Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett (David Crockett) , 1786-1836, American frontiersman, b. Limestone, near Greeneville, Tenn. After serving (1813-14) under Andrew Jackson against the Creek in the War of 1812, he settled in Giles co., Tenn., and in 1821 was elected to the state legislature. In 1823, Crockett, having moved to the extreme western part of the state, was reelected from his new constituency. When it was jokingly suggested that he should run for Congress, he took the proposal seriously and served three terms in the House (1827-31, 1833-35). His dress, language, racy backwoods humor, and naive yet shrewd comments on city life and national affairs made him a popular figure in Washington. Crockett became a political opponent of Jackson, and the Whigs took him up so assiduously that he became the showpiece of conservatism. Resenting his defeat for reelection in 1835, Crockett left Tennessee for Texas, where he heroically lost his life in the defense of the Alamo . A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (1834), An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East (1834), and Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas (posthumous, 1836), supposedly written by Crockett himself in his own idiom, do not match, either in content or style, those letters definitely known to be his.

Bibliography: See his Narrative, facsimile edition edited by J. A. Shackford and S. J. Folmsbee (1973); study by J. A. Shackford (1956); W. C. Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998).

Crockett, Davy (1786–1836) frontiersman, U.S. congressman, and folk hero, born David Crockett in Greene County, Tennessee. Crockett was a volunteer in the Indian wars in the southeast (1813–15) and a militia officer. As a state legislator (1821–25), he took an active interest in public land policy regarding the West. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1827–31, 1833–35), campaigning as a “straight shooter.” Crockett was the hero of tall tales in Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett of West Tennessee (1833) and Crockett Almanacs (1835–1856), and he published an autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee (1834). Defeated in a reelection bid, remarked, “you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” In Texas, Crockett joined Col. William B. Travis in the defense of the Alamo, “animating the men to do their duty” (1836).