Revision as of 18:58, 25 April 2007 view source70.61.35.98 (talk) →Early Years← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 00:31, 12 January 2025 view source Harami2000 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,018 edits Unsure why this was changed without discussion from Franklin to North Carolina some time ago - year of birth (1786) was prior even to the parallel North Carolina administration which didn't occur until 1787 - see State of Franklin article = *not* part of North Carolina in 1786. | ||
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{{Short description|American politician and frontiersman (1786–1836)}} | |||
:''For the ] announcer, see ]. See also, ]'' | |||
{{Redirect|David Crockett|the professional wrestling announcer|David Crockett (wrestling)}} | |||
] | |||
{{Other uses}} | |||
Colonel '''David Crockett''' (], ] – ], ]) was a celebrated 19th-century ] ], ], ] and ]; usually referred to as '''Davy Crockett''' and by the popular title "''King of the Wild Frontier''". He represented ] in the ], served in the ], and died at the age of 49 at the ]. | |||
{{Pp-semi-indef}} | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} | |||
{{Infobox officeholder | |||
| name = Davy Crockett | |||
| image = David Crockett portrait by Chester Harding.jpg | |||
| caption = Davy Crockett portrait by ] (1834) | |||
| office = Member of the<br />]<br />from ] | |||
| constituency = {{ushr|TN|9|C}} | |||
| term_start = March 4, 1827 | |||
| term_end = March 4, 1831 | |||
| predecessor = ] | |||
| successor = ] | |||
| constituency1 = {{ushr|TN|12|C}} | |||
| term_start1 = March 4, 1833 | |||
| term_end1 = March 4, 1835 | |||
| predecessor1 = ''District created'' | |||
| successor1 = ] | |||
| party = {{ubl|] (Anti-Jacksonian)|] (after 1833)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Price |first1=Angel |title=Davy Crockett- Bear Hunting in Tennessee |url=http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/price/acrocket.htm }}</ref>}} | |||
| birth_name = David Crockett | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date|1786|8|17}} | |||
| birth_place = ], ] (at that time, part of the ]), U.S. | |||
| death_date = {{death date and age|1836|3|6|1786|8|17}} | |||
| death_place = ], ], ] | |||
| occupation = ], soldier, politician | |||
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Polly Finley|1806|1815|reason=d}}|{{marriage|]|1815}}}} | |||
| signature = Davy Crockett signature, 1835.svg | |||
| office2 = Member of the<br />] | |||
| termstart2 = 1821 | |||
| termend2 = 1825 | |||
| children = 6 including ] | |||
}} | |||
] '''David Crockett''' (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented ] in the ] and fought in the ]. | |||
johnny CROCKETT | |||
Crockett grew up in ], where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling. He was made a colonel in the ] of ] and was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821. In 1827, he was elected to the U.S. Congress where he vehemently opposed many of the policies of President ], especially the ]. Crockett's opposition to Jackson's policies led to his defeat in the 1831 elections. He was re-elected in 1833, then narrowly lost in 1835, prompting his angry departure to Texas (then the Mexican state of ]) shortly thereafter. In early 1836, he took part in the ] and died at the ]. It is unclear whether he died in battle or was executed after being captured by the Mexican Army.<ref>{{cite book |last1=De La Pena |first1=Jose Enrique |title=With Santa Anna in Texas A Personal Narrative of the Revolution |date=1975 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-0-89096-001-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=David J. |title=Myth and the History of the Hispanic Southwest |date=January 1990 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=978-0-8263-1194-8 |pages=137}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kilgore |first1=Dan |title=How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much?: Commemorative Edition (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest) |date=January 19, 2010 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-1-60344-194-0 |edition=Commemorative}}</ref> | |||
==Political career== | |||
On ], ], Crockett was elected to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances. In 1826 and 1828 he was elected to the ]. As a Congressman, Crockett supported the rights of squatters, who were barred from buying land in the West without already owning property. He also opposed President ]'s ], and his opposition to Jackson caused his defeat when he ran for re-election in 1830; however, he won when he ran again in 1832. | |||
Crockett became famous during his lifetime for larger-than-life exploits popularized by stage plays and almanacs. After his death, he continued to be credited with acts of mythical proportion. These led in the 20th century to television and film portrayals, and he became one of the best-known American folk heroes.{{sfn|Abramson|Haskell|Lofaro|2006|pages=300–301}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Lofaro| first=Michael A|title=David "Davy" Crockett| url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=333| encyclopedia=]|date=December 2010| access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
Crockett was a staunch opponent of wasteful government spending. In his speech entitled "Not Yours to Give" <ref>''''. Constitution.org, URL accessed ].</ref>, he was critical of his Congressional colleagues who were willing to spend taxpayer dollars to help a widow of a ] man who had lived beyond his naval service, but would not contribute their own salary for a week to the cause. He described the spending as "unconstitutional" and the once popular proposal died in the Congress largely as a result of his speech: | |||
{{cquote|Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him. Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.}} | |||
==Family and early life== | |||
In 1834, his book titled ''A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett'' was published. Crockett went east to promote the book and was narrowly defeated for re-election. In 1835, he was again defeated for re-election, saying "I told the people of my district that I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but if not ... you may all go to hell, and I will go to ]". And he did just that, joining the Texas Revolution. | |||
Davy Crockett was paternally of French and ] descent, while maternally of English descent. The Crocketts were mostly of French-] ancestry, although the family had settled in ] in the north of ] before migrating to the Americas.{{sfn|Winders|2001|page=9}} The earliest known paternal ancestor was Gabriel Gustave de Crocketagne, whose son Antoine de Saussure Peronette de Crocketagne was given a commission in the ] under ] of France. Antoine married Louise de Saix and emigrated to the ] with her, changing the family name to Crockett.{{sfn|DRT|2001|page=43}} Their son Joseph Louis{{sfn|DRT|2001|page=43}} was born and raised in Ireland, possibly being born, according to local tradition, near either ] or ], both villages in the northwest of ] in the west of Ulster; Joseph Louis Crockett later married Sarah Stewart, who was also from west Ulster, she being an ] from just outside the village of ] in the Laggan district in the east of ].<ref>'A distinguished list of ] from ] who helped make America' (''Northern Ireland World'', 9 September 2010 (scroll down to No. 7 on the list: David Crockett)). https://www.northernirelandworld.com/news/a-distinguished-list-of-ulster-scots-from-londonderry-who-helped-make-america-2817455</ref><ref>'Davy Crockett and his Donegal ancestors' (''Go Visit Donegal'' ] page, 6 March 2020). https://m.facebook.com/govisitdonegal/posts/1878320515631813</ref> Joseph and Sarah emigrated to New York, where their son William David was born in 1709. He married Elizabeth Boulay. William and Elizabeth's son David (paternal grandfather of Davy Crockett) was born in Pennsylvania and married Elizabeth Hedge. Historical records indicate that David and Elizabeth were the parents of William, David Jr., Robert, Alexander, James, Joseph, and ] (the father of Davy Crockett); they may have had additional children whose records have not yet been found.{{sfn|Winders|2001|page=12}}{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=19}} | |||
John was born c. 1753 in ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=19}} The family moved to ] c. 1768. In 1776, the family moved to northeast ], in the area of modern ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=22–24}} John was one of the ] who fought in the ] during the ].{{sfn|Jones|2006|page=1796}} He was away as a militia volunteer in 1777 when his parents David and Elizabeth were killed at their home near modern ] by ] and ]s led by war chief ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=26, 34}}{{sfn|Fulgham|2000|page=102}} John's brother Joseph was wounded in the skirmish. His brother James was taken prisoner and held for seventeen years.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=26–27}} | |||
] | |||
].]] | |||
John married Rebecca Hawkins in 1780.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=21}} Nine children of John and Rebecca have been verified by historians and Crockett descendants: Nathan, William, Aaron, James, David, John, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Margaret Catharine.{{sfn|DRT|2001|page=43}}{{sfn|Hasday|2010|page=7}}{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=11–12}} Their son David (nicknamed Davy) was born August 17, 1786 and was named after John's father.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=32}} Crockett's English ancestry comes from his mother Rebecca Hawkins, as the earliest ancestor arrived in ] in 1658.<ref>{{cite book |author=James Atkins Shackford |title=David Crockett: The Man and the Legend |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |date=1994 |isbn=978-0-8032-9230-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4N12F08IkIC&dq=davy+crockett+english+french&pg=PA293}}</ref> | |||
John Crockett was active in local politics and an advocate of the independent ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=33}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greene County|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=572|encyclopedia=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture|publisher=Tennessee Historical Society|access-date=October 12, 2013}}</ref> Davy Crockett was born in that area, which is now in ], close to the ] and near the community of ]. A replica of Davy Crockett’s birthplace cabin stands near the site, situated in the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=David Crockett Birthplace State Park|publisher=Tennessee State Parks|url=http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/DavidCrockettSHP/|access-date=October 12, 2013|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104023739/http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/DavidCrockettSHP/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
John continually struggled to make ends meet, and the Crocketts moved to a tract of land on Lick Creek in 1792.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=38}} John sold that tract of land in 1794 and moved the family to Cove Creek, where he built a ] with partner Thomas Galbraith.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=42}} A flood destroyed the gristmill and the Crockett homestead. The Crocketts then moved to Mossy Creek in ], but John forfeited his property in bankruptcy in 1795.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=43}} The family next moved on to property owned by a Quaker named John Canady — an Irish surname with variant spellings; for example, Crockett’s autobiography referred to the property owner as “John Kennedy”.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|pages=163–164}}{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=61}}{{sfn|Groneman|2005|page=.34}} At ] in the ], John built a tavern on a stage coach route; the ] now stands on that site.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=43}}{{sfn|Jones|2006|page=1797}} | |||
When David was 12 years old, his father ] him to Jacob Siler to help with the Crockett family indebtedness. He helped tend Siler's cattle as a ] on a {{convert|400|mi|adj=on}} trip to near ] in ]. He was well treated and paid for his services but, after several weeks in Virginia, he decided to return home to Tennessee.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=46–49}} The next year, John enrolled his sons in school, but David played ] after an altercation with a fellow student. Upon learning of this, John attempted to whip him but was outrun by his son. David then joined a ] to ], for Jesse Cheek.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=49–51}} Upon completion of that trip, he joined teamster Adam Myers on a trip to ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=52}} In between trips with Myers, he worked for farmer John Gray.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=53}} After leaving Myers, he journeyed to ], where he apprenticed for the next four years with hatter Elijah Griffith.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=55–56}} | |||
] | |||
In 1802, David journeyed by foot back to his father's tavern in Tennessee.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=57–58}} His father was in debt to Abraham Wilson for $36 ({{Inflation|US|36|1802|fmt=eq}}), so David was hired out to Wilson to pay off the debt.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=60}} Later, he worked off a $40 debt to John Canady.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=62}} Once the debts were paid, John Crockett told his son that he was free to leave. David returned to Canady's employment, where he stayed for four years.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=63}} | |||
===Marriages and children=== | |||
Crockett fell in love with John Canady's niece Amy Summer, who was engaged to Canady's son Robert.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=67}} While serving as part of the wedding party, Crockett met Margaret Elder. He persuaded her to marry him, and a marriage contract was drawn up on October 21, 1805. However,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Davy Crockett's Marriage License Back in Rightful Place|magazine=The Blue Pages|date=May 2010|volume=1|issue=3|url=https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/sos/Newsletter/Vol1_3.pdf|access-date=November 2, 2013|publisher=Office of the Secretary of State of Tennessee}}</ref> Margaret had also become engaged to another young man at the same time, whom she married instead of Crockett.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=70}} | |||
He met Polly Finley and her mother Jean at a harvest festival.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=72–73}} Although friendly towards him in the beginning, Jean Finley eventually felt Crockett was not the man for her daughter.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=74}} Crockett declared his intentions to marry Polly, regardless of whether the ceremony was allowed to take place in her parents' home or had to be performed elsewhere. He arranged for a justice of the peace and took out a marriage license on August 12, 1806. On August 16, he rode to Polly's house with family and friends, determined to ride off with Polly to be married elsewhere. Polly's father pleaded with Crockett to have the wedding in the Finley home. Crockett agreed only after Jean apologized for her past treatment of him.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=76=77}} ] | |||
