Davy Crockett
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- This article is about the Davy Crockett known for the Alamo. For the pro wrestling announcer, see David Crockett (wrestling). Alternate meaning: Davy Crockett (nuclear device)
David Crockett (David de Crocketagne August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) 19th-century American folk hero usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. Congress, served in the Texas revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo.
Early life
Crockett was born near the Nolichucky River in Greene County, Tennessee, descended mostly from French Huguenots (originally Crocketagne) and Scotch-Irish. He was the fifth of nine children of John and Rebecca Hawkins Crockett. David was named after his paternal grandfather, who was killed at his home in present-day Rogersville, Tennessee by Indians.
Crockett stood about 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed approximately 190 pounds (86 kg). He was engaged to marry Margaret Elder, and although the marriage never took place, the contract of marriage (dated October 21, 1805), has been preserved by the Dandridge, Tennessee courthouse. It is well-documented that Crockett's bride-to-be ran out on the wedding and married someone else. [Program #1001]. Antiques Roadshow. PBS. Tampa Convention Center. Original broadcast 2006-01-09. and Lofaro, Michael A. "[Crockett, David]". Handbook of Texas Online. URL accessed 2006-05-30.
On August 12, 1806, Crockett married Polly Finley (1788-1815). Their first child, John Wesley, was born July 10, 1807, followed by William (born 1809) and a daughter, Margaret. After Polly's death, David remarried in 1816 to a widow named Elizabeth Patton, and they had three children: Robert, Rebeckah and Matilda.
On September 24, 1813, he enlisted in the Second Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Mounted Riflemen for ninety days and served under Colonel John Coffee in the Creek War. He was discharged from service on March 27, 1815. Crockett won the election of lieutenant colonel of the Fifty-seventh Regiment of Militia on March 27, 1818.
Political career
On September 17, 1821, Crockett was elected to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances. In 1826 and 1828 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. 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 Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, 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 was a staunch advocate against wasteful government spending. In his speech entitled "Not Yours to Give", he was critical of his Congressional colleagues' willingness to spend taxpayer dollars to help a widow of a U.S. Navy 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:
- :"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."
Texas Revolution
On October 31, 1835, Crockett left Tennessee for Texas, writing "I want to explore Texas well before I return". He arrived in Nacogdoches, Texas, in early January 1836. On January 14, 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 Rio Grande 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 February 6, Crockett and about five other men rode into San Antonio de Bexar and camped just outside of the town. They were later greeted by James Bowie and Antonio Menchacha and taken to the home of Don Erasmo Sequin.
William Barret Travis was the commander in charge at the siege at the Alamo. His appeal for help has been used as an example of American courage and fortitude [link]. 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 refused to surrender. Legend has it that Crockett went down fighting inside the Alamo compound, but actual evidence that has come to light since 1955 (the diary of José Enrique de la Peña) indicates that there may have been a half dozen or so survivors, with Crockett perhaps among them. The prisoners were taken by Mexican General Manuel Fernández Castrillón after the battle and summarily executed by order of Mexican General and President Antonio López de Santa Anna.
One of Crockett's sayings, which were published in almanacs between 1835 and 1856 (along with those of Daniel Boone and Kit Carson), was:
- "Be always sure you are right, then go ahead."
Trivia
- 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 Battle of San Jacinto. In 1884, the book was discovered as a phoney after selling thousands of copies.
- In 1872, a play about Crockett ran for over 2,000 performances ending in 1884 with the death of the lead actor.
- Popular belief is that he wore a coonskin cap, but this is a myth propagated by the actor who played him in a play he commissioned to raise his flagging popularity. The actor, chosen to play the role of the "great frontiersman", picked a coon skin hat quite by chance. It is information surrounding this play that gives us the Disney version of Davy Crockett's life—not the reality of the politician.
- Davy Crockett named his favorite rifle "old Betsy". It was a gift from the people of Tennessee. When he went to Texas, he left it at his home in Tennessee. "Old Betsy" now resides in the Alamo Chapel in San Antonio.
