FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Army North and Fort Sam Houston received two rare portraits
of Col. William Travis, the legendary commander of the troops who defended the
Alamo, during a ceremony in the Texas Room at Army North headquarters at Fort
Sam Houston Aug. 19.
“I started thinking during this ceremony, here is William
Barrett Travis at Army North and Fort Sam Houston,” said Jeanie Travis, a
family descendant of the Travis family. “He’s with his Soldiers again.”
The portraits were presented by Sally Mauck, also a
descendant of the Travis family.
Mauck is a descendant of Travis’ uncle, Nicholas Stallworth
Sr., while Jeanie Travis is a descendant of Travis’ father, Mark Butler Travis.
The pair met at an event at the Alamo nearly six years ago and as Jeanie Travis
recounts, “the rest is history.” The two have been committed ever since to
keeping Travis’ legacy alive.
Travis is famous for heroically commanding troops in a
13-day standoff against the Mexican army. He was famous for penning the “To the
People of Texas and All Americans in the World” letter requesting support,
while also declaring his refusal to surrender, fully knowing what the outcome
of the battle would be. He died of a single gunshot wound to the head in the
early morning of March 6, 1836.
Mauck was given the original copy of the portrait by her
grandfather D.W. Stallworth. In the mid-1920s, D.W Stallworth noticed there
wasn’t a picture of Travis on display in the Alamo. He contacted a courthouse
in Alabama, Col. Travis’ residence prior to Texas, and was able to locate a
remaining relative, Mark A. Travis.
Mark A. Travis sent the original portrait to Texas and a
copy was put on display in the Alamo in 1925. It hung in the Alamo for many
years, until structural issues no longer allowed for pictures to hang from the
walls. The first copy sent to the Alamo is now archived, while another is on
display in Alamo Hall.
Only 10 prints of the image have ever been produced. The
copies given to Fort Sam Houston will be on display in the Texas Room at Army
North headquarters, while the other will hang in the Travis House on Staff Post
road.
Another copy is on display at the San Fernando Cathedral in
San Antonio, one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States.
Mauck also gifted to the
Fort Sam Houston Museum a rifle barrel that Travis used to hunt rabbits during
his childhood.