The more I study history, the more I feel like I actually “know” people who lived in the past.
They become more to me than just characters in a story.
They become living, breathing friends who struggled with hurts and challenges and who dreamed passionately of accomplishing something with their lives.
David Crockett feels like one of my “very old friends” even though he was born on August 17, 1786.
(He’d be 237 years olf this year.)
Raised on the wild frontier, he developed confidence and character that served him well in business, in politics, and in war. Intelligent, independent, good-humored, and hard-working, his exploits in hunting and storytelling made him a popular American folk hero even during his own lifetime.
If you’d like to get to know Davy Crockett better, you can read about him in his own words–a book he wrote to correct the slanderous work of another author.
You might also wish to read a biography written by a contemporary just a few decades after Crockett’s death at the Alamo.
Two other interesting things you might like to know about Davy Crockett:
1- Like all Texans who fought in the Texas Revolution, Davy Crockett was due a grant of land, which was claimed by his widow, Elizabeth. Her 0.6-acre grave site near the Crockett land in Grandbury, Texas is Texas’ smallest state park.
2- As Walt Disney prepared to open Disneyland in 1955, he produced television specials to represent each of the park’s themed segments. The story of Davy Crockett was chosen to represent Frontierland with Fess Parker playing the lead in each of the three segments released monthly between December, 1954-February, 1955. Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier was television’s first mini-series, and it was an instant hit! But there was a problem–attempting not to stray too far from historical accuracy, the last episode concluded with Crockett’s heroic death at the Alamo.
How could Disney capitalize on a wildly popular series whose hero had died?
Fortunately, Disney had filmed the series in technicolor even though televisions at the time showed only black-and-white images. The studio combined the three episodes into a feature-length movie that’s still available (usually for rent or purchase, but worth the experience, in my humble opinion).
If your family chooses to watch the 1955 movie, you’ll notice a stark difference not only in cinematography, but also in the content and character of the script. Davy Crockett is fairly typical of state-of-the-art, family-friendly, mid-century television.
My, how times have changed.
Tom Dean
The Davy Crockett movie inspired a young man to research and fall in love with the Alamo and Texas history. The young man grew up to became an incredibly talented musician and arguably one of the greatest drummers ever: Phil Collins. He never lost his passion for the Alamo. You can see his extensive personal collection of Alamo/Texas artifacts is on display in the Alamo Museum. He also narrates the battle in the museum’s diorama.