David Crockett: The Lion of the West
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Hardcover
In December 1954, this 6 1/2 year-old boy eagerly joined the frenzy resulting from the showing of Disney's first "Davy Crockett" adventure on TV. I saw every episode. Somewhere in my house I still have a "Davy Crockett" coon-skin hat, but without the tail, which was lost somehow. And I wasn't the only kid to have one. The book states coonskins cost 25 cents each before the TV show series appeared, but quickly reached $6 as a result of the frenzy. And I still remember the theme song too!
An interesting fact the book provides is Crockett never called himself "Davy," but always David. And, this is the cool part, one set of his grandparents were born in Baltimore County, Maryland, where I grew up. While his mother was born somewhere between Baltimore City and York, PA.
The book relates Crockett was a great hunter, but a poor businessman, sometimes due to bad luck. As one reason he kept moving West was to stay ahead of his creditors. Sadly, this eventually led to separation from his second wife. This is actually the reason he went to Texas, where he could obtain hundreds of acres of land for free. The fight at the Alamo was just something he stumbled into.
Crockett did serve more than one term in Congress, but didn't do too well as he even alienated his own party. After two terms in the House, he was defeated, but won another term later. The Whigs even put him up as a presidential candidate against Martin Van Buren to draw votes, but really supported someone else. Later one of Crockett's sons also served in Congress.
Due to my fascination with Crockett at an early age I really enjoyed the book. It was an easy read and I accepted the listing of his faults along with his good points. Over all, "Davy" was a great symbol of America in his time. The book also covers the early books and plays written about him while he was till alive and later.It also covers some controversy about how he died at the Alamo. This was covered in an entire book I'd previously read.
Finally, when I attended an entomological meeting in San Antonio, I slipped away more than once to enjoy the River Walk and also visit the Alamo.
The author quotes Crockett as saying, ""Whenever I had anything, and saw a fellow being suffering, I was more anxious to relieve him than to better myself. And this is one of the true secrets of my being a poor man to this day." But this didn't apply to everyone, as Crockett often sold slaves to help pay his debts.
The author also lists William Travis, the commander of the Alamo, as a slave trader, who fled to Texas to escape debts, while abandoning his wife and son. In fact, Travis' slave Joe was one of the people in the Alamo who wasn't killed as he was a slave and those "dirty Mexicans" had abolished slavery, which was one of the main reasons Texians were revolting. Not to be left out, Jim Bowie, of knife fame, who also died at the Alamo, was a slave dealer who smuggled slaves in the U.S. after it became illegal, and was guilty of land fraud in Alabama and Louisiana. Somehow this all got left out of the TV shows and movies made about these men. Oh, well!
An interesting fact the book provides is Crockett never called himself "Davy," but always David. And, this is the cool part, one set of his grandparents were born in Baltimore County, Maryland, where I grew up. While his mother was born somewhere between Baltimore City and York, PA.
The book relates Crockett was a great hunter, but a poor businessman, sometimes due to bad luck. As one reason he kept moving West was to stay ahead of his creditors. Sadly, this eventually led to separation from his second wife. This is actually the reason he went to Texas, where he could obtain hundreds of acres of land for free. The fight at the Alamo was just something he stumbled into.
Crockett did serve more than one term in Congress, but didn't do too well as he even alienated his own party. After two terms in the House, he was defeated, but won another term later. The Whigs even put him up as a presidential candidate against Martin Van Buren to draw votes, but really supported someone else. Later one of Crockett's sons also served in Congress.
Due to my fascination with Crockett at an early age I really enjoyed the book. It was an easy read and I accepted the listing of his faults along with his good points. Over all, "Davy" was a great symbol of America in his time. The book also covers the early books and plays written about him while he was till alive and later.It also covers some controversy about how he died at the Alamo. This was covered in an entire book I'd previously read.
Finally, when I attended an entomological meeting in San Antonio, I slipped away more than once to enjoy the River Walk and also visit the Alamo.
The author quotes Crockett as saying, ""Whenever I had anything, and saw a fellow being suffering, I was more anxious to relieve him than to better myself. And this is one of the true secrets of my being a poor man to this day." But this didn't apply to everyone, as Crockett often sold slaves to help pay his debts.
The author also lists William Travis, the commander of the Alamo, as a slave trader, who fled to Texas to escape debts, while abandoning his wife and son. In fact, Travis' slave Joe was one of the people in the Alamo who wasn't killed as he was a slave and those "dirty Mexicans" had abolished slavery, which was one of the main reasons Texians were revolting. Not to be left out, Jim Bowie, of knife fame, who also died at the Alamo, was a slave dealer who smuggled slaves in the U.S. after it became illegal, and was guilty of land fraud in Alabama and Louisiana. Somehow this all got left out of the TV shows and movies made about these men. Oh, well!
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