E ntered accord i ng to Act of Con g ress. in th e year 1 874 .

b y

D O DD 8: M E AD .

i n t he Omeg of t he Lib rarian of Con g ress at W as h in g t o n .

 P R E FA C E .

DAVI D CR OCK E I
' ' ‘
I ce rtainly w as not a modei m an .

But he was a r epresentative man . He w as consp ic

u ously on e of a ve ry n umerou s c l ass stil l exist ing , ,

and whic h h as hereto fore exerted a ve ry power ful

influence o v e r this republic . As su ch , h is wild and
wondrous li fe is w orthy of the study of eve ry
pat riot . O f this class thei r modes , of li fe and habits
of thou ght the majo ri ty
, o f ou r cit iz ens kn ow as

little as they do of the man ners and cu stoms of the

Comanche I nd i ans .

N o man can make hi name known to the fo rty s

m i ll i ons of th i s great and busy republic wh o has not

something ve ry r emarkable i n hi character or h is s

c a r ee r
. But there i probably not an adult A m eri
s

ca n, ia all these widespread States , w ho has not heard

of David Crockett . H is l i fe is a veritable roman ce ,
w ith the addit ion a l charm of u n q u estionabl e truth .
iv PREFACE.

I t opens to the reader scen es i n the

l owly , a nd a stat e of se m i-civilization , of whi ch but
few of t hem can have th e fa int est i dea .

It has not b ee n my object in this n a rr ative to

, ,

de fen d Colone l C rockett or to condemn him but to ,

p r esen t hi pecul
s i a r ch a r act er ex ctly a sai t w a s. i
‘

h a v e t he re fore been const rained t o insert some

t h i n g s w h i ch I wou l d g l ad l y ha v e om i tte d .

J om : S C Anson
. . .
 DA V I D C RO C K E TT
‘

C H A PT E R I .

Pa rentag e a nd Clz ildlzood

’

The E ig m ran t —C rossin g — i he boun dl ess W ilder»

the Alleg han ies .
' :

Hut the H olston —L ife s N ecessaries —T he

'
ness. The
- on . .

Massacre — Bi rt h of D avid C rockett —Peril of the B oys .

Anecdote .
—R em ova l to G reen ville ; to Cv Co e reek — I nc r
eased

Em g
i rat ion —
. L oss of M ill — Th
—E n gag em en t
the . e T ve a rn .

wi th the D rov er — Adventu res in the Wildern ess —V i rt ual Cap

. .

t ivity —The E scape —The R etu rn —T he R u n away — N ew Ad

. . .

ven tures. h t

A m ore than a hund red years ago a poo r

LI TT LE ,

man by the nam e of Crockett embarked on board

, ,

a n emigrant ship in I reland for the N ew World

-
, , .

H e was in the humblest station in li fe But ve ry .

li t tle is known r espect ing his u n event fu l caree r

except i n g its t ragical close H is family con isted of .
s

a wi fe a n d thre e or fou r child ren J ust be fore he .

sailed o r on the A tlan t i c p assa g e a son w a s b orn t o

, , ,
8 D A V I D C R OC K E TT .

who m he gave th e nam e of j ohn The fam ily .

probably landed i n Philadelphia an d dwelt some ,

whe r e in Pen nsylvan ia for a y ear or two i n on e o f

, ,

t hose slab shanti es with wh i c h all are fam iliar as

,

t h e abodes o f the poorest cl ass o f I rish emigran ts .

A fte r a year or t w o Crockett with h is little , ,

family crossed the almost pathless A lleg h a n ies

, .

F ath er m othe r and child ren trudged along through

, ,

the rugged d efi les and over the ro cky cli ffs on foot , .

Probably a single pack horse co nveyed the i r few -

household goods The hatchet an d the rifle w ere

.

t h e only means o f obtain ing food shelter an d eve n , ,

cloth ing With the hatchet i n an hou r or two a

.
, ,

com fort able camp could be constru cted which would ,

protect them from wi nd an d rain The camp fi re .

-
,

chee r ing the darkness o f th e n ight d ry ing thei r ,

o ften wet garments and warm ing thei r chilled

,

l imbs with its genia l glo w enabled the m to enjoy ,

that almost greatest of earthly luxu ri es peace fu l ,

sleep.

The r i fl e suppli ed them wit h food The fattest .

o f turkeys an d the most t ender steaks of ven ison ,

roasted upon forke d st icks w h ich they held in their ,

h ands ove r the coals feasted the i r voraciou s app c

,

t it es
. This to them w a s almost su mptu ous food
, ,
.

The skin of the deer by a rapi d and simple p rm

,

ces s of tann i ng suppl i ed them with m occasons a nd

”

, ,
 PA R E N TA G E AN D C H I LDH OO D .
9

aff o r ded material for t h e repair of their ta t tered

g arments .

We can scarcely comprehen d th e motive whic h

led this solitary family t o push on leagu e a fte r ,

ieag ue farthe r an d farther from civilization throu gh

, ,

th e t rackless forests A t length they reach ed t he

.

H olston R ive r This stream takes i ts rise among

.

th e western ravines of the Alleg ha n ies in So uth ,

weste r n V i rg i n ia Fl owi ng h u nd r eds o f mi l es

.

through one of th e most solitary and romantic

regions upo n the globe i t finally u n it es wi t h t he
,

Clinch R iver t hus fo r min g th e maj estic Ten n essee

, .

O ne hu nd red years ago this whole region wes t , ,

o f the A lleg h a n i es w a s an u nexplored and

,

u nknown wildern ess I t s silen t rivers i ts fore sts ,

.
,

and it s prairi es were crowded wit h game Cou ntless .

I ndian tribes wh ose names even had n eve r been

,

hea rd east o f th e A lleg h a n ies ranged th is va st ,

expanse pursu ing in th e chase wild beasts sca rcely

, , ,

m ore savage than themselves .

The origin of these Indian t r ibes and t hei r past

hi sto ry are lost in oblivion Centu ries have c o m e .

and gon e d u ring which j o ys and gri e fs of which we

, ,

n ow ca n k n ow nothing visited thei r hu mble lodges

,
.
f ‘
Pro v idence seem s t o have raised u p a peculi a r clas s
of m en a mong the descendants of the em igra nt :
,

fr o m t h e O ld World wh o weary of the rest r ai nts of

, ,

l
‘
 [0 D AV ID C R O C K ETT .

ci vilization were eve r ready to plu nge in to the

,

wild est d ep t hs o f th e wil de rn ess and t o r ea r thei r

‘

lo n ely h uts i n th e m idst of al l its perils privat ion s , ,

an d ha r dships .

This solita ry family of th e Crocket ts followed

d own the n ort h w este r n banks of the H awkins R iver
for many a w eary mile u n ti l th ey cam e t o a spo t
,

w hich st r uc k t heir fancy as a suitable plac e to build

!

their Cabin I n subsequen t years a small villag e

.

called R oge rsville w a s gradu ally rea r ed u pon this

spot an d th e t erritory im med iat ely around was
,

organized into wh at is n ow kn ow n as H awkin s

Coun ty Bu t then for leagu es in every d irection
.
, ,

t he solem n fo r est stood in all it s grandeu r H e r e .

M r Crockett alon e and u naid ed s ave by his wi fe

.
,

and children const ructed a little shanty which coul d

, ,

’
have been but l ittle m ore t h a n a hu nter s camp .

H e co uld n ot li ft solid logs to bu ild a su bstantia l

ho u se Th e hard trodden groun d was the only floo r
.
-

of th e single r oom which he enc l osed It w as roo fed .

with bark of trees piled heavily on wh ich a ffo rded ,

q ui t e e ffectua l protection from t h e rain A ho le .

cu t th rough th e slende r l og s was the only win dow .

A fi r e was built i n on e co r n er and t h e sm oke eddie d

,

through a hole le ft i n the roo f Th e skins of bea rs, .

bu ffaloes , an d wolves provided co u ch es a ll su fficien t ,

for wea ry on es who ne eded no artificia l opia te to

,
 AR EN TA G E
P AN D CHILDH OO D . 1!

pr omote sle ep f S u ch in gene r al we r e the j rim it ive

, ,

homes of many of those bold e m igrants w h o aban

do u ed th e co m fo rts of civilized li fe for the solitu des
5 f the wildern ess .

Th ey d id n ot want for most of wh at are called

the n ecessa ries of li fe Th e r ive r and the forest
.

fu rnished a great variety of fi sh an d gam e T hei r .

'

hut h u mble a s it wa s e ffectu ally protect ed them

, ,

from the de l uging t empest and th e in clemen t cold .

The cli mate was gen ial i n a very h igh deg ree and ,

the soil in it s wo nder ful ferti li ty abundantly sup

, ,
¢

p l i ed them with corn and oth er simp l e vegetables .

Bu t t he s ilen ce and solitude wh ich reigned are

re p r esented by those who experienced them as
, ,

a t times s o meth i ng dread ful .

O n e principal m ot ive which led these people t o

c ross the m oun tains w as th e prospect of an u ltimat e
,

fo rt u n e in the rise of land E very man wh o bu i l t a

.

cabin and raised a crop of grain howeve r small was , ,

entitle d to fou r h u n red ac res of lan d and a pre

d .
v

emption r ight t o on e t housan d mo r e adjoi ning t o ,

be secu red by a land-o th ee warrant .

In th is lo nely hom e Mr Crockett w ith his wi fe

, .
,

a nd child re n dwelt for som e months perhaps y ear s

, ,

“
we kn ow not h ow long O n e n ight the aw ful yell
.
,

of the savage w a s h eard and a band o f human

,

demo n s came rvshing u pon th e de fe nce less fa m ily

l2 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

I magination can not paint th e tragedy wh ich ensued

Though this lost world ever since t he fall of A dam
, ,

has been filled to r epletion wit h th ese scen es of w oe ,

'
it cause s on e s blood to cu rdl e i n his vein s as he
conte mpl a tes this o n e deed of cru elty and blood .

The howling fi ends were exp ed it ions in thei r

work The father and m other were p ierced by
.

a rrows ,m a n gled w ith th e tomahawk and scalped , .

O ne son se v erely wou nded escaped i nto the forest

, , .

A nother littl e boy who was deaf an d d umb w as

, ,

t aken captive and carried by th e I ndians to thei r

distant tribe wh e r e he remained adopted into the

, ,

t rib e
, for about eighteen years H e w as th en .

d iscovered by some o f h is re latives and was pu r ,

chased back a t a cons iderabl e ransom The torch .

wa s applied to th e cabi n an d th e bodies of the dead

,

were consu me d i n th e cracklin g flames .

What becam eof th e rem a ind er of the chi l dren

'

if th ere were a ny others p resent i n this m idn igh t

'
scen e of co n fl a g ra t io n and blood w e know n ot ,
.

There was n o reporte r to give us th e details We .

simply know that i n som e way Joh n Crockett wh o ,

subseque n tly becam e the father o f that Davi d

whose history w e n ow write was not i nvolved in t he
,

gen e ral m assacre I t is p robable th at h e w a s not

.

t hen wit h the fam ily but that h e w a s a hi red boy

,

o f all w o k in som e farm er s fami ly in Pennsylvan ia

’
r .
 PAR E N TAGE AN D CHI LDH OO D . r3

As a day-la bo rer he grew up to manhoo d a nd ,

m arried a wom an in his own sphere O f li fe by t he ,

nam e of Mary H awkins H e enlist ed as a commo n .

sold ie r in the R evolutionary War and took pa rt in ,

t he battle O f K ing s Mou ntain

’
A t the close of the .

wa r he re ared a h umble cabin i n the frontie r wilds o f

N orth Carolina There he lived for a few years at
.
,

but o n e remove i n point of civilization from the sa v

, ,

ages around hi m I t is n ot probable that either he o r

.

his wi fe could r ead or write I t is n ot p robable that

.

they had any religious thoughts ; th at thei r m in ds

ever wandered into the regions of that mysterious
immortality which reaches ou t beyond the grave .

Thei rs w a s apparently pu rely an an imal existence ,

like that of the I ndian almost like th a t of t he wi ld

,
‘

an imals they pu rsu ed in t he chase .

A t length J ohn Crockett with his wi fe and th ree

, ,

o r fou r child re n u n intimidated by t hc a w ful fate O f

,

his fath er s fami l y w ande r ed from N o r th Caro lina

'

, ,

th r ough the long a nd dreary d efi les of t he mo nit

tains to the su n ny valleys an d th e transparent skies
,

of E as t Ten nessee I t was about the year 1 783

. .

H e r e h e cam e t o a ri v u let of crystal wate r wi n din g ,

through m aj estic fo rests and plai ns O f luxu rian t

verdu r e . U po n a green moun d with th is strea m ,

fl owi ng n ear his door J oh n Crockett bu ilt his r ude

,

and d oo rl ess hu t Pu nchi ng h ol e s i n t he soi l w it h

.
14 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

a st i ck h e d ropped in kern els of co rn an d obtaine d

, ,

a far r iche r h arvest than it w ould be supposed such

cu lt ure cou l d prod u ce As we have men tion ed
.
,

t he b uilding of this hu t and the planting of thi s

crop m ade poor Joh n Crocket t the prop r ieto r of

fou r h u ndred acres o f lan d of almost i nexhau stib le

fertility .

I n this lonely cabin fa r away i n the wilderness

, ,

David Crockett was born on the 1 7th of A ugust

, ,

1 786
. H e had then fou r brothers Su bsequ ently .

fd u r othe r child ren were add ed t o th e fam ily .

’
His Childhood s hom e w a s m ore h um ble t han
th e majori ty of the read e rs of this volume can
imagine I t was destitute o f everything which i n
.
,

a highe r stat e of civilization is dee m ed essen tial t o

,

com fo rt Th e Wigwam O f the I ndian a fforded as

.

m u ch protect ion from th e weather and w a s as wel l ,

furn ished a s th e cabin of logs and bark whic h

,

sh elte red his father s fami ly I t wou ld seem from

’
.
,

’
David Crocket t s au tobiography th at in his chi ld ,

hood h e went m ain ly withou t any clothin g like t he ,

p pap ooses o f an I ndian squ a w These facts of h

.is

e arly li fe m ust be known that w e may u nderstan d

,

th e ci r cu mstan ces by which his pecu lia r cha ract er

wa s form ed .

H e had n o instruction whateve r in r elig i on ,

m orals man ne r s or m enta l cultu r e
, , I t can not be .
16 D AV ID c aoc r r.
' '

dista n t H e heard th e c ries of the boys and saw

.

th eir danger There w as not a m om en t to be lost

. .

H e started up on th e ful l ru n th rowin g O ff coat an d ,

waistcoat and shoes i n his almost frantic speed ti ll

, ,

he reached th e water H e then plu nged in and by

.
, ,

swi mming and wading seized th e canoe when it w as

,

within b u t abou t t wenty feet of t he roaring falls .

With a l m ost superh u man exertion s he su cceeded in

d ragging it to th e sh ore .

This even t David Crockett has m ention ed as t h e

fi rst which le ft any lastin g imprint upon his memory .

N ot long a fter this anothe r occu rrence took place

,

characterist ic of frontier li fe J oseph Hawkin s a .

,

’
brother of David s moth er crossed the mou ntains ,

an d joined th e Croc k ett family i n their forest home .

O n e m orn ing he went o ut to shoot a deer repairing ,

to a port ion of the forest m u ch frequented by t his

anim al A s he passed a ve ry dense thicket he saw
.
,

t he bough s swayin g to an d fro whe re a deer w a s ,

apparently b rowsing V e ry cau t iously h e crept

.

withi n rifl e shot occasionally catch ing a gli mpse

-
, ,

thro ugh the thick foliage O f the ear O f the animal ,

,

a s h e supposed .

Taking deliberate aim he fired and immediately ,

heard a lou d outcry R u shing to the spot he fou hd

.
,

t hat he had shot a n eighbor w h o w as there gathe r ,

i n g grap es The bal l passed th ro ugh his side,

.
 PA R E N T A G E AN D CHILD H OO D . I 7

i nflicting a ve ry seriou s thou gh n ot a fatal wou nd ,

as i t chanced n ot to st rike any v i tal part Th e .

wou n ded man was carried hom e ; and the ru de

su rgery which was p ractised upon h im w as t o inse rt
a silk handkerch ie f with a ramrod i n at the bullet

hol e an d draw it th rough his body H e recovered

, .

from the wou nd .

S u ch a man as J oh n C r ockett fo rm s no loca l

attachments and n ever remains long in one place
, .

Probably some o ne cam e to his region and o ffered

him a few dollars for his improvem en ts H e ab an .

do u ed his cabin w ith i ts growing n eighborhood

, ,

and packing h is few household goods u pon on e or

tw o horses pushed back fi fty m iles farther so uthwest
, ,

int o t h e trackless wildern ess H ere he fou nd abou t

.
,

ten m il es above th e present site of Greenville a ,

fertile a nd beau ti fu l region U pon th e banks of a

.

l ittle brook which fu rnished him with an abundan t

,

supply of pu re wat e r, he reared anot h er shanty and ,

took possessio n O f an othe r fou r h u ndred a cres of

fo r est lan d
. Som e o f h is boys we r e n ow old enough
t o fu rn i s h e ffi cien t he lp i n the fi eld an d in the chase .

H ow long J ohn Crockett remained here w e know

not . N eit h e r d o w e kn o w what induced hi m t o
m ake another m ove But w e soon fi nd h im pu sh
.

ing still farther back into the wildern ess with his ,

hapless fami ly of sons and daughters doom i ng t hem , ,

r8 D AVI D CROCK ETT .

in a llthei r igno rance t o t he society on l y Of b ears

,

and wo l ves H e n ow established himsel f u pon a

.

con sid erable stream u nknown to geogr aphy called

, ,

Cove Creek .

David C r ockett w as now about eight years old .

Du ring t hese years emigration had been rapidly

flowing from the A t l antic States into th i s vast and
beaut i fu l valley south of the O hio Wit h t he .

in creasin g emigration cam e an increasing deman d

for the com fo rts of civilizat i o n Framed h ouses
.

began to rise here and t here and lum ber in its

!

, ,

va ri ous fo rms w a s n eeded

, .

J ohn Crocket t, with anoth e r m an by the nam e of

Thomas Galbraith u ndertook t o bu ild a m ill upon
,

Cove Creek They had n early completed i t h avi ng

.
,

expe nd ed all thei r slender means i n it s constru ction ,

when the r e came a terrible fresh et an d all th ei r ,

works were swept away Th e fl ood even i n u ndated

.

C r ockett s cabin and th e family w a s compell ed t o

’
,

fl y t o a n eighboring emi nence for sa fety .

Dishea rtened by this calamity J oh n C rocket t ,

m ade a nothe r move K n o xv il l e on the H olsto n

.
,

R i v er had by this ti m e become qu ite a thriving li tt le

,

settl ement of log hu t s Th e m ain rout e of emigra

.

t io n w a s ac r oss the mountain s to A bingdon in Sou th ,

western V irgi nia an d then by an extre m el y rough

,

fo re st roa d acro ss the cou ntry t o t h e valley of the

~
 PAREN TA G E AN D CHILD H OO D . 19

H olston and down that vall ey to

, This K noxville .

ro ut e w a s mai nly trave rsed by pack horses and em i -

grants on foot But stou t wagons with great labor

.
, ,

coul d be driven through .

J ohn Crockett m oved still westward to this H ol

ston val le y where he reared a pretty large log house
,

on this forest road ; and opened what he called a

tavern for the entertain m ent o f teamsters and other

emigrants I t was indeed a rude resting place
.
- .

Bu t in a fierce storm the exhausted an imals could

find a partial sh elter beneath a shed of logs wi th ,

corn t o eat and the hardy pioneers cou ld sleep o n

bear skins with their feet perhaps soaked with rai n
-
, ,

feeling the warmth o f the cabin fire The rifle O f .

J ohn Crockett supplied his gu ests with the ch oi c est

ven ison steaks an d his wi fe baked in the ashes the
,

"
jou rn ey cake sin ce called j olzm zy ca ke m ade o f
, ,

meal from corn pounded in a m ortar or grou nd in

a hand m ill Th e b rilliant flame o f the p itch pin e
- .
-

knot illu mi n ed the cabin and arou nd the fi re these

hardy m en O ften kept wake ful u ntil m idnight ,

smoki n g their pipes telling thei r stories and singing

, ,

their songs .

This house stood alone i n the forest O ften the

-
.

silence of the night was distu rbed by the cry o f

the grizzly bear and the howling O f wolves H ere .

David remained four years aiding his father i n al l ,

20 D A VI D C RO C K ETT .

the laborio us work of clearing th e land and tendi n g

the cattle There was o f cou rse no school h ere and
.
,

the boy gre w u p i n entire ignorance o f all boo k

learn ing But i n these early years he o ften wen t
.

into the woods with his gu n in pu rsu it o f game and , ,

yo ung as he was acqu i red co nsiderable reputati o n

,

as a marksman .

O n e day a D utchm an by the nam e O f J aco b

,

Sile r came to the cabi n driving a large herd of ,

cattle H e had gathered them farthe r west fro m

.
,

the lu xu riant pastu res i n the vi cin ity O f K noxville ,

where c attl e m u l tipl ied with marvellou s rapidit y an d ,

was taking them back to market in V irginia Th e .

d rover fou n d som e di ffi cu l ty i n managing so many

hal f wild cattle a s he pressed them forward th rough
,

the wilderness and he bargai n ed with J oh n Croc k

,

ett to let h is son David w h o as we have said was , , ,

then twelve years o f age g o with him as h is hired ,

h elp. Whatever wages he gave was paid to th e

fathe r .

The boy was to go on foot with this D utch man

fou r h u ndred m iles drivi ng the cattle
,
This tran s .

action shows very clearl y the hard and u n feelin g

character o f David s parents When he reached
'

the end of h is journey so many wea ry leagues fro m

,

home the only way by which he could retu rn was

,

to attach hi msel f to some em igrant party o r som e ,

 PAREN TA G E AN D C H ILDH OO D . 21

company of teamsters and walk back paying fo r

, ,

such food as h e migh t cons u me by the assistance ,

h e co u l d rende r o n the way There are few parents

.

w h o co uld thus have treated a child O f twelve years .

