[4] Travis studied there for five years, where he became a protégé of Henry Keller,[5] and also encountered Charles Burchfield and Frank N. Wilcox, all of whom later became acknowledged members of the Cleveland School.
[12] He also began submitting his artwork to the May Show, an annual exhibition of local artists sponsored by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
[14] Travis traveled roughly the same path as famed British explorer Henry Morton Stanley, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt.
[14] Some of Travis's diary entries, letters, and film footage have been stored in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art.
[17] Dan Tranberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer called Travis's work "some of the most historically significant art this city has ever produced.