American Legend: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett (45 page)

20
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
58.

21
Ibid.

22
Journal of the House of Representatives,
Second Session, Fourteenth General Assembly, 1822, p. 129. Quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
57.

23
Ibid.

24
Ibid.

25
The “Christmas guns” anecdote is based on Crockett,
Narrative,
159-60.

26
Hauck,
Bio-Bibliography,
35. Richard Slotkin,
Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860
(Middletown, CT, 1973), 555-56.

27
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
63.

28
Crockett,
Narrative,
166-67.

29
Ibid, 169.

30
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
64, 300n. Shackford points out in a note that the most accurate authentication for this story comes from a contemporary of Crockett’s, one Colonel Robert I. Chester. For Chester’s rendition of the story, see H. S. Turner, “Andrew Jackson and David Crockett: Reminiscences of Colonel Chester,”
Magazine of American History
27 (May 1892): 385-87.

31
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
64. Davis,
Three Roads,
603n. Davis offers an interesting note that clarifies the traditional ordering of stump speeches, observing that the men often alternated, in which case Crockett may not have had to ask to go first. Also see Turner, “Reminiscences of Colonel Chester,” 385-87.

32
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
66.

33
Ibid.

34
Ibid. Derr,
Frontiersman,
117-18; Davis,
Three Roads,
87.

35
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 1, 136, quoted in Burstein,
Passions of Andrew Jackson,
27.

36
Davis,
Three Roads,
88.

37
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
69; Davis,
Three Roads,
88.

38
Quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
69.

39
Folmsbee and Catron, “Early Career,” 78-83.

40
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
70-71, quoting
National Banner and Nashville Whig,
September 27, 1824.

Chapter 8: “Neck or Nothing”

Direct Crockett quotes in this chapter are taken from his
Narrative,
unless otherwise noted.

1
Stanley J. Folmsbee and Anna Grace Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,”
East Tennessee Historical Society Publications
28 (1957), 40-41.

2
Circular of 1824, Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville.

3
Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 40.

4
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
73-74. Hauck,
Bio-Bibliography,
39.

5
Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 41.

6
Crockett,
Narrative,
173, 20n.

7
This bear hunting anecdote is based on Crockett,
Narrative,
185-91.

8
See Shackford,
Man and Legend,
77 and 301n, for testimonials of Crockett’s expertise as a hunter and marksman.

9
Derr,
Frontiersman,
134.

10
Crockett ’s rescue and his fortuitous arrival in Memphis is recorded in James D. Davis,
History of the City of Memphis
(Memphis, 1873), 146-50. Crockett,
Narrative,
195-200.

11
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
79.

12
Derr,
Frontiersman,
136.

13
Crockett,
Narrative,
201-2.

14
Derr,
Frontiersman,
139.

15
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
81-83.

16
Davis,
History of Memphis,
150-51, 176. Shackford,
Man and Legend,
83, 302n.

17
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
83.

18
Derr,
Frontiersman,
140.

19
Crockett,
Narrative,
204.

20
Stanley, J. Folmsbee, and Anna Grace Catron, “David Crockett and West Tennessee,”
West Tennessee Historical Society Papers
28 (1974): 9n, from election returns of 1827.

Chapter 9: Political Reality

1
Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett Congressman,” 44. Davis,
Three Roads,
123. Shackford,
Man and Legend,
84-86.

2
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
84. Derr,
Frontiersman,
143.

3
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
84-85.

4
Quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
86 and 303n. For a complete account of this duel, see James A. Shackford, “David Crockett and North Carolina,”
North Carolina Historical Review,
28: 298-315. Also see J. R. Hicklin, “The Carson-Vance Duel,”
The State
[North Carolina], 6 (December 10, 1938): 9.

5
Davis,
Three Roads,
126, 609n. Arpad,
Original Legendary,
188.

6
David Crockett to James Blackburn, February 5, 1828, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

7
Davis,
Three Roads,
126.

8
Derr,
Frontiersman,
144.

9
Quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
88.

10
Quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
89 and 303n.

11
Derr,
Frontiersman,
144-45. James Sterling Young,
The Washington Community: 1800-1828
(New York, 1966): 98-107.

12
Derr,
Frontiersman,
145.
Jackson
[Tennessee]
Gazette,
January 31, 1829.

13
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
88. Hauck,
Bio-Bibliography,
43.