Th e little fel l o w whose a ffections had n eve r

,

been m ore cultivated than those O f the whelp of

the wol f o r the c u b o f the bear still le ft h eme as , ,

h e tell s us with a heavy hea rt The Dutchman

, .

was an entire stranger to him an d he knew n ot what ,

t reatmen t he w as to exp ect at h is hands H e had .

already experienced en ough O f forest travel to know

i t s hardsh ips A jou r n ey of fou r hu nd red m iles
.

seemed to h im l ike going to the u tterm ost parts O f

the earth A s the pioneers had smoked thei r p ipes
.

at his fathe r s cabin fi r e he had hea rd m any appall

’
,

i ng accou nts o f bloody conflicts with the Indians ,

O f m assacres scalp ings to rt ures and captivity

, , , .

’
Davi d s father had t a ug ht h im very sternly one ‘

, ,

l esson a nd that was i mplicit and prompt O bedience

,

t o his demands The boy kne w ful l well that it

.

wo u ld be O f n o a vail fo r him to make any r emon

stran ce Silently and t rying to conceal h is tears
.
, ,

h e set ou t on the pe r ilous enterprise The cattl e .

cou l d be driven bu t abou t fi fteen or t wenty m iles a

day Between twenty and thirty days we r e oc en
.

pied in the toilsom e and peri l ous jou rn ey The .

route led th em O ften through marshy grou nd where ,

22 D A VID C RO C KE TT .

the m ire was trampled knee d eep All the st r eams - .

h ad to be ford ed A t ti m es s wollen by the rains

.
, ,

they w ere very deep There were frequ ent days of .

storm wh en through the long hou rs the poo r boy

, , ,

t rudged o nward drenched with rai n and sh iveri ng

,

with cold Their fare w a s m ost m eagre consi sting

.
,

almost enti rely of su c h gam e as they chanced to

shoot which they roasted on forked sticks be fo r e
,

the fi re .

When n ight came O ften dark and stormy the cat

, ,

tle were generally too m u c h fatigu ed by their long

t ramp to stray away Som e i nsti nct also indu c ed
.

them to cluster together A rude shanty w as .

thrown up O ften everything w as so soaked w ith

.

rain that it was impossibl e to bu ild a fire The .

poo r boy weary and supperless spattered with m ud

, ,

and drenched w ith rain th rew h imsel f upo n the ,

wet g rou nd for that blessed sleep in which the

weary forget thei r woes H appy was he if he co uld .

induce o n e o f the shagg y dogs to lie down by h is

side that he m ight h ug the faith ful anima l i n his
,

arms and thus obtain a l ittle warmth

, .

G reat was the l u xu ry when at the close O f a ,

toilsom e d ay a few pieces O f bark could be so piled

,

as to p rotect from wind and rain and a roaring ,

fi re could blaze and crackle be fore the little camp .

Then the appetite which hunger gives would enable

34 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

or stay as he p l ea sed This in creased his rest les s

.

n ess F ou r or five w eeks thus passed away w he n

.
, ,

o ne morning three wagons laden with m erchandise

,

c ame along bou nd to K n oxville

, They were driven .

by an old man by th e nam e of Du nn an d h is t w o ,

stalwart sons They had traversed the road be fore

.
,

an d David had se en the Ol d man at h is father s

tavern : Secretly t he shrewd b oy revealed t o him
h is s i tuation and his des ir e to get back to his ho m e
, .

The father and sons con fe rr ed togeth e r upon the

subject They were moved with sympathy for the
.

boy and a fte r d u e deliberat ion told h im that they

, , ,

should stop for the n ight about seven miles from

that place and shou ld set ou t again o n thei r jou r
,

n ey with the earliest light of th e morni ng ; and that

if h e cdu ld get to th em be fore dayligh t he m ight ,

fol l ow thei r wago ns .

I t w as S un day mo rn ing and i t so happen ed th a t

,

t h e D utch man and th e fam ily had gon e away on a

visit David collected h is clothes an d th e lit tl e
.

mo n ey h e had and hid t hem in a bu ndle un de r his

,

b ed A v e ry smal l bu ndle held them all The

. .

family r etu rned and suspecti n g nothing all reti r ed

. , ,

t o s l eep .

David had natu rally a very a ffect ionate hea rt .

He n ever had been from home be fore H is lon e .

ly situatio n ro used all the slumbering emotion s

 PA R E N TA G E AN D C H I LD I I OO D . 25

of h is childhood I n d escribing this event he

.
,

writes
“
I we nt to bed early th at night but slee p ,

seem ed to be a stranger t o m e For though I w as .

a wild boy yet I dearly l oved my father and mother ;

,

and the ir i mages appeared to be so d eeply fi xed in

my m in d that I co uld not sleep for t hinki ng of
them A n d then the fear that when I should
.

attempt t o go ou t I should be discovered and called

"
to a halt filled m e with anxi e ty
, .

A little a fter midn ight when the family we re in

,

p ro fou ndest sleep David cau tiously rose and tak in g

, ,

his little bu n dle crept ou t doors

,
To h is d isap . ‘

point m ent he fou nd that it w a s sn owing fast eight ,

i nch es having al ready fallen ; and th e wintry gale

moaned dism ally through th e treet ops I t w a s a .

dark m oonless n ight The cabin was in the fie l ds

,
.
,

hal f a m ile from the road alon g which the wagons

had passed This boy of twelve years alone in the
.
,

darkness w a s t o breast th e gale and wade th rough

,

the snow amid forest glooms a distance of seve n

, ,

miles be fore h e could reach the appointed ren d ez

,

vo us .

For a mom en t his heart sank within him Th en .

recoverin g his resolu t ion he pushed out boldly into

,

the storm F o r three hou rs h e toiled alon g t he

.
,

sn ow rapidly increasi ng in d epth u nt il it reached u p

t
 D AV I D C RO C K E T I
’ ‘
.

t o his knees J ust be fore the d awn of the mornin g

.

h e reached the wagons The men were up ha r ness

.
,

ing thei r t eams The D u nns were astou n ded at the

.

appearan ce of the little boy amid the darkn ess and

the tempest They took hi m into t h e h ouse
.
,

warmed him by th e fire and gave h im a good ,

b reak fast speaking t o him w ords of sympathy and

,

encou ragement Th e a ffection ate hea rt O f Davi d

.

w a s deeply moved by this tenderness to wh ich he

!

w as quite u naccustomed .

A nd then though exhausted by the toil of a

,

'
three hou rs wad ing through the dri fts he com ,

m en ced i n the midst of a mountain storm a long

, ,

day s journey u pon foot

’
I t was as m uch as t he
.

horses could do to drag the h eavily laden wagons

over th e encu mbered road However weary h e .
,

could n ot ride H oweve r exhausted th e wagons

.
,

could not wait for him neither wa s there any p l ace

in the smothering snow for rest .

Day a fter day they toiled along in th e endu r ance ,

of hardships n ow with d i fficulty comprehended .

Sometimes they were gladdened with sunn y skies

and smooth paths A gain the clou ds would gather
.
,

and the rain the sleet an d the snow would enve l op

, ,

t hem in glooms truly dismal U nder these circu m .

stan ces the progress O f the wagons w a s very slo w .

David was impatien t A s h e watched t he sluggish

.
 P A R E N TA G E AN D C H I LD H OO D . 27

t rns of th e wh ee l s
u he thought t hat he could travel
,

ve ry m u ch faster if h e should pu sh fo rward alone ,

leaving the wagons behind him .

A t lengt h h e becam e so im patien t thoughts O f ,

h o m e havi ng obtained entire possession of his min d ,

that he i n formed M r D u nn O f his in tent i on to press
.

fo r ward as fast a s h e could His elde r compan ion s.

deem ed i t ve ry imp ru den t for such a mere child ,

th us alone t o attemp t t o trave rse the wildern ess

, ,

and they sard a ll they cou l d t o dissuad e hi m but i n

'

vai n H e the r e fore early t h e n ext m o rn in g bad e

.
, ,

t hem fa r e well an d with light footsteps an d a ligh t

,

heart t ripped forwa rd l eaving them behind an d , ,

accomplish in g n earl y a s mu ch i n one day as th e

wagon s could i n t wo We are not fu rn ished with
.

a ny of th e details of t his wonde r fu l jou rney of a

sol itary chi l d th rough a Wi lde rn ess of o ne or t w o

hu ndred mi l es We kn ow n ot how h e s l ept at night
.
,

or how h e O btained food by day H e i n forms u s .

that he was at length overtaken by a d rove r who ,

had been t o V irgin ia with a h e rd of catt l e and w a s ,

uert rn in g to K noxvil l e riding one h o r se an d l eadin g

a nothe r .

T he m an wa s amazed i n m eet in g a m e r e chil d

in such lo nely wilds and u pon hearing his story h is
, ,

ki n d heart w a s t e a ched David w a s a frail li t tl e

.

fe ll o w w hose w eight would b e n o bu r den for a hors e

,
28 DAV ID c a oc xa r r.
' '

an d the good man d irected h im mo unt the to

a nimal which h e led The b oy had begu n t o be .

v e ry t i red H e w as j ust approach ing a t u rbi d

.

st ream whose i cy waters reaching almost t o his

, ,

n eck he would have had to wade but for t his P rovi

,

dential assistance .

T ravell ers in the wildern ess seldom t rot thei r

h orses O n su ch a jou rney an animal who n atu rally
.
,

walks fast is o f m u ch more valu e than one whic h

has attained h igh speed upon the race cou rse Th us - .

pleasantly m o u nted David an d h is ki nd protecto r

,

rod e along together u ntil they cam e w ithin abou t

fi ft ee n m iles of J oh n Crockett s tave rn where thei r '

r oads d iverged H ere David dismounted an d

.
,

bidding adieu to his be n e facto r alm ost ran the ,

re m ain in g di stan ce reaching h om e that evening

, .

Th e name of th is k i nd gentleman
”
“
he writes , ,

I have forgotten ; for it deserves a h igh place in

my littl e book A r ememb ran ce of his kindness t o
.

a littl e straggl ing boy has howeve r a resting place , ,

-

in my heart and t he re it will remai n as long as I

,

"
l ive.

I t was the spring of the year when Davi d reached

his father s cabin H e spen t a part O f th e su m me r
’
.

th ere The p i ctu re which Da v id gives of his home

.

is revolting i n t he ext rem e J ohn Crockett th e .

,

tavern -keeper had become intemperat e and h e was

, ,
 PARE N I AG E
’
AN D CH I LDH OO D . 29

p ro fane and b ru tal But his son n ever having seen

.
,

any hom e much better does n ot seem t o have bee n ,

aware that t he re were any di fferen t abod es upo n

’
earth O f David s mother we know n oth in g She
. .

was probably a m ere household drudge c rushed by ,

an u n feelin g husband wi t hout su ffi c ie n t sensibilities

,

t o have be en aware o f her degraded con dit ion .

Several othe r cabins had risen in t he V icinity of

J ohn Crockett s A m an came along by th e nam e
’
.
,

O f K itchen wh o u n dertook to open a schoo l to

,

teach th e boys t o read David went t o school fou r .

days but fou nd it ve ry di fficult to mast er his letters

, .

H e was a wiry little fellow very athletic an d his , ,

nerves seemed mad e of steel W hen ro used by .

anger he was as fierce and reckless as a catamou nt

, .

A boy m u ch l a rger than h im se lf had o ffended him :

, ,

David decided n ot t o attack him n ear th e schoo l

house lest t he m aste r might separate them
,
.

H e there fore slipped O u t O f school j ust be fo r e it ,

was d ismissed and ru nn ing alon g the road h i d in a

, ,

thicket n ea r wh ich his victim would have t o pass on

,

his way home A s the boy cam e u nsuspectingly

.

along you ng Crockett with the l eap of a panthe r

, , ,

sprang upon h is back With tooth and n ail h e .

a ssailed him bitin g scratchi ng pounding un til t he

, , , ,

boy cried for m ercy .

The next morning David w as a fraid t o go t o ,

30 D AV I D C R O C K ETT .

sc hoo l app r eh ending th e severe pu n ish m en t he

,

m ight get from the master H e there fore le ft hom e

.

as usual bu t played truant hiding himsel f in t he

, ,

woods all day H e did the sam e the n ext mo r n ing

.
,

an d so contin ued for several days A t last t he m a s .

te r sent word to J oh n Crockett i n qu iring why his ,

son Da v id n o longer cam e t o school The b oy was .

called t o an accou n t an d th e wh ol e a ffair cam e out

, .

J oh n Crockett h ad b een dri nki n g H is eye s .

flash ed fi re H e cu t a stou t hickory stick a n d w ith

.
,

oat hs decla red t hat he w ou ld give h is boy an et e r

n al sigh t w orse w hipping t h an th e m aste r wou l d
give h im u nless h e wen t direct ly back to school
, .

A s the drunken fath er approach ed brandishing his

stick t h e boy ran and i n a direction opposit e fro
, ,

that of the school h o use The en raged fathe r pu r

- .

sued and the u n n atura l race con tinu ed for nearly

,

m ile. A slight t u rn in th e r oad con cealed the be

for a momen t fr om th e V iew of his p u r su e r and h ,

p lun ged i nto th e fo r est an d hid Th e fathe r w it .

,

stagge r ing gait rush ed along b u t havi n g lost sigh

, ,

of t he b oy soon gave up the chase an d ret u rne

, ,

h om e .

This r evolting spectacle of s u ch a fathe r an ,

su ch a son over which on e wou l d think t h at angel

,

m igh t weep only excited the der i sion of this strange

,

b oy . I t w as w h at h e had bee n accusto m ed t o all

32 D A VID c a oc xa r r
'

s el f with a few dollars i n h is pocket H is b rother .

decid ed t o look for work i n th at r egion David .

,

the n thirteen years O f age hopin g tremblingly that

,

t im e en ou gh had elapsed to save hi m from a whip

pin g t u rn ed his thou ghts h omeward A b rothe r
, .

of the drove r w a s about to ret u rn on horseback .

Davi d decid ed to accompany h im t hinking that the ,

man would perm it him to ride a pa rt of the w ay .

Mu ch to h is disgust the m an pre ferred to ride

,

himsel f The horse was his ow n David had n o

. .

claim to it whatever H e was there fore l e ft to

.

t ru dge along on foot Thus h e jou rn eyed for three

.

days H e th en m ad e an excuse for stopping a l i ttl e

.

while leaving his compan ion to go on a l on e H e

, .

was very ca re ful n ot agai n to overtake him The .

boy had then with fou r dollars i n his pocket a

, ,

foot jou rney be fore h im of betwee n three an d fou r

h u nd red m iles A nd this was t o be taken th rough
.

desol a t e regions O f morass and forest wh ere n ot u n , ,

frequen tly the lu rking Indian had tomahaw ked or

, ,

gangs of hal f fam ish ed wolves h ad d evou red th e

-

passing travelle r H e was also liable at any ti m e

.
, ,

to be caught by n ight a nd storm wi thou t a ny ,

she lter .

A s he w a s s a u ntering along slowly that he m igh t ,

b e su re an d n o t overt ake his u ndesirable compa u

io n he met a wagoner com ing fr om Greenville in

, ,
 PA R E N TA GE AN D CHILDH OO D .
33

Ten n essee an d bou nd for Gera rd stow n Berkeley

, ,

County in the extreme n ortherly part of Virgin ia

, .

I l is route lay directly over the road which David

had t rave rsed The man s nam e was A dam Myers
.
’
.

H e was a jovial fel low an d at once w on the hea rt

,

o f the vagran t b oy Da v id soon entered into a

.

bargain with Myers an d tu rn ed back with him

, .

The state of m ind i n which the b oy w as may be

in ferred from the following extract taken from his
autobiography I om it the pro fan ity which was
.
,

ever sprinkled through all his utterances

I O ften tho ught O f ho m e an d indeed wished , , ,

bad eno ugh to b e the re But wh en I thought of .

t h e school house and of K itchen my maste r and

-
, , ,

o f the race with my fat he r and of the big h icko ry ,

stick he carried and of th e fi erc en ess of th e sto rm

,

of w rath I had le ft him in I was a fraid to ven ,

t u re back I kne w my father s natu re so well tha t

'
.
,

I w as certain his ange r wou ld hang on to hi m l ike

a t u rtle does to a fi sh erm a n s toe The p romised
’
.

whipping cam e slap down upon every thought of

”
h ome .

Travelling back with th e wagon a fter t wo ,

’
days jo urney h e m et his b rother again wh o ha d
, ,

t h en decided t o retu rn himsel f t o the paren ta l

cabi n in Ten n e ss e e H e pleaded hard with Davi d

.

to acco mpany hi m reminding h i m of th e love of his

*
2
34 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

m ot he r and his siste rs Th e boy though all un u sed

.
,

t o weepin g wa s m oved to t ears

, . B u t th e thought
’
of t h e hickory st i ck an d of h is fath er s b rawny arm
, ,

d ecided th e q u est i on . With his frien d Myers h e

p r essed on,fa r the r and fa rt h e r fr o m h om e
, t o Ger
 CHA P TE R I I .

Youthf u l Ad ventures .

David at Gerardstown. —T rip to B l ti

a m ore. —An ecdotes .
- He ship s
for L —D isa pp oin tm en t —D efrau ded of his \Vages
ond on . . .

p
E sca es — N e w A d v e n tu res — C rossin g .th e R i v en — R eturns
H om e —H is R eception —A Farm Laboren— Generosity to his
. .

Father — L o v e A.d v en tu r e — T h e W rec k of h is H op es — H is .

S ch ool E ducat ion — S econ d Lov e A dven ture —B it ter D isap

.

pointm en t —Life in the Backwoods — T hird Love Adv en ture . .

T HE wagone r whom Dav id had accompan ied t o

Ge ra rd st ow n w a s disappoi nted in hi s endeavors t o
find a load to take back t o Ten nessee H e there .

fore took a load to A lexand ria on th e Potomac , .

David decided t o r em ain at G era rd st ow n u ntil

Mye r s should r etu r n H e the r e fore engaged to
“
.

work for a man by the n am e o f J oh n Gray for ,

t wenty fi ve cents a day

- I t w as light farm work in
.
-

which he w as employed an d h e w as so faith ful in,

t he per fo r m ance of his d uties that he pleased t h e

fa rm e r w ho was an o ld man ve ry m uch

, , .

Myers conti n u ed for the wint er in t eamin g back

w a rd an d forward between G era rdst ow n a n d Ba lt i ‘

more wh ile Da v id fou nd a com fo rtable home of

,
3 6 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

easy ind ust ry with the farmer H e was ve ry care fu l .

in the expenditu re O f his money and in th e spring ,

fou nd that he had saved enough from h is small

wages to pu rchase h im a su it of coarse bu t sub
st a n t ia l clothes H e then wish ing t o see a little
.
,

more O f the world d ecided to make a t rip wit h th e

,

w agoner t o Baltimo e r
.

David had then seven dollars in h is pocket th e ,

care fu l savings of the labo rs of hal f a year H e .

d eposited the treasu re with the wagon er for safe

keeping They started on t hei r jou rn ey with a
.
,

wagon h eavily laden with barrels O f flou r A s they .

were approach ing a small settlement called E llicot t s ’

M ills David a little asham ed t o a pp foa ch t he houses

, ,

in th e ragged an d m ud bespattered cl othes wh ich -

h e wore on the way crept into the wagon t o put on

,

his bette r garm ents .

W hile there in t h e m idst O f the flou r barrels

piled u p all arou n d him the horses took fright at ,

some strange sigh t wh i c h they encou n tered an d in ,

a terrible scare rushed down a steep hill t u rned a ,

sharp corn e r b roke the tongu e of t he wagon and

i
,

both O f t h e axle trees and whirled t hg heavy ba r

-
,

rels abou t i n every d irect ion Th e escape of David .

from very serious inj u ries seemed almost m iracu l ous .

Bu t o u r little barbarian leaped from th e r uin s

unscathed It does not appear that he had e ver
.
 Y OU TH F U L A DV EN T U R E S .
37

c h erish ed any con c eption wh atever of an overrul

ing Providence Probably a religious thought had
.
,

never ent ered his mind A colt ru nn i n g by t he sid e

.

of the horses cou ld not have been more insensible

to every id ea of death and r esponsibility at God s

,
’

bar than was D avi d Crocket t A nd h e can be

, .

hardly blamed for this The savages had some idea

.

of the Great Spirit and O f a fut u re world David .

was as u n i nstruct ed in those thou g hts as are the

wolves an d t h e bears Many years a fterward i n
.
,

writing o f this O ccurrence he says with cha ra ct eris

, ,

t i c flipp a n cy, i nterlarded with coarse phrases :

This proved to m e if a fellow is born to be hung
,

h e will neve r be d rowned and further that if he is ,

bor n for a seat in Congress eve n flou r barrels can t ,

'

’
make a mash O f him I didn t know h ow soon I
“

should be knocked into a cocked hat and get m y ,

walking papers for another cou ntry

- .

The wagon was quite demolish ed by the disaster .

A n other w as O btained the flou r reloaded and they

, ,

proceeded to Baltimore d ragging t h e w reck behind

,

them to be repai red there H ere young Crockett

, .

was amazed a t the aspect O f civilization which

was opened b e fore h im H e wan dered along t he
.

w ha rves gazing bewildered u pon t he maj estic ships,

wi th their towering masts cordag e and sails w hic h
, , ,

he saw floating the re H e had n ever conceived of

3 8 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

s u ch fabrics b e fore The m an sions the ch u rches .

, ,

the long l in es of brick st o r es excited h is amazem ent .

I t seemed to hi m th at h e had been su ddenly int ro

d uced into a sort of fairy land A ll thoughts of - .

h ome now van ished from his m ind Th e great world .

was expanding be fore him and the cu riosity of his ,

intensely act ive mind was roused to explore more

of its won ders .

O n e morning h e ventu red on board one of th e

shi ps at a w ha rf a n d w as cu riously and cautiously
'

‘
,

peering about when the captai n caught sig ht of

,

him I t so happened that he w as in n eed of a sailor

.

boy and bei ng pleased with th e appearan ce of the

,

l ad asked Dav i d if he woul d n ot l ike to en ter i nto

,

his service to take a voyage to London The boy .

had n o more idea of wh e re London w as or what it ,

w as than of a place i n the moon

, Bu t eagerly h e .

"
responded Yes for he cared little wh ere he wen t
,
“
,

or what became of him h e w as so glad of an O p p or ,

t u n ity t o see more of the won ders o f th is u nknown

world .

The captai n mad e a few inqu iri es respectin g his

friends h is home and his past modes O f li fe and
, , ,

th en engaged him for th e cru ise David in a stat e .

,

of high j oyous exci tem ent h u rried back t o the

, ,

w a g on e r t o get his seven dollars of m oney and

,

som e clothes h e had le ft w ith h im Bu t M yers p u t .