The newlyweds settled on land near Polly's parents, and their first child, ], who became a United States Congressman,<ref>{{cite web|title=John Wesley Crockett|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000920|publisher=United States Congress|access-date=October 21, 2013}}</ref> was born July 10, 1807.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=81}} Their second child, William Finley Crockett, was born November 25, 1808.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=81}} In October 1811, the family relocated to ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=90}} Their third child Margaret Finley (Polly) Crockett was born on November 25, 1812.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=93}} The Crocketts then moved to ] in 1813. He named the new home on Beans Creek "Kentuck". {{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=94}} His wife died in March 1815,{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=131}} and Crockett asked his brother John and his sister-in-law to move in with him to help care for the children.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=133}} That same year, he married the widow Elizabeth Patton, who had a daughter, Margaret Ann, and a son, George.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=134}} David and Elizabeth's son, Robert Patton, was born September 16, 1816.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=146}} Daughter Rebecca Elvira was born December 25, 1818.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=156}} Daughter Matilda was born August 2, 1821.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=162}} | |||
===David Crockett family tree=== | |||
{{David Crockett family tree}} | |||
==Tennessee militia service== | |||
] | |||
] was appointed major general of the Tennessee ] in 1802.{{sfn|Remini|Clark|2008|page=24}} The ] occurred near ], ], on August 30, 1813, and became a rallying cry for the ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=103–104}} On September 20, Crockett left his family and enlisted as a scout for a term of 90 days with ]'s Company of Mounted Rifleman,{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=106}} part of the Second Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=107–108}} They served under Colonel ] in the war, marching south into present-day ] and taking an active part in the fighting.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=111}} Crockett often hunted wild game for the soldiers, and felt better suited to that role than killing Creek warriors.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=114}} He served until December 24, 1813.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=118}} | |||
The ] was being waged concurrently with the Creek War. After the ] in August 1814, Andrew Jackson, then with the ], wanted ] forces ousted from ]{{sfn|Bense|1999|page=45}} and asked for support from the Tennessee militia. Crockett re-enlisted as third sergeant for a six-month term with the Tennessee Mounted Gunmen under Captain John Cowan on September 28, 1814.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=123}} Crockett's unit saw little of the main action because they were days behind the rest of the troops and were focused mostly on foraging for food. Crockett returned home in December.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=128}} He was still on a military reserve status until March 1815, so he hired a young man to fulfill the remainder of his service.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=130}} | |||
==Public career== | |||
], 1889]] | |||
In 1817, Crockett moved the family to new acreage in ], where he first entered public office as a commissioner helping to configure the new county's boundaries.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=152}} On November 25, the state legislature appointed him county justice of the peace.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=154}} On March 27, 1818, he was elected lieutenant colonel of the ], defeating candidate Daniel Matthews for the position.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=154–156}} By 1819, Crockett was operating multiple businesses in the area and felt his public responsibilities were beginning to consume so much of his time and energy that he had little left for either family or business. He resigned from the office of justice of the peace and from his position with the regiment.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=158}} | |||
===Tennessee General Assembly=== | |||
In 1821, he resigned as commissioner and successfully ran for a seat in the Tennessee General Assembly,<ref>{{cite web|title=Members of the Tennessee General Assembly 1794–2010 |url=http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/misc/tga.htm|publisher=Tennessee State Library and Archives|access-date=November 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108235812/http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/misc/tga.htm|archive-date=November 8, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> representing ] and ] counties.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=159}} It was this election where Crockett honed his anecdotal oratory skills.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=159–160}} He was appointed to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances on September 17, 1821, and served through the first session that ended November 17, as well as the special session called by the governor in the summer of 1822, ending on August 24.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=163}}{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=326}} He favored legislation to ease the tax burden on the poor.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=16}} Crockett spent his entire legislative career fighting for the rights of impoverished settlers who he felt dangled on the precipice of losing title to their land due to the state's complicated system of grants.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=16}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Early North Carolina and Tennessee Land Grants|url=http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/guides/guide10.htm|publisher=Tennessee State Library and Archives|access-date=November 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123205007/http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/guides/guide10.htm|archive-date=January 23, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> He supported 1821 gubernatorial candidate ], over Andrew Jackson's endorsed candidate ].{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=15}} | |||
Less than two weeks after Crockett's 1821 election to the General Assembly, a flood of the ] destroyed Crockett's businesses.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=165}} In November, Elizabeth's father Robert Patton deeded {{convert|800|acre}} of his ] property to Crockett.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=169}} Crockett sold off most of the acreage to help settle his debts, and moved his family to the remaining acreage on the ], which remained in Carroll County until 1825 when the boundaries were reconfigured and put it in Gibson County.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=177,190}} In 1823, he ran against Andrew Jackson's nephew-in-law William Edward Butler{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=183–185}} and won a seat in the General Assembly representing the counties of Carroll, Humphreys, Perry, Henderson and Madison.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=186}} He served in the first session, which ran from September through the end of November 1823, and in the second session that ran September through the end of November 1824, championing the rights of the impoverished farmers.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|pages=19, 326}} During Andrew Jackson's election to the United States Senate in 1823, Crockett backed his opponent ].{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=18}} | |||
===United States House of Representatives=== | |||
On October 25, 1824, Crockett notified his constituents of his intention to run in the 1825 election for a seat in the ]. He lost that election to incumbent ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=188–190}} A chance meeting in 1826 gained him the encouragement of ] mayor Marcus Brutus Winchester<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Marcus Brutus Winchester|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1522|encyclopedia=Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture|access-date=November 6, 2013}}</ref> to try again to win a seat in Congress.{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=194–196}} The ''Jackson Gazette'' published a letter from Crockett on September 15, 1826, announcing his intention of again challenging Rankin, and stating his opposition to the policies of President ] and Secretary of State ] and to Rankin's position on the cotton tariff.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=147}} Militia veteran William Arnold also entered the race, and Crockett easily defeated both political opponents for the 1827–29 term.<ref>{{cite book|title=Credential of election for David Crockett, 09/18/1827|series=File Unit: Credentials of Representatives and Delegates to the 20th Congress, 12/1827 - 3/1829|date=September 18, 1827|url=https://research.archives.gov/description/306597|publisher=U.S. National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 306597|access-date=October 12, 2013|archive-date=December 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207194803/http://research.archives.gov/description/306597|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pages=199–200}} He arrived in Washington, D.C. and took up residence at Mrs. Ball's Boarding House, where a number of other legislators lived when Congress was in session.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=14}} Jackson was elected as president in ]. Crockett continued his legislative focus on settlers getting a fair deal for land titles, offering H.R. 27 amendment to a bill sponsored by ].{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=327}} | |||
{{quote box | |||
|quote =I believed it was a wicked, unjust measure.... I voted against this Indian bill, and my conscience yet tells me that I gave a good honest vote, and one that I believe will not make me ashamed in the day of judgement. | |||
|source = —David Crockett, ''A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett''{{sfn|Crockett|1834|page=206}} | |||
|width=25% | |||
|align = right | |||
}} | |||
Crockett was re-elected for the 1829–31 session,<ref>{{cite web | title = Crockett, David, (1786–1836) | work = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|publisher = ] | url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c000918 | access-date = January 4, 2013}}</ref> once again defeating Adam Rankin Alexander.{{sfn|Groneman|2005|page=95}} He introduced H.R. 185 amendment to the land bill on January 29, 1830, but it was defeated on May 3.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=327}} On February 25, 1830, he introduced a resolution to abolish the ] at ]<ref>{{cite book|title=Congressman Davy Crockett's Resolution to Abolish the Military Academy at West Point, 02/25/1830|series=File Unit: Bills and Resolutions Originating in the House of Representatives, 21st Congress, 1829 - 1831|date=February 25, 1830|url=https://research.archives.gov/description/2173241|publisher=U.S. National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 2173241|access-date=October 20, 2013|archive-date=December 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207195856/http://research.archives.gov/description/2173241|url-status=dead}}</ref> because he felt that it was public money going to benefit the sons of wealthy men.{{sfn|Groneman|2005|pages=96–97}} He spoke out against Congress giving $100,000 to the widow of ], citing that Congress was not empowered to do that.{{sfn|Groneman|2005|pages=97–98}} He opposed Jackson's 1830 ] and was the only member of the Tennessee delegation to vote against it.{{sfn|Groneman|2005|page=97}} ] chief ] sent him a letter on January 13, 1831, expressing his thanks for Crockett's vote.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|pages=198–199}} His vote was not popular with his own district, and he was defeated in the 1831 election by ].{{sfn|Groneman|2005|pages=98–99}} | |||
Crockett ran against Fitzgerald again in the 1833 election and was returned to Congress, serving until 1835.{{sfn|Groneman|2005|pages=106–107–99}}{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=326}} On January 2, 1834, he introduced the land title resolution H.R. 126, but it never made it as far as being debated on the House floor.{{sfn|Boylston|Wiener|2009|page=327}} He was defeated for re-election in the August 1835 election by ].{{sfn|Wallis|2011|page=275}} During his last term in Congress, he collaborated with ] Congressman ] to write his autobiography, which was published by E. L. Carey and A. Hart in 1834 as ''A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, Written by Himself'',{{sfn|Groneman|2005|pages=109–110}} and he went east to promote the book. In 1836, newspapers published the now-famous quotation attributed to Crockett upon his return to his home state: | |||
<blockquote>I told the people of my district that I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but if not, they might go to hell, and I would go to Texas.<ref>* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112173608/http://texasheritagesociety.org/David-Crockett-Quote.html |date=November 12, 2013 }}, April 9, 1836</ref></blockquote> | |||
Despite Crockett’s opposition to the institution of ], he did enslave people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Richard Penn |title=On to the Alamo: Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-243764-3 |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVacFJNvUvwC&pg=PA139 |access-date=8 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Wallis|2011|pp=174–175}} | |||
==Texas Revolution== | ==Texas Revolution== | ||
]]] | |||
On ], ], Crockett left Tennessee for Texas, writing "''I want to explore Texas well before I return''". He traveled along the Kawesch Glenn, a southwest trail with historical insight. He arrived in ], in early January 1836. On ], ] Crockett and 65 other men signed an oath before Judge John Forbes to the Provisional Government of Texas for six months. "''I have taken the oath of government and have enrolled my name as a volunteer and will set out for the ] in a few days with the volunteers from the United States''." Each man was promised about 4,600 acres (19 km²) of land as payment. On ], Crockett and about five other men rode into ] and camped just outside of the town. They were later greeted by ] and Antonio Menchacha and taken to the home of Don Erasmo Sequin. | |||
By December 1834, Crockett was writing to friends about moving to ] if Jackson's chosen successor ] was elected president. The next year, he discussed with his friend ] raising a company of volunteers to take to Texas in the expectation that a revolution was imminent.{{sfn|Cobia|2003|pages=21–22}} His departure to Texas was delayed by a court appearance in the last week of October as co-executor of his deceased father-in-law's estate; he finally left his home near ] in West Tennessee with three other men on November 1, 1835, to explore Texas.{{sfn|Derr|1983|pages=225–226}} His youngest child Matilda later wrote that she distinctly remembered the last time that she saw her father: | |||
], ], ].]] | |||
{{blockquote|He was dressed in his hunting suit, wearing a ], and carried a fine rifle presented to him by friends in Philadelphia. ... He seemed very confident the morning he went away that he would soon have us all to join him in Texas.{{sfn|Cobia|2003|page=25}}}} | |||
] was the commander in charge at the siege at the Alamo. His appeal for help has been used as an example of Texan courage and fortitude which Davy Crockett responded to by joining William Travis's forces.. The Texas forces of 180-250 were overwhelmed by the attacking 1,300-1,600 Mexican soldiers. The Mexican commanders understood their superiority of numbers and position and offered free passage to all concerned. Travis, supported by his entire force, refused to surrender. | |||
Crockett traveled with 30 well-armed men to ], where he gave a speech from the steps of the ] courthouse, and they arrived in ], on November 12, 1835. The local newspapers reported that hundreds of people swarmed into town to get a look at Crockett, and a group of leading citizens put on a dinner in his honor that night at the Jeffries Hotel. Crockett spoke "mainly to the subject of Texan independence", as well as Washington politics.{{sfn|Cobia|2003|pages=40–44}} | |||