- Davy Crockett's tombstone reads: "Davy Crockett, Pioneer, Patriot, Soldier, Trapper, Explorer, State Legislator, Congressman, Martyred at The Alamo. 1786 - 1836."
Crockett's 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 location and buried him in an unmarked location. 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.Crockett was cremated when he died and his ashes were returned to Texas in a large procession, where his son promptly scattered them in what is now downtown San Antonio, Texas.
Crockett in media
Television
His legend was again popularized by Walt Disney, who produced a three-episode television series about him, starring Fess Parker: Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter; Davy Crockett Goes to Congress; and Davy Crockett at the Alamo. The shows aired on the ABC network between December 15, 1954, and February 23, 1955. Buddy Ebsen co-starred as his sidekick George E. Russel. .The shows were a tremendous success, and coonskin caps like the one he wore in those films 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 three episodes. Davy Crockett did, in fact, make a return with Disney in two further adventures: Davy Crockett and the Keelboat Race and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. In these two episodes Crockett faced off against Mike Fink, another early American legend.
The publicity for Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier also spawned a brief Davy Crockett Craze amongst the children of Britain in 1956. This Crockett phenomenon is referenced in books of the time such as the Molesworth series by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle.
Disney emphasized Crocket 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 Cold War, 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 a victorious superpower.
The 1955 song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" was introduced in this television series.
Crockett is mentioned frequently in the final seasons of The characters Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir were fond of Crockett and his last stand at the Alamo. They would often act out the events in Deep Space 9's holosuites.
Movies
After the Crockett fad had waned, John Wayne starred as Crockett in the 1960 feature film The Alamo (the first film he also directed). More recently was the John Lee Hancock version of The Alamo (2003). It is said that Billy Bob Thornton's Crockett is one of the more accurate portrayals. Thornton's Crockett was a man trying to downplay his legend, but in the end unable to escape it. Perhaps this is best described in a scene where Crockett, 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."In films, Crockett has also been played by:
- Charles K. French (1909); Davy Crockett - In Hearts United (silent)
- Dustin Farnum (1916); Davy Crockett (silent)
- Cullen Landis (1926); Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (silent)
- Jack Perrin (1937); The Painted Wagon
- Lane Chandler (1937); Heroes of the Alamo
- Robert Barrat (1939); Man of Conquest
- George Montgomery (1950); Davy Crockett, Indian Scout
- Trevor Bardette (1953); The Man from the Alamo
- Arthur Hunnicutt (1955); The Last Command
- James Griffith (1956); The First Texan
- John Wayne (1960) The Alamo
- Brian Keith (1987); The Alamo; Thirteen Days of Glory
- Johnny Cash (1988); Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder
- Tim Dunigan (1988 & 1989); Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder; Davy Crockett: A Natural Man; Davy Crockett: Guardian Spirit; Davy Crockett: Letter to Polly
- David Zucker (1991); The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear [a very small cameo role]
- John Schneider (1994); Texas
- Scott Wickware (2000); Dear America: A Line in the Sand
- Justin Howard (2002); The Anarchist Cookbook
- Billy Bob Thornton (2003); The Alamo
- Davy Junior (TBA); The True Memoirs of Davy Crocket
See also
References
Further reading
- 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
- [Crockett's Congressional biography]
- [The Handbook of Texas Online: David Crockett]
- [An account of Col. Crockett's tour to the North and down East, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. . .] written by David Crockett, and published 1835, hosted by the [Portal to Texas History].
- [Sam Houston ; David Crockett.] published 1901, hosted by the [Portal to Texas History].
- Sketch of [David Crockett] from [A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879], hosted by the [Portal to Texas History].
- [Free eBook: David Crockett] at Project Gutenberg; written by John S. C. Abbott
- [Not Yours To Give, by Col. David Crockett, US Representative from Tennessee]
- [Davy Crockett, the Common Man] - A short and concise history of Crockett and his entrance into popular culture
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