad decidedtomarry
withinhis own class.Enraged,Luisa killed theirthreechildrenwithhis old
daggerbut repentedimmediatelyand "rushedwildlythroughthe streetsof
the City-shrieking in the agony of ... her
sin.'"
J.FrankDobie writesof a woman who drownedher littledaughterand
was burned forthe crime.Her spirit.beganhuntingthe child in the same
river,in others(includingthe Rio Grande),at theseashore,in Mexico City,
in othercities,and finally
on ranches,and so forth.Sheisattracted
bydeath;the
audienceat a hangingcan feelhercold breath.She sometimes holds"herarms
thusas ifshewerecarrying a littleone."'
There is considerablevarietyamongtheaccountsofLa Lloronain Arizona.
"Some people claim thattheyhave seen a ladydressedin whiteand she has
long, black hair. When theysee her she is weeping.They have seen her
out in the woods near Patagoniaand she has disappearedas suddenlyas she
appears."(D-38.)'
s For Aztec backgroundssee Thomas A. Janvier,Legends of the Cityof Mexico (New York, 191o);
E. Adams Davis, Of the Night Wind's Telling (Norman, Oklahoma, 1946); Luis
Gonzilez Obreg6n,
The Streetsof Mexico (San Francisco,1937), a translationof the book cited in the
precedingnote;
Lewis Spence, The Gods of Mexico (New York,
1923).
4 GonzailezObreg6n,op. cit.,pp. 13-15.

SJanvier,op. cit.,pp. 134-138.

6Ibid., pp. 164-165.
7 J.Frank Dobie, The Mexico I Like (Dallas, 1942), pp. 96-99.
s Code numbersreferto mymanuscriptcollectionof variants.

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274 WESTERN FOLKLORE
Once, a plumpyoungwomancarrying a babyin herarmsstartedout from
herranchon thePatagonia-Harshaw Road in searchofa strayedcat.The cat's
cries,whichshe had been following,turnedinto thoseof a womanin pain.
The youngmotherrecalledthe legendof La Llorona and was terrified. Pur-
sued by "hideous" sounds,she hurriedas bestshe could to Harshaw,where.
the sounds stopped.She collapsed and was unable to walk for two weeks.
(D-47.)
Comingnorthto Tucson, we findLa Llorona even in the desert.A man
walkinghomelateone nightfeltherhandon hisshoulder(D-14); high-school
youngsters heard her screamsin the foothillsabout dusk (D-12); a young
womanwas drivingacrossa dryarroyowhen"thegirlfriend"jumped on the
runningboard and rode along fora littleway (D-55). A nursehearda noise
and saw "something"outside (D-24). A third-grader toldherteacherthather
aunt, passinga house wherea death had just occurre'd, feltthe cold breath
and "almostfaintedher in the street"(D-11). Anotherlittle girl says her
grandfather explainshowhe accumulatedenoughmoneytogo intothegrocery
business,withthisstory:Cominghomealongtheriverlateat night,he heard
the Llorona crying;the next day near the same spot,he found,frozento
death,"one of her babies," whichhe wrappedas a mummyand exhibited
(D-3). Quite a differenttale comesfromtwo sources:Some yearsago, some-
one-whateverhispurposes-masqueraded as La Llorona.Severalpeoplealong
his routefiredat thehead,whichbobbed up and downmockingly.Finallya
"wiseguy"aimed at thebodyand woundedhim.The discardedcostumewas
foundlater.(D-53,D-54.)
The firststoryI heardabout La Lloronain Tucscon toldofa widowwhose
onlyson was lostplayingnear a floodedriver.Insane fromgrief,she seeksto
kidnapanysmallchildshesees.Oftenherfingerprints are foundon windows,
or screensare tornwhereshe triedto enterhomes. (D-1.) I have been told,
withemphaticnods,"She gets'em,often"(D-7).
Possiblykidnappingis merelyan outgrowthof the bogeymanconcept.
Mothersthreatentheirchildrenby saying,"Stop crying,or La Llorona will
come,"forshecomes"on thewindwhenshehearsa babycry"(D-50).Naughty
childrenwillreformiftold"La Lloronawillgetyou" (D-33),and exasperated
mothersmayeventhreatento giveannoyingchildrentoher(D-23)-
Ordinarily, however,present-dayadultsdo notexpectimmediatedeathfrom
contactwiththe WeepingWoman; but thatpartof thelegendno doubtwas
strongerin days gone by, for a sixty-seven-year-old Tucson woman recalls
havingbeen told duringher childhoodthat"whenpeople spoketo her [La
Llorona] or saw her theydied on the spot" (D-31).
The matterof when La Llorona appears is most interesting.In Tucson we
read this: "My mother told me about and [an] Old well near a house thathad