==Death== | |||
What is known about the final fate of Davy Crockett is that he died at the ]. The only survivors on the Texan side were one woman, one slave, and one child. The legend that has evolved from the testimony of the soldiers of the Mexican army and other historians of the battle has it that Crockett went down fighting inside the Alamo compound, most likely shot in combat. | |||
Crockett arrived in ], in early January 1836. On January 14, he and 65 other men signed an oath before Judge John Forbes to the Provisional Government of Texas for six months: "I have taken the oath of government and have enrolled my name as a volunteer and will set out for the ] in a few days with the volunteers from the United States." Each man was promised about {{convert|4600|acre}} of land as payment. On February 6, he and five other men rode into ] and camped just outside the town. | |||
In 1955, some controversial evidence came to light that has questioned the accepted account of Crockett's fate. According to the diary of ], there may have been up to six survivors, with Crockett perhaps among them. Peña's account states that several prisoners from the Alamo were taken by Mexican General ] and summarily executed by order of Mexican General and President ]. Crockett, according to Peña's entry, was identified to Santa Anna by Castrillón, who along with two other officers, begged the General to spare the life of the great hero. Santa Anna refused, and ordered all survivors to be executed immediately. This was accepted at the time, and was used by the Texans as an example of Santa Anna's cruelty. | |||
] depicts Davy Crockett swinging his rifle at Mexican troops who have breached the south gate of the mission.]] | |||
Critics of this report tend to discount its validity on two key points. Primary of these is the fact that no other account of Crockett surviving the Alamo have surfaced except for Peña's account. No documentation in the archives of the Mexican government, nor any of the personal records of any other person or persons present at the Battle of the Alamo, have given any hints of any survivors amongst the defenders of the Alamo, much less any claiming Crockett as a survivor. Secondly, there is some speculation that Peña's account may have been a deliberate fabrication, with the intention of presenting Santa Anna in a far more diabolical light than American (and especially Texan) historians have given the General since the fall of the Alamo. All things considered, in all likelihood the most common account of Crockett's final fate was that he was killed in the final minutes of the siege, having fallen back to the Alamo's redoubt position of the long barracks with the last dozen or so of Travis' men. Two eyewitness survivors of the Alamo confirm that Crockett did die in the battle. Susanna Dickinson, the wife of an officer, said that Crockett died in the assault and that she saw Crockett's body between the long barracks and the chapel, and Travis' slave Joe said that he also saw Crockett lying dead with the bodies of slain Mexican soldiers around him. | |||
Crockett arrived at the ] on February 8.{{sfn|Hardin|1994|page=117}} A Mexican army arrived on February 23 led by General ], surprising the men garrisoned in the Alamo, and the Mexican soldiers immediately ].{{sfn|Edmondson|2000|page=299}}{{sfn|Todish|Todish|Spring|1998|page=40}} Santa Anna ordered his artillery to keep up a near-constant bombardment. The guns were moved closer to the Alamo each day, increasing their effectiveness. On February 25, 200–300 Mexican soldiers crossed the San Antonio River and took cover in abandoned shacks approximately {{convert|90|to|100|yd|m}} from the Alamo walls.{{sfn|Todish|Todish|Spring|1998|pages=42–43}}{{sfn|Tinkle|1985|page=118}} The soldiers intended to use the huts as cover to establish another artillery position, although many ]s assumed that they actually were launching an assault on the fort.{{sfn|Tinkle|1985|page=119}} Several men volunteered to burn the huts.{{sfn|Lord|1961|page=109}} To provide cover, the Alamo cannons fired ] at the Mexican soldiers, and Crockett and his men fired rifles, while other defenders reloaded extra weapons for them to use in maintaining a steady fire. The battle was over within 90 minutes,{{sfn|Tinkle|1985|page=119}} and the Mexican soldiers retreated.{{sfn|Nofi|1992|page=83}} There were limited stores of powder and shot inside the Alamo, and Alamo commander ] ordered the artillery to stop returning fire on February 26 so as to conserve precious ammunition. Crockett and his men were encouraged to keep shooting, as they were unusually effective.{{sfn|Hardin|1994|page=132}} | |||
==Funeral== | |||
Most sources indicate Crockett and all the Alamo defenders were cremated en masse. There were unconfirmed reports that some of the Mexicans who were hired to burn and bury the dead removed Crockett to a secret, unmarked location and buried him there before his body was burned. Some say that he was secretly transported back to Tennessee to prevent Santa Anna from using his body as a trophy. These reports are all unconfirmed. Conspiracy theories aside, Crockett's body was most likely cremated with the other Alamo defenders on a mass funeral pyre after the fall of the Alamo. | |||
]]] | |||
On his tombstone, it says: "Davy Crockett, Pioneer, Patriot, Soldier, Trapper, Explorer, State Legislator, Congressman, Martyred at The Alamo. 1786 - 1836". | |||
As the siege progressed, Travis sent many messages asking for reinforcements. Several messengers were sent to ] who commanded the group of Texian soldiers at ] in ]. Fannin decided that it was too risky to reinforce the Alamo, although historian Thomas Ricks Lindley concludes that up to 50 of Fannin's men left his command to go to Bexar.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=137}} These men would have reached Cibolo Creek on the afternoon of March 3, {{convert|35|mi|km}} from the Alamo, where they joined another group of men who also planned to join the garrison.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=138}} | |||
There was a skirmish between Mexican and Texian troops that same night outside the Alamo.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=143}} Historian ] speculates that the Texians were creating a diversion to allow their courier John Smith to evade Mexican pickets.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=143}} However, Alamo survivor ] said in 1876 that Travis sent out three men shortly after dark on March 3, probably a response to the arrival of Mexican reinforcements. The three men—including Crockett—were sent to find Fannin.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=140}} Lindley states that Crockett and one of the other men found the force of Texians waiting along Cibolo Creek just before midnight; they had advanced to within {{convert|20|mi|km}} of the Alamo. Just before daylight on March 4, part of the Texian force managed to break through the Mexican lines and enter the Alamo. A second group was driven across the prairie by Mexican cavalry.{{sfn|Lindley|2003|page=142}} | |||
==Legacies== | |||
The siege ended on March 6 when the Mexican army attacked just before dawn while the defenders were sleeping. The daily artillery bombardment had been suspended, perhaps a ploy to encourage the natural human reaction to a cessation of constant strain. But the garrison awakened and the final fight began. Most of the noncombatants gathered in the church ] for safety. According to Dickinson, Crockett paused briefly in the chapel to say a prayer before running to his post.{{sfn|Edmondson|2000|page=363}} The Mexican soldiers climbed up the north outer walls of the Alamo complex, and most of the Texians fell back to the barracks and the chapel, as previously planned.{{sfn|Todish|Todish|Spring|1998|page=53}} Crockett and his men, however, were too far from the barracks to take shelter{{sfn|Lord|1961|page=162}} and were the last remaining group to be in the open. They defended the low wall in front of the church, using their rifles as clubs and relying on knives, as the action was too furious to allow reloading. After a volley and a charge with ]s, Mexican soldiers pushed the few remaining defenders back toward the church.{{sfn|Edmondson|2000|page=368}} | |||
One of Crockett's sayings, which were published in almanacs between 1835 and 1856 (along with those of ] and ]), was: | |||
] purports to hold the ashes of the Alamo defenders. However, historians believe it more probable that the ashes were buried near the Alamo.]] | |||
{{cquote|''Be always sure you are right, then go ahead.}} | |||
The ] lasted almost 90 minutes,{{sfn|Petite|1999|page=114}} and all of the defenders were killed. Santa Anna ordered his men to take their bodies to a nearby stand of trees, where they were stacked together and wood piled on top.{{sfn|Edmondson|2000|page=374}} That evening, they lit a fire and burned their bodies to ashes.{{sfn|Petite|1999|page=139}} The ashes were left undisturbed until February 1837, when Juan Seguin and his cavalry returned to Bexar to examine the remains. A local carpenter created a simple coffin, and ashes from the funeral pyres were placed inside. The names of Travis, Crockett, and ] were inscribed on the lid.{{sfn|Petite|1999|page=131}} The coffin is thought to have been buried in a peach tree grove, but the spot was not marked and can no longer be identified.{{sfn|Petite|1999|page=132}} | |||
It is also said that upon going to Texas, his fellow congressman urged him to stay. In response Crockett quickly answered him: | |||
{{cquote|''You may go to hell, I will go to Texas.}} | |||
==Death== | |||
In 1838, Robert Patton Crockett went to Texas to administer his father's land claim.<br> In 1854, Elizabeth Crockett finally came to Texas where she died in 1860. John Wesley Crockett became a U.S. congressman, serving two consecutive terms in office, before retiring in 1843. | |||
], ]]] | |||
David Crockett died at the Alamo on the morning of March 6, 1836, at the age of 49. Accounts from survivors of the battle differ on the manner of Crockett's death, with stories ranging from Crockett putting up a heroic last stand to the account that he surrendered along with several other men and was executed. To further confusion, historians have been able to back up opposing theories with "voluminous evidence".<ref name="Gilley">{{cite web |last1=Gilley |first1=Kenneth |title=The Mysterious Death of David Crockett |url=https://stmuhistorymedia.org/the-mysterious-death-of-david-crockett/ |work=Texas Monthly|date=December 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516010616/https://stmuhistorymedia.org/the-mysterious-death-of-david-crockett/ |archive-date=16 May 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
===Controversy=== | |||
==Crockett in media== | |||
The popular mythology of Crockett's death in American culture is one of a heroic last stand, a tale that is backed up by some historical evidence. For example, a former ] named Ben, who had acted as cook for one of Santa Anna's officers, maintained that Crockett's body was found in the barracks surrounded by "no less than sixteen Mexican corpses", with Crockett's knife buried in one of them.{{sfn|Tinkle|1985|page=214}} There is, however, historical evidence countering the popular myth, with stories of a Crockett surrender and execution circulating as far back as just a few weeks after the battle.{{sfn|Petite|1999|page=123}} | |||
===Television & Radio=== | |||
His legend was again popularized by ], who produced a three-episode television series loosely based on his life, starring ] in the title role: ''Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter''; ''Davy Crockett Goes to Congress''; and ''Davy Crockett at the Alamo''. The shows aired on the ] network on the Wednesdays of ], ], ], ], and ], ]. ] co-starred as his sidekick George E. Russel. (The final episode shows Crockett fighting the Mexicans at the Alamo in hand to hand combat). | |||
The counter myth picked up historical steam when, in 1955, Jesús Sánchez Garza discovered the memoirs of ], a Mexican officer present at the Battle of the Alamo, and self-published it as ''La Rebelión de Texas{{snd}}Manuscrito Inédito de 1836 por un Oficial de Santa Anna''. ] published the English translation in 1975 ''With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution''. The English publication caused a scandal within the United States, as it asserted that Crockett did not die in battle, but was executed soon thereafter.{{sfn|Todish|Todish|Spring|1998|page=120}} The translator of the English publication, Carmen Perry, the former librarian of the ], was harassed with anonymous letters and intimidating phone calls by Crockett loyalists who considered the mere suggestion that Crockett had not died fighting blasphemous.<ref name=Paulsen>{{cite web |last1=Paulsen |first1=Barbara |title=Say It Ain't So, Davy |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/article/say-aint-davy/ |work=Texas Monthly|date=February 9, 2017 }}</ref> | |||
The shows were a tremendous success, and coonskin caps like the one Parker wore were very popular with children for a time. Disney said that if he had realized how popular the Davy Crockett series would become, he would not have killed off his hero after just three episodes. Davy Crockett did, in fact, make a return with Disney in two further adventures: ''Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race'' and ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates''. In these two episodes Crockett faced off against ], another early American legend. | |||
Some have questioned the validity of the text. Author and retired firefighter William Groneman III posited that the journals were made up of several different types of paper from several different paper manufacturers, all cut down to fit.{{sfn|Groneman|1999|page=136}} Longtime ] enthusiast Joseph Musso <ref>{{cite web |last1=Spangenberger |first1=Phil |title=Davy Crockett's "Ol' Betsy" Found |url=https://truewestmagazine.com/davy-crocketts-ol-betsy-found/ |website=True West: History of the American Frontier |date=March 18, 2014 |publisher=True West |access-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018034417/https://truewestmagazine.com/davy-crocketts-ol-betsy-found/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> also questioned the validity of de la Peña's diary, basing his suspicions on the timing of the diary's release, and the fact that historical interest in the topic rose around the same time as the ] mini-series '']'' was released in 1955. Some questions were answered when, in 2001, archivist David Gracy published a detailed analysis of the manuscript, including lab results. He found, among other things, that the paper and ink were of a type used by the Mexican army in the 1830s, and the handwriting matched that on other documents in the Mexican military archives that were written or signed by de la Peña.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Adams|first1=Cecil|title=Remembering the Alamo (and the death of Davy Crockett)|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2508/remembering-the-alamo-and-the-death-of-davy-crockett|website=straightdope|date=May 14, 2004|access-date=23 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gracy II |first1=David B. |title=Just As I Have Written It: A Study of the Authenticity of the Manuscript of José Enrique de la Peña's Account of the Texas Campaign |journal=Southwestern Historical Quarterly |date=October 2001 |volume=105 |issue=2 |pages=254–294 |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/285/}}</ref> | |||
The publicity for ''Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' also spawned a brief ] amongst the children of Britain in 1956. This Crockett phenomenon is referenced in books of the time such as the ] series by ] and ]. | |||
] card]] | |||
