Davy Crockett

David Crockett, or better known as Davy Crockett was a frontiersmen, and later a politician, and soldier from Tennessee. Crockett was born to a farming family in Greene County, Tennessee. He and his family were some of Tennessee's earliest settlers. His grandparents were actually killed by Cherokee and Creek Indians led by Dragging Canoe. As a boy Davy worked as a cattle farmer, and later worked in his dad's tavern. Davy's dad often hired Davy out as an indentured servant, to help pay off the families' debts. Davy's dad John had much experience in war. He had been part of the Overmountain Men. He had fought with them at King's Mountain. Davy would follow in his father's footsteps, and join Andrew Jackson in the Tennessee Militia. Davy was appointed as a scout, and served under John Coffee. Crockett served in the militia until the Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed in August 1814. Davy then turned to politics. By now, he and his family had moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee. In 1821 Davy was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly. He was very conservative. He believed in lower taxes, and fought for increased rights for poor settlers. He refused to endorse Andrew Jackson's candidate for governor, Edward Ward. He instead chose to endorse William Blount for governor. In 1824 Davy decided to run for U.S. Congress. On his first attempt he was defeated. In 1826 Davy was finally elected to congress. His goal was the same as it had been: help the poor settlers gain rights. Crockett and Andrew Jackson did not get along at all. They disagreed on all sorts of legislation. The most notable issue that they disagreed about was Indian Removal. Jackson was for it, but Crockett was against it. In the end Jackson won. Davy decided that he had had enough. He wanted to take his family and move to Texas. Davy and his friend Benjamin McCulloch decided to get a militia together and go scout out Texas. In January 1836, Crockett and his militia arrived in Texas. They agreed to go to San Antonio and fight at the Alamo. In February they reached San Antonio. It was here that they met up with James Bowie. The Americans were trying to seize Texas from the Mexicans. Sometime during the fighting Davy Crockett was killed. We as historians know this because the Americans surrendered. Also any remaining survivors would have been killed by the Mexicans. David Crockett was truly an American hero.

There have been many myths about what happened to Davy Crockett. Many believe that he was one of the men who surrendered and was executed. People have also tried to turn Davy's life into a superhero story (ie. Walt Disney). The fact is, Davy was just a normal guy who always tried to do what was right. For the most detailed account of Davy Crockett's life I recommend the book (pictured below) titled David Crockett: The Lion of the West by Michael Wallis.

Above is a painting of Davy Crockett fighting at the Alamo.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about tales from Tennessee and beyond.