Menger Hotel hauntings and historical recruiting of the Rough Riders

The Menger Hotel is widely reputed in local lore to be haunted by the ghost of 'Sallie,' a nineteenth-century barmaid whom guests and staff have reported seeing; the hotel's alleged hauntings are frequently featured on San Antonio ghost tours and in travel accounts. The hotel is also a documented historical site where Theodore Roosevelt met men who would become part of the Rough Riders in 1898. Both the ghost stories and the Roosevelt recruiting event are longstanding parts of the hotel's public history and storytelling. The combination of documented historical events and folklore has made the Menger a noted site of San Antonio legends.