David "Davy" Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.

Crockett was born in Limestone, Greene County, Tennessee, (at that time, part of North Carolina). He served in the militia of Lawrence County, Tennessee and was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821. In 1827, he was elected to the U.S. Congress. Due to his opposition to the Indian Removal Act during the administration of President Andrew Jackson, he was defeated in the next election, but made a political comeback in 1833. He subsequently lost his 1835 re-election bid and angrily left Tennessee for Texas (then the Mexican state of Tejas). His wife and children remained behind in Tennessee.

All that is certain about Crockett's death, is that he died at the Battle of the Alamo. A former American slave named Ben, who was a cook for one of Santa Anna's officers, maintained that Crockett's body was found in the barracks surrounded by "no less than sixteen Mexican corpses", with Crockett's knife buried in one of them. Stories that Crockett was among a group who surrendered, and were subsequently executed, began circulating immediately after the tragedy. His life and legacy has been written about extensively, beginning in 1834 with a biography reputed to have been written by Crockett himself, but in reality was at least partly ghost written by Thomas Chilton.

Bibliography

+Davy Crockett bibliographyAuthorTitle Publisher Pub DateNotesRefsDavid Crockett: his life and adventuresDodd, Mead and Company1874 Ward Lock & Co1879David CrockettDodd, Mead and Co1898David Crockett, Scout: Small Boy, Pilgrim, Mountaineer, Soldier, Bear-Hunter and Congressman, Defender of the AlamoJ. B. Lippincott & Co.1911Davy CrockettLerner Publishing Group2003Illustrated by Tim ParlinDavid Crockett, An Original Eccentricity and Early American CharacterDuke University1969Ph.D. dissertationDavy CrockettChicago Wheeler1960Real Adventure with American Pathfinders : Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, Davy CrockettH. Wagner Publishing1954Edited by Lowell C BallardDavy Crockett, Legendary Frontier Hero: His True Life Story and the Fabulous Tall Tales Told About HimLincoln-Herndon Press1986David Crockett in Congress: The Rise and Fall of the Poor Man's FriendBright Sky Press2009David Crockett, The Man Behind the MythEakins Press1984The Public Career of David CrockettUniversity of Tennessee1955Master's thesisOld Whirlwind; a Story of Davy CrockettMacmillan1953Pictures by Manning de V. Leealso published in Swedish Journey Into the Land of Trials : The Story of Davy Crockett's Expedition to the AlamoHillsboro Press2003 The Story of David CrockettBarse & Hopkins1922Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas RevolutionOxford University Press2005 A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of TennesseeE.L. Carey and A. Hart1834Co-authored (or ghost written) by Thomas Chilton Sketches and eccentricities of Col. David Crockett of West Tennessee J & J Harper/O. Rich1833Credited to Crockett, but actually written by Mathew St. Clair Clarke"Go ahead!" : Davy Crockett's Almanack of Wild Sports of the West and Life in the Backwoods : Calculated for All the States in the Union : 1835 Snag & Sawyer1834Crockett's almanac has been published multiple times under varied titles Davy Crockett and His Adventures in Texas Told Mostly by HimselfCharles Scribner's Sons1934An Autobiography of Davy CrockettSkyhorse Publishing2011edited by Steve Brennan Three Roads to the Alamo : The Lives and Fortunes of Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret TravisHarperCollins2009Lone Star Rising-The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas RepublicFree Press2004 Davy CrockettRandom House1955 The Frontiersman : The Real Life and the Many Legends of Davy Crockett William Morrow and Company1993The Texan Trailer, or, Davy Crockett's Last bear Hunt Beadle and Co 1871The Life of Davy CrockettMantle Ministries2000The Early Career of David CrockettEast Tennessee Historical Society Publications1956Anna Grace Catron co-writer David Crockett: Congressman East Tennessee Historical Society Publications1957Anna Grace Catron co-writerDavid Crockett in Texas East Tennessee Historical Society Publications1958 David Crocket and His AutobiographyEast Tennessee Historical Society Publications1971David Crockett and West TennesseeEast Tennessee Historical Society Publications1974 Davy Crockett and the Crockett FamilyChattanooga: Lookout Pub. Co1951Zella Armstrong co-writerDeath of a Legend: The Myth and Mystery Surrounding the Death of Davy CrockettRepublic of Texas Press1999David Crockett: Hero of the Common ManForge Books2007Houston and Crockett: Heroes of Tennessee and Texas: An Anthology.Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission1986 The Role of the Frontier in Jacksonian Politics: David Crockett and the Myth of the Self-Made ManWestern Historical Quarterly1973 Deaths and Three Resurrections of Davy CrockettAntioch Review1951Davy Crockett and Others in Fentress County Who Have Given the County a Prominent Place in History1955Davy CrockettPowerKids Press2001In the Footsteps of Davy CrockettJohn F. Blair2006 How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much?Texas A&M University Press 2010 The Real Life Adventures of David CrockettPutnam Press2005 Davy Crockett: The Man, the Legend, the Legacy, 1786–1986 University of Tennessee Press1985 Crockett at Two Hundred: New Perspectives on the Man and the Myth. University of Tennessee Press 1989 Davy Crockett Visits BostonNew England Quarterly1947Davy Crockett and the Unconstitutional Welfare StateThe Institute for Constitutional Research1990 David Crockett Evolves, 1821–1824 American Quarterly1956 The Forgotten Pioneer: The Life of Davy Crockett Vantage Press1954 Davy CrockettUniversity of Nebraska Press1998The Life of Davy Crockett in Picture and StoryCupples & Leon Company1935 The Autobiography of David Crockett : An Annotated Edition with Portraits, Maps, and AppendicesVanderbilt University1948 David Crockett: The Man and the LegendUniversity of North Carolina Press1994 David Crockett and North CarolinaNorth Carolina Historical Review1951The Land Holdings of Colonel David Crockett in West TennesseeJ.K.T. Smith2003 On to the Alamo: Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in TexasU.P. Kaes1839Reprinted in 2003 Penguin BooksDavy Crockett and His Adventures in TexasScribner1934Davy CrockettMacmillan1915Davy Crockett: The Genesis of Heroic MythTennessee Historical Quarterly1954David Crockett, the Bravest of Them All, Who Died in the AlamoNaylor Co1955 Robert L. WhittenburgColonel Davy CrockettH. Fagan1956Davy Crockett, Hero of the AlamoA. Whitman1898David Crockett: the Lion of the WestW. W. Norton & Company2011

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. Reprint. Originally published: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958