4C D AV ID c nocxsr r .

qu ite easy in re fere n ce t o h is escape H e kn ew tha t

.

th e wagoner slept soundly and that two h ou rs at

,

least must ela t se be fore h e would open h is eyes H e .

then wo u ld not know wit h c ertainty in what direction

the boy had fled He cou ld not sa fely leave h is
.

h orses and wagon alone i n th e wildern ess t o p u rsu e ,

h im ; and even should h e u nh arn ess on e of th e

h orses and g allop forward i n search of the fugitive ,
'

David by keeping a vigilant wat ch wou ld see hi m

, ,

in th e d i stance and co uld easily pl unge into the

thickets o f t he fo rest and t hu s elud e pursu it
, .

H e had ru n alon g five or six miles wh en j ust as ,

th e su n w as risin g h e overtook anot h e r wagon H e .

had already begu n to feel ve ry lon ely and discon so

late H e had natu rally an a ffect ionate heart and a
.

strong m ind ; traits o f charact er wh ich glea m ed

th rough all th e dark clou d s t h at obscu red his li fe .

H e w a s a lon e in t h e wildern ess with o u t a penny ;

,

an d he kn e w n ot what to d o or which way to t u rn

, .

The mom en t he cau ght sight of the team ste r h is

h eart yea rn ed for sym pathy Tears m oisten ed h is
.

eyes and haste ning to the st r ange r th e fri endless

, ,

boy of bu t thirtee n years frankly told his whol e

story The wagoner was a rough pro fan e bu rly
.
, ,

m an of generou s feelings There w a s an ai r of

,
.

sincerity in th e b oy which convin ced him of t he

,

e ntire tru th o f his st atem en ts H is ind ig nati on

.
 V O U T H FU L AD V EN T U R E S .
41

was aroused and h e gave expression t o that indigna

,

t ion i n u n m easu red term s Crac king h is whip in .

h is anger he declared that Myers was a s c ou ndrel

, ,

th u s to rob a frien dless boy an d that he would lash ,

th e mon ey ou t of him .

This man wh ose n ame also chan ced to b e M y ers

, ,

wa s o f the tige r breed fearing noth in g ever ready

, ,

for a fi ght an d alm ost i nvariabl y co m i ng o ff con

,

q u e ro r I n h is gen erous rage he halted h is team ,

grasped his wagon whip and accompa nied by th e

-
, ,

t rembling boy tu rn ed back breathing ve ngean ce

, , .

D avid was m u ch alarm ed and told his p rotecto r ,

th at he w a s a fraid t o m eet th e wagon e r w ho had so ,

o ft en th reat en ed him with his wh ip But his n ew .

friend said ,
Have no fea r The m an shall g ive y ou .

back you r m o n e y o r I will thrash it o u t of h im

, .

Th ey had p roceeded bu t abou t t w o m iles wh en

th ey met the app roaching te a m o f A d am M y ers .

’
H en ry Myers David s n ew friend l eading h im by
, ,

the hand advan c ed m en a c ingly u pon the othe r

,

t eamster and greeted him with th e words :

,

Y o u accu rsed scou ndrel w h at d o y o u m ean by ,

robbin g th is friendless boy of h is mon ey !

A dam M yers con fessed that he had re c eiv ed

se v en doll a rs o f th e bo y s mon ey
’
He said ho w .
,

eve r that he h a d n o money with him ; that h e ha d

,

i n veste d all h e had in art icles in h is wagon and tha t ,

42 D AV I D C ROC K E TT .

h e i nten ded t o repay th e boy as so on as th ey g ot

back to Ten nes see This settled the qu est ion and
.
,

David retu rn ed with H en ry Myers t o h is w ag on ,

a nd ac c ompanied hi m for several d a ys on h is slow

and toilsome jou rney westward .

Th e impatien t boy as once be fore soon g ot

, ,

wea ry o f the loiterin g pace of th e heavily lade n

team an d conc luded t o leave h is frien d and p ress
,

forward more rapidly alone I t chan ced one even

.
,

ing that several wagon s m et an d the team sters

, ,

encamped for t he nigh t together H en ry Myers .

told them th e story of the frien dless boy an d that ,

he w a s now abou t t o set ou t alon e for th e long

j ou rn ey m ost of it th rough an en tire wild e rness
, ,

and th rou gh a la n d of st rangers wh erever there

migh t chan ce t o be a few scattered cabins They .

took u p a collection fo r Davi d an d p resent ed h im

,
'

with three dollars .

The l ittle fellow pressed alon g , abo u t on e h u n

dred a nd twenty fi ve miles do wn the valley between
-
,

th e Alleghany and the Blu e ridges u ntil h e reached

,

M on tgomery Cou rt H ouse The region then n early

.
,

three quarters of a centu ry a g o presented only h ere

,

a n d there a spot wh ere the li g ht of civilization had

entered O ccasionally the log cabin of som e poo r

.

emig r ant was foun d i n the vast expanse David .

,

t oo p r ou d t o beg when he had any money w i t h

,
 YOU T I I FU L A DV E N T U R ES .
43

whi ch t o pay fou nd h is pu rse empty when h e had

,

accomplished this small po rtion o f h is journ ey .

I n this emergence he hired out to work for a

,

m a n a m on th for five dollars w hich was at the rate ,

o f abou t on e shilling a d ay Faith fully he ful filled

.

his contract and then ra t her d readin g to retu rn

, ,

hom e entered into an engagemen t wit h a h att er

, ,

E lijah Gri ffith to work in his shop for fou r years

,
.

H ere he worked d iligently eighteen m onths w it hout

receivin g any pay H is employer th en failed broke
.
,

u p and le ft the cou nt ry A gain this poor boy thus

,
.
,

t he spo rt of fortu n e fou nd himsel f witho ut a penny

, ,

with but few clothes and those m uch worn

, .

B u t it w a s not h is natu re t o lay an yth in g very

d eeply to h eart H e laugh ed at mis fort u n e and
.
,

pressed on singing an d wh istling t hrough all storm s .

H e had a stout pair of hands good natu re and adap , ,

t a t ion to any kind of work Th e re w a s n o dange r

.
:

o f h is st a rv i n g ; and exposu res which many w ould

.
,

deem hardships we re n o h ardsh ips for him U n

, .

d ismayed h e ran here an d there catchin g at su ch ,

emplo y ment as h e co uld fi nd u n til he had s u pplied ,

h imsel f with so me com fort able clothing and had a ,

few dollars o f r eady m oney i n his purse A gai n he .

set ou t alon e and on foot for his fa r d istan t home - .

H e had been absent over two years and was now ,

fi fteen years of ag e .
44 D AV I D C RO C KE TT .

H e tru d ged alon g d a y a ft e r d a y t h rough ra i n

, ,

and su nshin e u ntil he reach ed a broad stream called

,

N ew R iver It was wint ry weather The stream

. .

was swollen by recent rains a n d a gale then blowing ,

was plo u ghing the sur face into angry waves Teams .

forded the stream many miles above There was a .

log hu t h ere and the own er had a frail can oe i n

,

w hich he could paddle an occasional traveller across

the river But nothing wou ld in duce him to risk h is

.

li fe i n a n att empt to cross in su ch a storm .

The impet uo us boy in his ign orance of the e ffect

,

of wi nd u pon waves resolved t o attempt to cross

, ,

at eve ry hazard and n otwithstanding all remon

,

st ra n ces. H e obtain ed a l eaky can oe w hich w a s ,

hal f strand ed upo n the shore and pushed o u t on ,

h is perilous voyage H e tied h is little bu ndle of

.

clothes to the bows of the boat t h at th ey m igh t ,

n ot be washed o r blown away and soon fou n d ,

himsel f exposed to the fu l l force o f the wind and ,

tossed by billows such as h e ha d n ever d rea m ed of

be fore H e was greatly frighten ed and would have
.
,

given all he had i n th e world t o have been sa fely ,

back agai n u pon the shore Bu t he was su re t o be .

swam ped if he should att empt to t u rn the boa t

broadsid e to th e waves i n s u ch a gale The only .

po ssible salvatio n fo r h im was to cut the approach

ing billo w s with the bo ws of the boat Thu s ha .
 Y OU TH F U L A D VEN T U RE S .
45

m ight possibly ride over them though at th e imm i ,

nent peril every mom ent of shipping a sea w h ich

, ,

w o uld engul f hi m and his frail boat in a wate ry

g r ave
.

I n this way he reache d the shor e two m iles ,

above the p roper landing place The canoe w a s - .

then h al f full of water H e was drenched with .

spray which w a s frozen into almost a coat of ma il

,

upon his garm ents Shivering with cold h e had to .

,

walk th ree m iles t h rough th e forest be fore h e

found a cabin at whose fi re h e c ould warm and dry
himsel f Without any unn ecessa ry d elay h e pushed
.

o n u ntil he crossed t he ext rem e western fron tier l in e

of V irginia and entered S ullivan Cou nty Ten nessee

, , .

A n able b o died youn g man like Davi d Cro ckett

-
,

strong athletic willing t o work, an d knowin g how

, ,

t o tu rn his han d to anythin g could in the h u mblest , ,

cab in find employm ent wh ich w ou ld provide h im

,

with bo a rd and lodgin g H e was in no danger of .

'

starving T here was at t h at time but one main

.
, ,

path of travel fro m t he E ast into the regions of th e

bou ndless West .

As David was pressin g along t his path he cam e

to a little hamlet of log huts where he found the ,

b r other whom he had le ft when h e sta rted from

hom e eight ee n months be fore n i th the drove of
ca ttle .H e remained with hi m for tw o or th r ee
 D AV ID C RO C K ETT
.

46 .

w eeks , probably paying his expen ses by fa rm labor

a nd h unti ng Again h e set out for home T he
. .

e ven i ng twilight w a s darkening i nto night when he

caught sight o f his father s hu mble cabin Seve ral ’

.

wagons were standing arou nd S howin g that t he r e ,

m ust be consid erabl e company in th e house .

With not a little embarrassmen t h e vent u red in , .

I t was rat her dark H is mother and sisters were

.

prepa r i ng supper at th e imm ense firesid e Qui te a .

group of teamsters were scattered arou nd the room ,

smoking th eir pip es an d telli ng their m arvel lous

,

stories David during his absence of two years

.
, ,

h ad g rown and changed considerably in personal

,

appearan c e N on e of the family recognized him

. .

They gen erally supposed as h e had been absen t so ,

long that h e was dead

, .

David inquired if h e could remain all nigh t .

Being answered i n the a ffi rmative he took a seat in ,

a corn er and remain ed per fectly silent gazing u pon

, ,

t he familia r sce ne and watching t he movemen ts of

,

his father moth er and s ist ers; A t length suppe r

, ,

wa s ready and al l took seats at the table

, A s David .

came more into the light o n e o f h is sist ers observ , ,

in g him was stru ck with his resemblance t o h er lost

,

brot her Fixing her eyes upon him she in a

. , ,

moment rushed forward and threw h er arms aroun d

,

"
his n ec k exclaiming
, H ere is my brother David
,
.
 YO U T H FU L A D VE N T U R ES .
47

Q u ite a scene en sued The ret u rn ing prodigal

. .

w as received with a s m uch a ffection as cou ld be

exp ected in a family wit h such u ncultivated hearts
an d s u ch u nrefi ned habits a s were fou nd in the

cabin of J oh n C r ockett E ve n the stern old man .

forgot his hicko ry switch and David m u ch to his , ,

rel ie f foun d that h e should escape the long dreaded

,
-

whippin g Many yea rs a fter this when David

.
,

Crockett t o h is ow n su rprise and tha t of the whole

, ,

n ation found himsel f ele v ated t o the position of

,

o n e of ou r nation al legislators he wrote ,

“
But it will be a so u r ce of astonishment t o
m any w h o reflect that I am now a membe r of t he
,

A m e rican Congress the most en lighten ed body of

,

m en i n the world th at at so advanced an age the

, , ,

age of fi fteen I di d n ot kn ow the first letter in the

,

b ook .

By th e law s and customs of ou r land David w as ,

bound to obey his father and work for him u nti l h e

w as twenty on e years o f age
- U ntil that time what .
,

ev e r wages he might earn be l onged to his fathe r .

I t is o ften an act of great generosity for a hard

wo rking farmer to release a stou t lad of eight een
"
or n inet een from this obligat ion an d to give him , ,

a s it i s ph r ased his t im e , .

J ohn Crockett owed a neighbo r A braham Wil ,

son th irty six dollars

,
- H e told David that if he
.
48 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

wou ld wo rk for M r Wilson until his w ages paid t h at

.

su m he w ou l d then release him from all his obliga

,
.

tions to his father and his son might go free I t

, .

w a s a sh r ewd bargai n for the old m an for he had ,

al r eady learned that David w as abu ndantly capable

o f taking care of himsel f and that h e would com e
,

a nd go w hen and wh ere he pleased .

T he boy weary of his w and e ri ng s consen t ed to

, h

t h e arrangement and engaged to work for Mr Wil

, .

son fo r six months i n paym ent for which the note

, ,

was to be delivered up to his father I t wa s charac .

t erist ic of David th at whatever he unde rtook he e n

gaged i n with all his migh t H e w as a ru de coarse

.
,

boy I t w a s scarcely possibl e w ith his past train

.
,

in g that h e sho u
, ld be othe rwise But he w a s ve ry.

faith ful i n fulfi lli ng his obligations Thou gh h is .

sense of right and wrong w a s very obtuse he was ,

st ill disposed t o do th e right so fa r as his u n cu lti

va t ed conscience revealed it t o hi m .

For six months Davi d w o rked for Mr Wilson

,
.

w i th the utmost fi delity and zeal H e then received .

t he note p resented it to his father and be fo r e he

, , ,

w as s i xtee nyea r s of age stood up p rou dly his own

,

m an H is fat her had no l onger the righ t to whip

.

h im .H is father had n o longe r t he right to c a ll upo n

him for any s e rvice withou t paying h i m for it A nd .

on the othe r hand he could no longer lo ok t o his

,
 YO U TH FUL A D VEN T U R E S .
49

fath er for food cloth i ng This thought gave him

or .

no trouble H e had already taken ca re of himsel f

.

for two years an d h e felt n o m ore soli cit ud e i n

,

regard t o th e futu re t han did th e bu ffalo s ca lf or '

’
t he wol f s whelp .

Wilson w a s a bad man d issipat ed and u np rinci ,

pled B ut h e had fou nd David to be so valuable a

.

laborer that he o ffered hi m hi g h wages if he wou ld

remai n and w ork for hi m It shows a lat ent u nde r
.
,

l ying princip l e of goodness in D avid that h e should ,

have re fused th e o ffe r H e writes .

“
The r eason was it was a place where a heap
,

o f bad company m et t o drink and gamb l e ; an d I

’
want e d to get away from t hem for I know d very ,

well, if I stai d there I sho uld ge t a bad nam e as

, ,

n obody could b e r esp ectable that wo uld live there ”

.

A bout th is tim e a Quaker somewhat advance d ,

i n years a good honest m an by the nam e of J ohn

, , ,

K en nedy em igrated from N orth Ca roli na a nd

, ,

selecting his fou r hun dred acres of lan d abou t fi fteen

m iles from J ohn Crockett s r ea r ed a l og hut and

'

co mm en ced a clearing In so m e t r ansaction with

.

Crockett h e t ook his n eighbor s n ote for fo rty ’

dollars H e chan ced to see David a stout lad of

.
,

prepossessing appearance and p rp posed that he ,

should work for hi m for t w o shillin gs a day takin g

h im on e week u pon t rial A t the close of th e w e ek
.

3
so D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

the Quake r e xpressed himsel f as highly satis fi e d

w ith his w ork and o ffered t o pay h i m w ith his
,

fath e r s n ot e of forty dollars for six months l abor

’ ’

on h is fa rm .

Dav i d kn ew ful l wel l h ow ready his fath er w a s

t o give h is not e an d h ow slow h e was to pay it
,
.

H e was fu lly aw are that the not e w as n ot w o rt h t o ,

h i m the paper upon which it w as written But he

,
.

refl ected that the note wa s an obligation u pon his

father that h e w as ve ry poo r an d h is lot in li fe wa s
, ,

hard I t certainly indi cated m u ch i n nat e n obility

.

of natu r e that this b oy u nder th ese circum stan c es

, ,

should have accepted th e o ffer of t h e Qu ak er Bu t .

David did this F or six m onths h e labored assidu

.

o u sly withou t the slightest hope o f reward except

, ,

in g that h e woul d th us relieve his father whom he ,

had n o great cause eithe r t o respect or l ove from ,

the em barrassment of the debt .

For a whole hal f-year David toiled u pon th e

fa rm of the Q u aker n eve r o n ce d u rin g that tim e
,

visitin g his home A t th e end o f the term h e

.

received his pay for those long m on ths of labor i n ,

a little piec e of ru mpled paper u pon wh ich his ,

fathe r had p robably made b is mark

'

It w as Satu r .

day even ing .

The n ext m ornin g he borrowed a h orse of his

em ploye r a n d set ou t fo r a vis it home -
He w as .
 Y OU T H F U L AD VEN T UR E S .
sr

k i ndly welcomed . H is fat her kne w n othing of t he

ag reem en t which h is son h ad made with Mr K en .

n edy A s th e fam ily were t alking togeth e r arou n d

.

th e cabin fi r e David d rew the n ote from h is pocke t

,

and presented i t to his father Th e old man seeme d .

m u ch t roubled He su pposed M r K en nedy had

. .

sent it for coll ection A s usual he began to m a ke

.
,

excuses He said that h e w as ve ry sorry tha t h e

.

could n ot pay it that he had met with m an y m isfor

,

tu nes that he had no mon ey an d that he d id not

, ,

kno w wh at to do .

David then to l d h is fath e r that he d id n ot han d

h i m the bill for col l ection bu t that it was a presen t
,

—
fro m him that h e had paid it in fu ll I t is easy for .

old and b r oken dow n men to weep

-
J oh n Crocket t .

seem ed m u ch a ffect ed by this gene rosity of his son ,

”
and David says he shed a heap of tears
“
He .
,

howeve r avowed h is inabi l ity to pay anyt hin g what

,

ever upon the note

, .

David had now w orked a yea r w i thou t gettin g

any mon ey for himsel f H is c l othes we r e w orn ou t
.
,

an d altogethe r he w a s i n a ve ry dilapidated condi

’
tion H e went back t o th e Quaker s and agai n
.
,

engaged i n his service d esiring to earn some mon ey

,

to pu rchase clothe s Two m onth s th us passed

.

away E ve ry a r den t impe tuous b oy m ust h ave a

.
,

love adventu re Da v id had his A ve ry prett y

. .
5 2 DAV I D CR OCK E I T.
' ‘

y oung Q u ake r ess of abou,

t David s age came fr o m
’
,

N ort h Caroli na to visi t M r K en n edy w ho w as h er

.
,

u n cle . David fell d espe rately in love with her .

We cann ot b ette r describe this advent u r e than in

t he u npolish e d di ction of this illiterat e boy I f on e .

wo uld u nderstan d th is ext raord i n ary character, i t is

ne cessary thus to catch su ch gl impses a s we can
of his i n ne r li fe Le t this necessity ato n e for t he
.

unpleasan t rud ene ss of speech Be it remembe red

.

that this r eminiscen ce wa s written a fte r David

Cr ockett w a s a m emb e r of Congress .

“
I soon fou n d mysel f head ove r h eels in l o ve
w i th th i s girl I tho ught that if all th e hills abou t
.

t he r e w ere pu re ch i nk and all belo n ged t o m e I

, ,

w o u ld give th e m if I could j u st talk to he r as I

’

wanted t o B ut I was a frai d t o begin ; for when I

.

w oul d think of say i ng anyth in g t o he r, my hea rt

wou l d begin to fl utte r like a d uck in a pu ddle A nd .

if I tr i ed t o o utd o it and speak i t wou ld get righ t ,

smack u p i n my throat , and choke m e like a col d

p otato I t bore on my m in d i n t his way ti l l at l as t
.
,

I concl uded I m ust di e if I d idn t b roach th e subject

’
.

5 0 I dete rmin ed t o begin an d hang on a-t rying t o

speak till my h ea r t w ou l d get ou t of my t h roat on e
,

’
way or t othe r .

A nd so one day a t it I went and a fte r sev e r a l ,

t ri a l s I c ould say a l i ttle I told he r how I loved

.
54 D AV ID C ROC KE TT .

w as n ot bo rn for a scho l ar A t the end of that t i m e

.

h e could r ead a lit t le i n th e fi rst primer With diffi .

culty h e could make certain hieroglyph ics wh ic h

l ooked l ike his nam e H e coul d also perform sim
.

ple su m s i n addition subst raction an d m u ltipli

, ,

cati on T he mysteries of divisi on h e n eve r su r

.

m ou nted .

This wa s t h e exten t of his ed ucation H e l e ft .

schoo l an d i n the labori o us li fe u pon which he en

,

t ered n eve r a fte r improved any opportu n ity for

,

mental culture The disappoin t men t which Davi d

.

had encou ntered i n h is l ove a ffai r only made him ,

m o r e eage r t o seek a n ew obje ct upon which he

m ight fi x hi s a ffection s N ot far from M r K en

. .

’
n edy s the re w a s t he cabi n of a settler w here there ,

were t w o or t h re e gi r ls David had o c casionall y

.

met the m Boy a s he w a s for h e was n ot ye t eigh

.
,

t een h e sudden ly and impetuously se t ou t t o see if

,

h e could n ot pick fr om th em on e for a wi fe

, ,
.

With out delay he mad e h i s choice and mad e ,

h is o ffer an d w a s as promptly accepted as a love r

, .

Though they were both ve ry you ng and n eith e r of ,

them h ad a d ollar still a s those consid erati on s

,

wou ld n ot have i nflu en ced David in th e s l ight est

d egree we know n ot why th ey were not i mm ediately
,

mar r ied Several m on ths of very desperat e a nd

.

satis facto ry courtshi p passed aw ay when t he t im e ,

 YO U TH F U L A DV EN T U RE S .
55

a e for the n u p tials of t h e lit tle Quake r girl wh ich

c m o
,

cer emo ny w as to take place at the cabi n of h er

u n cle David an d his girl w ere in vited t o t he '

.
_

w edding .The scen e on ly i nfl am ed the d esi r es of

David to hasten his m arriage-day H e w as v e ry .

i mportu n ate in p ressin g his claims She seemed .

quite reluctant to fix th e day bu t at last consented ; ,

and says Da v id I t hough t if t hat day come I

,
“
,

shou ld be th e happiest man in the c r eated world o r ,

i n the moon or anywhere else

, .

