Reference
- Crockett, DavyAlthough David Crockett (1786–1836) was only a minor political and military figure, “Davy Crockett” has become a major cultural icon. While the more refined Daniel Boone led western settlement for families, Crockett developed an appeal more like that of frontiersmen “Wild Bill” Hickok and Kit Carson, and outlaw Jesse James. As the figure of the frontier wastrel supplanted the ideal of the industrious farmer, Crockett's legend thrived in the American imagination.
Crockett left home at age twelve, working various jobs in rural Virginia before returning to his family in Tennessee. In 1813, he joined the Tennessee Volunteer Militia to fight in the Creek War; he was later elected to the rank of colonel. Failing as a farmer and entrepreneur, he supported his family by skillful hunting. After being defeated for U.S. Congress in 1825, he returned to hunting, killing 105 bears in one year, with 17 in just one week—a most impressive record for a people who at that time accepted hunting without question. In 1827, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he advocated for homesteaders and opposed Indian removal.
Alexis de Tocqueville derided the election of Crockett, a man without education, property, or profession, seeing it as proof that the lower classes should not be allowed to vote. However, despite being illiterate, Crockett was a talented public speaker and storyteller. He charmed political audiences with his honest manner and humorously embellished stories of his frontier experiences. He presented himself as representing a more genuinely democratic spirit than his “aristocratic” opponents. His most famous slogan was: “Make sure you are right—then go ahead.” Crockett became a well-known personality, a status solidified and made national by James Kirke Paulding's play The Lion of the West, whose protagonist, Nimrod Wildfire, was based on Crockett. Paulding's Wildfire actually created elements that became essential parts of the Crockett legend, including the coonskin cap and his brag that he was “half horse, half alligator.”...
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Perspectives
David Crockett
Perhaps no other figure in American history is more shrouded in myth and legend than David ("Davy") Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman whose death at the Alamo in 1836 ensured his place in the Valhalla of American heroes. Crockett himself was responsible for much of the folklore about his life. A gregarious, fun-loving man, he was more than capable of spinning tall tales over a "horn" of liquor. The truth of his life, as William Groneman emphasizes in this book, was far more fascinating than the myth. David Crockett was a true self-made man who left home at the age of twelve. His adventures--hunting and exploring, serving as a soldier under Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian War of 1813, a political career that took him to the United States Congress, an incessant search for "elbow room" that drew him to Texas-these were the real fabric of a heroic life. In writing of the "historical Crockett," Groneman, a world authority on the Alamo and its defenders, dispels the myths to uncover the genuine hero. He writes at length of the defense of the Alamo, describes how Crockett's reputation and heroism have been tainted by revisionist historians, and presents new evidence that the Tennessean actually left the Alamo during the siege to bring in reinforcements. Although safely outside the walls, he fought his way back in to rejoin his friends for the final, fatal, battle.
Sleuthing the Alamo
In Sleuthing the Alamo, historian James E. Crisp draws back the curtain on years of mythmaking to reveal some surprising truths about the Texas Revolution--truths often obscured by both racism and "political correctness," as history has been hijacked by combatants in the culture wars of thepast two centuries.Beginning with a very personal prologue recalling both the pride and the prejudices that he encountered in the Texas of his youth, Crisp traces his path to the discovery of documents distorted, censored, and ignored--documents which reveal long-silenced voices from the Texan past. In each offour chapters focusing on specific documentary "finds," Crisp uncovers the clues that led to these archival discoveries. Along the way, the cast of characters expands to include: a prominent historian who tried to walk away from his first book; an unlikely teenaged "speechwriter" for General SamHouston; three eyewitnesses to the death of Davy Crockett at the Alamo; a desperate inmate of Mexico City's Inquisition Prison, whose scribbled memoir of the war in Texas is now listed in the Guiness Book of World Records; and the stealthy slasher of the most famous historical painting in Texas. Inhis afterword, Crisp explores the evidence behind the mythic "Yellow Rose of Texas" and examines some of the powerful forces at work in silencing the very voices from the past that we most need to hear today.Here then is an engaging first-person account of historical detective work, illuminating the methods of the serious historian--and the motives of those who prefer glorious myth to unflattering truth.
David Crockett
Popular culture transformed his memory into "Davy Crockett," and Hollywood gave him a raccoon hat he hardly ever wore. In this surprising New York Times bestseller, historian Michael Wallis has cast a fresh look at the flesh-and-blood man behind one of the most celebrated figures in American history. More than a riveting story, Wallis's David Crockett is a revelatory, authoritative biography that separates fact from fiction and provides us with an extraordinary evocation of not only a true American hero but also the rough-and-tumble times in which he lived.
Davy Crockett's own story as written by himself
Read the autobiography of America's great folk hero Davy Crockett.
Live Free or Die
Empire of Liberty
David Crockett: American Character
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Charismatic Tennessee hunter David Crockett becomes a national celebrity and member of Congress. Crockett sees opportunity in the Texas Revolution and claims he will "have Santa Anna's head."
Online Resources
- "Going to Congress and making allmynacks is my trade": Davy Crockett, his almanacs, and the evolution of frontier legendDavy Crockett is one of American popular culture's personalities as he is the imaginative creator of the renowned Crockett Almanacs, which was first published in 1834 with the volume titled 'Davy Crockett's Almanack of Wild Sports of the West, and Life in the Backwoods 1835.' Despite the success of his almanacs, Crockett's political career did not go along with it as he was defeated in the 1835 Congressional election.
- The Death of David CrockettDid the famed Tennessean fall in combat at the Alamo, or did he surrender and die at the hands of Santa Anna? The author recounts a nasty little skirmish in the culture wars.
- Documenting Davy's death: the problematic "Dolson Letter" from Texas, 1836The death of Davy Crockett that was observed by three Mexican eyewitnesses namely Ramon Martinez Caro, Jose Enrique de la Pena and Dolson and various other versions regarding his death are discussed.
Alamo: Myth and Facts
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowIn March 1836, Santa Anna storms the Alamo with 1,800 Mexican troops. The story of the Alamo is clouded in myth, complicating the facts. Many Alamo defenders were Mexican natives.