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He was known as the “King of the Wild Frontier”, a soldier, a politician in the Tennessee Legislature, a politician in Washington D.C., an indian fighter, a wild game hunter, a prolific storyteller, an author, and the original Tennessee Volunteer! Davy Crockett! Many remember watching Disney on Sunday nights with Fess Parker playing Davy Crockett and Buddy Epson playing his sidekick, George Russell, who is also known in the T.V. world as Jed Clampett, on the Beverly Hillbillies. Today in Greene County, Tennessee, is the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park, and the location has a well-done recreation of the Crockett homestead.
Davy was born where the Limestone Creek flows into the Nolichucky River. The Crockett family lived in the Nolichucky Settlement, which was settled by the pioneer Jacob Brown, who had leased the land from the local Cherokee Indians. Then, this area became known as part of the State of Franklin, then Greene County, North Carolina, which later became, Greene County, Tennessee. The Crockett family was very well known in the area, as John Crockett, Davy's father, was a local magistrate.
During these years, The American Revolution was raging back across the Appalachian Mountains in the American colonies. The British government signed an agreement with the Cherokee that stated that settlers would not come west of the Appalachians.
British Army Major Patrick Ferguson told them if they didn't lay down their arms, swear allegiance to the crown, that he would come burn their settlements, and hang their leaders. John Crockett, along with 1,200 other men gathered at Sycamore Shoals, and ten days later, they meet the British army and a Tory force at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
After this decisive battle, they became known as the “Overmountain Men”, and next they defeated the British forces at the Battle of Cowpens. The battles at Kings Mountain and Cowpens hastened the end of the American Revolution, and soon thereafter, British General Cornwallis was trapped and defeated by the George Washington's Army with help from the French.
In 1786, the soon to be legend Davy Crockett was born. In 1792, while Davy was still a young boy, the Nolichucky River flooded the whole bottom land where the Crockett cabin was located. About this same time, a new stagecoach road was being built from Knoxville, to Abingdon, Virginia, and to all points east. In 1794, the Crockett family moved along the new road, and open up a tavern and an inn, in Morristown, Tennessee.
John Crockett was heavily in debt, so he indentured his son Davy out to a local cattle company that was conducting cattle drives into Virginia. In 1808, he married Polly Finley and settled land that was owned by Polly's father, west of Morristown, on Mossy Creek, in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Soon the young family moved west, to Lincoln County, Tennessee.
During the War of 1812, The United States declared war on Great Britain and their allies, including the Creek Indians. Davy joined the Tennessee Volunteer Mounted Rifleman, who served under the leadership of General Andrew Jackson, and soon they were off to fight the Creeks on the Alabama and Florida coast.
Then in 1813, the family moved to Franklin County, Tennessee. Here he built a new home on Beans Creek, and he called it “Kentuck” because of his affinity for the great Daniel Boone. Then in 1815, Polly died and he soon he was married Elizabeth Patton. They moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee and lived in an area called Shoal Creek. Here, Davy operated a powder mill, a grist mill, and a distillery. He was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly.
In 1821, they moved west to Carroll County, Tennessee, which lies in the western part of the state. He was again elected to the Tennessee General Assembly and also was a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee militia. In 1827, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.
It was during this time that President Andrew Jackson proposed that all of the Cherokee and other tribes be moved to Oklahoma. Davy opposed the Indian Removal Act in Congress, and it cost him his seat. When Davy lost his reelection, he was extremely angry, and he told his constituents that he had served them well, but “you may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas”, and that's what he did.
In Texas, Davy swore allegiance to the provisional government in exchange for some land. A few weeks later, he and his Tennessee Volunteers went on down to San Antonio, and arrived at the Alamo Mission, which was really in dire straits because it was about to be attacked by the Mexican army. In one of the last letters that Lieutenant Colonel William Barrett Travis sent to Sam Houston, he said the honorable Davy Crockett was seen out amongst the men, encouraging them to do their duty and to fight the Mexican army. Davy Crockett was killed while defending the Alamo.
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