Davy Crockett

David Crockett (born August 17, 1786; died March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician; he is referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet King of the Wild Frontier. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo. His nickname, Davy, was the stuff of legend, but during his lifetime he referred to himself exclusively as David.

Crockett was born on August 17, 1786 near the Nolichucky River in what is now Greene County, Tennessee. According to Crockett's own autobiography, his early years were filled with adventure, hardship, and travelling. In 1821, Crockett was elected to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances. He lost his first run for Congress in 1824, but ran again in the next election. In 1827 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 1831; however, he won when he ran again in 1833.

In 1834, his autobiography titled A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, Written by Himself was published. Crockett went east to promote the book and was narrowly defeated for re-election. In 1835, he suffered yet another defeat. He said, "I told the people of my district that I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but if not ... you may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas." Following his defeat, he did just that.

Crockett arrived at the Alamo on February 8. To the surprise of the men garrisoned in the Alamo, on February 23, a Mexican army, led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, arrived. The Mexican soldiers immediately initiated a siege. The siege ended on March 6, when the Mexican army attacked while the defenders were sleeping. The daily bombardment by artillery had been suspended, allowing the defenders what they thought would be time for rest; but Mexican soldiers attacked quickly afterward, and the final fight began.

When the Mexican soldiers breached the outer walls of the Alamo complex, most of the Texans fell back to the barracks and the chapel, as previously planned. Crockett and his men were too far from the barracks to be able to take shelter. and were the last remaining group within the mission to be in the open. The men defended the low wall in front of the church, using their rifles as clubs and relying on knives, as action became too furious to allow reloading their weapons. After a volley of fire and a charge with bayonets, Mexican soldiers pushed the few remaining Texians back toward the church. The Battle of the Alamo lasted almost 90 minutes.

By the late 19th century, Crockett was largely forgotten. His legend was reborn in a 1950's TV show by Walt Disney, which also introduced his legendary coonskin cap. As part of a deal that allowed him to build a theme park, Disneyland, Disney would produce weekly one-hour television programs for ABC. Disney wished to highlight historical figures and his company developed three episodes on Crockett - Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter, Davy Crockett Goes to Congress, and Davy Crockett at the Alamo — starring Fess Parker as Crockett. By the end of the three shows, Fess Parker would be very well known, and Davy Crockett would be the most famous frontiersman in American history. The shows proved very popular. They were combined into a feature-length movie in the summer of 1955, and Parker and his co-star Buddy Ebsen toured the United States, Europe, and Japan. By the end of 1955, Americans had purchased over $300 million of Davy Crockett merchandise. The television series also introduced a new song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". Four different versions of the song hit the Billboard Best Sellers pop chart in 1955.

The shows were repeated on NBC in the 1960's after Disney had moved his program to that network. The 1960 repeats marked the first time that the programs had actually been shown in color on TV. Davy Crockett made a return with Disney in two further adventures: Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. In these two episodes Crockett faced off against Mike Fink, another early American legend. The fad eventually waned, but Crockett was often a prominent role in movies about the Alamo. In the 1960 film The Alamo, John Wayne portrayed Crockett.

Today, a section of U.S. Route 64 between Winchester, Tennessee, and Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, is registered as the David Crockett Memorial Highway.