William Alexander Anderson "Bigfoot" Wallace (April 3, 1817January 7, 1899) was a famous Texas Ranger who took part in many of the military conflicts of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

and the United States in the 1840s, including the Mexican–American War.

Biography

Wallace was born in Lexington, Virginia, to parents of Scots-Irish descent. When he learned that a brother and a cousin had been killed in the Goliad Massacre, he set out for Texas to "take pay out of the Mexicans"; years later, he confessed that he believed the account had been squared. Wallace was a large man at 6'2" and 240 pounds in his prime. Wallace fought at the battles of

Salado Creek Salado Creek ( ) is a waterway in San Antonio that runs from northern Bexar County for about to the San Antonio River near Buena Vista.Battle of Hondo River, and Mier. Some of his most graphic memories were of his experiences in Perote Prison after having survived the Black Bean Incident. Wallace participated in the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. As a member of the John Coffee Hays's Rangers, Wallace killed "as many inoffensive Mexicans as he could to avenge his imprisonment after the Mier Expedition". Wallace later participated in the Comanche Wars. In the 1850s, Wallace commanded a ranger company of his own, fighting border bandits as well as Native Americans. He was so expert at trailing that he was frequently called upon to track down runaway slaves trying to get to Mexico. He drove a mail hack from San Antonio to El Paso and on one occasion, after losing his mules to Comanches, walked to El Paso and ate twenty-seven eggs at the first Mexican house he came to before going on to town for a full meal. During the Civil War, he helped guard the frontier against

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

s. At one time, Wallace had a small ranch on the Medina River on land granted to him by the state of Texas. The later years of his life were spent in South Texas in the vicinity of a small village named Bigfoot. He never married. He was a mellow and convivial soul who liked to sit in a roomy rawhide-bottomed chair in the shade of his shanty and tell the stories of his career. Wallace was personally honest but liked to "stretch the blanket" and embellish his stories. Wallace died on January 7, 1899, and shortly thereafter the Texas legislature appropriated money for moving his body to the Texas State Cemetery. "Bigfoot" Wallace is the namesake of the town of Bigfoot, Texas in Frio County and of

Wallace Creek Wallace Creek is a stream in Bandera County, Texas and Kerr County, Texas, in the United States. Wallace Creek was named in the 1850s for Bigfoot Wallace, who owned land near there. See also *List of rivers of Texas The list of rivers of Texas ...

in Bandera County. The Big Foot Wallace museum is a local museum dedicated to Wallace and houses artifacts related to Wallace, as well as those of the community.

Media and literary portrayals

Larry McMurtry included a fictionalized version of Wallace in his '' Lonesome Dove'' prequel, ''

Dead Man's Walk ''Dead Man's Walk'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the ''Lonesome Dove'' chr ...

''. In this book, Wallace is one of the Rangers who signs on with

Augustus McCrae The ''Lonesome Dove'' series is a series of four western fiction novels written by Larry McMurtry and the five television miniseries and television series based upon them. Overview The novels and miniseries follow the exploits of several members ...

and Woodrow Call to go on the

Texan Santa Fe Expedition The Texan Santa Fe Expedition was a commercial and military expedition to secure the Republic of Texas's claims to parts of Northern New Mexico for Texas in 1841. The expedition was unofficially initiated by the then-President of Texas, Mirabeau B ...

. After they are captured by Mexican authorities, they are made to draw beans to decide who will live or die, a method borrowed from the Mier Expedition. Unlike his real-life counterpart, Wallace in this story draws a black bean, and is executed. In the film, he is played by

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

. In the History Channel 5-part television miniseries, '' Texas Rising'', Wallace is played by actor Robert Baker. Wallace is portrayed as a mentor to the young cattle baron John Chisum in a semi-biographical 2019 novel by Russ Brown titled ''Miss Chisum''.Brown, Russ
Miss Chisum
Amazon and Kindle.

References

External links

''The adventures of Big-Foot Wallace, the Texas ranger and hunter''
hosted by the Portal to Texas History *

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, William A. A. 1817 births 1899 deaths American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Burials at Texas State Cemetery Members of the Texas Ranger Division People from Lexington, Virginia Texas folklore People of the American Old West