Born On A Mountaintop

Pioneer. Congressman. Martyr of the Alamo. King of the Wild Frontier. As with all great legends, Davy Crockett's has been retold many times. Over the years, he has been repeatedly reinvented by historians and popular storytellers. In Born on a Mountaintop, Bob Thompson combines the stories of the real hero and his Disney-enhanced afterlife as he delves deep into our love for an American icon. In the road-trip tradition of Sarah Vowell and Tony Horwitz, Thompson follows Crockett's footsteps from his birthplace in east Tennessee to Washington, where he served three terms in Congress, and on to Texas and the gates of the Alamo, seeking out those who know, love, and are still willing to fight over Davy's life and legacy. Born on a Mountaintop is more than just a bold new biography of one of the great American heroes. Thompson's rich mix of scholarship, reportage, humor, and exploration of modern Crockett landscapes bring Davy Crockett's impact on the American imagination vividly to life.

This book is a reminisce, a personal history of events long past, sweetened by time, recalled with longing, factual, but not accurate. The events I have chosen to write about essentially happened, though not in the idealized manner I have recorded them. It is the issues, the perplexing questions and contradictions I encountered growing up which I have attempted to relate most accurately. Myths, Good and Evil, customs, traditions, facts and fables, along with not so Little White Lies were a minefield I had to traverse through my childhood. Not all of these fictions were harmful, but many were, and I still puzzle over their purpose. My companions on this journey, as portrayed in these stories, are for the most part, amalgams of my childhood companions. I have chosen to respect their privacy and not inflict my uncertainties and issues onto their journey of growth. Lowell, Massachusetts remains constant in my memory, a field of clover with considerable puddles of mud and patches of hemlock around the edges. On those occasions when I can remain still I can recall her rattling city buses, red brick mills lining the Merrimack River, her green, well tended parks and corner taverns alongside corner churches. The rest is silence. Mostly.

Traces the author's visits to key areas in the life of Davy Crockett, including the legendary frontiersman's Tennessee River Valley home and the Alamo site in Texas, exploring Crockett's true life and enduring cultural influence.

The 1813 storming of Fort Mims by Creek Indians brought to light the careers of Andrew Jackson, David Crockett and Sam Houston. All three fought the Creeks and each would have his part to play two decades later when the Alamo was stormed during the fight for Texan independence from Mexico. President Jackson was the first head of state to recognize the fledgling Republic of Texas. Colonel Crockett would be enshrined as a folk hero for his stand at the Alamo. General Houston won Texan independence at San Jacinto in 1836. This book tells the stories of the two landmark battles--at Fort Mims and the Alamo--and the interwoven lives of Jackson, Crockett and Houston, three of the most fascinating men in American history.

This engaging, myth-busting series seeks new explanations for the ghost stories, outlaw tales, haunted places, and unsolved mysteries that shaped a state's identity.

Having been born on April Fools Day, author Earl B. Russell likes to imagine that in an early sign of his precocious nature, the doctor dried him off, held him up for his mother to see, and then listened as the baby looked at his mother and exclaimed, April Fool! Russells mother knew he was a problem child right off the bat. At first glance, his older brother told everyone Russell would never amount to anythingso much for making a good first impression! As his life began in a rural Tennessee farmhouse, disappointing both his mother and brother, he had nowhere to go but up. In his tragicomic memoir, Russell traces his unimaginable postWorld War II life in the American Heartland through zany and introspective accounts that reveal horrific tragedies, soul-searching life lessons, and amusing adventures. Beginning with his upbringing on a poor farm, Russell shares compelling narrative from his coming-of-age journey as he encounters unspeakable losses, revels in the joys of marriage and family, climbs the academic ladder, and confronts a forty-year-old family secret. Along the way, the problem-child-turned-adult finds himself in raw academic brawls in the halls of ivy, conferring with world-renowned retinal researchers, and crossing paths with astronaut Neil Armstrong, Mickey Mantle, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Charles. Cold Turkey at Nine is an engaging story of resiliency, love, and one mischievous little boys path as he explores how ordinary people deal with extraordinary circumstances.

Tired of the same old tourist traps? Whether you’re a visitor or a local looking for something different, let Tennessee Off the Beaten Path show you the Volunteer State you never knew existed. Enjoy a slice of vinegar pie at the summit of Clinch Mountain; check out the 110-foot-high waterfall in the Ozone Falls Natural Area; or pass the hat—a genuine Stetson—while listening to top-shelf Southern gospel music at the famous Nashville Cowboy Church. Elvis Presley’s Mercedes-Benz is just one of the thirty cars on display at the Smoky Mountain Car Museum in Pigeon Forge. Al Capone’s bullet-proof Cadillac is also here, as is one of James Bond’s 007 cars. So if you’ve “been there, done that” one too many times, get off the main road and venture Off the Beaten Path.