William Wallace
William A.A. "Big Foot" Wallace
Living on a pay of $1.25 a day, providing their own arms and ammunitions, horses and other necessities, the Texas Rangers in the 1830's were stuff that legends are made of. One such Ranger was William A.A. "Big Foot" Wallace. Look at a picture of Wallace sometime and you will see why he is so aptly named.
In 1842, Wallace and other Texas Rangers were assigned to ill-fated mission...the Mier Expedition. The Texans were captured and beans were drawn to see who would live and who would die. Lucky for Wallace, he drew a white bean and lived to tell about the experience. The "Black Bean Episode" still played on people's minds when war broke out with Mexico in 1846.
The Rangers were known at this time as "Los Diablos Tejanos"...the Texas Devils. Fierce in their fighting, they became subjects of songs, poems and stories.