Joe

The only adult male survivor of the Alamo (on the Texas side) was William B. Travis' slave named Joe. Travis, commander of the Alamo, had instructed Joe that if he were killed and the battle was being lost, to go hide in the Alamo. Travis knew that Joe might have a chance to live since the Mexican government was opposed to slavery.

Travis was likely one of the first Texans killed on March 2, 1836, as he ran up the north wall ramp and was shot in the head. His slave, Joe, went and hid in the Alamo. As Mexican soldiers burst into the room he was hiding in, Joe yelled "I'm a slave! I'm a slave!"

He was shot in the shoulder and then the Mexicans ceased fire when they realized who he was and what he was saying. Joe was later released and it was assumed that he returned to South Carolina where Travis' family lived.

The only other reference to Joe was many years later when the Austin-American Statesman newspaper noted that a reunion of the Alamo soldiers' families was being held. A black man showed up, was treated rather rudely, and then left abruptly. The newspaper noted that it was Travis' slave, Joe.

The only man who could have given some insight into what happened in the Alamo (from the Texas perspective) and his own personal narrative of the event, walked out of Austin and into the unknown. Historically, nothing else is known of Joe.

Since I began teaching Texas History, I've often wondered what happened to Joe and what thoughts he carried to the grave. He is one of the Alamo's biggest unsolved mysteries.