Davy Crockett

Born on August 17, 1786, David Stern Crockett grew up in Greene county in Tennessee. In his life he was a soldier, politician, and 19^th century American folk hero. Along with that, he also had a major reputation as an experienced backwoodsmen, so much so that he earned the nickname “King of the Wild Frontier.” Davy was the fifth child of the nine children of John and Rebecca Crockett. He learned to shoot a rifle when he was only 8 years old, and joined his older brothers on several hunting trips. When he was 13, his father decided that he should receive an education and he began to attend school, but after he walloped the resident bully in that school, he ran away to avoid getting into trouble and for the next 3 years he wandered around developing his backwoodsmen skills. When he was 15, he finally came home and assisted his father who was in debt to John Kennedy, so Davy worked for Kennedy even after the debt was paid off. The day before he turned 20, Davy married Mary Finley and they had three children together before she died. He then he married Elizabeth Paton, who gave him two more children. During the War of 1812, he was a scout for the militia serving under Major John Gibson, and was positioned in Winchester, Tennessee. During this time he joined an excursion to take revenge on the Creek Indians for their attack on Fort Films, Alabama. In November that same year, they massacred the Indians in the Indian town Tallushatchee in Alabama. After he was relieved of duty, he reenlisted, the only difference this time would be that he was serving as a third sergeant commanded by Captain John Cowen. In 1835, he resigned from the army as a fourth sergeant and went home to his wife and children. When he came home, Davy was accepted as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives; where he remained from 1821 until 1823. Around this time he ran to be in the 19^th U.S. congress, but he did not succeed. Later though, in 1826, he ran as a Jacksonian candidate and won the position in the 20^th U.S. congress, and won again in 1833. Throughout his political career Davy found his reputation as a hardcore backwoodsman growing and this likely boosted his popularity, although, some of the stories that were told about him were somewhat exaggerated. These ideas even went past politics, and eventually he became an American folk hero and legend. After losing the 1835 U.S. Congressional race, he joined the Texas Revolution and was killed in the Battle of Alamo on March 6, 1836. Davy Crockett was a brave soldier and determined politician and throughout his life he experienced many challenges, but did not allow them to stop him from reaching his goals.