17th August: Davy Crockett Day

Today is Davy Crockett Day, celebrating the birth of "the King of the Wild Frontier" on August 17 1786.

1. The name "Crockett" was French in origin. One of Crockett's ancestors was Monsieur de la Croquetagne, a captain of the Royal Guard of French King Louis XIV. He settled in Ireland, and changed his name to make it more Irish. Adventuring was in Crockett's blood - his grandfather was killed by Indians and his father fought as a soldier in the American Revolutionary War.
2. He was born in what is now Tennessee, but in 1786, his birthplace was in a territory called Franklin which had declared independence from North Carolina. Franklin applied to become a state, but failed.
3. Davy Crockett only went to school for four days. He didn't start school until the age of thirteen, and after four days had a run in with the school bully. Obviously, this is Davy Crockett we're talking about, so he wasn't going to let a mere bully get the better of him. He ambushed the bully on the way home and beat him up. However, he did seem more deterred at the thought of punishment from the teachers and his father. He played truant to avoid the beating he knew he'd get at school. When his father found out and was going to beat him for it, Davy ran away and travelled with cattle drovers and learned the first of many trades - teamster, farmhand and hat maker’s apprentice. It was a few years before he went home, by which time his family no longer recognised him. He stayed home long enough to work and help pay off family debts, and then left home for good.
4. During this period of work, Crockett fell in love with a girl called Margaret Elder, and got engaged to her. However, she found Crockett's wild ways a bit too much and, knowing she'd never tame him, married someone else. The broken-hearted Davy declared then that he was “only born for hardship, misery, and disappointment,” and that he'd have nothing more to do with women. He must have relented a little eventually, however, as he had two wives - Polly Finley, from 1806 to 1815, when she died, and Elizabeth Patton; their marriage lasted from 1815 to 1836.
5. He nearly died twice. Once when he contracted malaria and was so ill his travelling companions left him by the side of the road to die. Nevertheless, he recovered and went home. Ten years later, while working in yet another profession - that of a barrel maker, he was transporting barrel staves along the river when his boat capsized and he was trapped underneath it. Luckily the rest of the crew managed to pull him out through a small opening.
6. Another of his jobs was as a politician. He served three non-consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and was known for his larger than life folk hero persona, his advocacy for the poor, and a sharp tongue. Needless to say not everyone liked him and in particular, he was at odds with the then president, Andrew Jackson because he opposed the president's Indian Removal Act. He often missed political sessions and eventually lost his seat. (Politics doesn't change much, does it?) All the same, when someone tried to assassinate Andrew Jackson, Crockett didn't stand by and let them. He pitched in with a number of bystanders and wrestled the gunman to the ground. Crockett's career as a politician wouldn't have made him famous by itself, though. In six years in Congress, he failed to get a single bill passed.
7. He was a folk hero even in his lifetime - his fame was spread by a play called The Lion of the West, which, although it didn't mention Crockett's name at all, the protagonist, Nimrod Wildfire, was obviously based on him. A lot of tall tales about Crockett's adventures began to circulate. An unauthorised biography claimed he rode on a streak of Lightning, and stole a tail off a comet to save the world. Even in the modern day, a song about him claims he killed a Bear at the age of three (he actually learned to shoot when he was eight). Crockett decided to set the record straight and published his autobiography. He can't have been too upset about the play, though. He actually went to see it when it came to Washington and at one point, his eyes met those of the actor playing Nimrod Wildfire - and they ceremoniously bowed to each other.
8. Davy Crockett was a Freemason. The Weakly Lodge in Tennessee still has his masonic apron, since he left it with them to look after when he left on his final journey.
9. Crockett had had enough of politics and losing his final bid for Congress in 1835 was the last straw. He declared, “You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” Some believe he had a long term goal of running for political office there, but we'll never know because he joined up in the war against Mexico and was posted to the Alamo. Santa Anna and his Mexican forces laid siege to the Alamo on March 6, 1836. In the ensuing battle, Crockett and was killed along with 200 others. Exactly how he died isn't known. His reputation as a hero might have led to stories that his body was found with a heap of enemy corpses. More likely, the story told in a Mexican officer's diary was the nearest to the truth. That account says he survived the battle but he and a handful of survivors were executed.
10. During his lifetime, Crockett owned two guns which he named "Betsy" - "Old Betsy" and "Fancy Betsy". He may have named these guns after his oldest sister or his second wife - or possibly even both.

See details of all my books

Browse other topics I've covered in this blog - HERE.

Like my Facebook page for news of Topical Ten posts posts on my writing blog, a weekly writing quote and news of upcoming publications