Disney emphasized Crockett as being a frontier hero, the symbol of patriotism. Crockett was the one who would take Texas from the Mexicans and lead Texas to victory. It gave people the idea that the United States would win anything at any cost. This was also at the time of the ], so Crockett was what popular culture demanded; a hero who could help people escape from the problems around them and embody a nation that would win all. He was a super American who portrayed the U.S. as an invincible superpower. | |||
As for those who have questioned de la Peña's ability to identify any of the Alamo defenders by name, historians believe that de la Peña likely witnessed or was told about executions of the Alamo survivors. And while some claim neither he nor his comrades would have known who those men were,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/archives/delapena/lind_crisp/lind.html|title=Michael Lind's, The Death of David Crockett|website=tamu.edu|access-date=June 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015034118/http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/archives/delapena/lind_crisp/lind.html|archive-date=October 15, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> others conclude that the "enormous weight of evidence" is in favor of the surrender-execution hypothesis.<ref name=Paulsen/> However, several survivors and first-hand witnesses to the battle claimed Crockett fought to the death.<ref name="Gilley" /> Furthermore, no other officer under Santa Anna's command mentions Crockett's surrender, not even his personal secretary Ramon Caro. Later in life, Santa Anna wrote a memoir only stating that Davy Crockett's body was "among the corpses" without giving context to how he died. Santa Anna further wrote “Not one soldier showed signs of desiring to surrender.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeter |first=Derrick |title=On the Death of David Crockett |url=https://www.yallogy.com/p/on-the-death-of-david-crockett |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=www.yallogy.com |language=en}}</ref> | |||
==Legacy== | |||
A 3 episode 1988-89 ] was made titled ''The New Adventures of Davy Crockett'', where ] takes over Fess Parker's famous role. | |||
One of Crockett's sayings, many of which were published in almanacs between 1835 and 1856 (along with those of ] and ]), was: "Always be sure you are right, then go ahead''."''{{sfn|Groneman|2005|page=201}} | |||
The 1955 song "]" was introduced in this television series. Four different versions of the song hit the Billboard Best Sellers pop chart that year. Three of those versions (one by Bill Hayes; one by TV series star Fess Parker, and one by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford) charted in the Top 10 simultaneously, with Hayes' version hitting #1. Davy-mania had truly invaded pop culture. | |||
While serving in the United States House of Representatives, Crockett became a ]. He entrusted his masonic apron to a friend in Tennessee before leaving for Texas, and it was inherited by the friend's descendant in Kentucky.<ref>"...{{nbsp}}made for him by Mrs. A.C. Massie of Washington, D.C., during his tenure in Congress. Before leaving for Texas, he entrusted the apron to the sheriff of Weakley County, Tennessee, and it was inherited and preserved by the sheriff's nephew, E.M. Taylor of Paducah, Kentucky. The lodge at Weakley County, near the Crockett home, burned during the Civil War destroying all the lodge records. From The Texas Mason By Pete Normand, PM Texas Lodge of Research"; {{cite web|last=Crockett |first=Davy |title=Grand Lodge of Texas |url=http://www.grandlodgeoftexas.org/node/131 |work=Masonic Research |publisher=Grand Lodge of Texas |access-date=July 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512133944/http://www.grandlodgeoftexas.org/node/131 |archive-date=May 12, 2012 }}</ref> | |||
In '']'' series 9 episode "The Call of the West", broadcast on ] ]<ref>, URL accessed ]</ref>, Eccles arrives singing the first line of the Ballad of Davy Crockett, whereupon Seagoon announces, 'Here comes Davy Eccles in his goon-shin cap'! | |||
In 1967, the ] issued a 5-cent stamp commemorating Davy Crockett.<ref>{{cite web | title = Stamp Series | publisher = United States Postal Service | url = http://www.uspsstamps.com/stamps/series/american-folklore |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213211823/http://uspsstamps.com/stamps/series/american-folklore | archive-date = December 13, 2013 | access-date = January 31, 2017}}</ref><ref> U.S. Stamp Gallery</ref> | |||
In '']'' one of the artifacts was the collar of Davy Crockett, after which an episode was named. | |||
===Namesakes=== | |||
Crockett is mentioned frequently in the final seasons of '']'' The characters ] and ] were fond of Crockett and his last stand at the Alamo. They would often act out the events in ]'s ]s. | |||
] | |||
'''Tennessee''' | |||
* ], ] | |||
* ], ]<ref>{{cite web|title=David Crockett State Park|url=http://state.tn.us/environment/parks/DavidCrockettSP/|publisher=Tennessee Dept of Environment and Conservation|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* ]; its county seat is ]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Crockett County, Tennessee|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=332|encyclopedia=Tennessee Encyclopedia|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* ], ] | |||
'''Texas''' | |||
===Movies=== | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Julia Cauble|title=Crockett County|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc26|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
After the Crockett fad had waned, ] starred as Crockett in the 1960 feature film '']'' (the first film he also directed). More recently was the John Lee Hancock version of '']'' (2004). This Crockett, played by ], is portrayed as a man trying to downplay his legend, but in the end unable to escape it. This is epitomized in a scene as if Crockett was, speaking to Bowie says, "If it was just me, simple old David from Tennessee, I might drop over that wall some night, take my chances. But that Davy Crockett feller...they're all watchin' him." | |||
* ], ]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Long|first1=Christopher|title=Crockett, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfc15|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=January 24, 2013|last2=Bishop |first2=Elize H.}}</ref> | |||
* ], ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Crockett High School|url=http://www.crocketths.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506064643/http://www.crocketths.org/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 6, 2012|publisher=Austin ISD|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* Davy Crockett Lake, ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett Lake|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/davy_crockett/|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* Davy Crockett Loop, Prairies and Pineywoods Wildlife Trail – East<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett Loop|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wildlife/wildlife-trails/pineywoods/east/davy-crockett-loop|work=Great Texas Wildlife Trails|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* ], Amarillo | |||
* ], ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett National Forest|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/texas/about-forest/districts/?cid=fswdev3_008441|publisher=United States Department of Agriculture|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* Davy Crockett School, ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett School|url=http://www.dallascityhall.com/historic/html/davy_crockett_school.html|publisher=Dallas City Hall|access-date=January 24, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510055205/http://www.dallascityhall.com/historic/html/davy_crockett_school.html|archive-date=May 10, 2012}}</ref> | |||
* Crockett Elementary School, ], ] (closed 2002) | |||
* Crockett Street, a major thoroughfare in ] | |||
* Crockett Street in ], ending in a pedestrian walk in the historic downtown area. | |||
* ], ]<ref>{{cite web|last=Darst|first=Maury|title=Fort Crockett|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbf12|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
]]] | |||
'''Miscellaneous''' | |||
In films, Crockett has been played by: | |||
* ]: a small Nuclear weapons system, the smallest developed by the U.S. which could be fired from a light vehicle, or from a tripod mounted launcher.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Davy Crockett|url=http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/archive/nucweapons/davyc|publisher=The Brookings Institution|access-date=January 24, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526164546/http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/archive/nucweapons/davyc|archive-date=May 26, 2013}}</ref> | |||
* Crockett Park, north of downtown San Antonio | |||
===Monuments=== | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett - In Hearts United'', 1909, silent) | |||
* ], ], sculptor ], west panel of the Cenotaph features a Crockett statue and a statue of ] in front of other Alamo defenders<ref>{{cite web|title=Alamo Cenotaph|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/gga02|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett'', 1916, silent) | |||
* David Crockett Statue, ], sculptor William M. McVey<ref>{{cite web|title=David Crockett Statue, Ozona, Tx|date=March 22, 2013 |url=http://www.ozonamuseum.com/sights/|publisher=Crockett County Museum|access-date=October 21, 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Little|1996|page=348}} | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo'', 1926, silent) | |||
* Life-size statue Colonel David Crockett, Public Square, ], W. M. Dean Marble Company of ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Lawrenceburg Public Square |url=http://www.lawrenceburg.com/publicsquare/ |publisher=City of Lawrenceburg |access-date=January 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423141335/http://www.lawrenceburg.com/publicsquare/ |archive-date=April 23, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=D Crockett Statue, Lawrenceburg, Tn|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM4DDW_Davy_Davy_Crockett|publisher=Waymarking|access-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref> | |||
*] (''The Painted Stallion'', 1937) | |||
*] (''Heroes of the Alamo'', 1937) | |||
*] (''Man of Conquest'', 1939) | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett, Indian Scout'', 1950) | |||
*] (''The Man from the Alamo'', 1953) | |||
*] (''The Last Command'', 1955) | |||
*] (''King of the Wild Frontier'', 1955, ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'', 1956) | |||
*] (''The First Texan'', 1956) | |||
*] ('']'', 1960) | |||
*] (''The Alamo; Thirteen Days of Glory'', 1987) | |||
*] (''Alamo: The Price of Freedom'', 1988) | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder'', 1988) | |||
*] (''Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder'', ''Davy Crockett: A Natural Man'', ''Davy Crockett: Guardian Spirit'', ''Davy Crockett: Letter to Polly'', 1988-1989) | |||
*] (''The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear'', 1991 ) | |||
*] (''Texas'', 1994) | |||
*] (''Dear America: A Line in the Sand'', 2000) | |||
*] (''The Anarchist Cookbook'', 2002) | |||
*] ('']'', 2003) | |||
*] ('']'') | |||
==In popular culture== | |||
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: ] --> | |||
{{in popular culture|date=May 2018}} | |||
== |
===Television=== | ||
] as Davy Crockett in ''Disneyland'']] | |||
{{toomuchtrivia}} | |||
* In May 1836 Richard Penn Smith wrote ''Colonel Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas'' and Carey & Hart published this material claiming it was the "authentic diary" of Crockett's taken from the Alamo by a Mexican general who was later killed at the ]. In 1884, the book was discovered as a phony after selling thousands of copies. | |||
] adapted Crockett's stories into a ] titled '']'', which aired in 1954 and 1955 on '']''. The series popularized the image of Crockett, portrayed by ], wearing a ], and originated the song "]". The first three parts of the series were edited into a ] for theaters. | |||
* In 1872, a play about Crockett ran for over 2,000 performances, ending in 1884 with the death of the lead actor. | |||
*Davy Crockett named his favorite rifle "Betsy". History often confuses "Betsy" with his second rifle, "Old Betsy," given to him by the Whigs upon his re-election. "Betsy" was a gift from the people of Tennessee. When he went to Texas, he left the "Old Betsy" at his home in Tennessee and took his standard "Betsy" hunting rifle. Though "Betsy" was lost in the Alamo, "Old Betsy" now resides in the Alamo Chapel in San Antonio. Crockett's first rifle, prior to "Betsy", is on display at the East Tennessee History Center in ] | |||
Crockett's stories were used by the French animation Studios Animage for a 1994 animated series titled ''Davy Crockett''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://animeguides.com/guides/davycrockett.html |title=Davy Crockett |work=AnimeGuides |access-date=August 31, 2018 |language=fr-FR}}</ref> | |||
*Davy Crockett became a popular figure in ] between the late 1980s and early '90s, when airing of the classic Disney series led to a brief Davy Crockett craze among Egyptian viewers (mostly children), which also also led the airing of the 1988 revival a few years later. | |||
*It is believed that Crockett was never referred to as "Davy" during his lifetime. The term comes from a misinterpretation of his ] in which "David" can appear to look like "Davy". | |||
A 2009 episode of '']'' tested whether Crockett could split a bullet in half on the blade of an ax {{Convert|40|yd}} away, and concluded that it would indeed be possible to do so.<ref name=indeed>{{Cite news|first=Eric|last= Meisfjord|date=June 4, 2020 |title=The Untold Truth Of MythBusters Jr. |url=https://www.grunge.com/214948/the-untold-truth-of-mythbusters-jr/|access-date=September 6, 2023 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
*A robot named ''Davy Sprocket'' appeared in the video game, '']'', as an opponent, parodying Davy Crockett. | |||
===Film=== | |||
In films, Crockett has been played by: | |||
* ], '']'' (1909), silent<ref>{{cite book|title=The Moving Picture World, Volume 4|year=1909|publisher=Moving Pictures Exhibitors Association|pages=653, 690, 734, 760, 769, 780, 811, 885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEpAAAAYAAJ&q=In+Hearts+United+%22davy+crockett%22&pg=PA690}}</ref> | |||
* ], '' ]'' (1910), silent{{sfn|Langman|1992|page=108}} | |||
* ], '']'' (1916), silent{{sfn|Cozad|2002|pages=229–230}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1926, silent){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1937){{sfn|Michno|Michno|Michno|2008|pages=53–55}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1937){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1939){{sfn|Langman|Ebner|2001|pages=52–53}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1953){{sfn|Williamson|1995|pages=278–279}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1955){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1955, and '']'', 1956, both on '']''){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] (''The First Texan'', 1956){{sfn|Langman|1992|page=107}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1960){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1987){{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
* ] (''Alamo: The Price of Freedom'', 1988)<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Curtis|first=Gregory|title=The myth of the six-story Alamo|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=May 1988|pages=5, 6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SkEAAAAMBAJ&q=Merril+Connally+%22davy+crockett%22&pg=PA6}}</ref> | |||
* ] ('']'', 1988){{sfn|Marill|2011|page=22}} | |||
* ] (''Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder'', ''Davy Crockett: A Natural Man'', ''Davy Crockett: Guardian Spirit'', ''Davy Crockett: Letter to Polly'', 1988–1989){{sfn|Marill|2011|page=22}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 1991 )<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q502979|title=The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear}}</ref> | |||