I n the mean tim e David had becom e ve ry fon d

o f his r ifl e an d had raised enough mo n ey to b uy
,

h im one H e w as stil l living with the Quake r

. .

Game w a s abu ndant an d the yo u ng h unte r o fte n

,

b rought in val u able su ppl ies of animal fo od There .

were frequ ent shooting m atches i n that region - .

David prou d of h is s kill w as fon d of attendi ng

, ,

them B u t h is Qu ake r employe r consid e red them a

.

species of gamblin g wh ich d rew t ogether al l the

,

i dlers and vag rants of the region and h e cou l d not ,

app rove of them .

There w a s another boy li v i ng at t hat t i m e w i th

t he Quake r They practised all sorts of decept i on s
.

t o st eal away to the shoot ing matches u nd er p re -

tence that they w ere engaged in other thi ngs ; Thi s

boy w as quite in l ove with a siste r of David s in
'

ten ded wi fe The staid m embe r of the Soc i ety of

.
56 D AV I D C RO C KETT .

F r ien ds did not ap prove of th e ru de cou rti n g froli cs

o f those times which frequ e ntly occupied nearly
,

the whole n ight .

The t w o boys slept i n a garret in what wa s ,

called the gable en d o f th e house There was a .

smal l window in thei r rough apartment O ne S un .

day when the Qu aker and h is wi fe were absent a t

,

tend ing a meeting th e boys cut a long pole an d

, ,

leaned it up again st the side of th e house as high as ,

the window but so that it would n ot attract any atten

,

tion They were a s n imble as catamou nts an d could

.
,

r u n u p an d down t h e po l e withou t the slightest

d i ffi culty Th ey would go to bed at th e usu al early
.

hou r A s soon as all we re quiet they would creep

.
,

fr om t he ho use dressed i n thei r b est apparel and

, ,

t aking th e t w o farm horses w ou ld m ou n t their backs

-
,

a n d ride as fast a s pos sibl e ten m iles th r ou gh the

, ,

fo r est r oad to wh e re the girls lived Th ey w .

gen e rally expected A fter spending all the hou rs

.

of the middle of th e n ight in the varied fro l ics of

c ou ntry cou r tship th ey would again m ount thei r

,

horses an d gallop hom e bei n g especially ca r e ful t o

,

c reep i n at their windo w be fo r e the dawn of day ,

Th e cou rse of tru e love seemed for on ce to be r u n

n ing smoothly Satu rday cam e and the next week
.
, ,

on Thu r sday, David w as to be ma rried .

I t so happen ed that there was t o be a s hooti ng

 Y OU TH F U L A D VEN T U R ES .
57

m atch on Satu rday at one of the cabins n ot fa r ,

from the hom e o f h is i ntended bride David m ade .

som e excuse as t o the n ecessity of going hom e to

p repare for his wed ding and i n the m orning se t ou t ,

ea rly and di rected his st eps straight to the sh oot

,

ing match H ere h e w a s very su ccess ful in his

- .

sh ots and won about fi ve dollars I n great elat ion

"

.
,

o f spirits and fully convin ced that h e was on e of the

,

greatest and happiest m en i n the world he p ressed ,

on toward th e home of his in tended bride .

H e h ad walked bu t a couple of m iles wh en he ,

r eached the cabin of th e girl s u ncle Con sideri ng ’

.

the m embers of th e family already a s his relatives ,

h e stepped in very patronizingly to gr eet th em

, , .

H e doub ted n ot t hat they were ve ry p rou d of the

approaching alliance of th ei r n iece w ith so distin
u ish e d a m an as hi msel f— a man who had actual l y
g
five dolla rs in silver in his pocket E nterin g the
, ,
.

cabin h e fou n d a sister of his betrothed there

, .

I nstead of greetin g h im with th e cord iality h e

expected S he seemed greatly embarrassed David
, .

had penetration enou gh t o see that something w as

wrong Th e reception sh e gave hi m was not su ch
.

'

as he thought a brotker zn Ia w o ught to receive He

- - .

m ad e more particular i nqu i r ies Th e result we wil l .

g i ve in Da vi d s langu age ’
.

“
Sh e then bu rst i nto tears an d told m e that her ,
i t

z
 58 D A VID c a oc TT .

s iste r wa s go i ng t o deceive m e ; and that sh e was to

be ma r ried t o an othe r m an th e next day This was .

as su dden to me as a clap of thun de r of a brigh t

su nsh i ny day . It was th e capst on e of all the a ffl ic

t io n s I had ever m et with ; and i t seemed t o m e

t hat i t w a s mo r e than any h uman creatu re cou ld

end u r e I t struck m e pe r fectly speec hl ess for som e
.

time and made m e fee l so weak that I thought I

,

should sink down I h oweve r r ecovered from th e

.

shock a fter a little and rose and started withou t

,

any ce r emony o r even biddin g anybody good bye

,
- .

The young woman fo ll owed m e ou t to the gate and ,

entreated me to g o on to h e r father s a nd said sh e

’
,

would go with m e .

She sa i d th e young man who w as going to ma rry

he r siste r had g ot his license an d asked for he r .

But she assu r ed m e that her father an d mother both

pre fe rr ed m e to hi m ; and tha t she had n o doubt
that if I would go on I could break off the match .

But I fou nd that I could go n o fa rth e r My heart .

w a s bruised and my spi ri ts we r e b roken down

, So I .

bi d h er fa rewell an d tu rned my lon esome and m is

,

c rable steps back again hom eward concl udi n g that I

,

s was only bo rn for hardship m ise ry and disappoi n t

, ,

m ent . I n ow began to think that i n making m e it

wa s en t i rely fo rg otten to make my mate ; that I wa s
 YO U THF U L A D VEN T U RE S .
59

bo r n odd an d shou ld always remain so and that

, ,

n ob o dy would have m e .

“
But all thes e reflections di d n ot satis fy my
m ind for I had n o peace day n or n ight , for several
, ,

weeks My appetite failed m e and I gre w daily

.
,

worse an d worse They all thought I w as sick ; and

.

so I w a s A n d i t w as the worst kin d of sickness a

.
,

S i ckn ess of the heart and all the tender parts pro, ,

”
d u ced by disappointed love .

Fo r some time David continu ed in a state of

great dej ectio n a lovelorn swain of seventeen
,

years Th us d isconsolate h e loved t o roam the

.
,

forest alon e with h is rifle a s h is only co m panion

, ,

brooding over his sorrows The gloom of the .

forest was congenial t o him and the excitemen t of ,

pursu in g the game a fforded some slight relie f to his

.

agit ated spirit O n e day when he had wandered

.
,

fa r from home he came upon the cabin o f a Dutchman

,

w i th wh oin he had formed som e previous acquaint

ance H e h ad a dau ght er w ho was exceedi ngly
.
,

p lain i n her personal appearan ce but w h o had a ve ry ,

active m ind and w a s a bright ta l kative girl

, , .

S h e had hea r d of David s misadventu re and ’

,

rath er u n feeli ngly rallied him u po n h is loss She .

h oweve r en d eavored to com fort him by the assu r

anc e that there were as good fi sh in th e sea a s had
’

ev e r bee n cau ght ou t o f it David did n ot be l ie v e .

60 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

in t his doctrin e at all as applied to his ow n cas e

, .

H e thought his loss u tterly irretrievable A nd in .

h is still high appreciation of h imsel f n otw it hsta nd ,

ing his deep m ort ifi ca t ion h e thought that the lively

,

D utch g i rl w a s en deavoring t o catch him for he r

lover I n this ho w ever h e soon fou n d h imsel f mis
.
, ,

taken .

She told h im th at the re w a s t o b e a reap i n g

frolic in their n eighborhood i n a few days and that ,

if h e wou ld attend it sh e woul d s h ow him o n e o f

,

th e p rettiest girls upon whom h e ever fixed his

eyes D i fficult as he fou nd it to sh ut ou t from h is
.

m in d his lost love upo n whom his thoughts were

,

dwellin g by day an d by n ight , h e very wi sely d e

cided that his best remedy wou ld be fou n d in what
Dr Chalm ers calls the expu lsive powe r o f a n ew
.

a ffect ion ; that is that h e would try and fall in love

,

with som e other girl as soon as possible H i s ow n .

la n guage i n d escribing his feelings at that time is

, ,

certainly ve ry di fferent from t hat w h i ch the philoso

pher or the m odern novel ist would h a ve used but ,

it is qu it e cha racte rist ic of th e man Th e Du tch .

m aiden assured hi m that the gi rl w ho ha d d e

ce ive d him w as n ot t o be c ompared in b eaut y

with t he on e sh e would show to h im H e writes : .

I did n t believe a word of all this for I had

’
,

though t that su ch a piece of flesh and blood as sh e

“
62 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

company already assembled H e l ooked t rou nd for .

th e pretty girl but S h e w a s n o whe re t s b e seen

, .

She chan ced to be i n a S hed frolick in g w ith some

others of th e you ng people .

Bu t as David with his rifl e on his sho uld e r sau n

, ,

t ered arou nd an aged I rish woma n full of ne rve and

, ,

vol ubility cau ght sight o f him Sh e w a s the mo

. , .

ther of the girl and had b een told of the c bject of

,

David s visit H e must have appeared v ery boyish

’
. ,

for he had not yet entered his eighteenth ye: r and ,

though ve ry wi ry an d ath letic, he w a s of sl rnd er

,

frame and rather small i n stat u re

, .

The I rish woman hastened t o David ; la vi xhed

u pon him compliments respectin g h is rosy che rks ,

and assured him that sh e had exactly su ch a sw e et

hea rt for h im a s h e n eeded She did not a llo w .

David t o have any doubt that she wou ld gladly v el

com e h i m a s th e h usband of h er daught er .

Pretty soon the you ng fresh blooming mi rt h u l

,
f
, ,

girl came alon g ; and David fell in love wit h her at

fi rst sight N ot m u ch formality of introd uction was
.

n ecessary : each w a s looking for the other Both of .

the previous loves of the you ng man were forgotten

in an instan t H e devoted himsel f w ith the ut mo st
.

assiduity t o t he littl e I rish girl

, H e was soon .

d an cing with her A fter a very vigorous d oubl e

.
“

shu ffl e ,as they were seated S ide by side on a be nc h

 Y OU T H F U L A D VEN T U RE S . 63

int ensely talking for David Crockett w a s n eve r at a

,

loss for words the mothe r cam e up , an d in h e r

, ,

won der fu lly frank mod e of match m a ki n g jocosely -

,

a dd ressed him as h er son in law - - .

E ven David s i mpe rtu rbable sel f possession w as

’
-

d ist u rbed by this assailmen t Still h e w a s m u ch

.

plea sed t o fi nd both mother and daughter so favo r

ably disposed t oward h im Th e ru stic frolicking
.

co nti n u ed n early al l n ight I n the morning David

.
, ,

i n a ve ry h appy frame of mind r etu rn ed to the ,

Qu aker s and i n an ticipation of soon set ting u p

'

farm ing for h imsel f engaged to wo rk

,
for him for six
m on t hs fo r a l ow-
p r iced horse
 C HA PT E R I I I .

M a rr iag e a nd Settlem ent .

Rust ic Courtsnip —The . R iv l L v

a o er. - Rom an tu I n cident —The
P urch ase of a H orse. C —The “ fu m in g —S in gul ar erem on ies.

Th T e g —B id l D y — T h y
erm a ant . r H a a s e c om m en ce ousekee p
i g — T h B id l M
n e ri d O fi —F
a il y P
a n s on an ut t . am ossession s.

Th R e v l C t lT
em o a to —M d f T en ra p enn essee o eo ran s ortation .

Th N w H
e e d i S
om e di g — B y I dl
an ts u rrou n n s. us en ess. — T he
T hi d M v T h M
r o e. F Mi
- e assacre a t ort m m s.

DAV ID took possession of h is h orse and b egan ,

to wo rk ve ry d iligently t o pay for it H e felt th at .

n ow h e w a s a man of p roperty A fter the lapse of .

a few weeks h e m ou nted his h orse and rode ove r to

’
t he I rishman s cabi n to see h is girl and to find ou t ,

h o w sh e l ived an d wh at sort of people composed

,

t he fam il y A rrivin g at t he log hu t he found th e

.
,

father to be a silent staid old m an an d the mothe r

, ,

as voluble an d n ervou s a l ittle woman as ever li ved .

M uch to h is disappoin t men t the girl w a s away , .

A fte r an hou r or two she return ed having been ,

absent at som e m eeting or m erry makin g an d m uch -

, ,

t o h is chagrin sh e brou ght back with her a stou t

,

you ng fellow wh o was evidently her lover .

 M ARR I A GE AN D S E TTLE M EN T . 65

The n ew come r was not at all dispose d to re l i u

-

u ish h is clai ms in favo r of David Crocket t H e

q .

stu ck close t o the maiden an d kept up su ch an

,

i n cessan t chatte r th at David could scarcely edge in

a word I n ch aracteristic fi gure of speech h e says
'

.
,

I began t o th i nk I was barking up th e wro ng tre e

a gain Bu t I d ete rmin ed t o stan d u p t o m y rack,
.

"
fodd er or n o fodd er H e th ought he w as su re of
.

the favor of he r parents and he w as n ot ce rtain that

,

th e gi rl h erse l f had n ot given hi m su nd ry glan ces

indicative of h er p re feren ce Da r k night wa s n ow
.

coming on an d David had a ro ugh road of fi fteen

,

m iles to traverse through the fo r est be fo r e h e could

reac h ho me H e t h ought that if th e I rishman s

.
’

dau ghte r ch erished any tender feelings toward him ,

sh e wou l d be relu ctan t to have hi m set ou t at th at

l at e h o u r on su ch a jou rney He there fore r ose t o

.

t ake l eave .

H is stratagem p roved su ccess fu l Th e g i rl

.

i mmed iat ely cam e l eaving he r othe r compan i o n

, ,

a nd in ea r nest ton es ent r eated hi m n ot t o g o that

e vening . Th e l ove r was easi l y pe rsuaded H is.

h ea rt gre w ligh te r and his spirit bold er She soon

.

m ade i t so m ani fest in what di rect io n h er c hoice lay ,

t h at David was le ft en t ire m aste r of th e fi e ld H is .

d isc om fi t ed rival soon to ok his hat a n d wit hd re w .

David th u s was fre ed fro m all h is e mba r rass m e nts .

 D AV I D C RO C KE TT .

I t w as Satu rday n ight H e rema i n ed at t he .

cabin u ntil Mon day m orning making ve ry diligen t ,

i mprovem ent of his tim e in the practice of all those

arts of ru ra l courtsh ip whi ch in st inct teaches H e
'

t h en retu rn ed hom e n ot absolutely engaged b u t

, ,

w ith ve ry sangu in e hopes .

A t that ti me in th at regio n wolves were abu nd

, ,

ant and very dest ru ctive Th e n eighbors for qu i te

.
,

a dist ance combin ed for a great w ol f h u nt which

,
-
,

shou ld explore the fo rest for many miles By t he .

h unte rs t hus scatteri ng on th e sam e day th e wolves ,

w o u ld hav e n o place of retreat I f they fled be fore .

on e hu nter they wou ld encou nter anothe r Youn g .

C r ockett n atu rally con fid ent pl u nged recklessly

, ,

i nto the forest an d wan dered t o and fro un t i l to his

, ,

alarm he fou nd himsel f bewild ered an d u tterly lost

, .

Th ere were n o signs of hu man habitations n ear, and

n ight w a s fast darken in g arou n d him .

J ust a s h e w a s b egin n ing to feel that h e m ust

l ook ou t for a night s en campm en t he saw in th e
’
,

distance th ro u gh th e gigan tic trees a youn g gir l

, ,

ru n ning at he r u tm ost speed or as he expressed it i n , ,

the Crockett vernacu l a r st reakin g i t along through

,

t h e woods like all wrath

”
David ga v e chase and
.
,

so o n o ve rtook th e terrified girl w hom h e fou nd t o , ,

his su r prise an d delight t o b e h is own sweethe a rt

, ,

who had a l so by som e st range acciden t g ot lost .

 M ARR I A GE AN D S E TTL E M EN T
. . 67

H e r e was indeed a romantic and som ewhat an

e mbarrassing advent u re Th e situation was how
.
,

e ver by n o m eans so embarrassin g as it wou ld hav e

,

been t o persons i n a h igher state of c ivilization .

Th e cab in of th e emigran t o ften consisted of but

o n e roo m w here parents and children an d the chance
,

gu est passed the n igh t together They could easily .

thro w up a camp David wit h h is gu n cou ld kindle

.

a fi re and get som e gam e The girl could cook it

. .

A ll thei r physical wants would thus be supplied .

Th ey had n o m a ter ia l in co nvenien c es to d read in

camping ou t for a night The delicacy of the situ a
.

tion would not be very keenly felt by persons who

were at bu t one remove above the n ative I ndian .

The girl had gon e ou t in the morn ing into the

t ’
woods to h unt u p o n e of er fath er s horses She
,
‘
.

missed her w ay becam e lost and had been wa n de r

, ,

i n g all day long farthe r an d farther fro m h om e .

Soon a fte r the two met they came across a pat h

which th ey knew m u st lead to some house F o l .

lowing this just a fte r dark th ey came w ithin sigh t

,

o f the dim light of a cabi n fi re They were k indly .

r eceived by the inmates and t i red as th ey w ere

, , ,

th ey both sat up all n ight U po n i nqui ry t h ey .

fo u n d that Davi d had wandered ten miles from h is

home and the young girl seven from hers
, Thei r .

paths lay i n di fferent di rections but the r oad w as ,

68 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

p lain, and i n the morn i n g they separated and wi t h ,

o u t d iffi cu lt y reach ed thei r de stination .

David w as now anxiou s t o get married imm e

d ia t ely. I t wil l be rem embered that h e had bought a
horse ; bu t he had n ot paid for it The only prop .

e rty he had except the coarse clothes u pon his back

, ,

w a s a ri fle . A ll the land i n that n eighborhoo d w a s

taken up H e d id n ot even ow n an axe with whic h
.

t o b uild him a log cabin I t wo uld be necessary for

.

h im to hire some deserted shanty and borrow such ,

articles a s were indispensable N ot hing co uld be .

done to a ny advantage withou t a horse To dimin .

ish t he m on ths whi ch he had p romised to work in

.

pay ment for the animal he threw in his r ifle ,

.

A fte r a few weeks of toil the horse w aShis H e .

m ou n t ed h is steed deeming h imsel f o n e of the

,

richest m en i n the fa r W est and rode to see his girl

,

and fix upo n h is wedding day H e con fesses that - .

as h e rode along considering that he had been twice

,

dis appointed h e expe rienced n o in considerable

,

t repidatio n as to th e result of this third m a t rim o

nial enterprise H e reached the cabin , and h is wo rst
.

fears we r e re a lized .

The n ervous voluble i rritable little woman

, , ,

wh o with all of a t e rmagan t s energy govern ed both

’

husband and family had eithe r become dissatisfied

,

with you ng C rockett s poverty or had formed t he

’
,
 70 D AV ID C R oc TT .

knock my nose ou t of joint again I cou l d n t t e ll ,

’
.

’
H er mother declared I should n t have her B ut I .

’
kno wed I should if som ebody else didn t get her
,

be fore Thu rsday .

The all important wedding - day soon came

-
.

David was resolved to crush ou t all opposition a n d

consu mmate the moment ous a ffair with ve ry cdn
'

sid era b le splen do r .H e there fore rode to the cabi n

w ith a very imposing retin u e M ou nted proudly .

u pon his ow n horse and l eading a bo rrowed steed

, ,

with a blanket saddle for his bride and a ccom p a

, ,

nied by his elde r b rother and wi fe and a younge r

brother an d sister each on ho rseback h e cut out
, ,

’ ”
to he r father s house to get he r .

When t his cavalcad e of six horses had arrived

’
withi n abou t two m iles of th e I rishman s cabin ,

quit e a large party w a s fou n d assembled from th e

l og h u ts scattered several miles arou nd David .
,

kind h earted gen erous obliging was ve ry popula r

-
, , ,

with his n eighbors Th ey had heard of t he ap

.

p ro a c h i n g n u ptials o f the b rave boy o f bu t eightee n

years and of the wrath of the brawling i ll tempered

, ,
-

m other . Th ey anticipated a scen e and wished t o ,

rende r David the support of their presen ce and

sympathy . This large party some on foot and ,

som e on horseback proceeded together t o the Iris h

,

’
m an s cab i n . The old man m et them wi t h smile s ,
 M ARR I AG E AN D S E TTLE ME N T .
7 !

w hiskey bott l e i n hand r eady to o ffe r them all a

,

d rink The wi fe however, w a s obdu rate as eve r

.
, .

Sh e stood at the cabin door her eyes flashing fi re , ,

a n d qu i te b e wildered t o decid e i n wh at way to

’

a tt empt to repel an d drive off h er foe .

She expected that the boy would come alon e ,

a n d t h a t with he r all potent tongu e sh e would so

‘

-
, ,

fi e rcely assail h i m an d so frighten he r youn g girl as

st ill t o p reven t th e m arriage But h ere w a s qu ite .

a n army o f t h e n eighbo rs from m iles aro u nd , ,

assembled Th ey were all e vi d ently the friends of

.

David E very eye was fixed upon her E ve ry ea r

. .

was listen ing t o hear what she wou ld say E very .

tongu e w as itchin g to cry ou t sham e t o he r opposi

tion and to o v erwhelm h er with rep roaches F or
, .

on ce t h e termagant fou nd hersel f ba ffled and at her ,

’
w its e nd .

Th e etiqu et te of cou rts and cabi ns are q uite d if

ferent David paid n o attentio n to th e mother
.
,

b u t riding u p to t h e door of th e log house l eading ,

the horse for his b r i de he sh ou ted t o he r t o com e

,

o ut. The gi rl had enjoyed n o oppo rt u nity to pay

any attention to her bridal tro usseau But un doubt .

e d ly sh e had contrived t o pu t on her best attire .

We do n ot kn ow h e r —age bu t she w as ever spoke n ,

o f as a r emarkably p retty l ittl e girl and wa s prob a ,

bly about seventeen years old .

 72 D AV ID C RO CK E I T.
’ ‘

David did not deem it necessary t o dism ou nt,

”
but called upon his gi rl to ju mp u pon the horse
he w as leading Sh e did so The mother wa s . .

powerless It w a s a Waterloo de feat In anoth er

. .

moment they would disappea r riding a way alo ng ,

the road which wou nd through the gigantic trees o f

,
i

the forest I n anot her hou r they would be married

. .

