Davy Crockett

Offers young readers a look at the facts, fables, and myths surrounding this celebrated character of American history who became famous for his courage and fearlessness as a soldier during the battle at the Alamo. Simultaneous.

Davy Crockett, the King of the Wild Frontier, is a man of legend. He is said to have killed his first bear when he was three years old. His smile alone killed another, and he skinned a bear by forcing him to run between two trees. Fact or fiction? Find out the real story of this folk hero, who did love to hunt bears, served as a congressman for Tennessee, and fought and died at the Alamo.

This easy-reading autobiography of bear hunting and Indian fighting — written in 1834, two years before Crockett met his fate at the Alamo — popularized tall tales of the frontier.

One of America's best-known folk heroes, Crockett served as a frontiersman, a scout, a soldier and a politician in the U.S. Congress. He died defending the Alamo, a steadfast citizen and heroic leader to the very end.

Even as a pup, Davy Crockett "always delighted to be in the very thickest of danger." In his own inimitable style, he describes his earliest days in Tennessee, his two marriages, his career as an Indian fighter, his bear hunts, and his electioneering. His reputation as a b'ar hunter (he killed 105 in one season) sent him to Congress, and he was voted in and out as the price of cotton (and his relations with the Jacksonians) rose and fell. In 1834, when this autobiography appeared, Davy Crockett was already a folk hero with an eye on the White House. But a year later he would lose his seat in Congress and turn toward Texas and, ultimately, the Alamo.

Statement of responsiblity taken from title page verso.

Davy Crockett was born on August 17, 1786 in a backwoods cabin in eastern Tennessee. At age twelve, David learned how to shoot a rifle. When he grew up, he won most of the shooting matches he entered and became a well-known storyteller. No matter where he lived, he was popular. He was elected to three terms in the House of Representatives. After being defeated in the congressional election of 1835, he was ready for new adventure. He rode to Texas, where he fought and died in the Battle of the Alamo.

Davy Crockett heads to Texas to help the courageous settlers at the Alamo battle Santa Anna and the Mexican soldiers.