William Alexander Anderson Wallace was born in Lexington, Virginia on April 3, 1817, parents of Scots-Irish descent. He might have stayed in Virginia, but in 1836, when he was just 19 years old, Wallace received news that one of his brothers had been killed in the Battle of Goliad, which was an early confrontation in the Texan war of independence with Mexico. Wallace promised to “take pay of the Mexicans” for his brother’s death. So, with revenge on his mind, Wallace left Lexington and headed for Texas. Upon his arrival, Wallace found that the war was already over. With no further need of his anger-revenge agenda, Wallace found he liked the spirited independence of the new Republic of Texas and decided to stay.
Wallace was a big man, standing over six feet tall and weighing around 240 pounds. His size alone made him an intimidating figure, but his nickname of “Big Foot” came from his unusually large feet. Wallace didn’t think he would ever get the chance to fight Mexicans, but in 1842, he finally got his chance when he joined with other Texans to stop an invasion by the Mexican General Adrian Woll. During another skirmish with Mexicans, Wallace was captured, and he spent the next two years serving hard time in the notoriously brutal Perote Prison in Vera Cruz. He was finally released in 1844.
After his time as a prisoner of war, Wallace returned to Texas and found himself feeling tired of the rigidness of the formal Texan military force. So, he decided to leave the military for the less rigid organization of the Texas Rangers. The Texas Ranger program was part law-enforcement officers and part soldiers. They fought both bandits and Native Americans in the large, but sparsely populated reaches of the Texan frontier. “Big Foot” Williams served under the famous Ranger John Coffee Hays until the start of the Civil War in 1861. Williams was against the idea of Texas secession from the Union, but he was unwilling to fight against his own people. He had really assimilated himself into Texas…it was a big part of him. Williams spent most of the Civil War defending Texas against Native American attacks along the frontier. He didn’t get involved in the “politics” of the matter, he just knew that he was now a Texan, and he had to defend her at all costs.
Wallace spent many years in the wilds of Texas, having hundreds of adventures. He was attacked by Native Americans while working as a stage driver on the dangerous San Antonio-El Paso route. In that event, he 
barely escaped with his life. The Natives stole his mules and left him stranded in the Texas desert. Forced to walk all the way to El Paso, he later said that he ate 27 eggs at the first house he came to after his long walk. Then, he went into town to have a “real meal.”
After many years and many adventures and in his old age, Wallace decided he had enough of life as a fighter and adventurer. He was tired and ready to learn how to relax. The state of Texas, in exchange for his years of service, granted Wallace land along the Medina River and in Frio County in the southern part of the state. Wallace loved to tell anyone who would listen, with highly embellished tales of his frontier days. Soon he became a well-known folk hero to the people of Texas. Wallace died on January 7, 1899. He is buried in the Texas State Cemetery.
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