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 LA LLORONA IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA 275
been knockeddownand everydayyoucouldhearhercryingabout 1o:oo P.M.
(D-13). A girl in Patagoniareports,"Other people have heard shrieksevery
nightat a certainhour,and theyclaim it is theIloronalookingforherbaby"
(D-38). But sheis also reportedin thesameareaas returning"at a certaintime
everyyear" (D-42). In one versionshe returns"twicea yearand ... [sits]on
thebanksoftheriverand ... [cries]"(D-46).
In viewof the importanceof waterin earlyMexicanreligion,the marked
tendencyto connectthislegendto waterdeservesnotice.Out of thirty-nine
accountsthatdescribeeitherthe originalincidentor thereturn,fifteen con-
nectthedeathwithwater,twomentionhersuicidein water,thirteenlinkher
reappearanceto waterin some form.Sometimesthe riveris specified,e.g.:
"Everytimethereis a big flood,in theSonoitawash,it is said.. ." (D-41); but
sometimesthereference is vague,forexample:"Now everytimethereis a big
floodor thatit is rainingthe lioronacan be heardmoaningand crying..."
(D-37) and "She... could be seen walkingup and down along the banksof
theriverat night,crying"(D-22). Even thewellmaybe locateddefinitely; for
instance,on West Luna Streetin Tucson (D-8). One storyrelatesthata man
on horseback,crossinga streamin Mexico,turnedand saw "a llorona"seated
behindhim; he continuedto thenexttown,wherehe toldhis storyand died
(D-59). A young Phoenicianreportsthat "La Lloronanita"appears on the
Phoenix-Tucsonhighwayon stormynights,carryinga cradle,stoppingcars,
asking"Where is mychild?" (D-34). A Tucson youngster told me thatonce
he had wantedpermissionto watchstalledcarsbeing towedout of a flooded
underpass,but an elderlyMexican neighbortold his mothersome woman
would harm him if he went near the flood. He stayedaway. (D-15.) La
Llorona's reappearancenear wateris not difficult to understandif one con-
sidersthe numberof timesthedeathshe bewailswas accomplishedin water.
Occasionallytheplace of thedrowningis identified fairlyclosely,as theWest
Side of Tucson, near Main and Simpsonstreets(D-23). In addition to the
usual floodsand rivers,Patagoniamentions-andthispoint is fascinating-
thesea! (D-36,D-39,D-4o,D-42,D-43.)
Theologians,quite understandably, considerinfanticideto be a serious
crime,but even thosewhoview thematterwithan entirelynonreligiousatti-
tudefindthatso unnaturala crimeprovokesthequestionofmotivation.Only
thirteenArizona tales attemptto explain. Four indicatewantonness(D-37,
D-41, D-46, D-6o) and twoindicateshame(D-22, D-23). One child was killed
to preventthe father'stakinghim fromthe mother.This particularstory,as
writtenout by a fifth-grader for her teacher,is interestingenough to be
reproducedin full:
This a storyabout a lady who had a baby of a noble man and afterthe boy was
big about 1 year old and the man was come to take it away fromher Instead of

