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JOE (ca. 1813-after 1875) was a slave belonging to Alamo commander William B. Travis. He survived the Alamo battle because Santa Anna apparently felt sorry for him since he was a slave, and was sent with Susanna Dickinson, her infant daughter Angelina, and another African-American servant named Ben to carry the news of the Alamo’s fall to Gonzales. Joe was questioned by Texas leaders about the Alamo battle two weeks after it took place, and then was returned to Travis’ estate near Columbia, Texas where he remained until escaping with two horses on April 21, 1837—the first anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto. Nothing else is known about Joe’s life until 1875 when a newspaper article claimed he was living near Austin.
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