A nd then they would forever b e beyond the reach

o f the clamor of he r voluble t on gu e She began to .

re l ent The old man ac cu stomed to her wayward

.
,

humors instinctively perceived it Stepping up to

,
.

David and placing his hand upon the n eck of his

,

horse he said ,

I wish you would stay and be ma rried he r e

“
.

’
My woma n has too m uch tongue You ought n t .

"
m ind her .

H aving thus for a moment arrested their dep art

, ,

u re he stepped back to the door where h is d iscom

.

, ,

fi t ed wi fe stood and entreat ed he r to consent to

,

their being married there A fter much persuasion .

'

common sense t ri umphed ove r u ncommon stubborn

n ess S he consented David and his expectan t
. .

b ride were bot h on horseback all ready t o g o The ,

.

w oman rather su llenly came forw a rd and said

I am sorry for the words I have spoken Th i s .

g irl i s the only child I have ever had to marr y I .

’
c an not b ear to see her go o ff in this way I f y ou l l .
 M ARR IA G E AN D S E TTLE M EN T .
73

co m e i n to the house an d be m arried here I wi ll d o ,

”
t he best I can for you .

The good n atured Davi d consented They .

a l ighted fro m th ei r horses an d th e bridal party en ,

terc é t he log h u t The r oom w a s n ot large and the

.
,

u n in y it ed guests th ron ged it and c r o wded arou n d

t he doo r The j ust ice of peace was sent for and t he

.
,

n uptial knot was tied .

The weddin g ceremonies on su ch occasion s were

su ffi ciently cu rious to be worthy of record They cer .

t a inly were in ve ry wide contrast with the pomp and

splendo r of n uptials in the palatial mansions of th e

present day A l a rge party u sually met at some ap
.

poi nt ed place som e mou nted an d othe rs on foot t o

, ,

esco rt the bridegro om t o th e house of the b r id e The .

horses we re deco r at ed with all sorts of caparisons ,

wit h ropes for bridles with blankets or fu rs for sad

,

dles The m en were d ressed in dee rski n moccasins

. .

leath er b r eeches leggins coarse hunting S hi rts of all

, ,
-

conceivable styles of mat erial , and all home made

“

Th e wom en wore gowns o f very coarse hom e

spu n an d hom e woven cloth composed of linen and
-
,

w ool an d called linsey woolsey ve ry coarse shoes

,
-
, ,

and som eti me s with bu ckskin gloves of thei r own

manu facture I f any one chanced to have a ring or
.

p r etty buckl e it w as a, re l ic o f form er times .

There we r e n o ca rriages for there were n o roads . .

4
74 D AV ID C R O CKETT .

T he arrow trail they traversed in S in gle fi le w as

n

generally a mere horse pa t h o ften so con tra cte d i n

-
,

width that two horses c ou l d n ot pass along ab reas t .

As they mar c he d along in straggl ing lin e with ,

shou ts an d jo k es and with the in ter chan g e of man y

,

gallant acts of r u sti c love ma k ing between the -

c oquettish mai d ens and the aw k ward swains th ey ,

en c o u n tere d f requent obstacl es on the way I t w as .

a part of t h e frolic fo r the youn g men t o thro w

obstr u ction s in thei r p ath a n d th us to c reate su r
,

prises T here were b roo ks to be forded So m e

. .

ti m es large trees were m is chie vously fel l ed a c ross

t h e trail G rape vines were tied ac ross from tree to
‘

-
.

tre e t o trip u p the passers b y o r to sweep off thei r

,
-

c a ps . It w a s a great jo ke for hal f a dozen you n g

men to play In d ian T hey wou l d l ie in ambus c ade
.
,

a n d su d den l y as the p ro c ession was passin g wou l d

, ,

raise the war whoop d ischarge their gu ns a n d raise

-
, ,

sho u ts of laughter in V ie w of the real or feI g n ed con

st ern a t ion thus ex c ite d .

T he m aiden s wou l d of c ou rse sh rie k T he fri ght .

ened horses wou l d sp rin g aside T h e swainswou l d .

g a l l ant l y r u sh to the res cu e of thei r sweethearts .

When the party had arrived within abou t a m i l e of

the house where the marriage c eremony w as t o tak e
place two of the most d a rin g riders a m on g the
,

you n g m en who h a d been p reviousl y sele c ted fo r

 MAR R I A GE AN D S ETT L E M E N T .
75

th e pu rpose set out on horseback on a race for the

,
“

bottle Th e m aste r of t he house w as expected t o

.

be standin g at his doo r with a j ug of whiskey in his

,

hand This w as the prize which the victo r in the

.

race was t o seize an d take back in triumph to his

companions .

Th e sta rt w a s an no unced by a gene ral I n dian

—
yell The more rough th e road th e more full of
.

l ogs stu mps rocks p r ecipitous hills an d steep glens

, , , , ,

the bette r Th is a fforded a better opportu nity for

.

th e display of i n t repidity and ho r seman ship I t .

wa s a veritable steeple-chase The v icto r announced

.

his success by on e of those shrill sav age yel l s which

, ,

wou l d almost split the ears of t he l isten e r G rasp .

in g th e bot t l e he ret u rn ed i n triu mph

, O n ap .

p roach in g the pa r ty he again ga

, v e fo r t h the I ndian
war w hoop
- .

Th e bottle or j u g w as fi rst p r esented to t he

‘

brideg room H e applied the mouth of t he bottl e

.

t o h is lips an d took a dram of raw whiskey

, He .

then han d ed it to h is: n ext of kin an d so the bottl e ,

passed through th e whole company I t is to be .

supposed t hat the young w omen did not bu rn t he ir

th roats with v e ry cop i ous dra fts of th e po i sonou s
fi re -wate r .

When they a rr ived at the house the brie f ce r e ,

m ony o f m ar r iage imm ediate l y took pl ace and the n ,

76 D AV ID C R O C K ETT .

c am e the marriage feast I t was a ve ry substa n tial

.

r epast of pork poult ry wild t urkeys venison and

, , , ,
’
bear s m eat . Th ere wa s usually t he a ccom pa n i
m ent of co r n bread potatoes and other vegetables
-
, , .

G r eat hilarity p revailed on these o ccasions with ,

won der ful freedom of mann e r s coarse jokes and

.
, ,

sho uts of laugh te r .

The table w as o ft en a large S lab of t imbe r hewn ,

o u t with a b r oad axe an d su pported by fou r stakes

-
,

drive n i nt o au ger-ho l es Th e tab l e furn it u r e con

.

sisted of a few pewter dishes with wooden p l ates ,

an d bowls The r e were gene rally a few pewte r

.

s poons m uch batte r ed abo ut th e edges but mos t

, ,

of t h e spoons we r e of ho r n homemade C rocke ry so

, .
,

easily broken wa s almost u nknown

, Table knives .

w ere seldo m see n The d efi ciency wa s made up by

.

the h u nting-knives w hich all the m en carried in

sheaths attached to their hu nting sh i rts - .

Afte r d in n er the dan cing began Th ere was .

i nvaria b ly som e m usical gen iu s present who could

play the fiddle The dances were what were cal l ed
.

three or fou r ha n d ed reels or s quare sets an d jigs

~

, .

With al l sorts of grote sque attitudes pan tom i m e ,

and athlet i c disp lays the revelry contin u ed u ntil late

,

i nto the night an d o ften u ntil th e dawn of th e morn

,

ing . A s there could be n o sleeping a ccg m m oda

ti ons for so larg e a com p any i n th e cabin of but
78 D AVI D C R OCKETT .

Bl ack Betty r eceived many a cordial kiss The .

’
bridegroom s heart was full o f exultant joy Davi d .

w rites :
Having gotten my wi fe I tho ught I w as com
,

p le t el
y mad e up and needed nothing more in t he
,

”
whole world .

H e soon fou n d his mistake and awoke t o the,

c onsciousn ess that he needed everything a nd had ,

n othing H e had n o furniture n o cabin no la nd

.
, , ,

n o money .A nd he had a w i fe t o s u pp ort H is .

only property consisted of a cheap horse H e did .

n ot even ow n a rifle an article at that time so

,

i ndispensable to the backwoodsman .

Aft er spendin g a few days at David s fat h er s ’ ’

,

the b ridegroom a nd bride retu rn ed t o the cabin of

her fathe r th e I rishman H ere they found that a
,
.

w onder fu l change had take n place i n the mother s

’

feelings and conduct Sh e had conclu d ed t o submi t

.

g ood
- nat uredly to the in evitable H er conversa.
“

t i on al powers were won de r ful With t h e most .

marvellou s volubility of hon eyed words she greeted

them She even consen ted t o have two cows given
.

them each with a cal f This was the dow ry of t he

, .

bride— her only dowry

‘
David w ho had not
.
,

expected anything felt exceedingly rich w ith thi s

,

herd .
1
N ea r by there was a vacated log cabi n wit h a
 M AR RI A GE AN D S ETTL E M EN T .
79

few ac r es of lan d a ttached t o it O u r b oy b ride .

g room and brid e hi re d th e cabin at a very small ren t .

Bu t then t hev had noth in g what eve r to p u t in to it .

They h a d not a b ed o r a tab l e or a chai r ; n o cookin g

,

u t ensils ; n ot even a kni fe or a fork H e had no .

fa r min g t ools ; n o t a spade o r a h o e The w hole .

c apital wit h which they comm enc e

'

d li fe consisted
o f the clothes th ey had on a fr rm -horse two cows , , ,

a n d t w o calves
'

I n this em ergenc e th e good old Qu ake r for ,

w ho m David h ad worked cam e fo rw ard and l oaned , ,

h im fi tee n dollars I n that wi lde r n ess food that is

’
.
, ,

game a nd corn was ch eap Bu t a s nearly eve ry

~
, .

thing e l se had to be b rought from beyon d the mou n

tains all tools an d fu rnitu re com manded high p r ices
‘

.
,

Wi th th e fi ft een dollars D avid a nd his little wi fe

'

r epai red to a cou nt ry sto re a few m i les distant ,

to fu rn ish thei r house an d fa r m U nder these cir .

c u m st a n ces: the ch in a - closet of the b r ide must

have been a cu r iosity David says With th i s

.
,
“

fi fteen dollars we fixe d up p r etty g rand , as we

”
thought .

Afte r a while i n some u nexplain ed way they

, ,

succeeded in ge t ting a spinning wheel The littl e -

.

wi fe says David
, kn o w ed exactly how to use it
, .

She was also a good weave r Being ve ry ind ustri .

ous she had in l itt l e or no tim e a fine w eb of clot h

, , ,
80 D AV I D C R O C K E TT .

rea d y t o m a k e up She was g oo d a t t hat too a n d

.
,

a t a l m o st a n t h i n e l e a wo a ou l d do
y g s m n c .

H ere t his h u m b le fa m il v re m aine d fo r t w o years .

T h ey w ere b o t h a s c o nt e n t ed wi t h t h eir l ot as other

peo p le a re T hey w ere a b ou t as w ell off as m ost of
.

their neighbors . N eith e r o f them ever c herished a

doubt that th ey belonged to the ari stocracy of the
r egion They did n ot want for food or clothing or
.
,

shelter or a warm fireside The y had their merry

, .

makings their dances and their S hooti ng matches

, ,
-
.

Let it be remembered that this w as three quarters

of a centu ry ago fa r away in the wilds o f an alm ost
,

u ntamed wilderness .

Two children were born in this log cabin David .

began to feel the responsibilities of a father w h o

had c hildren to p rbvid e for Both of the child ren .

’
were sons Though David s family was increasing
. .

there was scarcely any increase of his fortu n e H e .

there fore decided that the interests of his lit tle

household d emanded that he should m ove still
farther back into the al m ost pathless wilderness ,

where the land was not ye t taken up and where he ,

could get a settler s title to fou r hundred a c res

'

si m ply by rearing a cabin and plan ting some corn .

He had on e old horse and a couple of colt s , ,

each two years old Th e colts were broke n as it

.
,

was called to the halte r ; that is they could be led

, , ,
 M ARR I A G E AN D S E TTLE M EN T . 81

with l ight bu rdens upon th eir backs but could n ot ,

be rid den M rs Crock ett mou nted the old horse

. .
,

with her ba be i n her arms and the little b oy two , ,

’
y ear s old sitt ing in front of h er astride the horse s
, ,

’
neck and occasionally carried on his fathe r s shoul
,

d ers Thei r few articles of h o usehold goods were

.

fastened u pon the backs of the two colt s David .

led one and his kind-hearted father ia -law w ho had

,
-
,

ve ry generously o ffered to help him move led the ,

other Thus thi s party set out for a jou rney of

.

two h u ndred an d fi fty miles ove r unbridged rivers , ,

across rugged mountains a n d through dense forests, ,

whose I n dian t rails had seldom if ever b een t rodden

by the feet of white men .

This was abou t the year 1 806 The whol e pop .

u la t ion of the State then amounted to but abou t

on e hu ndred thousand They were generally wide

.

ly dispersed through the extensive regions of E ast

Tennessee But very few emigrants had ventured
.

across the b road and rugged cli ffs of the Cumbe r

lan d M ou n t a rns I nto the rich and su nny plains of
”

Western Tennessee Bu t a few years be fo re terri

. ,

ble I ndian wars desolated the State The powerfu l .

t ribes of the Creeks and Cherokees had combined

all their en ergies for the utter extermination of the
white men seeking to destroy all their hamlets a nd
,

scattered cabins .

$
4
82 D AV ID C R O C KE TT .

A t a slo w foot pace t he p i on eers fol l owed down

-

the wild val l ey of t he H olston R iver o ften with ,

t owe ling m oun tains r ising upon each side f o

'

t hem . If
they chanced at night fall to approach
, ,

t he lonely b u t of a set tler it w a s especial good for

,

t u ne as they thus found shelter provided and a fire

, ,

built and hospitable entertain ment ready for them

,
.

I f howeve r they were overtaken in the wildernes s

, ,

by darkness and even a menacing storm it was a

, ,

matter of but little moment and caused no anxiety , .

A shelte r of logs a nd bark w as soon thrown up

, , ,

with a crackl ing fi re illuminating t he wilderness

, ,

blazi ng be fore it A couch as so ft as they had eve r

.
,

been accustomed to co uld speedily be spread from

,

the pliant boughs of trees U po n the pack colts .

-

there were warm bl ankets A nd du ri ng the journey .

o f the day t hey had enjoyed ample opportun ity t o

‘

t ake s uch game a s they might n eed for thei r suppe r

and their mornin g break fast .

At length they reached the majestic flood of the

Tennessee R ive r and crossed it we kn ow n ot how
, , .

Then di r ecting thei r steps towa rd the settin g su n

, ,

they p r essed on league a fter leagu e and day a fte r

, ,

day in toilsom e jou r ney over p rairies and th rough

, ,

fores ts and acros s mountain ridges for a dist ance of -

,

nea rl y fou r h undred miles fr omt hei r sta r ting place ,

-
-

unt il they r eac hed a smal l stream called Mulbe rry ,

 MA RR I A G E AN D S E TTL E M EN T . 83

Creek which flows into the E lk R iver i n what is ,

n ow Lincoln Cou nty .

A t the mouth of M ulberry Creek the ad vent ur

ou s emigrant foun d his prom ised land I t w a s in .

d eed a beauti ful regio n The su n shines u pon none

.

more so The scenery which ho weve r probably

.
, , ,

had but few attractions for David Crockett s u ncu lt i '

va t ed eye was charming

, The soil was fert ile The
. .

streams abou nded with fi sh and waterfowl ; an d

p rairie and forest were stocked with game N o .

fam ily need su ffe r fro m hunger here if the h usband ,

had a rifle an d knew how to use it A few hours -

.
’

labor would rear a cabin which would sh u t out wi n d

and rain as e ffectually as the gorgeous walls of
Windo r or V ersailles .

N o jets of gas o r gleam of wax candles eve r

illumined an apartmen t more brilliantly than the
flashing blaze of the wood fire A nd though the .

re fectories of the Palais R oyal may fu rnish m ore

’
scientific cookery than the emigran t s hu t they can ,

not furn ish fatter tu r keys o r more ten de r ven ison

, ,

or more d elicious cuts from the bu ffalo an d the bea r

than are o ften found browning be fore the co a ls o f

the log cabin A nd when we take int o considera
.

t ion t he voracious appetites eng en dere d in those

wi lds we shall see that the emigran t needed not t o

,
 D AV ID
“

84 C RC CK E TT.

look with envy upon the l uxuriantly spread table s

of Paris or N ew York .

U pon the c rystal banks of the M ulberry R ive r ,

David aided by his father in law reared his log

,
- -
,

cabin It is a remote and u ncultivated region even

.

n ow . Then it was an almost u nbroken wildern ess ,

the axe of the settler having rarely distu rbed its

solitude .

A suitable spot for the cabin was selected and a ,

space of abou t fi fteen feet by twenty feet w as

marked ou t an d smoothed down for the floor .

There was n o c ellar Trees n ear by of straight

.
,

trunks were felled and trim m ed and cu t into logs

, ,

o f suitable length Th ese were piled one above

.

another in su ch a way as to enclose the space and

, ,

were held in their place by being n otched at the

corners R ough board swere made for t he roo f by
.

splitting straight grained logs about four feet long

- .

The door was made by cutt in g or sawing the

logs o n on e side o f the h at abou t th ree feet i n
,

width This open ing was secured by upright pieces

.

of timber pinned to the end of the logs A sim ila r .

open in g was le ft in the end for the chimney w hich ,

was bu ilt o f logs outside o f the hu t T h e back and .

jambs of the fireplace was o f stone A hole abou t .

two feet square constituted th e window Frequ en tly .

th e floo r was the smooth solid earth A split sla b

, .
86 D AV ID C RO C KETT .

home stead I t must be a dmitted that C rocket t

.

belon ged t o the c lass of w hat is called loa fers H e .

w as a sort of R ip Va n Winkle Th e fo rest and the .

mou ntain stream had great charms for him H e .

l oved t o wande r in busy idleness all the day with ,

fi shing -rod and rifle ; and he wo uld o ften return at

ni g ht with a very ample supply of game H e would .

then lounge abou t his hut tann ing deerskins for ,

moccasins and breeches, per formin g other li ttle

j obs an d ent irely negl ecting all endeavors to im
,
/

prove his farm or t o add to the appearan ce or

,

com fo rt of the m iserable shanty wh i ch h e called his

h ome .

H e had an active mi nd and a very singu l ar com

,

mand of th e lan guage of low illi terate li fe and , ,

’
especially of backw ood m a n s slang Though no t .

exactly a vain man h is sel f con fi d en ce w as imp e r

,
-

t u rd ab le and there w as perhaps not an individual in

,

th e world to whom he looked u p as in any sense his

superior I n hu nting his skill becam e very remark
.
,

able and few even of t he best marksmen could

, , ,

t h r o w the bullet with more u ner ring aim .

A t the clo se of two years of this l istless solita ry ,

li fe Crocket t without any assigned reason probabl y

, , ,

i nfluenced only by that vagrancy of spirit which

h a d take n entire poss essio n of the m an mad e ,

anothe r move A bandon ing his c r u mblin g shanty

.
 M AR R IAGE AN D S E TTL E M EN T . 87

an d un tilled fields he dire ct ed his steps eastwa rdly

,

through the fo rest a distance of abou t forty miles

, ,

to what is n ow Frankli n Cou nty H ere he reare d .

another hut on the banks of a little stream called

,

Bear s C r eek This location w as abou t ten mile s

’
.

below the present hamlet o f Winchester .

A n event now took place which changed the

’
whole cu rrent of D avid Crockett s li fe l eadi ng him ,
'
t
ro m h is lon ely cabin and the peace ful scen es of a
hu nter s li fe t o the field of battle and to al l t he
’
,

cruel and demoralizing influ ences of horrid war .

F or many years there had b een peac e with the

Indians in all t hat region Bu t u np rin cip l ed an d .

vagabon d white men whom no law in the wildern ess

,

could restrain were ever plu ndering them i n sulti ng

, ,

them and wantonly shooting them down on th e

,

.
sli g htest provocation Th e constituted authorities
.

deplo r ed this state of things bu t could n o more ,

prevent it than the restrain ts of j u st ice can preven t

robberi es and assassinations in London or N ew
Y ork .

The I ndians were disposed to b e friendly .

There can be n o qu estion that bu t for thes e u n en

‘

du rabl e outrages inflicted upon th em by vile and

,

fi end like men m any of wh om had fled from t he

-
,

avenging a r m of law peace between the w hite m a n

,

a n d the red man wou l d have r emained u ndisturbe d .

88 D AV ID C ROCK E T I
' ‘
.

I n the ext reme southern region of A labama , n ea r

the j unction of the A labama R iver with t h e almost

equally majestic T o m b eckb ee R iver there had been ,

erected several years be fore fo r the p rotection

, ,

of the emi grants a fort called Mimms,

I t con .

sisted o f several strong log h uts su rrou nded by ,

palisades wh ich enclosed several acres A strongly .

barred gate a fforded entrance to the area within .

Loop holes were cu t through the palisades j ust

-
,

su fficiently large to allow the barrel of a musket to

b e thrust th rough and aim t o be taken at any
,

app roachi ng fo e .

The space within was sufli cient to accommodat e

several famili es w h o were thu s u n ited for m ut u al
,

p r otection Their h orses an d other cattle could be

.

driven with in th e enclosu re at n ight I n case of a .

'

general alarm the pioneers occu pying hu ts scat tered

, ,

through the region for miles around cou ld assemble ,

in the fort Their corn fi eld s were outside t o culti

.
-
,

vate which , even in times o f w a r they could reso rt ,

i n armed bands setting a watch to give wa rn ing of

,

any signs of dange r .

The fort was in the middle of a small and fe rt ile

prairie Th e forest trees were cut down around and
.
-
,

every obstacle rem oved which could conceal the

approach of a foe o r protect hi m fr om th e fi re of
t he ga rrison The long con tinued p eace had cau sed
.
-
 M ARR I AG E AN D S E TTL E M EN T . 89

v igilance to slumbe r A number of fam ilies resided

.

in the fort unapprehensive of danger

, .

O ne evening a negro boy who had been out into

, ,

the forest at some distance from the fort in search

of cattle came back saying that h e saw far i n the
,

distance quite a n u mber of Indians apparently ,

armed warriors A s it was k nown that the Creek

.

