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= Davy_Crockett =
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Introduction
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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
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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 mi 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 1800 he ran away from home at age 13 due to problems that he was
having. In 1802, David journeyed by foot back to his father's tavern
in Tennessee. His father was in debt to Abraham Wilson for $36 (36),
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.
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
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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. He was a member of the National
Republican Party (also known as Anti-Jacksonians) before joining the
Whig Party in 1833.
Tennessee General Assembly
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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
acre 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
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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 1827-1829 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.
Crockett was re-elected for the 1829-1831 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,
claiming 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:
Despite Crockett's opposition to the institution of slavery in the
United States, he did enslave people.
Texas Revolution
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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:
Crockett traveled with 30 well-armed men to Jackson, Tennessee, where
he gave a speech from the steps of the Madison County courthouse.
They then traveled west, arriving 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 4600 acre 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 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 mi 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 mi 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
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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.
A contrary theory 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 . 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, Statues of Heroes at The Alamo, by George
Lundeen
* 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
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 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 (a very
small cameo role))
* 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
======================================================================
* List of Freemasons
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950
* "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"
* Timeline of the Texas Revolution
General and cited references
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* . Reprint. Originally published: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958
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*
*
*
Further reading
======================================================================
Numerous books have been written about David Crockett, including the
first one that bears his name as its author.
*
External links
======================================================================
*
*
*
*
*
* [
http://www.goahead.org/ Official site of the descendants of David
Crockett]
*
* [
http://heartofsanantonio.com/alamo/Esparza.html First Hand Alamo
Accounts]
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License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett
