David Crockett, frontiersman, Tennessee legislator and U.S. congressman, folk hero, and icon of popular culture, was an intriguing composite of history and myth. He was a unique and compelling mixture of the historical figure and legendary hero.
First of all, he was never…ever…Davy. The name Davy just sounded better in singing of the Walt Disney TV show’s theme song! Now we take it for granted that everyone called him Davy!
As a child, Crockett preferred to be in the woods rather than attend school, so he ran away from home at age 13 to escape his father’s wrath for his disobedience. His “strategic withdrawal,” as he called it, lasted over two years.
At age 31, he first entered public office as a commissioner…and he campaigned as an honest country boy and an extraordinary hunter and marksman–someone who was, in every sense, a “straight shooter.”
Despite his popularity and previous successes, Crockett was defeated in his 1835 congressional bid because he found himself in the cross-hairs of President Andrew Jackson and Tennessee Governor William Carroll. The election of his rival Adam Huntsman, a peg-legged lawyer, disenchanted Crockett with politics and prompted him to make the now-famous remark: “Since you have chosen to elect a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.”
A year later he arrived at a former Spanish Mission turned fortress in San Antonio…it’s name: The Alamo. Crockett got there just in time for a brutal and deadly 13-day siege by Mexican General Santa Ana…
With his passing, the floodgates opened for the full-blown expansion of the legend. Crockett could “run faster, -jump higher, -squat lower, -dive deeper, -stay under longer, -and come out drier, than any man in the whole country.”
Dramatic depictions of Crockett always presented him as courageous, dashing, and true blue, a nobleman of nature protecting his country and all who needed a champion.
Crockett was portrayed by Fess Parker in well-known Walt Disney productions and John Wayne, took a turn directing and starring as David in the 1960 movie: The Alamo.
The Walt Disney-Fess Parker-inspired Crockett craze of the 1950s was without question the high water mark of his popularity.
Department stores set up special Crockett sections to sell clothes and Crockett paraphernalia such as records, lunch boxes, towels, wallets, athletic equipment, and even baby shoes…the total Crockett-inspired industry realized sales of over $300 million in 1950s dollars…take that Duck Dynasty!
If you’d like to hear the audio version, please click below, and thanks for liking, commenting on David Crockett and sharing this post!