I ndians had been greatly exasperated by recent

outrages inflicted upon them this intelligence ,

c reated some anxiety The gate w as care fully

.

closed A guard w as set through the night and

.
,

some slight prepa r ations were made to repel an

assault shou ld one be made
, .

Thus several days we r e passed and there w as no ,

attack and n o signs of Indians being n ear The gen

, .

era l impression w as that t he timid n egro boy was

the victim of his own fears Many jokes were pe r.

p e t ra t ed at his expense With wonted

. carelessness ,

all precaut ions were forgotten an d the m e n sallied ,

thoughtlessly fo r th t o disperse through the fields i n

thei r labors .

But a ft er several days t he boy was again sent

,

out into th e woods upon th e same errand a s be fore .

He was a timi d little fellow and ha d a great d read ,

o f th e I ndian Tremblin gly and cautiously he

.

threaded the paths o f the forest for several m iles ,

keeping a vigilant lookout for any signs of t he

'
g o D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

sa vage foe wh en his eye fell upon a sight which ap

,

palled him A t bu t a sho rt distance as he stood con

.
,

c ea le d by the thickets th rou gh which he w a s m ov

i ng he saw seve r al hu nd red Indian warrio r

,
-
s plumed ,

and painted and armed t o th e t eeth

, They had .

probably just broken u p from a council and were ,

m oving about among the trees H is fears m agni .

fi ed their n u mbers to thousan ds .

Terror stricken h e tu rned for the fo rt and wit h

-
, ,

almost the fl eet n ess of a deer entered the gate wit h

h is tidings E ven h is black face w a s pallid with
.

fright as he breathlessly to l d his story

, The In .
“

dia ns said he were as many and as close togethe r

”
, , ,

a s the trees There were thousands

. The alarm .

w a s sou nded in the ga r rison A ll th e outsiders.

we r e called in The su n shon e serenely the gentle

.
,

b reeze s wept over the fertile prairie ; not a sight was

to be seen but what w as peace ful not a sou n d cam e ,

fr om the forest b ut the songs of bird s .

I t was gene rally believed that the silly, cowardly

boy had given a false alarm They cros sexam .
-

ined h im . H e was so frightened that he could n ot

t ell a st raight story The men indignan t at bein g
.
,

th us a second time duped as t hey supposed actually

, ,

t i ed the poor boy to the whipping post and com -

m enced whippin g hi m Bu t a few l ashes had left

.
 M ARRI A GE AN D S E TTL E M EN T .
9 1

t heir bloody marks upon h is back when the upli fted

arm of the executioner w as arrested .

The aw ful I ndian war whoop the precurso r o f -

,

bl o od an d fl am e and tortu re w h ich even t he bold ,

est hea rt could seldom hear without ter ror bu rst as ,

i t we r e sim ultaneously from a h undred warrior lips .

The wary savages had provid ed themselves with

sharpen ed sticks R endin g the skies with their
.

yells they rush ed forward from the gloom of the

,

woods upon the totally u nprovided garrison an d ,

ve ry speedily plugged up the loop holes so that not -

,

a musket could be discharged through them .

Then with their hatchets they com menced cut

ting dow n the palisades The bewilde rmen t and.

conste rnation within was indescribable A few of .

the assailants h ewing at the barricades were shot

down but others inst antly took their places Soon
, .

a b r each was cu t throu gh and the howling warriors

,

like maddened demon s rushed in There was no .

m e rcy shown The gleaming tomahawk wielded by

.
,

h undreds of brawny arms expeditiously did its ,

wo rk Men women and ch ildren were in d iscrim i

. , ,

n a t ely c ut down and scalped I t was an aw ful .

scen e of butch e ry Scarcely an indiv idual escaped

. .

O n e athlet ic boy a fter having seen his father

, ,

m other fou r sisters and fou r b rothers tomahawked

, ,

a nd scalped ,pu rsued by th e savages w ith franti c ,

9 2 D AVI D C RO C KETT .

energy su cceeded in leaping the palisades Several

.

Indians gave chase H e rushed for the woods They

. .

h otly pursued H e reach ed a sluggish stream upo n

.
,

the S hore of which hal f-imbedded i n sand an d water

, ,

there was a m ouldering log w hich he chanced t o

,

kno w was hollo w beneath H e had but just tim e t o

.

slip into this retreat when the baffl ed Indians cam e

,

u p They actu ally walked over the log in thei r

.

u navailing search for him H ere he remained u ntil

.

n ight when he stole from his h id in g lp lace and i n

, ,

sa fety reach ed Fort M ontgomery which was d ista nt

,

a b out t wo mile s from F o rt M i m m s

.
94 D AV ID C RO CKE TT .

with th e de adly bullet at the distance of m any

rods .

But the m assacre at Fort M imms rou sed a n ew

spirit i n David Crockett H e perceived at once
.
,

t h at u nless the savages w ere speedily quelled they ,

would ravage the whole region ; an d that his family

as well as t hat of every oth er p ionee r m ust i nevi t a
bly perish I t was mani fest t o h im that every man
.

w a s b ou nd immediately to take arms for the genera l

o

de fence I n a few days a summons w as issued for

.

every able bodied man in all that region to repai r

-

to Winch ester, wh ich as we have said was a smal l

, ,

’
cluste r of houses abou t ten miles fro m Crockett s
cabin .

When he in formed his wi fe of his inte nt ion h er ,

womanly heart was appalled at the tho ught of being

l e ft al one and u nprotected in the vast wil dern ess .

She was at a distance of hund r eds of miles from a ll

h er connections She had n o neighbors n ear Her
. .

children were t oo young t o be of a ny service to her .

I f the dread ful I ndians should attack them she had ,

n o one to look to for prot ection I f anything should

.

happen to him i n battle so that he shou ld n ot

return they must all perish of starvation Th es e
, .

obvious con siderations S h e u rged wi th many tears .

”
I t wa s mighty hard writes Crockett to g o
, ,

again st su ch arguments as thes e But my cou n t ry .

96 DAV ID C RO CK E TT .

d etained at hom e to protect their wives and chil

“

dren and could th us be prevented from c arry in g

,

desolation into the s ettlements of the whites .

I n t he mean time David Crockett revisit e d his

hu m ble hom e w here h is good bu t anxious and
’

a fflicted wi fe fitted hi m o ut as well as she could for

the campaign David was not a man of sentimen t
.

and was never disposed t o contemplat e the possi

b ilit y of failure in any of his plans With a ligh t
.

heart he bade adieu to his wi fe and his children ,

’
and mounting his horse set out for his two months
,

absence to hunt up and sho ot th e Indians He took .

only the amount of clothing he wore as h e wished ,

t o be entirely u nencumbered when h e shou ld meet

the sinewy and athletic foe on t he battle fi eld - .

This compa n y o f abou t one h un dred mou nt ed

,

men commen ced its march for an appointed rendez

,

’
vous called Beatty s Spring H ere they encamped
.

for several days waitin g t he arrival of other com

,

p a n i es from d istant quarters E re long

. there w as

collected quite an imposing army of t hirteen hu n

d re d men all on horseback and all h ardy back
, ,

woodsmen a r m ed with the deadly rifle A mo r e

,
.
-

d eterm ined set of men was perhaps never assemble d

While they were thu s gath ering from fa r and n ear ,
,

a nd making all preparations to burst u pon th e foe

’
in one of war s mo st terrific tempests Major Gibso n ,
 TH E S O LD I E R LI FE .
97

ca m e and wanted a few men of tri ed sagacity and

, ,

hardihood to accompany h im on a recon noitrin g

,

tou r across t he Tennessee R iver down through t he ,

wilderness into the country o f th e Creek Indians

, .

I t wa s a ve ry hazardous enterprise Th e region .

swarmed with savages They were very vigilant

. .

They were greatly and ju stly exasperated I f the .

reconnoit ring party were c aptu red the certain doom ,

o f its mem b ers wo u ld be death by th e most dread ful

tortu res .

Captai n J ones pointed ou t Davi d Crockett as on e

o f the most suitable m en for this ente rprise Crock .

ett u nhesitatingly consented to go and by permis , ,

sion chose a companion by the n ame of George

,

R ussel a y ou ng man whose courageand sagacity

,

were fa r in advance of his years .

”
I called him up writes Crocket ; but Majo r
, ,

’
Gibso n said he thought he hadn t beard enough to
please him ; he wanted men not boys I must con , .

fess I w a s a little nettled at this ; for I k n ow d

’

George R ussel and I kn ow d th ere w as no mistake

,
'

’
i n him ; and I did n t think that cou age ought to
r
be meas u red by the beard for fear a goat wou ld ,

have the pre ference over a man I told the Majo r .

he w as on the wrong scent ; th at R ussel could go

as fa r as he could and I must have him along
,
He .

sa w I w as a little wrathy and said I had t he bes t

,

5
98 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

chan ce of kn owing and agreed that it should be as

,

”
I wanted it .

The heroic little band thi rteen in numbe r w el l

, ,

a r med an d w ell mou nted set ou t early in the morn

,

ing on their pe r ilou s ente rpris e They Crossed the .

Tennessee R ive r an d directing their steps south

, ,

through a r egion almost entirely u n inhabited by

white men jou rneyed cau t iously along keeping
, ,

themselves concealed as much as possible i n the

fastn esses of the forest They crossed the river at
.
,

’
what w a s called Ditto s Landing an d advan cing ,

about seven mi les beyon d found a very secluded ,

’
spot one of n atu re s hiding places wh ere they took
,
-
,

up th ei r encampmen t for the night .

Here they chanced to come across a man by the

n ame of J M rn H aynes wh o for several years had
,

been a t r ad e r amon g the Indians H e w as tho r .

oughly acquainted with the wh ol e region about t o

be t rave rsed and con sented to act as a gu ide For
, .

th e n ext day s march instru cted by thei r guide the

’
, ,

p a rty divided into two bands following alon g two ,

obscu re trails wh ich came together again a fte r

,

w inding through the wilderness a d istan ce of about

tw enty miles . Major Gibson led a party of seven ,

and David Crockett the oth er party of six .

Th e Cherokee I nd ians a neighboring nation , ,

p o w e rful and warlike were not in

. a llian ce wi th t h e
I t! ) D A VI D C RO C KETT .

Thompso n reached that spot he was to imit ate t he ,

cry of the owl Crockett would respond and thus

.
,

guide the Indi an to his retreat A s n ight a p p ib a ch .

,

ed Crockett with his p arty found a deep and dark '

, , ,

ravin e; where enci rcled by almost impen et rab l e

,

thickets he hid hi s me n and the horses N o camp

, .

’
fi res could be bu ilt It was t en o clock in the night
'

when i n the distance he heard th e signal shriek of

, ,

the owl a c ry t oo common to arrest the attent ion

,

o f any Indian bands who might be in the vicinity .

j ack guided, by a responsive c ry soon fou nd the ,

place of concealmen t and there the party remained

,

th rough th e n ight .

The n ext mornin g a fte r b r eakfast they set ou t to

j oin Major Gibson and his band bu t in som e wa y , ,

they had lost t r ack of him and h e could n ot be ,

fou nd Some were ala rmed as in so small a band

.
, , ,

they we re entering the d omains of thei r powerfu l

foe . C r ockett taunted them with thei r fears ; and
ind eed fear kept them together Th e party con .

sisted n ow of s even including th e In dian gu id e

, .

Most of them determ in ed to press on The two or .

th ree who were in favor of going back dared not

separate from the rest .

At the distan c e of abou t twenty m il es Jack ,

Thompson told them that the r e was a village of

friendly Cherokee I nd ians A s he w as leading .
 THE S O LD I ER LI F E . I OI

th em through obscu re trails toward that place they ,

cam e across the hut of a white m an by the name ,

of R a dcli ff w h o had married a Creek woman an d

, ,

had been adopted into thei r t ribe The m a n had .

t w o nearly grown u p boys stout bu rl y fellows hal f

-
, , ,

breeds by birth and more than hal f savage i n charac

,

’
ter and tra inin g The old m an s cabin w a s slightly
.

above the u sual style of I ndian wigwams I t w a s .

in a region o f u tter solitu d e .

Th ere R adcli ff had taught his barba rian boys

some of th e arts of i ndustry H e had cleared qu ite .

a S pace of grou nd a roun d his hut an d w as raising ,

a supply of corn and potatoes ampl e for his family

wants Wi th these vegetable prod uctions and with
.
,

the game which the rifle supplied them they l ived ,

i n abundan c e and free from most of th ose ca res

,

wh ich agita te a higher c ivilization .

But the old m an was qu ite agitated i n receiving

and entertaining h is u nwelcom e gu ests H e w a s an .

adopted Creek and ought t o be in sympathy with

,

h is nation He w as bound t o regard the white men

.

as his enem ies to withhold from t hem all important

,

in formation and to deliver them up to th e Creeks

,

if possible
. Shou ld he be suspected of sympathy
with the white m en th e tomahawk of th e savage
,

would Soon cle ave his brain He entreated Crockett .

im m ed ia t el) to leave him .

102 D AVID C RO C KETT .

O nly an hou r ago said h e t here were t en

, ,
“

C reek warrio rs he re all o n horseback and painted

, ,

and armed Sho uld they com e back and discove r

.

you here th ey would certainly kill you all and pu t

, ,

"
me and my family t o d eat h also .

But Crockett instead of being alarmed by this

,

intelligence was on ly animated by it H e assured

, .

R adcli ff that he could desire no better luck than t o

meet a dozen Indian s on the wa r-path H e con .

sid ered his party quite strong enough t o m eet at ,

a ny time three times their number

, E ve ni n g w as ap .

p ro a ch in g an,d the full moon in cloudless brilliance , ,

wa s rising over the forest flooding the whole land ,

scape with ext raordinary splen d or A fte r feedi n g .

their horses ab un dantly and feasting th emselves

from the fa t larde r of their host they saddled thei r ,

steeds and resumed their jou rn ey by moonlight .

Th e trail still led through the silent forest I t .

w as as usual very narrow so that the horses walked

, , ,

along in single file A s there wa s danger of falling

.

into a n ambush not a wo r d wa s spoken and as

, , ,

noiselessly as possible they m oved onward eve ry, ,

eye on the eager lookou t They had been th u s .

riding along when Crockett in the advance he ard , ,

t he noise of som e animals or persons apparent ly

approachin g A t a given signal instantly the w hol e
.
,

p a rty stopped E very man g

.r asped his rifl e r ead y ,
1 04 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

could possi bly ! t eate Ben eath this charm i ng grove

.
,

an d illu mined by the moonshin e w hich in g olden ,

tracery pierce d t h e foliage there were six or eight

, ,

I ndian lodges sc a tte red abou t .

A n i m mense b onfire was crackling and blazing ,

throwing its rays fa r and wide through the forest .

Moving around in various engage m en ts and sports

, ,

were abou t forty m en women and child ren in the

, , ,

fringed plumed a nd b rilliantly colored att ire o f

, ,

which t he Indians were so fon d Quit e a n umbe r .

of them with bo ws an d arrows were shooting at a

, ,

mark which w as made p erfectly distin ct by the

,

blaze of pitch pin e knots a light which no flame of

-
,

cand l e o r g as could ou tvie It was a scene of

’
.

sublim i ty and b eauty of peace an d loveliness which

, ,

no artist cou ld adequately trans fer to canvas .

The Cherokees received very cord ially the n ew

comers took care of t h eir h orses and in t ro rced
,
fi ,

them to thei r sports Many of the Indian s had

.

guns bu t powd e r and bullets were toh preciou s to

,

be expe nded in mere amu seme nts I ndeed th e .

,

I ndians were so care ful of their amm unition that ,

they ra rely p u t more than hal f as m uch powder into

a charge a s a w h it e man used They endeavo re d .

to make u p for th e deficien cy by creeping n earer t o

the i r p rey .

Crockett and his m en joined th es e b a rb a ri ans ,

 TH E S O LDI ER LI F E . 1 05

me rry in thei r pl easan t sports Such are the j oys.

of peace so di ffere nt from the miseries of d emoniac

,

war A t length th e festivities were closed and al l

.
,

began to prepare to reti re t o sleep .

"

Th e Cherokees were n eu tral in the w a r betwe en

the wh ites and the Creek I ndians I t was very .

impo rtant for them to mai n tain this neutrality

st rictly that they might n ot draw down u pon them
,

selves the vengeance of e ith er party Some of the .

Cherokees now began t o feel anxious lest a w ar

party of the Creeks sho u ld com e alon g and fin d
t h em entertaining a war party O f whites w ho we r e
-
,

entering their country a s spies They there fore .

h eld an interview with on e of the n egroes and ,

requ ested him to in form Mr Crockett that shou ld a

.

w a r pa rty com e and find his m en in the Cherokee

-

Village not only would they pu t all the white m en

,

t o eat h but there wou ld be also the indiscriminate

S ,

massacre of all the m en women and child ren in the

, ,

Cherokee lcid g es .

Crockett wrapped in his blanket was hal f asleep

, ,

when this m essage w as brou gh t t o him R aising .

his head , he said to th e n egro i n terms rathe r ,

savoring o f the sp i rit of the braggadocio than th at

of a h igh minded and sympathetic man

-

“
Tell the Cherokees th at I will keep a sharp .

looko u t a n
, d if a single Creek c omes n ear the camp
»
5
 1 06 D AV ID GRoc TT .

to-night , I will car ry the skin of his head home t c

m ake me a moccasin .

Wh en t his answe r w as reported to the Indians .

t h ey laughed alou d and dispersed I t w as not at all

.

i mprobable that there might be an alarm be fo r e

m orning .The horses we re there fore a fter bein g ,

well fed tied up with th eir saddles upon them that

, ,

they might be i nstantly mou nted i n case of eme r

ence They all slept also wit h t heir a ms in th ei r
g .
, r ,

hands .

j ust as Crockett was again falling into a doze a ,

very shril l I ndian yell was heard in the forest the ,

yell of alarm E ve ry man white and red w a s

.
, ,

i nstantly upon h is feet A n I ndian ru n n er soon

'

mad e h is appearance with the ti d ings that more

,

than a thousan d Creek warri ors had that day , ,

crossed the Coosa R iver b ut a few leagues sou th of

,

them at what was c alled the Ten I slands and w e

,
re ,

on the m arch to attack an A m erican force which , ,

u nder Gen eral Jackson was assembling on anothe r

,

p ortion o f the Coosa R iver

'

The friendly I ndians were so gr eatly alarmed

t hat they i mmed iately fled Crockett felt bound t o
.

ca r ry back this i nt elligence a s speedily as possib l e

t o the headquarte rs fro m which he had com e He .

had t raversed a distance of about six t y m iles in a

so u therly direction .They returned by the sam e
108 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

weary adven tu rers were i n n o mood for talkin g

A fte r dozing for an hou r or two they again set ou t
, ,

an d about noon reached the general rendezvous ,

from which they had departed bu t a few days be fore .

Here Crockett was n ot a little disappo inted in the

re c eption h e encountered He w as a you ng raw
.
,

backwoodsman nearly on a level with the ordinary

,

savage H e was exceedingly illiterate and ig no

.
,

rant A nd yet he had the most amazing sel f con

.
-

fi d en ce with not a pa rticle o f reverence for a n y

,

man whateve r his ran k o r cu ltu re H e thought

, .

no on e his superio r Colonel Co ffee paid very little

.

respect to his vainglorious report In the follo w .

i n g chara ct erist ic strain Crock ett commen ts on the

'

event :
’
H e didn t seem t o mind my report a bit This .

raised my dande r higher than ever But I kn ow d .

'

that I had to be on my best behavior and so I kept ,

it all to mysel f ; though I was so mad that I was

bu rning inside like a tar kiln and I wonder that the
-
,

smoke had not been pou ring ou t of me a t all points .

The n ext day M ajor G ibson got in H e brought

,
.

a worse tale than I had though h e Stated t he sam e

,

facts as far as I we nt .This seemed to pu t ou r Colo

n el all in a fi d g et ; and it convinced me clearly o f
on e of the hate ful ways of the world Whe n I .

made my report I was n ot believed because I w a s ,

 T HE S O LDI ER LI FE . 09

no O ffi cer I was no great man bu t j u st a poo r

. .
,

soldi e r Bu t when the same t hin g w as reported by

.

Major Gibson , why then it was all tru e a s preaching ,

”
and th e Colonel believed it every word .

There was indeed cause for alarm Many of the .

I ndian chie fs displayed m ilitary ability of a very

high order O u r o ffi cers were frequently ou tg en
.

era lled by thei r savage an tagonists This w a s so .

signally the c ase that the I ndians frequent ly amused

t hemselves ln lau ghi ng to scorn the folly of the
-

white me n E very able bodied ma n w as called to

.
-

work in throwing up breastworks A lin e of ram .

.

parts was speedily constructed nearly a quart e r of ,

a mile in circuit A n express w a s sent to Fay

.

et t e vi lle where General J ackson was assembling an

,

army to su m mon hi m to the rescue With charac

,
.

t erist ic energy h e rushed forward by forced mar ches ,

day and night un til his troops stood with bliste r ed

, ,

feet behind the newl y erected ramparts

,
.

They felt n ow sa fe fro m attack by the In di a n s

A n expedition of eigh t hundred volunteers of whic h ,

Crockett w as on e was fitted out to recross t he ,

Ten nessee R iver and marching by the w ay of

,

H u ntsvi lle t o attack the I ndians from an n oex

,

p e ct ed quarte r This movement i

. nvolved a d oubl e

crossing of the Tennessee They pressed rapidly .

al ong the n orthern bank of this maj estic st rea m ,

I 10 D AV ID C RO C KETT .

a bout I orty o r fi fty m i les due west until they cam e

, ,

to a point where the stream expands into a w idth

of nearly two miles This place was called Muscle
.

Shoals The rive r could h ere be forded though

.
,

t he bottom was exceedingly rough T he m en we re .

all mounted S everal horses got their feet so en

.

tangled in the crevices of the rocks tha t they coul d

not be disengaged and they peri shed there The
, .

men thu s dismounted were compe lled to pe r fo rm

, ,

the rest O f the campaign on foot .

A hundred miles south of this poi n t in the State ,

of A labama the Indians had a large village called

, ,

Black Warrior The lodges of the In dians were

.

spread over the grou n d where the city of Tus caloosa

now stands Th e wa ry I ndians kep t t heir scou ts
.

o u t i n all directions The ru n ners co nveyed to th e

.

warriors prompt warning Of the approach of their

foes . These I ndians were quite in advance of the
northern tribes Their lodges were full as c om fort
.

able as the log h uts of t he pion eers and in thei r ,

l l

i nterior arrange m ents mo re tasteful The bu ildings .

were quite n umerous U pon many of them m u ch

.

labor had been expended Luxuriant cor n fi elds .

