He arrived in Texas with nothing but a rifle and a broken heart. 1836 had stolen everything from him when his brother was executed at the Goliad Massacre.
William Alexander Anderson Wallace came for one thing. He came for justice.
But the frontier had a way of turning a man into a legend before he ever found peace. Standing over six feet tall with feet so large they seemed to shake the earth, he earned a name that would resonate through the centuries: Big Foot Wallace.
He wasn’t just a man. He was a force of nature.
His most harrowing moment came in 1842. After the failed Mier Expedition, he was captured and forced into a cruel game of life and death.
Santa Anna ordered every tenth Texan executed. The men were forced to reach into a clay pot filled with beans.
A white bean meant life in a dungeon. A black bean meant a firing squad at sunset.
He watched his friends reach in. He watched brave men collapse when they pulled out the color of death.
But Big Foot Wallace reached in with steady hands. He pulled out a white bean.
He saw the fear in his enemies. He saw the courage in his brothers. He saw the hand of providence on his life.
For two long years, he survived the hell of Perote Prison. When he was finally released, he didn’t head for the safety of Virginia.
He went back to the saddle. He joined the Texas Rangers under the legendary Jack Hays.
He spent decades taming a land that tried to break him. He fought in the Mexican-American War and drove mail stages through territory where few dared to breathe.
Today, a town in Texas still bears his name. His stories are the foundation of the Lone Star spirit.
He lived as a giant and died as a hero.
Sources: Texas Ranger Hall of Fame / National Archives
