the Mexican War, McCulloch earned the distinction of chief scout for General Zachary Taylor’s army. In 1849, McCulloch joined many other fortune-seekers who headed to California during the Gold Rush. By the time the Civil War broke out, he was back in Texas, and in May 1861 became a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. Assigned to defend Indian Territory in Texas, he contributed greatly to the Confederate victory at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in August 1861. In March 1862, McCulloch was killed in the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.

William “Bigfoot” Wallace

The 19-year-old Wallace (whose more-than-six-feet, 240-pound stature earned him the nickname “Bigfoot”) was at home in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1836 when he learned that his brother had been killed by the Mexican army inthe massacre at Goliad. He headed to Texas looking for payback, but the war was over by the time he arrived. Wallace decided to stay on in the new Texas Republic, and eventually moved to San Antonio. After joining the Texan Army to repulse a Mexican invasion in 1842, he was captured and spent two years in a notoriously brutal prison at Vera Cruz. Upon his return to Texas, Wallace joined the Rangers, and would serve under Captain Jack Hays; in the 1850s, he led a Ranger company of his own. An opponent of secession, Wallace stayed in Texas during the Civil War, continuing his defense of the frontier against attacks by Comanches, Union soldiers and deserters. In his later years (he died in 1899), Wallace regaled friends