14
Derr,
Frontiersman,
142.

15
Crockett to James L. Totten, February 11, 1828, Crockett Papers, Special Collections, University of Tennessee.

16
Letter from Crockett to Mr. Seal, March 11, 1828, Crockett Papers, Special Collection, University of Texas. Quoted in Davis,
Three Roads.

17
Quoted in Davis,
Three Roads,
129. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett, Congressman,” 45. Shackford,
Man and Legend,
89.

18
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
89. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 45.

19
Derr,
Frontiersman,
147-48. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 45. Shackford,
Man and Legend,
87-89, 303n.

20
Duff Green Papers. Southern Historical Collection of the University of North Carolina.

21
Josephine Seaton,
William Winston Seaton of the National Intelligencer: A Biographical Sketch.
(Boston, 1871), 184. Derr,
Frontiersman,
152.

22
Derr,
Frontiersman,
123.

23
Hauck,
Bio-Bibliography,
42. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 47.

24
Ibid, 47-48. Derr,
Frontiersman,
150. Shackford,
Man and Legend,
90-91.

25
Quoted in Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 48. Derr,
Frontiersman,
150.
Register of Debates in Congress,
vol. 4, part 2 (Washington, DC, 1827-1828): 2,519.

26
Register of Debates in Congress,
vol. 4, part 2: 2,519.

27
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
91.

28
Derr,
Frontiersman,
151.

29
Davis,
Three Roads,
133-34. Derr,
Frontiersman,
153. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett and West Tennessee,” 11, 11n.

30
Derr,
Frontiersman,
153. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett, Congressman,” 48-49.

31
Jackson
[Tennessee]
Gazette,
January 31, 1829.

32
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
125.

33
Nashville Republican,
March 18, 1828. Quoted in Davis,
Three Roads,
122. Derr,
Frontiersman,
146.

34
Register of Debates in Congress,
vol. 5: 162.

35
Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett: Congressman,” 55-56. Derr,
Frontiersman,
155.

36
Letter from James K. Polk to Davison McMillen, January 16, 1829, in Herbert Weaver, ed.,
Correspondence of James K. Polk,
vol. 1, 1817-1832 (Nashville, 1969), 229-231, 231n.

37
Ibid, 230.

38
Register of Debates in Congress,
vol 5: 210.

39
Davis,
Three Roads,
139.

40
Letter from James K. Polk to Davison McMillen, January 16, 1829, in Weaver,
Correspondence of James K. Polk,
vol. 1, 230.

41
David Crockett in
Jackson
[Tennessee]
Gazette,
March 14, 21, 28, 1829.

42
Crockett to George Patton, January 27, 1829, Miscellaneous Collection, Tennessee Historical Society.

43
Quoted in Burstein,
Passions of Andrew Jackson,
173.

Chapter 10: Crockett’s Declaration of Independence

1
Davis,
Three Roads,
165. Promissory note, February 24, 1829, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum Research Center, Canyon, TX.

2
Jackson
[Tennessee]
Gazette,
March 7, 1829. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett and West Tennessee,” 14.

3
Derr,
Frontiersman,
162. Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett and West Tennessee,” 14n, quoted in Shackford,
Man and Legend,
125.

4
Davis,
History of Memphis,
110-11.

5
Ibid, 111.

6
J. M. Keating,
History of the City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee
(Syracuse, 1880), 175-76.

7
Haley,
Sam Houston,
60; Crockett to Gales & Seaton, April 18, 1829, Personal Miscellaneous Papers, New York Public Library.

8
Davis,
Three Roads,
168.

9
Folmsbee and Catron, “David Crockett and West Tennessee,” 14. Derr,
Frontiersman,
163.

10
Arpad,
Original Legendary
131 and 193-96. Davis,
Three Roads,
169.

11
Catherine L. Albanese, “Citizen Crockett: Myth, History, and Nature Religion.”
Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal,
61 (1978): 89-90.

12
Shackford,
Man and Legend,
101.