[Sidenote: =Crockett found his schooling in the woods=]
=143. A Brave Backwoodsman.= At the close of the Revolution, Tennessee
was still largely a wilderness. Here David Crockett was born in 1786.
In those days schools on the frontier were few and poor, and young
"Davy" found most of his schooling in the backwoods. He learned to know
the woods and streams and the animals that lived in them. As a boy he
spent most of his time hunting and trapping. As a young man he was one
of the most famous rifle shots in the United States.
When the Creek War broke out, he enlisted under Andrew Jackson to march
against the Indians. The young rifleman fought so well under "Old
Hickory" that Tennessee made him a colonel.
[Sidenote: =Elected to Congress=]
He had become a famous hunter and fighter. He thought he would try
politics next. Instead of making political speeches, he went about
from place to place telling stories. The people liked both him and his
stories so well that they elected him to the legislature. A few years
later they sent him to Congress.
[Sidenote: =Returns to the wilderness=]
[Sidenote: =Joins the fight at the Alamo=]
By and by Crockett grew tired of civilization. He wanted to get back to
the wilderness. His old home was too well settled to suit him. So he
wandered to Texas. Here he heard that the Mexicans were surrounding the
Americans at San Antonio. "Davy" Crockett loved a good fight too well
to stay away. He hastened to join the small band of brave men who were
defending the Alamo. All could have escaped had they chosen to do so,
but with iron courage these hundred and forty stayed and defied Santa
Ana's thousands.
For several days the Mexicans were held at a distance. They dared
not bring their cannon close to the building, for the concealed
sharpshooters picked off the men who tried to man the guns. Old
Crockett himself laid low five men in charge of one cannon.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE WEST AFTER THE WAR WITH MEXICO
_Showing the territory added to the United States after the Louisiana
Purchase_]
[Sidenote: =David Crockett fights to the last=]
The fall of the Alamo was however merely a question of time. Little
by little the walls were battered down, and finally the Mexicans were
ready to storm. On they came, a great charging mass. The American
riflemen shot them down by scores, but when one Mexican fell another
took his place. One by one the fearless defenders fell. The last man to
go down was Davy Crockett.
It is said that he stood with his back to the wall, fighting to the
last, and that the Mexicans, afraid to meet him hand to hand, shot him
down from a distance.