* ] ('']'', 1994)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=John Leonard's TV Notes|magazine=New York|date=April 17, 1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOMCAAAAMBAJ&q=john+schneider+%22davy+crockett%22&pg=PA157|page=157|last1=New York Media|first1=LLC}}</ref> | |||
* ] (''Dear America: A Line in the Sand'', 2000)<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123536798|title=Dear America: A Line in the Sand }}</ref> | |||
* Justin Howard (''The Anarchist Cookbook'', 2002){{sfn|Monush|Willis|2005|page=190}} | |||
* ] ('']'', 2004)"{{sfn|Niemi|2006|pages=10–16}} | |||
===Theatre=== | |||
* '']'' (1872), popular touring play of its time, by Frank Murdoch | |||
* ''Davy Crockett,'' musical play (unfinished), January to April 1938, ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett musical play|url=http://www.allmusic.com/composition/davy-crockett-musical-play-unfinished-mc0002461847|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Davy Crockett : piano score / Kurt Weill|url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search_Arg=PA0001204453&Search_Code=REGS&CNT=25&SID=1|work=U.S. Copyright Records Database|publisher=United States Copyright Office|access-date=October 21, 2013}}</ref> | |||
===Prose fiction=== | |||
Crockett appears in at least two short ] works: "Chickasaw Slave" by ] in ]'s anthology '']'' (1992), where Crockett is the seventh President of the United States, and "Empire" by ] in ]'s anthology '']'' (2002) where Crockett fights for Emperor ] of ] in a conflict analogous to the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uchronia.net/label/sandempire.html |title=Sanders, William. "Empire" |website=uchronia.net |access-date=January 14, 2022 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102062435/http://www.uchronia.net:80/label/sandempire.html |archive-date=January 2, 2019 }}</ref> Crockett is also a character in ]'s novel '']'' as a congressman from Tennessee. | |||
===Comics=== | |||
] syndicated a ], ''Davy Crockett, Frontiersman'', from June 20, 1955, until 1959. Stories were by ]<ref name=WhosWho>{{cite web |url= http://www.bpib.com/comicsproj/biogH2.html|title= Herron, Ed|first1= Paul|last1= Leiffer|first2= Hames|last2= Ware|date= n.d.|work= Who's Who of American Comic Strip Producers|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233610/http://www.bpib.com/comicsproj/biogH2.html|archive-date= March 3, 2016|url-status= usurped}}</ref> and the artwork was ghosted in early 1956 by ].<ref>Holtz, Allan. ''Stripper's Guide'' (September 18, 2018).</ref> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{Portal|Biography|Texas}} | |||
*] | |||
*] | * ] | ||
* "]" | |||
* ] | |||
== |
== Citations == | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
<references/> | |||
== General and cited references== | |||
{{refbegin}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Abramson|first1=Rudy|last2=Haskell|first2=Jean| last3=Lofaro|first3= Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Appalachia|year=2006|publisher=University of Tennessee Press|location=Knoxville|isbn=978-1-57233-456-4}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Bense|first=Judith A.|title=Archaeology of Colonial Pensacola (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)|year=1999|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville|isbn=978-0-8130-1661-0}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Boylston|first1=James R.|last2=Wiener |first2=Allen J. |title=David Crockett in Congress: The Rise and Fall of the Poor Man's Friend|year=2009|publisher=Bright Sky Press|location=Houston, TX|isbn=978-1-933979-51-9}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Cobia | first=Manley F. Jr. |year=2003 |title=Journey into the Land of Trials: The Story of Davy Crockett's Expedition to the Alamo |place= Franklin, TN |publisher=Hillsboro Press |isbn=978-1-57736-268-5}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Cozad|first=W. Lee|title=Those Magnificent Mountain Movies: The Golden Years 1911–1939|year=2002|publisher=Rim of the World Historic Society|location=Lake Arrowhead, CA|isbn=978-0-9723372-1-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Crockett |first=David |year=1834 |title=A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett |publisher= E. L. Carey and A. Hart |location=Baltimore, MD |oclc= 1306778}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Derr|first=Mark|title=The Frontiersman : The Real Life and the Many Legends of Davy Crockett|year=1983|publisher=William Morrow|place=New York|isbn=978-0-688-13798-4}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=DRT|title=Daughters of Republic of Texas – Vol II|year=2001|publisher=Turner Publishing|location=Paducah, KY|isbn=978-1-56311-641-4}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Edmondson|first=J.R.|title=The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts|publisher=Republic of Texas Press|place=Plano|isbn=978-0-585-24106-7|year=2000}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Fulgham|first=Richard Lee|title=Appalachian Genesis: The Clinch River Valley from Prehistoric Times to the End of the Frontier Era|year=2000|publisher=Overmountain Press|location=Johnson City, TN|isbn=978-1-57072-088-8}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Groneman|first=Bill|title=Death of a Legend: The Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy Crockett|publisher=Republic of Texas Press|location=Plano|year=1999|isbn=978-0-585-26267-3}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Groneman|first=William|title=David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man|year=2005|publisher=Forge Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7653-1067-5|url=https://archive.org/details/davidcrocketther00gron}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Hardin|first=Stephen L..|author-link=Stephen L. Hardin|title=Texian Iliad|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1994|location=Austin|isbn=978-0-292-73086-1}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Hasday|first=Judy L.|title=Davy Crockett (Legends of the Wild West)|year=2010|publisher=Chelsea House Publications|location=New York|isbn=978-1-60413-592-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/davycrockett0000hasd}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Randell |year=2006 |title=In the Footsteps of Davy Crockett |location=Winston-Salem, NC |publisher=John F. Blair |isbn=978-0-89587-324-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/infootstepsofdav0000jone }} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Langman|first=Larry|title=A guide to silent westerns|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood|location=New York|isbn=978-0-313-27858-7}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Langman|first1=Larry|last2=Ebner|first2=David| title=Hollywood's Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films|year=2001|publisher=Greenwood|location=New York|isbn=978-0-313-31886-3}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Lindley|first=Thomas Ricks|title=Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions|publisher=Republic of Texas Press|location=Lanham, MD|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55622-983-1}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Little|first=Carol Morris|title=A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas|year=1996|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|isbn=978-0-292-76036-3}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Lord|first=Walter|author-link=Walter Lord|title=A Time to Stand|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1961|location=Lincoln|isbn=978-0-8032-7902-5|url=https://archive.org/details/timetostand00lord}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Marill|first=Alvin H.|title=Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders|year=2011|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=978-0-8108-8133-4}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Michno|first1=Gregory| last2=Michno|first2=Gregory F.| last3=Michno|first3=Susan|title=Circle the Wagons!: Attacks on Wagon Trains in History and Hollywood Films|year=2008|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson. NC|isbn=978-0-7864-3997-3}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Monush|first1=Barry|last2=Willis|first2=John|title=Screen World: 2004 Film Annual|year=2005|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-55783-638-0}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Niemi|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Niemi|title=History in the Media: Film And Television|year=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-1-57607-952-2}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Nofi|first=Albert A.|author-link=Albert Nofi|title=The Alamo and the Texas War of Independence, September 30, 1835 to April 21, 1836: Heroes, Myths, and History|publisher=Combined Books, Inc.|year=1992|location=Conshohocken, PA|isbn= 978-0-585-19807-1}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Petite|first=Mary Deborah|title=1836 Facts about the Alamo and the Texas War for Independence|year=1999|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|isbn=978-1-882810-35-2|publisher=Savas Publishing Company}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Remini|first1=Robert V.|last2=Clark|first2=Wesley K.|title=Andrew Jackson (Great Generals)|year=2008|publisher=]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-230-60015-7}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=Randy|last2=Olson|first2=James S|title=A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory.|year=2001|publisher=The Free Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-684-83544-0|url=https://archive.org/details/lineinsandalamoi00robe}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Tinkle|first=Lon|author-link=Lon Tinkle|title=13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|location=College Station|year=1985|isbn=978-0-89096-238-1}}. Reprint. Originally published: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958 | |||
* {{Cite book|last1=Todish|first1=Timothy J.|last2=Todish|first2=Terry|last3=Spring|first3=Ted|title=Alamo Sourcebook, 1836: A Comprehensive Guide to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution|publisher=Eakin Press|year=1998|location=Austin, TX|isbn=978-1-57168-152-2}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Wallis|first=Michael|title=David Crockett: The Lion of the West|year=2011|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-06758-3}} | |||
* {{Cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–1999|publisher=Record Research, Inc.|year=2000|location=Menomonee Falls, WI|isbn= 978-0-89820-142-0}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Williamson|first=Jerry Wayne|title=Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains and What the Mountains Did to the Movies|year=1995|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-8078-4503-5}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Winders|first=Richard Bruce|title=Davy Crockett: The Legend of the Wild Frontier|year=2001|publisher=Rosen Publishing Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8239-5747-7|url=https://archive.org/details/davycrockettlege00wind}} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== Further reading == | |||
{{Main|Bibliography of works on Davy Crockett}} | |||
Numerous books have been written about David Crockett, including the first one that bears his name as its author. | |||
* {{Cite book |author=David Crockett |year=1834 |title=A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee |url=https://archive.org/details/anarrativelifed00chilgoog |publisher=Carey, Hart & Co. |page=}} | |||
==Further reading== | |||
*Crockett, David, ''A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee''; University of Nebraska Press; ISBN 0-8032-6325-2 | |||
*Derr, Mark ''The Frontiersman. Davy Crockett'' William Morrow and Co. ISBN 0-688-09656-5 | |||
*Davis, William C., ''Lone Star Rising-The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic''; Free Press; ISBN 0-684-86510-6 | |||
*Davis, William C., ''Three Roads to the Alamo''; Harper Collins; ISBN 0-06-017334-3 | |||
*Roberts, Randy & Olson, James S., ''A Line in the Sand-The Alamo in Blood and Memory''; Simon & Schuster; ISBN 0-684-83544-4 | |||
*Levy, Buddy, ''The Real Life Adventures of David Crockett''; Putnam Press; ISBN 0-399-15278-4 | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{Sister project links|d=Q311070|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|wikt=no|s=Author:David Crockett|species=no}} | |||
{{wikiquote}} | |||
{{Spoken Misplaced Pages|Davy_Crockett.ogg|date=2005-09-23}} | |||
{{Commons|Davy Crockett}} | |||
{{CongBio|C000918}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Library resources about|viaf=62341981|onlinebooks=yes}} | |||
* | |||
* {{Library resources by|viaf=62341981|onlinebooks=yes}} | |||
* at Americanwest.com | |||
* {{Gutenberg author | id=39135| name=Davy Crockett}} | |||
* written by David Crockett, and published 1835, hosted by the . | |||
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Davy Crockett}} | |||
* published 1901, hosted by the . | |||
* {{Librivox book |stitle=Dav Crockett |dtitle=Books about David Crockett}} | |||
*Sketch of from , hosted by the . | |||
* | |||
*{{gutenberg|no=4355|name=David Crockett}}; written by ] | |||
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=fcr24|name=David Crockett}} | |||
* | |||
{{S-start}} | |||
{{S-par|us-hs}} | |||
{{US House succession box | |||
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{{Davy Crockett|state=expanded}} | |||
{{Battle of the Alamo}} | |||
{{Appalachian people}} | |||
{{American folklore}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 00:31, 12 January 2025
American politician and frontiersman (1786–1836) "David Crockett" redirects here. For the professional wrestling announcer, see David Crockett (wrestling). For other uses, see Davy Crockett (disambiguation).
Davy Crockett | |
---|---|
Davy Crockett portrait by Chester Harding (1834) | |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee | |
In office March 4, 1827 – March 4, 1831 | |
Preceded by | Adam Rankin Alexander |
Succeeded by | William Fitzgerald |
Constituency | 9th district |
In office March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1835 | |
Preceded by | District created |
Succeeded by | Adam Huntsman |
Constituency | 12th district |
Member of the Tennessee General Assembly | |
In office 1821–1825 | |
Personal details | |
Born | David Crockett (1786-08-17)August 17, 1786 Limestone, Greene County, Tennessee (at that time, part of the State of Franklin), U.S. |
Died | March 6, 1836(1836-03-06) (aged 49) Alamo Mission, San Antonio, Republic of Texas |
Political party |
|
Spouses |
|
Children | 6 including John Wesley Crockett |
Occupation | Pioneer, soldier, politician |
Signature | |
Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives and fought in the Texas Revolution.
Crockett grew up in East Tennessee, where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling. He was made a colonel in the militia of Lawrence County, Tennessee and was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821. In 1827, he was elected to the U.S. Congress where he vehemently opposed many of the policies of President Andrew Jackson, especially the Indian Removal Act. Crockett's opposition to Jackson's policies led to his defeat in the 1831 elections. He was re-elected in 1833, then narrowly lost in 1835, prompting his angry departure to Texas (then the Mexican state of Tejas) shortly thereafter. In early 1836, he took part in the Texas Revolution and died at the Battle of the Alamo. It is unclear whether he died in battle or was executed after being captured by the Mexican Army.
Crockett became famous during his lifetime for larger-than-life exploits popularized by stage plays and almanacs. After his death, he continued to be credited with acts of mythical proportion. These led in the 20th century to television and film portrayals, and he became one of the best-known American folk heroes.
