SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF DAVID CROCKETT
David Crockett was born August 17, 1786, at Rogersville, Tennessee.
He came of Irish ancestry, his grandparents settling in Pennsylvania.
Afterward they traveled southwest and made their home in what was then
the wilderness of Tennessee. In one of the almost countless Indian
attacks upon the settlers they were both killed.
It is not known if John Crockett, their son, and father of David, was
born on the ocean crossing to America, or in Ireland. At any rate, he
grew up in America, and fought gallantly in the Revolution.
He married a Mary Hankins who lived in that rich farming region near
the town of York, Pa. They had three daughters and six sons; David was
the fifth child, and first saw the light of day on the banks of the
Nolachuky River, Tennessee.
At the age of eight years David was engaged by a drover to help take
care of his cattle. But after two weeks on the road he ran away, joined
a wagon train and returned home.
Soon after this young Davy got into a scrape at school. He had a fight
with a boy much larger and older than himself and thrashed him; then,
fearing what the schoolmaster would say, he played truant. When Davy’s
father heard of this he sought out his son. But the boy eluded him. And
so we find him in the situation of fearing to go to school and also
fearing to go home. So he ran away, engaged with another drover and
traveled into Virginia.
The boy drifted about the country for a time, working for drovers and
wagoners; once at Baltimore he was upon the point of going to sea, but
the teamster with whom he was then engaged refused to allow him to go.
After suffering a great deal of bad usage, he made up his mind to go
back home to Tennessee. To escape a whipping at the hands of his father
he had endured hardships that were worse than a thousand whippings.
He dreaded what they’d say to him and more than once hesitated on the
journey home. But he was welcomed with open arms.
Now came the time for Davy to show the stuff he was made of; his father
was in debt, and the boy, now large and strong and fifteen years of
age, set to work to pay this off. It was accomplished in a year’s time,
and by hard, steady toil, such as none of the family had ever dreamed
him capable of.
The boy up to this time had little or no education; and so he set about
getting one. In six months he had learned to read and write and do sums
in arithmetic; this was all the schooling he ever had.
And through all this time the woods offered the young man a fair
chance to gratify his love for wandering and hunting. Little by little
his skill grew, and before many years he was considered the most deadly
marksman in all Tennessee.
While still very young, Crockett married an Irish girl, Polly Finlay;
and they began their housekeeping in a log cabin. Attracted by the
hunting grounds and an opportunity to better his condition in life, he,
his wife, and two boys later crossed the mountains with their household
goods into Lincoln County and settled on Elk River.
Here in this paradise of the hunter Crockett’s skill grew and grew.
There were many mighty hunters in that day, but not one whose celebrity
approached that of Crockett.
But then the second war with England came on; Tecumseh rallied the
Indian tribes against the white settlers who had begun to occupy their
hunting grounds.
The Creek chief, Weatherford, attacked Fort Mimms with a war party of
fifteen hundred braves. The fort was taken by surprise, and out of the
garrison of two hundred and seventy-five only seventeen escaped.
This was the beginning of the Creek War. General Andrew Jackson was
made commander of the American army sent against the savages. And in
this army Crockett served as a volunteer.
During the campaign against the Creeks, Crockett undertook many
dangerous scouting trips and took part in the battle of Tallushatchee,
and also that of Taladega. His daring brought him prominently before
the public eye in all the movements of the army against the Indians.
Afterward he reënlisted and joined Russell’s Spies, with whom he
performed many difficult feats of enterprise and courage. After
the battle of Enotochopko his time again expired, and once more he
reënlisted and fought to the end of the Creek War.
Two years after his return home his wife died; and not a great while
afterward he married once more. It was about this time that he went
upon an exploring expedition into the Creek country, where he was taken
dangerously ill.
Later he removed with his family into the section bought by the
government from the Chickasaw Nation. He established a home at the head
of Shoal Creek, and was shortly after elected justice of the peace, and
later still, colonel of a regiment of frontier militia.
As time went on, Crockett grew more and more in the public eye; he was
just the sort of picturesque character that would please the rough and
ready settlers; his marksmanship, his ready, backwoods eloquence made
him the popular choice and he was sent to the Legislature. Afterward he
ran for Congress and was defeated.
But it takes more than a single defeat to discourage a man like
Crockett; and so the following election he ran again and was elected.
He created a sensation in Washington during his stay in the city during
his first and second terms as a Congressman. All the big cities of the
east were also delighted to greet and entertain him upon one occasion
when he visited them. But on his third attempt for the Congressional
seat, he was defeated. Then he went to Texas.
There is not a great deal known of Colonel Crockett’s trip across the
plains to the town of San Antonio; and even less of his doings after
he got there. But that he fought as brave a fight as any of the other
heroic defenders of the Alamo, those who knew him best were positive;
and his name will live always in the annals of the Great West.
Other Stories in this Series are:
IN KENTUCKY WITH DANIEL BOONE
IN THE ROCKIES WITH KIT CARSON
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.