The Production of the Travis Letter Prints
The interest in the Battle of the Alamo has universal appeal today for many reasons. The sacrifices made with the Fan of the Alamo on March 6, 1836 in the defense of freedom and liberty continues to be the focal point of our time and place in history. The struggle against tyranny and the abuse of human rights has been clearly expressed in The Texas Declaration of Independence as well as in
The American Declaration of Independence. It is with this understanding and appreciation that the greatest of care has been made to accurately produce the first true size color Prints of the famous
Lt. Colonel William Barret Travis Letter of February 24, 1836 from the Alamo addressed to: "The
People of Texas and an Americans in the World."
The original document is currently owned and held in safe keeping by the Texas Archives &
Archives Commission in Austin, Texas. The Travis Letter was purchased in 1892 from a John G.
Davidson who was a great grandson of Mary Jan Grissette who was a daughter of Susan Isabella
Travis who was the daughter of Lt. Colonel Travis.
The Travis Letter has remained in the control of the Texas Library & Archives and has been publicly displayed on a limited basis. On June 22, 1936, the Letter was loan for public display at the Texas Centennial Central Exposition and during the Sesquicentennial of 1986 was placed on exhibit in Dallas, Texas along with the Texas Declaration of Independence of March 2,1836.
Recently, the Travis Letter was displayed to the public at the opening of the new Hobby Texas
Museum of History in Austin, Texas. The original document was removed from public display at the end of 2001 and is now carefully preserved at the Texas Archives and is not on public display.
The Travis Letter and the Texas Declaration of Independence were photographed for the first time in color in 1986. These color photographs were not of the quality standard needed for long term preservation and could not be used to produce these new Travis Letter Prints. A new series of color transparencies were ordered and paid for by the Publisher in 2001 with the assistance of the Texas
Library & Archives Commission. The resulting 4" by 5" color transparencies of both the Travis
Letter and the Texas Declaration of Independence were used in the enlarged color separation negatives needed in the four color printing process of the final production Prints.
The original document was hand written on a single piece of paper measuring 39.5 cm at the Top
Edge across and 39.6 cm at the Bottom Edge across. Height along the fold line is 32.5 cm. The
Travis Letter is printed with both sides of the Letter shown positioned top and bottom. The original document had been folded and additional postscripts were added by Captain Albert Martin who initially carried the Letter from the Alamo to Gonzales and Lancelot Smither who finally carried the Letter to San Felipe de Austin arriving on the 27th of February 1836. The Letter was printed in various fonnats for large scale distribution. Most printing of Letter were not accurate to the original document. The Texas Republican was the first newspaper to carry the Travis Letter in their March
2, 1836 issue.
The new Travis Letter Prints have been produced in two separate formats. The first format is in a
First Edition of one thousand which are hand serial numbered and are available to the public in a donation program being conducted through The American Legion Post 78,611 State, Jasper, Texas

75951 with a Web site www.wardocuments.com/AL/alframe.htmL The information placed at the bottom of the Print appears as follows:
The First True Size Color Prints of the Lt. Colonel William Barret Travis Letter from the Alamo dated February 24,1836. Addressed: "To the People of Texas and all Americans in the world."
Printed from color transparencies produced with the assistance of the Texas Library & Archives
Commission. First Edition of one thousand.
Serial Number _____________________________
Printed in the One Hundredth and Sixty-Sixth Anniversary year of the Fall of the Alamo on March
6, 1836. Manufactured in the United States of America 2002 by Historical Document
Reproduction, Inc. P. 0. Box 1021, Jasper, Texas 75951. Website: www .wardocuments.com The second fonnat is designed for distribution only to School Systems, Libraries and Museums in the
State of Texas or in appropriate locations throughout the United States of America. The infonnation placed at the bottom of the Print appears as fonows: The First True Size Color Print of the Lt.
Colonel WiDiam Barret Travis Letter from the Alamo dated February 24, 1836. Addressed: "To the
People of Texas and an Americans in the world." Printed from color transparencies produced with the assistance of the Texas Library & Archives Commission. Printed in the one Hundredth and
Sixty-Sixth Anniversary year of the Fan of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Manufactured for
Educational Distribution in the United States of America 2002 by Historical Document
Reproduction, Inc. P. 0. Box 1021, Jasper, Texas 75951. Website: www.wardocuments.com