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276 WESTERN FOLKLORE

givingto him she kilded him. And he was sword fightwith her brotherand she
passed by a skyscraper crying.She used to appered in Old Mexico[. S]ince theyput
lights,she hasn'tapperedagain. (D-io.)
Two other mothers were aroused by the father'smarriage to another (D-29,
D-56). Three tales suggest the mother was sufferingfrommelancholy follow-
ing the father'sdeath or desertion and thereforewas not responsible for her
behavior (D-36, D-39, D-42). One jealous mother killed her own child by
mistake (D-4o).
There are two examples of negligence, the widow mentioned before (D-1)
and Luisa, of whom this is written: "While Luisa was out in the streetssome-
one killed her son. She held herselfresponsible for his death. She cried 'Mi
hijo, mi hijo.' " (D-33.) [The italics are mine.]
As in Mexico, while La Llorona is often connected with infanticide,there
are also other explanations forher grief.In Nogales it is told that she is a girl
whose mother"caused the curse ofweeping to be put on ... [her].It [thestory?]
is used to impress the sadness that results fromdisobeying children." (D-48.'
Another Nogales report indicates that the "weeping one" is "a wife of Cortez
weeping over the grave of Cortes" (D-57). In Patagonia she is also a sailor's
widow, who stands nightlyatop a hill, gazing seaward; at midnightshe comes
down and spends the rest of the night seeking him, weeping (D-43)-
Besides the referenceto Cortes,only two otherstoriesseem to have historical
significance:A native woman who worked and lived "in the house of Monte-
zuma" killed her threechildren and herself.Only the soldier fatherand "those
close to him heard her blood curdling cry. She appeared as a white shadow
close to the house where she killed her children Scherself." (D-30.) The other
story is about a native seamstressand a count who precipitated tragedy by
abandoning her and bringing a socially acceptable bride to the New World
fromSpain. The ghostsof the motherand her child appeared to those present
at the duel in which thecount was killed. (D-56.)
It is interestingthat the old theme of mistaken identityshould be attached
to La Llorona.
Some place in Mexico a woman and her baby lived alone in a house with her
maid. Her maid also had a baby,and thiswoman was veryjealous of her maid's
baby,so she decided thatshe was to kill him.On thenightthatshe was to kill him,
the maid took the baby and put him in the woman'sbaby'sbed and put the other
one in its place. The woman killed and threwher own baby into the sea. When
thewomanfoundthisout shejumped into thesea. It is said thatwhenshejumped
offthe cliffshe let out a horriblescreamand on certainnightsthisscreamis said
to be heard.(D-40o.)
9An interestingcomparisonmay be made with El Llordn, described by J. Frank Dobie in Puro
Mexicano (Austin [Texas Folk-Lore SocietyPublications,XII], 1935),pp. 169-173.

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 LA LLORONA IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
277
There is also the usual assortment of miscellaneousitems:La Llorona is
losing, if she hasn'talreadylost, her powerforevil. A fewyearsago it was a
commonsightto see herrunningacrossthedeep backyardsthatcharacterized
old Tucson (D-2o); she appeared at least twiceto indicateburied treasure,
once to a woodcutterout in thedesert(D-21) and once overthe pigstyofone
ofour bestfamilies(D-19). A twenty-one-year-old Tucsonan recallsthatwhen
he was younghe was told that"she appearedas a nun,all in white,she wore
a largecross[crucifix]and walkedwithherhandsfoldedin frontofher.People
called herLa LloronaMonja"
(D-32).
A mostinteresting superstitionis that,since La Llorona killed her child
in the sewingmachine,anywomanwho hearsin the whirrof themotorthe
voice of La Lloronamustnotuse themachineanymorethatday,or herown
childrenwillmeetthesamefate(D-18).
Some specificproblemsthat call for furtherinvestigationhave already
emerged:(1) The possibilityof threegeneraltypesof Ilorona-thesiren,the
grievingwoman,and thewomanwho is dangerousto children;(2) theextent
of Aztec influence,suggestedby such detailsas the importanceof waterin
theearlyreligion,'othedrowningofbabies as sacrificeto thewatergods"-the
wantonTlazolteotl,2the skeletalCiuacoatl, who carrieda cradle and who
wanderedthroughthestreets, howling,'" and thejealous,white-paintedCiua-
teteo,who returnedto earthin themoonlighton certainnightsand harmed
children;1"(3) theadmittedly slimpossibilityof Europeaninfluences contrib-
uted by thesoldiery-perhapsa legendsimilarto thefourteenth-century mir-
acle in which Our Lady restoresto life in the mother'sarmsthe newborn
child she had accidentallydrownedand forwhosedeathshe was about to be
burned;'5also thesong"La Llorona,"a recordingofwhichhas been reported
fromNogales and fromTucson and which ProfessorVicente T. Mendoza
wroteme recentlyis of Andalusianaspectobut not relatedto thelegend; (4)
theresponsibility and occasionalpunishmentof the father;(5) thefactthat
50 percentofthetalesfromthedesertcountryof Patagoniamentionthesea;
and so on.
10 Spence, op. cit.,pp. 11-33 et passim.
11Ibid., pp. 246-248.
12
Ibid., pp. 156-169, especiallypp. 165-169.
13 Ibid.,pp. 179-183.
14 Ibid., pp. 353-358.
'5 Eughne Lintilhac,Histoireg&ndraledu Thdatreen France (Paris, [1904?]),I, pp. 202-204.

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