In March 1836, Bryan became the courier for at least one of William Barret Travis's Alamo letters from Bell's Landing to Velasco.

Betty's grandfather William Houston Jack[14][15] had served in the Alabama state legislature and emigrated to Texas in 1830.

Jack participated in the capture of Goliad, later joined Sam Houston's army and was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto.

Two dedicated DRT women stepped forward to restore and preserve the Alamo for future generations.

The public entrance known as the Alamo's mission chapel was already owned by the State of Texas, which had purchased the building from the Roman Catholic Church in 1883 and had given custody to the City of San Antonio.

In 1903, Adina Emilia De Zavala enlisted heiress and philanthropist Clara Driscoll to join the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and chair the De Zavala fund raising committee to negotiate the purchase of the long barracks (convento) that was owned by wholesale grocers Charles Hugo and Gustav Schmeltzer.

The state reimbursed Clara Driscoll and, on October 4, 1905, the governor formally conveyed the Alamo property, including the convento and the mission church, to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

By 1911, Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt[21] ordered the long barracks be restored to its original condition as it was in mission days.

During the 1912 restoration,[22] workers discovered foundation work that verified De Zavala's instincts that the structure had indeed been an original part of the Alamo.

In 1933, she defeated an effort by city engineers who wanted to purchase a portion of the Alamo property to widen Houston Street.

In an extended session, House Bill 3726 was passed and signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry[32] before leaving to begin his campaign for the 2012 Presidential election,[33] effectively ending the DRT's 106-year reign as the sole caretakers of the Alamo.