-

spread widely arou nd and in well-cultivated garden s

,

t hey raised beans an d o ther vegetables i n conside r

able abu ndance .

The hun g ry a rmy fou nd a good supply of d rI ed

I I2 DAVI D C R OCK E l T
' ‘
.

I ndian ; and it was equally certain that the savage ,

seeing his approach had fled , The fi rst thought of.

Cro ckett w as on e of alarm The Indian might be.

h idden beh ind some o n e o f th e gigantic t rees and ,

'
the next mo m ent a bullet from the I ndian s rifle
, ,

might pierce h is heart .

Bu t a secon d thought reassu red him The d ee r .

had been killed by an arrow Had the Indian been .

armed with a rifle n othing wou ld have been easier

, ,

as h e saw the approach of Crockett in the dist ance

t han for him tOhave concealed himsel f an d then ,

to have taken su ch deliberate aim at h is victim as

to be sure of h i s death Mounting the horse whi ch
.

Crockett rode the savage might have d isappeared

,

i n the wilderness beyond all possibility o f pursu it .

But this adventu re taught Crockett that h e m igh t

n ot enjoy such good luck th e n ext time A nothe r .

I ndian might b e armed with a rifle and Crockett , ,

sel f con fi d e nt as he was could not pretend to be

-
,

wiser in woodcra ft than were the savages .

Cro ckett dismou n ted took u p the body of the

,

deer laid it upon th e mane of h is horse in fron t of

, ,

the saddle , and remounti ng with increasing vigilance

,

made his way as rapidly as h e cou ld to the t rai l

, ,

along wh ich th e arm y w a s advan cing H e con fesses .

to som e qualms of cons c ience as t o the right o f one

hunter thus to steal away the gam e killed by anothe r .
 TH E S O LD I ER L I FE . 1 13

I t was late in the a fternoo n he reach ed the w hen

rea r He pressed along to overtake his own com
. .

pany The soldiers looked wist fully at the ven ison

. .

They o ffered h im almost any price for it Crockett .

w a s by n atu re a gen erou s man There was n ot a .

m ean hair in hi s head This generosity w a s one.

-

of the vi rtu es which gave h im so many fri ends .

R ath er boast fully, an d yet it m u st be admitted

truth ful ly h e writes in re feren ce t o th is adventu re :
, ,

I could have sold it for almost any price I

would have asked But this wasn t my ru le n eithe r
.
’
,

i n peace n or w a r Whenever I had anyt hing an d

.

saw a fello w being su ffe ring I was more anxious to

-
,

relieve him than to ben efi t mysel f A n d this is on e .

o f the t rue secrets of my being a poor man to the

present day But it is my way A nd while it has

. .

o ften le ft me with an empty purse yet it has neve r ,

le ft my heart empty of consolations which m on ey

’
couldn t buy ; t he consolation of havin g sometimes
fed the hu ng ry and covered the naked I gave all .

my deer away except a small part which I kept ,

for mysel f and j ust su fficient to m a ke a good sup

,

"
r for my m ess
p e .

The n ext day i n thei r march they cam e u pon

, ,

a drove of swi ne which belonged to a Cherokee

,

farm e r The whites were as little disposed as were

.

the I nd ians in t his war to pay any respect t o

, ,
1 14 D AV ID C RO CKETT .

p ri v ate property H undreds

. of rifles were aime d

at the poor pigs and their squ ealing ind icated that
,

they had a very hard t ime of it The army in it s .

,

encampment t hat night feasted very joyo usly upon ,

fresh pork This thri fty Cherokee wa s also the pos

.

sessor of a milch cow The animal was speedily.

slaughtered and devou red .

They soon came upon another detachment of

the army and uniting ma rched to Ten I slands on
, , ,

t he Coosa R iver where they established a fort

, ,

which they called F ort S trother as a depot for ,

provisions and ammu nition They were here n ot .

fa r from the centre of the country inhabited by

”

the hostile Ind ians This fort stood on the le ft

.

bank of the river i n what is now St Clair Coun

, .

ty A labama
, It w as a region bu t little explored
.
,

and the whites had but little acqu aintance w ith the
n a t ure of the cou ntry around them or with the ,

places occupied by the I ndians Some scouts from .

,

the friendly Creeks brought th e intelligen ce that a t

, ,

the distance of about eight miles from the fort the re ,

w a s an I ndian t own wh ere a large party of wa rrio rs

,

was assembled in prepa r ation for som e secret expe

dition A large an d select band w as immed iately
.

dispatched on horseback to attack them by sur

, ,

p ris e
. Two friendly Creeks led them with Indian
sagacity through circuitous trails Stealthi ly they .
1 16 D A VID C RO CKETT .

s qua w and pappoose All surrendered themselves

, .

t o despai r The warriors t h ew down t heif weapon s

.,
,

in S ig n of surrender Som e rushed into the lodges

. .

Some rushed toward th e soldiers stretching ou t ,

thei r u narmed han ds in supplication for li fe The .

women in part ic ular panic stricken ran to t he so l

,
-
,

diers clasped the m abo ut the kn eesfa n d loo k ed up

,

into thei r fa c es with piteous supplications for li fe .

Cioclg et t writes
t
I saw seven squaws have hold of one man So .

I hollered ou t the Scriptu res was fulfilling ; that

’
there was seven women holding to on e man s coat
tail Bu t I bel ieve it w a s a hu nting S hirt all the
.
-

time We took them all prison ers that cam e out to

.

u s in t h is w
'

"
ay .

Fo rty six warriors by cohn t th re w down thei r

-
, ,

arms in token o f s urrende r and ran into on e of the

,

large houses A band of sol diers pu rsu ed them

.
,

with the apparent intent of sho otin g t hem down .

I t w as considered rare sport t o shoot an I ndian A .

woman cam e to the door b ow and arrow i n hand, .

Fixing th e arrow u pon the st rin g sh e drew the bow ,

with all the stre n gth of h er m u scu lar arm and let ,

t he arr ow fly i nto th e midst o f th e approachin g foe .

I t nearly passed th rough the body of Lieu t en an t

M oo r e killing h im in stantly The woman mad e
,
.

no attempt to evade the pen alty which sh e kne w

 THE S O LDI ER LI F E . I I)

wo ul d follow this In an instant twen ty bullets

a ct .

pierced her body and sh e fell dead at t he door of th e

,

house .

The in fu riate soldiers rushed in and sho t the

de fenceless w arriors me rcilessly until every on e w a s
,

fatally wounded o r dead They then set the house

.

o n fi re and bu rn ed it u p with the forty-six warriors

,
i .

i n it It mat t ered n o t to them wh eth er the flames

.

consu med t h e fl esh of the livi ng or of the dead .

The re was somet h i n g very remarkable in t he

stoicism which the Indians ever mani fested There .

was a bright-looking little Indian boy n ot more than ,

twelve years of age whose a rm w as shattered by one

,

bullet and h is thigh bone by another Th us terribly

- .

wounded t he poor child c rept from the flames of the

,

b urn ing house There w a s n o pity in that aw ful

.

hou r to come to his relie f Th e h eat w a s so in tense

.

that h is a lm ost n aked body could b e seen blistering

and frying by t h e fi re The h eroic boy striving in
.
- ~
,

vain to crawl along was literally roasted alive ; and

,

yet he did n ot utte r an au dible groan .

The slaughter w as aw fu l Bu t five of the

.

A meri cans were killed O ne hu ndred and eighty

.

six o f the I ndians w ere e ith e r killed or taken

pri son ers The party retu rned with their captives
.

the same day to Fort Strother The army had so .

fa r consu med its food that it w a s placed on ha lf

1 18 DAV ID C RO C K ETT .

r ations Th e n ext day a party was sent back t o t he

.

smould ering town to see if any food could be fou nd .

E ven th ese hardy pion eers were shocked at the

aw ful spectacle which w a s presented The whole .

p lace was in ruins Th e hal f bu rn ed bodies of the

.
-

dead in aw ful mu tilation we r e scattered around

, , .

Demoniac wa r had p erformed on e of its most fi end

like deeds .

O n this bloody field an Indian bab e w a s found

clin ging t o the bosom of its dead mother Jackson .

u rged some of th e Indian women w h o we re captives

to give it n ou rishment They replied
.

A ll the ch ild s friends are killed There is n o

’
.

o n e to care for the helpless b abe It is mu ch bette r

.

"
that it should die .

Jackson took th e child u n de r his own c a I e ,

ordered it t o be conveyed t o h is tent n u rsed i t ,

wi th suga r and wat e r took it eventually with h im

,

to the H erm itage an d brough t i t up as h is son H e

, .

gave th e boy t he nam e of Lincoyer H e grew up .

a finely formed young man an d died of consu mption

,

at the age of seven teen .

Jackson was a very stern man The appeals of .

pity could sel dom m ove his heart Still there w ere.

t r aits of heroism whi c h marked his c ha ra ct er On ,

.

th e r etu rn march a hal f sta rved soldie r came to

,
-

J a c kson w ith a piteous story o f his famished condi

12 0 DAV ID C RO C KE TT .

darkn ess were on th e march

, General A ndrew.

J ackson was on e o f th e most energet ic of men .

The t r oops crossed th e Coosa R iver t o the easte rn

sh ore and as rapidly as possible pressed forward in
,

a southerly direction toward Talladega w h ich w as ,

d istant abou t th irty m iles Gradually the rum o r

.

spread through the ranks that General Jackson had

r eceived the following intelligenc e : A t Talladega
t here w as a p r etty strong fort occupied by friendly
,

I ndians They had re solutely re fused to take part

.

in the war against th e A mericans E leven hund red .

hostile warriors of the Creek nation marched up o n

, ,

the fort encamped before it an d sent word t o t h e

, ,

friendly Indians withi n th e palisades t hat i f th ey ,

did not com e ou t and join the m in an expedi tion

a gainst the whites th ey would u tterly dem olish the
,

fo rt and take all t heir p rovisions and ammunition .

The Creeks were i n su fficien t st r engt h to accomplish

t hei r threat .

The friendly I n d ians asked fo r three days to con

sider the proposition They stat ed that if at t he
.
,

e n d of this time they did not com eout to join them

,

in an expedition against the whites they wou ld su r ,

rende r the fort The requ est was granted I n

. . .

st an tly an I ndian runner was dispatched to in form

General Jackson at Fort Strothe r of t h eir dan g er

, ,
 T HE S O LDI ER LI F E . I! I

and to entreat him to come to their aid H ence t h e .

sudden movement .

The Creek warriors had their S couts ou t care ,

fully watching and were speedil y apprised of t h e

,

’
approach of General J ackson s band I mmediately .

they sen t word into the fort to the friendly Indians ,

there that the A merican soldiers were coming with

, ,

many fi n e horses and richly stored with gu ns

, ,

blankets po wder b ullets and almost everything

, , ,

else desi rable They promised that if the Indians

.

would come ou t from the fort and help them attack ,

and conquer the whites they would divide the rich ,

plun der with them They assured them that by .

,

thus u nitin g they co u ld easily gai n th e victory ove r

,

t he whites who were the d eadly foes of thei r whol e

,

race The appeal was not respond ed to

. .

A little south o f the fort there was a stream ,

which in its circu itous course partially encircled it

, , .

The bank was high leaving a slight level space or

,

m eado w betw een i t and the stream H e re the hos .

tile Indians were encamped and concealed from any ,

approaches fro m t he north I t w as at m idnight on .

,

t h e 7t h of December that J ackson set out on this

,

expedition H e had with him for the occasion a

.
, ,

ve ry st rong force consisting of twelve hu ndre d

,

i n fant ry and eight hundred cavalry .

When t hey re ach ed the fort t h e army divi d ed , ,

6
I 22 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

passin g on each side and again un iting beyond as , ,

t hey approached the concealed en campmen t of the

enemy While passing the fo rt the friendly In
.
,

d ian s clamb ered the pal isad es an d sho uted ou t ,

j oyously to the soldiers H ow de -do b rother “

-
,

h ow de do brother
- !-
,

The lin es meeting beyond the fort formed for

, ,

battle N o foe was visible N early a thousan d

. .

warriors some a rmed with arro ws but many with

, ,

r ifles were hidden bu t a few rods be fore them

, , ,

beneath the curving ban k, which was fringed with

bushes Major R ussel , wit h a s m all party w a s sent
.
,

cautiously forward to feel for the en emy and to ,

bring o n the battle H e was m ovi ng directly int o

.

the curve where a con cen tric fi re would soon cu t

,

down eve ry one o f his men .

The Indians in the fort perceived his danger ,

an d shou ted warning to him H e d id n ot u nder .

stand their language They made the most earn est .

gestu res H e did n ot comprehend their m eanin g

. .

Two I ndians then leaped from the fort and run ,

n ing toward him seized his horse by the bridle, .

They made him u ndersta nd that more than a thou

sand warriors with rifle in hand and arrows on the
,

string were hi d den at but a sho r t distance be fore

, ,

him ready to assail him with a d eadly fi r e The

, .

a ccou nt whi c h Crockett g ive s of the battle tho u gh .

 C HA P T E R V .

I nd ia n Wa rf a re .

The At » , t Fort —
Strother C rock ett s R egim ent —C rockett
.
’
. at
H om e. -xm Re-en istm l en t. — J ackson Shrprised — . M ili tary A bil i
ty of th. m u on s — H um l
i ia tion of the C reeks. —M arch to Fl ori da
—Aflai s
.
'

I at l en sacola
‘
—C ap ture of the City Ch ra teri tics of .
- a e s

C k —T
roc ett ue Weary M h —I n gl o ious E xp ed ition —M urder
arc . r .

o f T I di wo n ans —Ad ve tu es at the I sl and —T he Con tin ued

n r .

M h —S v
arc e ere Suffering —Cha ge upon the U ninhabited
s. r

T H E army v pon i ts retu r n to Fort Strother

, ,

"
fo u nd itsel f st i in a starving condition Though
. .

t h e expedition had been eminently success ful in

t he destruction o f Indian warrio rs it had consumed ,

the ir provisions withou t a ffording them any addi

,

t iona l supply Th e weather had becom e i ntensely

.

c old
. The clothing o f the soldiers from h ard usage , ,

had become nearly worn o ut The horses w ere also .

emaciat e and feebl e There was danger that many .

of the soldiers m ust pe rish from d e stitution and

h unger .

The regi m e nt to whi c h Crockett belon ged

had enlisted fo r sixty days Their time had long,
.

si n ce expi red The o ffi cers proposed to Jackso n

.
 I NDI AN WAR FA R E . 12 5

t ha t they and their soldiers m ight be permitted to

return to their homes promising that they wou ld
,

immediately re enlist a fter having obtained fresh

-

horses and fresh clothing A n d rew J ackson was by

.

natu re on e of th e most u nyielding of men H is .

w ill was law and must be obeyed righ t or w r ong

, , .

H e was at that time one of the most p ro fane of men .

H e swore by all that w a s sacred that they should

not go ; that the departure of so many of the men
would endanger the possession of th e fort and the
lives of the r emainin g soldie rs There we r e many
.

o f the soldiers in the sam e condition whose term of ,

service had expir e d They felt th at they were free

.

and enlightened A me rican s and resented the idea of

,

being thus enslaved and driven like ca ttle at the , ,

will of a single man Mutinous feelings were ex

.

cited The camp was filled with clamor Th e sol

. .

diers gen erally were in sympathy with those who

d emanded their discharge having fai th fully se rved
,

o u t the term of thei r en listment O thers felt that .

their own t urn might com e when they too m ight be

t h us enslaved .

There was a bri dge wh ich it was n ecessa ry for

the soldiers to cross on the homeward route The .

inflexible General supposing that the regu lars wou ld

,

be obedient to milita ry disciplin e and that i t woul d,

be fo r their interest to retain in the camp those

12 6 D AV ID C ROC K E T I
' ‘
.

whose d eparture would enda n ger all thei r live s ,

placed th em u pon the bridge with cannon loaded ,

t o the m uzzle with grape shot They were ordered

- .

m erci lessly to shoot down any wh o should attempt

’
to cross without h is permission I n Crockett s ludi .

c rou s accou nt o f this adventu re he writes ,

“
The Gen eral re fu sed to let us go We were, .

however determined to go With this the General

, .
,

issued his orders against i t We began to fix for a .

start Th e Gene ral went and placed h is can non on

.

a bridge we had to cross and ordered ou t his regu

,

lars and dra fted men to preven t ou r crossin g Bu t .

when the militia started to guard the bridge they ,

would holler ba c k to us to bring their knapsacks

along when w e came ; for they wanted to g o as bad
as we did We g o t ready and moved on till w e
.
,

'
cam e near the bridge where the General s men,

were all st r u ng along on both sides But w e al l .

had ou r fl int s ready picked and o u r guns ready

“

primed that if we were fired on we m ight fight

, , ,

o u r way through or all die together

, .

When we came still nearer the bridge we heard

the guards cocking thei r guns and we d id the Same , .

"

But w e marched b oldly on and n o t a gu n w a s fi red

, ,

n or a li fe lost When we had passed n o fu rthe r

.
,

attempt w as made to stop us We went on a nd .

'

near H untsville we m et a rein forcement w ho we re

128 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

for I felt it my duty to be out A nd w hen ou t I

.
,

wa s somehow o r other al ways delighted to be i n the

thickest of the danger A few of us there fore de
.
, ,
~

t erm in ed to push on and join th e army The n u m .

”
ber I do not recollect but it w as v ery small
, .

When Crockett reached Fort Stroth er he w as

placed in a company of scouts u nder Major R ussel .

J ust be fore they reached th e fort Gen eral Jac kson

,

had se t ou t on an expedition in a southeasterly

direction to what wa s calle d Horseshoe Bend on
, ,

the Tallapoosa R iver Th e party of scouts soon

.

overtook him and led the way As they approached

.

the spot through the sil e n t trails which threaded

the wide solitudes they came u pon many signs of
,

I nd ians being arou n d Th e sco uts gave the al arm

.
,

and the main body o f the army came u p Th e .

t roops u nde r J ackson amou nted to about one

t housand men It was the evening of Jan uary 2 3 d
.
,

1 8 14.

The camp fi res were bu i l t supper prepared an d

-
, ,

sentinels being care fully station ed all arou n d t o

p revent su r prise,
the soldiers protected
,
from the
win t ry wi nd only by the gigantic forest w r apped ,

themselves in their blankets and thre w themselves

down on the withered leaves for sleep The Indians .

crept noiselessly along from tree t o tree ea c h man ,

sea r ching for a sen t inel u ntil about t w o hou rs be fo re

,
 I N DI AN WAR FARE . 1 29

day when they open ed a well aimed fi re from th e

.
-

impenetrable darkness in w hich they stood Th e .

senti n e l s retreated b ack to the encampment and t he ,

whole army was ro used .

The troops were en camped in the form of a

hollow square and thus were necessarily between
,

the Indians an d t he light of th ei r ow n camp fi res -

.

N ot a warrior was to be seen The only guid e the .

A mericans had i n shooting was t o n otice the flash ,

’
of the en emy s gun s They fi red at th e flash Bu t
. .

as every I ndian stood behind a tree it is not proba ,

ble that many if any were harmed The I ndians

, , .

w ere ve ry wary n ot to expose themselves They .

kept at a great d istance and were n ot very su ccess ,

ful in their fi re Though they wou n ded qu ite a

.

n umber only fou r men were killed With the dawn

, .

o f the morn ing they all van ish ed .

Gen eral J ackson did n ot wish t o leave the

corpses of the slain to be d ug u p and scalped by
the savages H e there fore e rected a large funeral
.

pyre placed th e bodies upon it and they were soon

, ,

consu med to ashes Som e litt ers were m ade of long

.

a n d flexible poles atta c hed to two horses o n e at

, ,

each end a n d upon these the wo u nded were co n

,

vey ed ove r the rough and narrow w ay T he .

I ndian s th u s fa r had mani festly been th e victors

, ,
.

They h ad inflicted serious inju ry u pon the A m e ri

¢
6
1 30 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

c ans ; and there is no eviden ce th at a S ingl e one

of their warrio rs had received the slightest harm .

This was th e great obj ect of I ndian strategy I n .

the wars of civilization a great general has eve r

,

been willing to sac rifice the lives of ten thousand

of his ow n troops if by so doing ,
he could kill ,

tw enty thousan d o f th e enemy But it was n ever .

so with the Ind ians Th ey prized the lives of thei r

.

warriors t oo highly .

O n their march the troops came t o a wide cre ek ,

which it w a s necessary t o cross H ere th e Indi a ns

.

again prepared for battle Th ey concealed them .

selves so e ffectually as t o elude all the vigilance of

the scouts Whe n abou t hal f th e troops had crossed
.

the stream the almost i nvisible Ind ians commenced

,

their assault opening a ve ry rapid but scatterin g

,

fi re O ccasionally a warrior w a s seen d arting fr om

.

one point to another t o obtain better vantage

,

grou nd .

Major R u ssel w as in com mand of a small rear

gu ard H is soldiers soon appeared ru nn i n g al m ost
.

breathless t o join th e m ai n body pursu ed by a large

,

n u mber of I ndians The savages had chosen the

.

ve ry best moment for their attack Th e artillery .

men were in an open fi eld su rrou nded by the forest .

The I ndians from b eh ind st um ps logs and t rees

, , , ,

took deliberate a im and almost eve ry b ull e t laid a

'

,
132 D AV ID C RO C K E I T
' ‘
.

i rrep a rable General Jackson w a s not a man t o y ie ld

.

to di ffi culties O n the a7t h o f March 1 8 14 he

.
, ,

d rove twelve hundred Creek warriors into their fort

a t Tohopeka They wer e t h en su rrounded so that
.
,

e scape w as impossible and the fort w a s set on fi re

,
.

The carnage w as aw ful A lmost e very warrior .

p erished by the bullet o r in the flames The .

military power of the t rib e was at an end The .

re mnant utterly dispirited su ed for peace

, , .

Quit e a n u mber of the Creek warriors fled to

F lorida and join ed the host i le I ndian t ribes there
’

, .

We were at this tim e invol ved in ou r seco n d w a r

wit h G reat Britain The G o vernment of ou r m o
.

the r co u ntry w a s doin g ev r ryt hing in it s power

to rouse the savages again st u s Th e arm ies in .