Family and early life
Davy Crockett was paternally of French and Scotch-Irish descent, while maternally of English descent. The Crocketts were mostly of French-Huguenot ancestry, although the family had settled in Ulster in the north of Ireland before migrating to the Americas. The earliest known paternal ancestor was Gabriel Gustave de Crocketagne, whose son Antoine de Saussure Peronette de Crocketagne was given a commission in the Household Troops under King Louis XIV of France. Antoine married Louise de Saix and emigrated to the Kingdom of Ireland with her, changing the family name to Crockett. Their son Joseph Louis was born and raised in Ireland, possibly being born, according to local tradition, near either Castlederg or Donemana, both villages in the northwest of County Tyrone in the west of Ulster; Joseph Louis Crockett later married Sarah Stewart, who was also from west Ulster, she being an Ulster-Scot from just outside the village of Manorcunningham in the Laggan district in the east of County Donegal. Joseph and Sarah emigrated to New York, where their son William David was born in 1709. He married Elizabeth Boulay. William and Elizabeth's son David (paternal grandfather of Davy Crockett) was born in Pennsylvania and married Elizabeth Hedge. Historical records indicate that David and Elizabeth were the parents of William, David Jr., Robert, Alexander, James, Joseph, and John (the father of Davy Crockett); they may have had additional children whose records have not yet been found.
John was born c. 1753 in Frederick County, Virginia. The family moved to Tryon County, North Carolina c. 1768. In 1776, the family moved to northeast Tennessee, in the area of modern Hawkins County. John was one of the Overmountain Men who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolutionary War. He was away as a militia volunteer in 1777 when his parents David and Elizabeth were killed at their home near modern Rogersville by Creeks and Chickamauga Cherokees led by war chief Dragging Canoe. John's brother Joseph was wounded in the skirmish. His brother James was taken prisoner and held for seventeen years.
John married Rebecca Hawkins in 1780. Nine children of John and Rebecca have been verified by historians and Crockett descendants: Nathan, William, Aaron, James, David, John, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Margaret Catharine. Their son David (nicknamed Davy) was born August 17, 1786 and was named after John's father. Crockett's English ancestry comes from his mother Rebecca Hawkins, as the earliest ancestor arrived in Gloucester County, Virginia in 1658.
John Crockett was active in local politics and an advocate of the independent State of Franklin. Davy Crockett was born in that area, which is now in Greene County, Tennessee, close to the Nolichucky River and near the community of Limestone. A replica of Davy Crockett’s birthplace cabin stands near the site, situated in the David Crockett Birthplace State Park.
John continually struggled to make ends meet, and the Crocketts moved to a tract of land on Lick Creek in 1792. John sold that tract of land in 1794 and moved the family to Cove Creek, where he built a gristmill with partner Thomas Galbraith. A flood destroyed the gristmill and the Crockett homestead. The Crocketts then moved to Mossy Creek in Jefferson County, Tennessee, but John forfeited his property in bankruptcy in 1795. The family next moved on to property owned by a Quaker named John Canady — an Irish surname with variant spellings; for example, Crockett’s autobiography referred to the property owner as “John Kennedy”. At Morristown in the Southwest Territory, John built a tavern on a stage coach route; the Crockett Tavern Museum now stands on that site.
When David was 12 years old, his father indentured him to Jacob Siler to help with the Crockett family indebtedness. He helped tend Siler's cattle as a cowboy on a 400-mile (640 km) trip to near Natural Bridge in Virginia. He was well treated and paid for his services but, after several weeks in Virginia, he decided to return home to Tennessee. The next year, John enrolled his sons in school, but David played hooky after an altercation with a fellow student. Upon learning of this, John attempted to whip him but was outrun by his son. David then joined a cattle drive to Front Royal, Virginia, for Jesse Cheek. Upon completion of that trip, he joined teamster Adam Myers on a trip to Gerrardstown, West Virginia. In between trips with Myers, he worked for farmer John Gray. After leaving Myers, he journeyed to Christiansburg, Virginia, where he apprenticed for the next four years with hatter Elijah Griffith.
In 1802, David journeyed by foot back to his father's tavern in Tennessee. His father was in debt to Abraham Wilson for $36 (equivalent to $767 in 2023), so David was hired out to Wilson to pay off the debt. Later, he worked off a $40 debt to John Canady. Once the debts were paid, John Crockett told his son that he was free to leave. David returned to Canady's employment, where he stayed for four years.
Marriages and children
Crockett fell in love with John Canady's niece Amy Summer, who was engaged to Canady's son Robert. While serving as part of the wedding party, Crockett met Margaret Elder. He persuaded her to marry him, and a marriage contract was drawn up on October 21, 1805. However, Margaret had also become engaged to another young man at the same time, whom she married instead of Crockett.
He met Polly Finley and her mother Jean at a harvest festival. Although friendly towards him in the beginning, Jean Finley eventually felt Crockett was not the man for her daughter. Crockett declared his intentions to marry Polly, regardless of whether the ceremony was allowed to take place in her parents' home or had to be performed elsewhere. He arranged for a justice of the peace and took out a marriage license on August 12, 1806. On August 16, he rode to Polly's house with family and friends, determined to ride off with Polly to be married elsewhere. Polly's father pleaded with Crockett to have the wedding in the Finley home. Crockett agreed only after Jean apologized for her past treatment of him.
The newlyweds settled on land near Polly's parents, and their first child, John Wesley Crockett, who became a United States Congressman, was born July 10, 1807. Their second child, William Finley Crockett, was born November 25, 1808. In October 1811, the family relocated to Lincoln County. Their third child Margaret Finley (Polly) Crockett was born on November 25, 1812. The Crocketts then moved to Franklin County in 1813. He named the new home on Beans Creek "Kentuck". His wife died in March 1815, and Crockett asked his brother John and his sister-in-law to move in with him to help care for the children. That same year, he married the widow Elizabeth Patton, who had a daughter, Margaret Ann, and a son, George. David and Elizabeth's son, Robert Patton, was born September 16, 1816. Daughter Rebecca Elvira was born December 25, 1818. Daughter Matilda was born August 2, 1821.
David Crockett family tree
David Crockett family tree- Gabriel Gustave de Crocketagne m. Mademoiselle de Saix of France
- Antoine de Saussure Peronette de Crocketagne (changed name to Crockett) (1643–1735) m. Louise de Saix (1648)
- Joseph Louis Crockett born in Ireland (1676–1749) m. Sarah Gilbert Stewart (1680–1776)
- William David Crockett (1709–1770) m. Elizabeth Boulay (1710)
- David "the Elder" Crockett (1729–1777) m. Elizabeth Hedge (1730–1777)
- William Crockett (1748–1846)
- David Crockett Jr.
- Robert Crockett
- Alexander Crockett
- James Crockett
- Joseph Crockett
- John Crockett (1753–1834) m. Rebecca Hawkins (1756–1832)
- Margaret Catharine Crockett (c. 1778–1792)
- Nathan Crockett (1778–1839)
- William Crockett (1780–1840)
- Aaron Crockett (1782–1835)
- James Patterson Crockett (1784–1834)
- David Crockett (1786–1836)
- m. Polly Finley (1788–1815)
- John Wesley Crockett (1807–1852) m. Martha Hamilton
- William Finley Crockett (1809–1846) m. Clorinda Boyett
- Margaret Finley (Polly) Crockett (1812–1860) m. Wiley Flowers
- m. Elizabeth Patton (1788–1860)
- Robert Patton Crockett (1816–1889)
- m. Matilda Porter
- m. Louisa A. Wohlford
- m. Lydia America Corley
- Rebecca Elvira Crockett (1818–1879)
- m. George Kimbrough
- m. James Halford
- Matilda Crockett (1821–1890)
- m. Thomas P. Tyson
- m. James Wilson
- m. Redden Fields
- Robert Patton Crockett (1816–1889)
- m. Polly Finley (1788–1815)
- John Crockett (1787–1841)
- Elizabeth Crockett (1788–1805)
- Rebecca Crockett (1796–1819)
- David "the Elder" Crockett (1729–1777) m. Elizabeth Hedge (1730–1777)
- William David Crockett (1709–1770) m. Elizabeth Boulay (1710)
- Joseph Louis Crockett born in Ireland (1676–1749) m. Sarah Gilbert Stewart (1680–1776)
- Antoine de Saussure Peronette de Crocketagne (changed name to Crockett) (1643–1735) m. Louise de Saix (1648)
Tennessee militia service
Andrew Jackson was appointed major general of the Tennessee militia in 1802. The Fort Mims massacre occurred near Mobile, Mississippi Territory, on August 30, 1813, and became a rallying cry for the Creek War. On September 20, Crockett left his family and enlisted as a scout for a term of 90 days with Francis Jones's Company of Mounted Rifleman, part of the Second Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen. They served under Colonel John Coffee in the war, marching south into present-day Alabama and taking an active part in the fighting. Crockett often hunted wild game for the soldiers, and felt better suited to that role than killing Creek warriors. He served until December 24, 1813.
The War of 1812 was being waged concurrently with the Creek War. After the Treaty of Fort Jackson in August 1814, Andrew Jackson, then with the U.S. Army, wanted the British forces ousted from Spanish Florida and asked for support from the Tennessee militia. Crockett re-enlisted as third sergeant for a six-month term with the Tennessee Mounted Gunmen under Captain John Cowan on September 28, 1814. Crockett's unit saw little of the main action because they were days behind the rest of the troops and were focused mostly on foraging for food. Crockett returned home in December. He was still on a military reserve status until March 1815, so he hired a young man to fulfill the remainder of his service.
Public career
In 1817, Crockett moved the family to new acreage in Lawrence County, where he first entered public office as a commissioner helping to configure the new county's boundaries. On November 25, the state legislature appointed him county justice of the peace. On March 27, 1818, he was elected lieutenant colonel of the Fifty-seventh Regiment of Tennessee Militia, defeating candidate Daniel Matthews for the position. By 1819, Crockett was operating multiple businesses in the area and felt his public responsibilities were beginning to consume so much of his time and energy that he had little left for either family or business. He resigned from the office of justice of the peace and from his position with the regiment.
Tennessee General Assembly
In 1821, he resigned as commissioner and successfully ran for a seat in the Tennessee General Assembly, representing Lawrence and Hickman counties. It was this election where Crockett honed his anecdotal oratory skills. He was appointed to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances on September 17, 1821, and served through the first session that ended November 17, as well as the special session called by the governor in the summer of 1822, ending on August 24. He favored legislation to ease the tax burden on the poor. Crockett spent his entire legislative career fighting for the rights of impoverished settlers who he felt dangled on the precipice of losing title to their land due to the state's complicated system of grants. He supported 1821 gubernatorial candidate William Carroll, over Andrew Jackson's endorsed candidate Edward Ward.
Less than two weeks after Crockett's 1821 election to the General Assembly, a flood of the Tennessee River destroyed Crockett's businesses. In November, Elizabeth's father Robert Patton deeded 800 acres (320 ha) of his Carroll County property to Crockett. Crockett sold off most of the acreage to help settle his debts, and moved his family to the remaining acreage on the Obion River, which remained in Carroll County until 1825 when the boundaries were reconfigured and put it in Gibson County. In 1823, he ran against Andrew Jackson's nephew-in-law William Edward Butler and won a seat in the General Assembly representing the counties of Carroll, Humphreys, Perry, Henderson and Madison. He served in the first session, which ran from September through the end of November 1823, and in the second session that ran September through the end of November 1824, championing the rights of the impoverished farmers. During Andrew Jackson's election to the United States Senate in 1823, Crockett backed his opponent John Williams.
United States House of Representatives
On October 25, 1824, Crockett notified his constituents of his intention to run in the 1825 election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost that election to incumbent Adam Rankin Alexander. A chance meeting in 1826 gained him the encouragement of Memphis mayor Marcus Brutus Winchester to try again to win a seat in Congress. The Jackson Gazette published a letter from Crockett on September 15, 1826, announcing his intention of again challenging Rankin, and stating his opposition to the policies of President John Quincy Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay and to Rankin's position on the cotton tariff. Militia veteran William Arnold also entered the race, and Crockett easily defeated both political opponents for the 1827–29 term. He arrived in Washington, D.C. and took up residence at Mrs. Ball's Boarding House, where a number of other legislators lived when Congress was in session. Jackson was elected as president in 1828. Crockett continued his legislative focus on settlers getting a fair deal for land titles, offering H.R. 27 amendment to a bill sponsored by James K. Polk.
—David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David CrockettI believed it was a wicked, unjust measure.... I voted against this Indian bill, and my conscience yet tells me that I gave a good honest vote, and one that I believe will not make me ashamed in the day of judgement.
