William Barret Travis: A Brief Biography

William Barret Travis was a legendary figure that was most famous for giving up his life for Texas Independence at the Alamo. He was a heroic leader that promised he would never give up in battle. Being a coward was not on Travis’s bucket list.
William Barret Travis was born on August 1, 1809 in South Carolina. His parents were Mark and Jemima Travis, and he was the eldest of eleven children. When he was nine, falling cotton prices and bank failures caused his family to move to Conecuh County in Alabama. Travis and his family were members of Red Bank Baptist Church. His Uncle Alexander was also a preacher and farmer. He grew up in Alabama from then on, until he was 16. When he was 16, he left to go attend Claiborne Academy. Travis studied law

and taught school to students who were surprisingly the same age as him. Since Travis was the same age as his students, it might seem weird to date or marry one of them. It wasn’t to Travis. William married one of his prettiest pupils, Rosanna Cato, on October 26, 1828. Later in their marriage, Travis found out about a man that loved Rosanna. William was worried that his wife also loved that other man. Furious, Travis set off to find the guy and put an end to his love of Rosanna. The only way to do that though was to kill him. Because he wanted the man dead for loving his wife, Travis killed the poor guy. Rosanna knew that what Travis did was uncalled for. She was furious with Williams’ actions and decided to divorce him. That put an end to William B. Travis and Rosanna Cato’s marriage.
Later in Travis’ life, he defended the glorious Alamo. He was one of the most remembered leaders because of his bravery and courage. At first, Travis was put in charge of the Alamo, but James Bowie got jealous. Bowie got people vote on their leader, and they all voted Bowie. Although they compromised and were both put in charge. Santa Anna at the beginning of the battle demanded that the Alamo surrender, so then Travis responded with a cannonball. He was a fearless leader and was never going to give up no matter what the circumstances were. To prove that he wasn’t going to surrender, William B. Travis sent a message to Americans and Texans that he would never surrender and pledged victory or death. Even though Travis was one of the first ones dead, he defended the Alamo with his life and courageously died fighting for Texas’ Independence.
William B. Travis was a legendary figure that was most famous for giving up his life for Texas Independence at the Alamo. He was a heroic leader and wouldn’t back down to the Mexican Army no matter how much stronger they were than his army. He had a big part in Texas’ Independence from Mexico. If it weren’t for Travis, Texas probably wouldn’t be as successful as they are today.