Generations of Americans have grown up with the persona of Davy Crockett, the friendly frontiersman who favored a coonskin cap and became immortalized at the Battle of the Alamo. The 1950s Disney television show starring Fess Parker popularized this version but the real David Crockett had nuances that both enhanced and tattered the beloved ideal.
The Infamous Bear-Killer
Crockett felt most at home on the Tennessee frontier, moving from his native eastern end to middle Tennessee and finally to the western part. As settlements grew up and the Native Americans were moved west, Crockett felt crowded, intensely missing the wilderness and its teeming wildlife.
Although noted for his gregarious nature and ready supply of humorous stories, Crockett’s greatest success stemmed from his hunting skills. He killed hundreds of bears, including some attacks using knives in addition to his gun, and helped keep his fellow soldiers from starving during the War of 1812.
Crockett as United States Legislator
Perhaps Crockett’s most surprising achievement came through his election to first the Tennessee legislature and then to the United States Congress. While in Congress, his support for President Andrew Jackson waned and Crockett aggressively attacked Jackson’s violent removal of Native Americans. Although Crockett’s grandparents had been murdered by Native Americans before he was born, Crockett was appalled by Jackson’s treatment of the tribes and resulting Trail of Tears in addition to the reneging of treaties between the United States and the Native Americans.
Crockett, even more of a populist than Jackson, also fought hard to help the poorer citizens and believed that Jackson’s dismantling of the Second National Bank of the United States would prove destructive to the lower class that he so proudly represented.
Entrepreneur
Through his life, Crockett struggled with staying out of debt. As a legislator, he built a complex with his house, a mill, and several other buildings but lost them all in a flood. Between ill-fated schemes and his frequent extended absences into the wilderness or Washington, D.C., his second wife Elizabeth (Betsy) and their children ultimately left him to return back to her family.
After Crockett was defeated in his re-election bid for Congress, he told Tennessee voters that they “could go to hell” because he was going to Texas, a decision that ultimately led to his canonization in popular culture.
Battle of the Alamo
Although Crockett's fame was cemented by his death in the Battle of the Alamo, author Michael Wallis chooses to focus on Crockett's life before he moved to Texas, noting that the Battle of the Alamo has been described numerous times in books, articles, and other published accounts.
Author Michael Wallis
Michael Wallis, also known as the voice of the Sheriff in Pixar's Cars and Cars 2, deftly explores David Crockett's life and proves that the frontiersman's legacy as a remarkable American figure is well worth preserving.
Publishing Information
Wallis, Michael. David Crockett: The Lion of the West. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 2011.
Bonnye Good - Bonnye Busbice Good received an Editor's Choice award for her article on Your Historic Home's Interior Design Secrets and has also written ...
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