Crockett was re-elected for the 1829–31 session, once again defeating Adam Rankin Alexander. He introduced H.R. 185 amendment to the land bill on January 29, 1830, but it was defeated on May 3. On February 25, 1830, he introduced a resolution to abolish the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York because he felt that it was public money going to benefit the sons of wealthy men. He spoke out against Congress giving $100,000 to the widow of Stephen Decatur, citing that Congress was not empowered to do that. He opposed Jackson's 1830 Indian Removal Act and was the only member of the Tennessee delegation to vote against it. Cherokee chief John Ross sent him a letter on January 13, 1831, expressing his thanks for Crockett's vote. His vote was not popular with his own district, and he was defeated in the 1831 election by William Fitzgerald.
Crockett ran against Fitzgerald again in the 1833 election and was returned to Congress, serving until 1835. On January 2, 1834, he introduced the land title resolution H.R. 126, but it never made it as far as being debated on the House floor. He was defeated for re-election in the August 1835 election by Adam Huntsman. During his last term in Congress, he collaborated with Kentucky Congressman Thomas Chilton to write his autobiography, which was published by E. L. Carey and A. Hart in 1834 as A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, Written by Himself, and he went east to promote the book. In 1836, newspapers published the now-famous quotation attributed to Crockett upon his return to his home state:
I told the people of my district that I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but if not, they might go to hell, and I would go to Texas.
Despite Crockett’s opposition to the institution of slavery in the United States, he did enslave people.
Texas Revolution
By December 1834, Crockett was writing to friends about moving to Texas if Jackson's chosen successor Martin Van Buren was elected president. The next year, he discussed with his friend Benjamin McCulloch raising a company of volunteers to take to Texas in the expectation that a revolution was imminent. His departure to Texas was delayed by a court appearance in the last week of October as co-executor of his deceased father-in-law's estate; he finally left his home near Rutherford in West Tennessee with three other men on November 1, 1835, to explore Texas. His youngest child Matilda later wrote that she distinctly remembered the last time that she saw her father:
He was dressed in his hunting suit, wearing a coonskin cap, and carried a fine rifle presented to him by friends in Philadelphia. ... He seemed very confident the morning he went away that he would soon have us all to join him in Texas.
Crockett traveled with 30 well-armed men to Jackson, Tennessee, where he gave a speech from the steps of the Madison County courthouse, and they arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 12, 1835. The local newspapers reported that hundreds of people swarmed into town to get a look at Crockett, and a group of leading citizens put on a dinner in his honor that night at the Jeffries Hotel. Crockett spoke "mainly to the subject of Texan independence", as well as Washington politics.
Crockett arrived in Nacogdoches, Texas, in early January 1836. On January 14, he and 65 other men signed an oath before Judge John Forbes to the Provisional Government of Texas for six months: "I have taken the oath of government and have enrolled my name as a volunteer and will set out for the Rio Grande in a few days with the volunteers from the United States." Each man was promised about 4,600 acres (1,900 ha) of land as payment. On February 6, he and five other men rode into San Antonio de Bexar and camped just outside the town.
Crockett arrived at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio on February 8. A Mexican army arrived on February 23 led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, surprising the men garrisoned in the Alamo, and the Mexican soldiers immediately initiated a siege. Santa Anna ordered his artillery to keep up a near-constant bombardment. The guns were moved closer to the Alamo each day, increasing their effectiveness. On February 25, 200–300 Mexican soldiers crossed the San Antonio River and took cover in abandoned shacks approximately 90 to 100 yards (82 to 91 m) from the Alamo walls. The soldiers intended to use the huts as cover to establish another artillery position, although many Texians assumed that they actually were launching an assault on the fort. Several men volunteered to burn the huts. To provide cover, the Alamo cannons fired grapeshot at the Mexican soldiers, and Crockett and his men fired rifles, while other defenders reloaded extra weapons for them to use in maintaining a steady fire. The battle was over within 90 minutes, and the Mexican soldiers retreated. There were limited stores of powder and shot inside the Alamo, and Alamo commander William Barret Travis ordered the artillery to stop returning fire on February 26 so as to conserve precious ammunition. Crockett and his men were encouraged to keep shooting, as they were unusually effective.
As the siege progressed, Travis sent many messages asking for reinforcements. Several messengers were sent to James Fannin who commanded the group of Texian soldiers at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, Texas. Fannin decided that it was too risky to reinforce the Alamo, although historian Thomas Ricks Lindley concludes that up to 50 of Fannin's men left his command to go to Bexar. These men would have reached Cibolo Creek on the afternoon of March 3, 35 miles (56 km) from the Alamo, where they joined another group of men who also planned to join the garrison.
There was a skirmish between Mexican and Texian troops that same night outside the Alamo. Historian Walter Lord speculates that the Texians were creating a diversion to allow their courier John Smith to evade Mexican pickets. However, Alamo survivor Susannah Dickinson said in 1876 that Travis sent out three men shortly after dark on March 3, probably a response to the arrival of Mexican reinforcements. The three men—including Crockett—were sent to find Fannin. Lindley states that Crockett and one of the other men found the force of Texians waiting along Cibolo Creek just before midnight; they had advanced to within 20 miles (32 km) of the Alamo. Just before daylight on March 4, part of the Texian force managed to break through the Mexican lines and enter the Alamo. A second group was driven across the prairie by Mexican cavalry.
The siege ended on March 6 when the Mexican army attacked just before dawn while the defenders were sleeping. The daily artillery bombardment had been suspended, perhaps a ploy to encourage the natural human reaction to a cessation of constant strain. But the garrison awakened and the final fight began. Most of the noncombatants gathered in the church sacristy for safety. According to Dickinson, Crockett paused briefly in the chapel to say a prayer before running to his post. The Mexican soldiers climbed up the north outer walls of the Alamo complex, and most of the Texians fell back to the barracks and the chapel, as previously planned. Crockett and his men, however, were too far from the barracks to take shelter and were the last remaining group to be in the open. They defended the low wall in front of the church, using their rifles as clubs and relying on knives, as the action was too furious to allow reloading. After a volley and a charge with bayonets, Mexican soldiers pushed the few remaining defenders back toward the church.
The Battle of the Alamo lasted almost 90 minutes, and all of the defenders were killed. Santa Anna ordered his men to take their bodies to a nearby stand of trees, where they were stacked together and wood piled on top. That evening, they lit a fire and burned their bodies to ashes. The ashes were left undisturbed until February 1837, when Juan Seguin and his cavalry returned to Bexar to examine the remains. A local carpenter created a simple coffin, and ashes from the funeral pyres were placed inside. The names of Travis, Crockett, and Bowie were inscribed on the lid. The coffin is thought to have been buried in a peach tree grove, but the spot was not marked and can no longer be identified.
Death
David Crockett died at the Alamo on the morning of March 6, 1836, at the age of 49. Accounts from survivors of the battle differ on the manner of Crockett's death, with stories ranging from Crockett putting up a heroic last stand to the account that he surrendered along with several other men and was executed. To further confusion, historians have been able to back up opposing theories with "voluminous evidence".
Controversy
The popular mythology of Crockett's death in American culture is one of a heroic last stand, a tale that is backed up by some historical evidence. For example, a former African-American slave named Ben, who had acted as cook for one of Santa Anna's officers, maintained that Crockett's body was found in the barracks surrounded by "no less than sixteen Mexican corpses", with Crockett's knife buried in one of them. There is, however, historical evidence countering the popular myth, with stories of a Crockett surrender and execution circulating as far back as just a few weeks after the battle.
The counter myth picked up historical steam when, in 1955, Jesús Sánchez Garza discovered the memoirs of José Enrique de la Peña, a Mexican officer present at the Battle of the Alamo, and self-published it as La Rebelión de Texas – Manuscrito Inédito de 1836 por un Oficial de Santa Anna. Texas A&M University Press published the English translation in 1975 With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution. The English publication caused a scandal within the United States, as it asserted that Crockett did not die in battle, but was executed soon thereafter. The translator of the English publication, Carmen Perry, the former librarian of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, was harassed with anonymous letters and intimidating phone calls by Crockett loyalists who considered the mere suggestion that Crockett had not died fighting blasphemous.
Some have questioned the validity of the text. Author and retired firefighter William Groneman III posited that the journals were made up of several different types of paper from several different paper manufacturers, all cut down to fit. Longtime John Wayne enthusiast Joseph Musso also questioned the validity of de la Peña's diary, basing his suspicions on the timing of the diary's release, and the fact that historical interest in the topic rose around the same time as the Walt Disney mini-series Davy Crockett was released in 1955. Some questions were answered when, in 2001, archivist David Gracy published a detailed analysis of the manuscript, including lab results. He found, among other things, that the paper and ink were of a type used by the Mexican army in the 1830s, and the handwriting matched that on other documents in the Mexican military archives that were written or signed by de la Peña.
As for those who have questioned de la Peña's ability to identify any of the Alamo defenders by name, historians believe that de la Peña likely witnessed or was told about executions of the Alamo survivors. And while some claim neither he nor his comrades would have known who those men were, others conclude that the "enormous weight of evidence" is in favor of the surrender-execution hypothesis. However, several survivors and first-hand witnesses to the battle claimed Crockett fought to the death. Furthermore, no other officer under Santa Anna's command mentions Crockett's surrender, not even his personal secretary Ramon Caro. Later in life, Santa Anna wrote a memoir only stating that Davy Crockett's body was "among the corpses" without giving context to how he died. Santa Anna further wrote “Not one soldier showed signs of desiring to surrender.”
Legacy
One of Crockett's sayings, many of which were published in almanacs between 1835 and 1856 (along with those of Daniel Boone and Kit Carson), was: "Always be sure you are right, then go ahead."
While serving in the United States House of Representatives, Crockett became a Freemason. He entrusted his masonic apron to a friend in Tennessee before leaving for Texas, and it was inherited by the friend's descendant in Kentucky.
In 1967, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 5-cent stamp commemorating Davy Crockett.
Namesakes
Tennessee
- David Crockett Birthplace State Park, Greene County
- David Crockett State Park, Lawrence County
- Crockett County, Tennessee; its county seat is Alamo
- David Crockett High School, Jonesborough
Texas
- Crockett County
- Crockett, Houston County, Texas
- Crockett High School, Austin independent school District
- Davy Crockett Lake, Fannin County
- Davy Crockett Loop, Prairies and Pineywoods Wildlife Trail – East
- Crockett Middle School, Amarillo
- Davy Crockett National Forest, Angelina County
- Davy Crockett School, Dallas independent school District
- Crockett Elementary School, Abilene independent school District, Abilene, Texas (closed 2002)
- Crockett Street, a major thoroughfare in Downtown San Antonio
- Crockett Street in Beaumont Texas, ending in a pedestrian walk in the historic downtown area.
- Fort Crockett, Galveston County
Miscellaneous
- M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System: a small Nuclear weapons system, the smallest developed by the U.S. which could be fired from a light vehicle, or from a tripod mounted launcher.
- Crockett Park, north of downtown San Antonio
Monuments
- Alamo Cenotaph, San Antonio, sculptor Pompeo Coppini, west panel of the Cenotaph features a Crockett statue and a statue of William B. Travis in front of other Alamo defenders
- David Crockett Statue, Ozona, Texas, sculptor William M. McVey
- Life-size statue Colonel David Crockett, Public Square, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, W. M. Dean Marble Company of Columbia
In popular culture
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Television
Walt Disney adapted Crockett's stories into a television miniseries titled Davy Crockett, which aired in 1954 and 1955 on Walt Disney's Disneyland. The series popularized the image of Crockett, portrayed by Fess Parker, wearing a coonskin cap, and originated the song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". The first three parts of the series were edited into a feature-length movie for theaters.
Crockett's stories were used by the French animation Studios Animage for a 1994 animated series titled Davy Crockett.
A 2009 episode of MythBusters tested whether Crockett could split a bullet in half on the blade of an ax 40 yards (37 m) away, and concluded that it would indeed be possible to do so.
Film
In films, Crockett has been played by:
- Charles K. French, Davy Crockett – In Hearts United (1909), silent
- Hobart Bosworth, Davy Crockett (1910), silent
- Dustin Farnum, Davy Crockett (1916), silent
- Cullen Landis (Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo, 1926, silent)
- Jack Perrin (The Painted Stallion, 1937)
- Lane Chandler (Heroes of the Alamo, 1937)
- Robert Barrat (Man of Conquest, 1939)
- Trevor Bardette (The Man from the Alamo, 1953)
- Arthur Hunnicutt (The Last Command, 1955)
- Fess Parker (Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, 1955, and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, 1956, both on Walt Disney's Disneyland)
- James Griffith (The First Texan, 1956)
- John Wayne (The Alamo, 1960)
- Brian Keith (The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory, 1987)
- Merrill Connally (Alamo: The Price of Freedom, 1988)
- Johnny Cash (Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder, 1988)
- Tim Dunigan (Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder, Davy Crockett: A Natural Man, Davy Crockett: Guardian Spirit, Davy Crockett: Letter to Polly, 1988–1989)
- David Zucker (The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, 1991 )
- John Schneider (James A. Michener's Texas, 1994)
- Scott Wickware (Dear America: A Line in the Sand, 2000)
- Justin Howard (The Anarchist Cookbook, 2002)
- Billy Bob Thornton (The Alamo, 2004)"
Theatre
- Davy Crockett (1872), popular touring play of its time, by Frank Murdoch
- Davy Crockett, musical play (unfinished), January to April 1938, Kurt Weill
Prose fiction
Crockett appears in at least two short alternate history works: "Chickasaw Slave" by Judith Moffett in Mike Resnick's anthology Alternate Presidents (1992), where Crockett is the seventh President of the United States, and "Empire" by William Sanders in Harry Turtledove's anthology Alternate Generals II (2002) where Crockett fights for Emperor Napoleon I of Louisiana in a conflict analogous to the War of 1812. Crockett is also a character in Gore Vidal's novel Burr as a congressman from Tennessee.
Comics
Columbia Features syndicated a comic strip, Davy Crockett, Frontiersman, from June 20, 1955, until 1959. Stories were by France Herron and the artwork was ghosted in early 1956 by Jack Kirby.
See also
Citations
- Price, Angel. "Davy Crockett- Bear Hunting in Tennessee".
- De La Pena, Jose Enrique (1975). With Santa Anna in Texas A Personal Narrative of the Revolution. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-001-1.
- Weber, David J. (January 1990). Myth and the History of the Hispanic Southwest. University of New Mexico Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-8263-1194-8.
- Kilgore, Dan (January 19, 2010). How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much?: Commemorative Edition (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest) (Commemorative ed.). Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-60344-194-0.
- Abramson, Haskell & Lofaro 2006, pp. 300–301.
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- "Members of the Tennessee General Assembly 1794–2010". Tennessee State Library and Archives. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
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- ^ Boylston & Wiener 2009, p. 326.
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- "Early North Carolina and Tennessee Land Grants". Tennessee State Library and Archives. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
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- "Marcus Brutus Winchester". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
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- Credential of election for David Crockett, 09/18/1827. File Unit: Credentials of Representatives and Delegates to the 20th Congress, 12/1827 - 3/1829. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 306597. September 18, 1827. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- Wallis 2011, pp. 199–200.
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- ^ Boylston & Wiener 2009, p. 327.
- Crockett 1834, p. 206.
- "Crockett, David, (1786–1836)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
- Groneman 2005, p. 95.
- Congressman Davy Crockett's Resolution to Abolish the Military Academy at West Point, 02/25/1830. File Unit: Bills and Resolutions Originating in the House of Representatives, 21st Congress, 1829 - 1831. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 2173241. February 25, 1830. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
- Groneman 2005, pp. 96–97.
- Groneman 2005, pp. 97–98.
- Groneman 2005, p. 97.
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- Groneman 2005, pp. 98–99.
- Groneman 2005, pp. 106–107–99.
- Wallis 2011, p. 275.
- Groneman 2005, pp. 109–110.
- *Crockett quote from the Niles Weekly Register newspaper Archived November 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, April 9, 1836
- Smith, Richard Penn (2003). On to the Alamo: Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas. Penguin. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-243764-3. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- Wallis 2011, pp. 174–175.
- Cobia 2003, pp. 21–22.
- Derr 1983, pp. 225–226.
- Cobia 2003, p. 25.
- Cobia 2003, pp. 40–44.
- Hardin 1994, p. 117.
- Edmondson 2000, p. 299.
- Todish, Todish & Spring 1998, p. 40.
- Todish, Todish & Spring 1998, pp. 42–43.
- Tinkle 1985, p. 118.
- ^ Tinkle 1985, p. 119.
- Lord 1961, p. 109.
- Nofi 1992, p. 83.
- Hardin 1994, p. 132.
- Lindley 2003, p. 137.
- Lindley 2003, p. 138.
- ^ Lindley 2003, p. 143.
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- Edmondson 2000, p. 363.
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- Lord 1961, p. 162.
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- Petite 1999, p. 114.
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- Petite 1999, p. 132.
- ^ Gilley, Kenneth (December 13, 2019). "The Mysterious Death of David Crockett". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020.
- Tinkle 1985, p. 214.
- Petite 1999, p. 123.
- Todish, Todish & Spring 1998, p. 120.
- ^ Paulsen, Barbara (February 9, 2017). "Say It Ain't So, Davy". Texas Monthly.
- Groneman 1999, p. 136.
- Spangenberger, Phil (March 18, 2014). "Davy Crockett's "Ol' Betsy" Found". True West: History of the American Frontier. True West. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- Adams, Cecil (May 14, 2004). "Remembering the Alamo (and the death of Davy Crockett)". straightdope. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- Gracy II, David B. (October 2001). "Just As I Have Written It: A Study of the Authenticity of the Manuscript of José Enrique de la Peña's Account of the Texas Campaign". Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 105 (2): 254–294.
- "Michael Lind's, The Death of David Crockett". tamu.edu. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
- Jeter, Derrick. "On the Death of David Crockett". www.yallogy.com. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- Groneman 2005, p. 201.
- "... made for him by Mrs. A.C. Massie of Washington, D.C., during his tenure in Congress. Before leaving for Texas, he entrusted the apron to the sheriff of Weakley County, Tennessee, and it was inherited and preserved by the sheriff's nephew, E.M. Taylor of Paducah, Kentucky. The lodge at Weakley County, near the Crockett home, burned during the Civil War destroying all the lodge records. From The Texas Mason By Pete Normand, PM Texas Lodge of Research"; Crockett, Davy. "Grand Lodge of Texas". Masonic Research. Grand Lodge of Texas. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "Stamp Series". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- Davy Crockett stamp U.S. Stamp Gallery
- "David Crockett State Park". Tennessee Dept of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Crockett County, Tennessee". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- Smith, Julia Cauble. "Crockett County". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- Long, Christopher; Bishop, Elize H. "Crockett, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Crockett High School". Austin ISD. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett Lake". Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett Loop". Great Texas Wildlife Trails. Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett National Forest". United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett School". Dallas City Hall. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- Darst, Maury. "Fort Crockett". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "The Davy Crockett". The Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Alamo Cenotaph". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
- "David Crockett Statue, Ozona, Tx". Crockett County Museum. March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
- Little 1996, p. 348.
- "Lawrenceburg Public Square". City of Lawrenceburg. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- "D Crockett Statue, Lawrenceburg, Tn". Waymarking. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett". AnimeGuides (in French). Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- Meisfjord, Eric (June 4, 2020). "The Untold Truth Of MythBusters Jr". Grunge. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- The Moving Picture World, Volume 4. Moving Pictures Exhibitors Association. 1909. pp. 653, 690, 734, 760, 769, 780, 811, 885.
- Langman 1992, p. 108.
- Cozad 2002, pp. 229–230.
- ^ Niemi 2006, pp. 10–16.
- Michno, Michno & Michno 2008, pp. 53–55.
- Langman & Ebner 2001, pp. 52–53.
- Williamson 1995, pp. 278–279.
- Langman 1992, p. 107.
- Curtis, Gregory (May 1988). "The myth of the six-story Alamo". Texas Monthly. pp. 5, 6.
- ^ Marill 2011, p. 22.
- The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear at IMDb
- New York Media, LLC (April 17, 1995). "John Leonard's TV Notes". New York. p. 157.
- Dear America: A Line in the Sand at IMDb
- Monush & Willis 2005, p. 190.
- "Davy Crockett musical play". AllMusic. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- "Davy Crockett : piano score / Kurt Weill". U.S. Copyright Records Database. United States Copyright Office. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
- "Sanders, William. "Empire"". uchronia.net. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- Leiffer, Paul; Ware, Hames (n.d.). "Herron, Ed". Who's Who of American Comic Strip Producers. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
- Holtz, Allan. "Obscurity of the Day: Davy Crockett, Frontiersman," Stripper's Guide (September 18, 2018).
General and cited references
- Abramson, Rudy; Haskell, Jean; Lofaro, Michael (2006). Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-57233-456-4.
- Bense, Judith A. (1999). Archaeology of Colonial Pensacola (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series). Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-1661-0.
- Boylston, James R.; Wiener, Allen J. (2009). David Crockett in Congress: The Rise and Fall of the Poor Man's Friend. Houston, TX: Bright Sky Press. ISBN 978-1-933979-51-9.
- Cobia, Manley F. Jr. (2003). Journey into the Land of Trials: The Story of Davy Crockett's Expedition to the Alamo. Franklin, TN: Hillsboro Press. ISBN 978-1-57736-268-5.
- Cozad, W. Lee (2002). Those Magnificent Mountain Movies: The Golden Years 1911–1939. Lake Arrowhead, CA: Rim of the World Historic Society. ISBN 978-0-9723372-1-2.
- Crockett, David (1834). A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett. Baltimore, MD: E. L. Carey and A. Hart. OCLC 1306778.
- Derr, Mark (1983). The Frontiersman : The Real Life and the Many Legends of Davy Crockett. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-13798-4.
- DRT (2001). Daughters of Republic of Texas – Vol II. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56311-641-4.
- Edmondson, J.R. (2000). The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts. Plano: Republic of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-585-24106-7.
- Fulgham, Richard Lee (2000). Appalachian Genesis: The Clinch River Valley from Prehistoric Times to the End of the Frontier Era. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press. ISBN 978-1-57072-088-8.
- Groneman, Bill (1999). Death of a Legend: The Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy Crockett. Plano: Republic of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-585-26267-3.
- Groneman, William (2005). David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man. New York: Forge Books. ISBN 978-0-7653-1067-5.
- Hardin, Stephen L.. (1994). Texian Iliad. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73086-1.
- Hasday, Judy L. (2010). Davy Crockett (Legends of the Wild West). New York: Chelsea House Publications. ISBN 978-1-60413-592-3.
- Jones, Randell (2006). In the Footsteps of Davy Crockett. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair. ISBN 978-0-89587-324-8.
- Langman, Larry (1992). A guide to silent westerns. New York: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-27858-7.
- Langman, Larry; Ebner, David (2001). Hollywood's Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films. New York: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-31886-3.
- Lindley, Thomas Ricks (2003). Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions. Lanham, MD: Republic of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-55622-983-1.
- Little, Carol Morris (1996). A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-76036-3.
- Lord, Walter (1961). A Time to Stand. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-7902-5.
- Marill, Alvin H. (2011). Television Westerns: Six Decades of Sagebrush Sheriffs, Scalawags, and Sidewinders. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8133-4.
- Michno, Gregory; Michno, Gregory F.; Michno, Susan (2008). Circle the Wagons!: Attacks on Wagon Trains in History and Hollywood Films. Jefferson. NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3997-3.
- Monush, Barry; Willis, John (2005). Screen World: 2004 Film Annual. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 978-1-55783-638-0.
- Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film And Television. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-952-2.
- Nofi, Albert A. (1992). The Alamo and the Texas War of Independence, September 30, 1835 to April 21, 1836: Heroes, Myths, and History. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, Inc. ISBN 978-0-585-19807-1.
- Petite, Mary Deborah (1999). 1836 Facts about the Alamo and the Texas War for Independence. Mechanicsburg, PA: Savas Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-882810-35-2.
- Remini, Robert V.; Clark, Wesley K. (2008). Andrew Jackson (Great Generals). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60015-7.
- Roberts, Randy; Olson, James S (2001). A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 978-0-684-83544-0.
- Tinkle, Lon (1985). 13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-238-1.. Reprint. Originally published: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958
- Todish, Timothy J.; Todish, Terry; Spring, Ted (1998). Alamo Sourcebook, 1836: A Comprehensive Guide to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. Austin, TX: Eakin Press. ISBN 978-1-57168-152-2.
- Wallis, Michael (2011). David Crockett: The Lion of the West. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06758-3.
- Whitburn, Joel (2000). Top Pop Singles 1955–1999. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-142-0.
- Williamson, Jerry Wayne (1995). Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains and What the Mountains Did to the Movies. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4503-5.
- Winders, Richard Bruce (2001). Davy Crockett: The Legend of the Wild Frontier. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8239-5747-7.
Further reading
Main article: Bibliography of works on Davy CrockettNumerous books have been written about David Crockett, including the first one that bears his name as its author.
- David Crockett (1834). A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee. Carey, Hart & Co. p. 1.
External links
Listen to this article (8 minutes) This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 23 September 2005 (2005-09-23), and does not reflect subsequent edits.(Audio help · More spoken articles)- United States Congress. "Davy Crockett (id: C000918)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Online books, and library resources in your library and in other libraries about Davy Crockett
- Online books, and library resources in your library and in other libraries by Davy Crockett
- Works by Davy Crockett at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Davy Crockett at the Internet Archive
- Books about David Crockett public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- Official site of the descendants of David Crockett
- David Crockett from the Handbook of Texas Online
- First Hand Alamo Accounts
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded byAdam Rankin Alexander | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 9th congressional district 1827–1831 |
Succeeded byWilliam Fitzgerald |
Preceded byDistrict created | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 12th congressional district 1833–1835 |
Succeeded byAdam Huntsman |
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