Canada rall ied most of th e N o rthern t ribes ben eath

their banners Florida at that time belonged to
.
, ,

Spain The Spanish Governm ent w a s n ominally

.

neutral in th e confli ct betwee n E nglan d and the

U nited States Bu t th e Span ish governor in
.

Fl orida was in cord ial sympathy with the British

'

O fficers H e lent th em all the aid and com fort in

.

his power care fully avoid ing any positive violation

,

of the laws of neutrality H e extended very libera l .

hospital ity to th e re fugee Creek warriors and in ,

many ways facilitat ed the ir cotip era t io n wit h t he

E ngl ish .
 I NDI AN WAR F AR E . 1 33

As all British fleet en tered the mouth of the

m

Apalachicola R iver and landed three hun dred sol

die rs H ere they engaged vigorou sly i n construct
.

ing a fort a nd in su mmon ing all the su rrounding

,

Indian tribes to joi n them i n the invasion of the

Southern States Gen eral Jackson with a force of
.
,

between one and t w o thousand m en was in N orthe r n ,

Alabama bu t a few days march north of the Florida

,
’

line H e wrote to the Secretary of War in sub

.
,

stance as follows
,

The hostile Creeks have taken re fuge in Flo r

ida They are there fed clothed and p rotected
.
, , .

The British have armed a large force with mu ni

tions of wa r and are forti fying and stirring up the
,

savages I f yo u will perm it m e to raise a few hu n

.

d r ed militia which can easily b e don e I will unite

, ,

th em with su ch a force of regulars as can easily be

collected and wil l make a d escen t on Pensacola and
, ,

will red uce it I promise you I w ill bring the wa r

.

in t he Sou th t o a speedy termination an d E ngl ish

influence with the savages in this qu a rter sh all be , ,

fo rever d est royed

”
.

Th e Presiden t was not prepared thus to p rovoke

war with Spain by the invasion of Florida A ndrew
, .

Jackson assumed the responsibilit y The British .

had recently made an attack upon Mobile a nd ,

being repulsed , had retired with thei r sq uadro n to

1 34 D AV ID C RO CKETT .

the harbor of Pensacola Jackson called for volun

.

teers to march u pon Pensacola Crockett ro used .

himsel f at the summons like t h e wa r ho rse w h o

,
-

”
snu ffs the battle fro m a far I wanted h e wrote
.
, ,

“
a small taste of British fi g h ting an d I supposed ,

”
t he y would be the re .

H is wi fe again en tered her tear ful remo n strance .

S he poin ted t o her little children in their lonely ,

hu t fa r away in the wilderness remot e from all ,

neighborhood and entreated the husband and the

,

father n ot agai n to abandon them R athe r u n feel .

i n g ly he writes , Th e entreaties of my wi fe were

“

thrown in the w ay of my going but all i n vain ; for ,

I always had a w ay of j ust going ahead at whateve r

”
I had a min d to .

Many who have perused this sketch thus fa r ,

may inquire wi th some su rprise

, What is it which ,

has given this m an su ch fam e as is even nat ion a l l

H e certainly does not develop a very attractive
character ; and th ere is bu t little of the roman ce o f
chivalry th row n around h is exploits The secret is .

probably to be fou nd i n the following considerations ,

the truth of which the con tinu ation o f this narrative

will be continually u n folding .

Without education without refinement wi th

, ,

ou t wealth or social position or any special claim s ,

t o personal beau ty he was entirely selfl p ossessed

,
1 36 D AVI D C RO C KETT .

illustrative anecdote he found no di fficulty in m an

u fa ct u rin on e
g .

H is t houghtless kindn ess of heart and good

‘

nat u re were inexhaustible Those in w a n t h ever .

appealed to him i n vain H e wou ld even go hungry .

h i msel f that he might feed others w ho were m ore

'
h u ngry H e would withou t a moment s considera
.
,

tion spend h is last dollar to buy a blanket for a

,

shivering soldier and without taking any merit for

, ,

the deed would never think of i t again H e did it

, .

without reflection as he breathed ,

.

Su ch was the David C rockett who from the ,

mere love o f adventure le ft wi fe and childre n i n , ,

the aw ful solitude of the wilderness t o follow Gen ,

e ral Jackson in a march to Pensacola H e seems .

fully to have u nderstood the charact er of the Gen

eral his m erits and his de fects The main body of
,
.

the army consis t ing of a little more than t wo thou

, ,

san d men had al ready com menced its march when

, ,

Crockett repaired to a rendezvou s i n the northern ,

frontiers o f A labama where an other company w as ,

b eing formed un der Major R ussel soon t o follow

, , .

The company n u m bered on e h un dred and thirty

men and commenced it s march
, .

They forded the Tennessee R iver at M uscle

Shoals and marched sou t h unmolested through the
, ,

heart of the Choctaw and Chi ckasaw nation s a nd ,

 I N DI AN WAR FARE . 1 37

p re ssed rapidly fo rward two o r th ree hundr e d mile s ,

unti l they reached the j unction of the Tom b eckb ee

and A labama rivers in the southern se ction of the
,

’
State Th e main army w a s now bu t two days march
.

be fore them The troops thus far had been mount

.
, ,

ed finding su ffi cien t grazing for their horses by the

,

way But lea rning that there w a s no forage to be

.

found between th ere and Pensacola t h ey le ft their ,

animals behind them u nder a su fficient guard at a

, ,

place called Cut off and set ou t for the rest of th e

-
,

march a distance of about eighty miles on foot The

, , .

slight protective works they threw up h ere they ,

called Fort Stoddart .

These light troops hardy m en of iron nerves

, ,

accomplished the distan ce in abou t two days O n .

the even in g of the second d ay they reached an ,

emin ence but a short distan ce o u t from Pensacola ,

where they found the army encamped N ot a little .

’
to Crockett s disappointment he lear n ed that Pen ,

sacola was already captu red Thus h e lost his .

”
c hance of having a small taste of British fightin g .

The British and Spaniards had obtain ed int elli

’
gence of Jackson s approach and had m ade every ,

preparation t o d rive him back Th e forts were .

strongly garrison ed and all t he p rincipal streets o f

,

the little Spanish city were barricaded S evera l .

B ritish war vessels were anchored in the bay and so

-
,
I 38 D AVI D C RO C K E I
'

T .

placed as to command with their guns the pri ncipa l

entrance to the town J a ckson who had i nva ded
.
,

t h eSpanish province unsanctioned by the Govern

m ent ,was anxious to impress upon the Span ish

au thorities that the m easu re had been relu ctantly
adopted on h is own authority as a milita ry n eces
, ,

sity ; that he had no disposition to viol a t e thei r

neu tral rights ; but that it was i ndispensable that

the British should be dislodged and driven away .

The pride of the Spaniard was roused and there ,

w a s no fri en dly response to this appeal Bu t t he .

Spanish garrison w as small and u nited wit h t he , ,

E nglish fleet could present no e ffect ual opposition

,

to th e three thousand men u nder such a lion

hearted leade r as Gene ral Jackson O n the 7t h of .

Jan uary the General open ed fire u pon the foe Th e .

conflict was short The Spani ards were compelled

.

to su rrender their works The British fled t o th e

.

ships The guns were tu rned upon them They

. .

sp read sail and d isappeared J ackson was severely .

censured at th e time for i nvading the territo ry of

, ,

a neu t ral power The final ve rdict of his cou ntry

.

men has been d ecidedly i n his favor .

I t was supposed that the British would m ove for

the attack of Mobile This place then consisted of
.

a settlement of bu t abou t on e hund red and fi fty

houses General J ackson with abou t two thousan d

. ,
1 40 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

were scatt ered about over the plain grazing upo n

the rich herbage There was wood in abundance
.

near an d the camp fi re s fo r a thousand men thre w

,
-

up thei r forked flames illumining the whole region

,

with almost the light of day The white t ents of .

the ofli cers the varied groups of the soldiers run

, ,

ni ng here and there i n all possible attit udes the

, ,

cooking and feasting o ften whole quarters of bee f

,

roasting on en ormous spits be fore the vast fires ,

a fforded a spe cta cle su ch as is rarely seen .

O ne pict u re instantly arrested the eye o f every

beholder There were one hu ndred and eighty six
.
-

friendly Chickasaw and Cho c ta w Indians who had ,

enlisted i n the army They formed a band by.

themselves u nder the ir own chie fs They were all .

nearly naked gorgeously painted and d ecorated

, ,

with the very brilliant attire of the warrior wit h ,

crimson-colored plumes and moccasins and le g gins ,

richly fringed and dyed in bright and strongly con

,

t ra st in g hues . These savages were in the enjoyment

of their greatest delight drinking to frenzy and , ,

performing their most convulsive dances around ,

the flaming fires .

In addition to this S pectacle which met the eye ,

there were sou nds of revel ry which fell almost ap

p a l lin g ly upon th e ear The w ide expan se
. reve r
berated w ith bacchanal songs and drunken sho ut s , .
 I N DI AN WAR FA R E . I4!

and frenzi ed w a r-whoops These were all blended

.

in an i nextricable clamor With the un refined emi . ~

h ent ly, and in a c onsiderable degr ee with the most

refin ed n oise is one of the essential elements of fes

,

t iv ity .A thousand men were making all the noise

they could in this m idn ight revel Probably neve r .

be fore since the dawn of creation had the banks of

, ,

the A labama echoed with su ch a clamo r as in thi s

great carouse which had so suddenly burst forth
,

from the silen ce of th e almost u ninhabited wilder

ness .

This is th e poet ry of war This it is which lure s

.

so many from the tameness of ordinary li fe to the

rank of the army I n such scenes Crockett burst

s .
, ,

ing with fu n the in carna t ion of w it and good n atu re

, ,

was i n his elem ent H ere he w as chie f A ll did

. .

h im ho m ag e H is pride wa s g ratified by his dis

.

tinction Li fe in his lonely h ut with wi fe and chil ,

dren seemed i n comparison t oo spiritless to be

, , ,

endu red
The A labama h ere runs n early west The a r my .

was on the south side o f the river Th e n ext day .

the I ndians asked perm ission to cross to th e north

ern bank on an exploring expedition Consent w as .

given ; bu t Major R ussel decid ed to go with th em ,

taking a company of sixteen men of whom Cro ck ett

‘

was one They crossed the ri v er and encamped u pon

.
I 4 2 D A VID C RO CKE TT .

the othe r side seeing n o foe and en counterin g no

,

a larm They soon came to a spot where the wind

.

ing rive r overflo wing its banks spread over a wide

, ,

exten t of the flat cou ntry I t was about a m ile a nd .

a hal f across this in u ndated meadow T o jou rney .

ar oun d it wou ld requ ire a march of many miles .

They waded th e m eadow The water was very cold .

,

o ften up to thei r armpits and they stumbled ove r ,

the rough grou nd This was n ot the poet rv of war. .

Bu t sti ll th ere is a certain degree of civilization in

whi ch the monotony o f li fe is r elieved by such
adventu res .

When th e y reached the other side they buil t

larg e fires and warmed and dried themselves They
, .

w ere in search o f a few fugitive Indian warriors ,

wh o fleeing fro m Pensacola had scattered them

, ,

selv es over a wilderness m any h undred square

mil es in ext ent This pursu it of them by a thou
.
,

sand soldiers seems now very foolish But it is

, .

hardly sa fe for us seated by ou r qu iet fi resid es an d

, ,

w i th but a limited knowledge o f th e circumstances ,

t o pass j udgment upon the m easu re .

The exploring party co nsist ed as we have m en-1 ,

t ion ed of n early t w o hu ndred In d ians and sixteen

, ,

white men They advan c ed very cautiously T wo

. .

scouts were kept som e distance i n the advan ce ,

tw o on the sid e n earest t h e river and five on th ei r ,

x44 D A VI D C ROC K ET I
’ ‘
.

d ren The wigwams were also on an island of t he

.

river which could not be approach ed w ithout boats

,

There could not be much glory w on by an army of

t wo hu ndred m en routing such a p arty and destroy

in g their hom e There was also nothing t o indicate

.

that these I ndians had even any u n friendly feelings .

The man and woman were employed i n bruisi n g

what was called brier root which they had du g ,

from the forest for food , It seem s that this w as

.

the principal subsistence used by the Indian s in

that vicin ity .

While the soldiers were del iberating what n ext

0 do they heard a gu n fired in the direction of the
,

couts at som e dist ance on the right followed by

, ,

single shrill war whoop This satisfied th em that

- .

f the scou ts had met w ith a foe it wa s indeed w ar ,

on a smal l scale There seemed no n eed for any

.

sp ecial c aut ion Th ey all broke and ran toward

.

the spot from which th e so u nds came They soon .

met two of the spies w ho told the following not

,

very creditable story, bu t on e highly characteristic

of the t imes .

As they we re c reeping alo ng through th e fores t ,

they found t wo I nd ians who they said w ere Creeks

, ,

ou t hu nting A s they were approaching each oth er

.
,

it so happened that there was a dense c luster of

b u shes between the m so that they were w ithin a
,
 I N DI AN WAR FA R E . 14 5

few feet meeting be fore eith e r party w as d is

of

cove red The two spies were Choctaws

. They .

ad vanced di r ectly t o the Indians and addressed ,

them in the most friendly manner ; stating t hat they

’
had belonged to General Jackso n s army but had ,

escaped and were on t hei r way hom e They shook

, .

hands kindled a fire and sat down and smoked in

, ,

apparent pe r fe c t cordiality .

O n e of t he Creeks had a gun The othe r had .

‘

only a bow and arrows After this friendly inte r

.

View they rose and too k leave of each ht her, each

,

g oin g in opposite direct ions A s soon a s thei r .

backs we r e t urned and they were bu t a few feet

,

from each other on e of the Choctaws tu rn ed arou nd

,

and shot th e u nsuspect in g Creek w ho had the gun .

H e fell dead without a groan Th e other Creek

, .

attempted to escape while the other Choctaw snap

,

ped his gun at h i m r epe ated ly but it missed fire , .

They then p u rsued him overtook h im knocked him

, ,

down with th e butt of their guns and battered h is ,

head u ntil he also w as motionless in death O ne .

o f the Choctaws in his frenzi ed bl ows broke t h e

, ,

stock of his rifle Th ey then fired off the gun of

.

the Creek who was killed and one of them u ttered ,

the wa r whoop which wa s heard by the rest of t he

-

P !
a rt
x4 6 DA VID C RO CKETT .

Th ese two savages dre w their scalping-kn ives

and cut off the heads of both t h eir V ictims A s the .

whole body came r ushing up they found th e go ry ,

c o r pses of the slain w ith their dissevered he a d s

,

n ea r by . Bach I ndian had a war club With these - .

massive weapons each savage in his tu rn gave the , ,

m utilat ed heads a seve r e blow When they had all .

pe rformed this barbari c d eed Crockett whose p e , ,

c u lia r type of good nature led him not only to desire

to pleas e the savages but also to k now wh at w ould

,

please them seized a war-club and i n his t u rn

, , , ,

smote with all his strength the m angled blood ,

stain ed h eads The I ndians we re qu ite delighted

. .

They gathered aroun d hi m with very exp ressive

grunts of satis faction and patting him upon the ,

back exclaimed
,
Good war rior ! Good warrior 1
,
”

The I ndians then scalped the heads and leaving , ,

the bodies un buried the whole party entered a trail

,

wh ich led to the river nea r th e poi nt where t he ,

t w o wigwams were standing A s they followed the .

narrow path they came upon the vestiges of a cruel

and bloody tragedy The mouldering co rpses of a
.

Spaniard his w i fe and fou r children lay scattered

, ,

arou nd all scalped O u r hero Crockett w ho had so

, .
,

valiantly smitten the dissevered heads of the t w o

Creeks who had been so treacherously murder ed ,
con fesses that the revolting spectacle of the whit es ,
14 8 D AV ID C RO C K E T I
' ‘
.

'

The I ndians p icked ou t some of their best marks

m e n and hid them behin d tre es and logs near t h e
river They were to shoot down the Indians who m
.

o thers should l u r e to cross th e st r eam .

The creek which separated the island from the

mainland wa s deep bu t not so wide but that per
,

sons without m uch d iffi culty could make themselve s

heard across it Two of the I ndians went down t o
.

the river sid e and hailed those at the wigw ams

-
, .

asking them to sen d a canoe across to take them

over A n I ndian wom an cam e down to the ban k
.

and in formed them that the canoe was on their side ,

that two hu n ters had crossed the creek that morn

ing and had not yet retu rn ed These we re the t w o
, .

men who had been so inhu manly m urdered I mme .

diate search w as mad e for the ca n oe and it wa s

-
,

found a little ab ove the spot where the men we re

hiding I t was a ve ry la rge bu oyant birch can oe
“

.
,

constructed for the transportat i on of a nu merou s

household with all thei r goods and such game as
, ,

they might take .

This they loaded with warriors to the wate r s '

edge and they began vigorously t o padd le over t o

,

the island When the on e solitary I ndian man

.

the re saw this formidable array approaching he fled

into the woods The warriors lan d ed and capt ured
.
,

the two women an d the litt le child r en , ten in n um c

 I N DI AN WA RFAR E . x49

b et , an d
conveyed thei r prisoners with the plu nde r ,

o f th e wigwams back across the creek to th ei r ow n

,

en campment This was not a very brilliant achi eve

.

m ent t o be accomplished by an army of two hundred

warriors aided by a detachmen t of sixteen white
men under Major R ussel What finally became of
.

these capt ives we know not It is grati fy ing to be.

in formed by David Crockett that they did not kil l

either th e squa ws or the pappooses .

The company then marched throu gh the silen t

wilderness a distance of ab o
, u t thirty m iles east to ,

the C on ec uh R iver This stream in its picture squ e

.
,

win dings through a region wh ere even the I nd ian

seldom roved flowed int o the Scambi a the prin cipal

, ,

river which pours it s floods swollen by many tribu

,

tari es into Pensacola Bay I t w a s several mile s

, .

above the point where t he detachment struck the

river that th e I ndian encampment to which the two ,

murdered men had allu ded wa s located But the , .

p rovisions of the party were exhausted There w as .

scarcely any game to be fou nd Major R ussel did .

not d e em it pruden t to ma r ch to the attack of th e

encampment u ntil h e had obt ained a fresh supply
,

of provisions Th e m ain body o f the army which had

.
,

remain ed in Flori da moving slow ly about witho u t

, ,

any ve ry defin ite obj ect wait i ng for so m ethin g to

,
I so D AVI D CRO C KE TT .

t u rnu p w a s then u pon t h e banks of the Scambi a

,
.

Colo nel Blue wa s in command .

David C rockett was ordered to take a light birc h

canoe and two men on e a friendly C r eek In dia n
, , ,

and paddle down the stream about twen ty miles t o

the main camp H ere he wa s to in form Colon el
.

Blu e of M ajo r R ussel s intention to asce n d the

’

Con ecu h to attack the Creeks and to requ est the ,

Colon el immediately to dispatch some boats up the

river with the n eed ful supplies .

It was a romanti c adventu re descending in th e

darkness that wild and lo n ely stream winding ,

through th e dense forest of wonder ful ex uberance of

vegetation In the early evening he set ou t The
. .

n ight proved very dark The river swollen by .

,

recent rains overfl ow ed it s banks and sp r ead fa r an d

,

wide ove r the low bottoms Th erive r was extremely

.

c rooked and it wa s with gr eat di fficulty th at th ey

,

could keep the chann el But the instinct of t he

.

I ndian gu ide led them safely along through over ,

hanging boughs and forest g loom s u ntil a little , ,

be fore midnight they reached the cam p There

, .

wa s no tim e to be lost Major R ussel was anxiou s

.

t o have the su pplies that ve ry night dispatched t o

h im lest the Indians should hea r o f their dan ge r
,

an d sho uld escape .

B ut Co l on el Blu e did not approve of th e exp ed i

I 52 D AVID C RO CKE TT .

and Georgia Thei r rout e led th rough pathless wild s

. .

N o p rovisions of any importance could be fou n d

, ,

by the way They there fore took wi th them rations

.

for twenty-eight days B ut their progress was far

.

more slow an d toilsom e than they had anticipated .

Dense fo rests were to be threaded where it was ,

necessary for them to cut their w ay through almost

tropical entanglemen t o f vegetation Deep and .

broad marshes were to be waded where the horses ,

sank almost to their saddle girths There were - .

r ivers to be c r ossed which could only be fo rded by

,

ascending the banks through wea ry leagu es of

w lde r ness
i .

Thus when twenty eight days had passed and

,
-
,

thei r p rovisions were nearly expen ded though they ,

had for some time been put on sh ort allowance they ,

found that they had accomplished but three quarters -

of thei r journey Actual starvation th reatened them

. .

But twi ce i n nineteen days did Crockett tast e of

any b r ead Despondency spread its gloom ove r the
.

hal f famished a r my Still th ey toil ed along almost

- .
,

hopeless with totterin g footsteps Wa r may have

, .

its excitements and its charms Bu t such a march .

as this of woe -begone emaciate skeleton ban ds is

, , , ,

’
not to be cou nted as among war s pomps and
g lories .

O ne e v ening in the deepen i ng twiligh t whe n

, ,
 I NDI AN WAR FA R E . I 53
they had been ou t t hirty four days the Indian scouts
'

-
, ,

ever sent in a dvance came into camp with th e ,

ann ouncement that at th e distance of but a few

,

hours march be fore them the C hattahoochee R ive r

’
,

was to be fou nd with a large Indian village upon its

,

banks We kn ow n ot what reason there wa s to sup

.

pose that the I ndians in habiting this remote village

were hostile But as the A merican o fficers decided
.

immediately u pon attacking them we ought t o sup ,

pose that they on the grou nd had su fficient reason

, ,

t o j usti fy this course .

The army was immediately pu t in motion Th e .

rifles were loaded and primed and th e fl int s care ,

fully examined th at they m ight n ot fall into ambush

,

unprepared The su n was just rising as they ca n

.

t io u sly approached t he doomed V illage There was .

a smooth green m eadow a few rods in width on the

‘

western bank of the river skirted by the boundless ,

forest
. The Indian wigwams and lodges of varied ,

stru ctu re were clustered together on this treeless

, ,

grassy plain in m uch picturesque beauty The

, .

Indians had apparen tly n ot been apprised of the

approach of the terrible tempest o f war about t o
descend upon them A pparently at that early hou r
. , ,

they were soundly asleep N ot a man woman o r .

, ,

child was to be seen .

Silently screened by thick woods the army

, ,

*
7
 I 54 D AV ID CRO CK E TT .

fo rmed in lin e of battle The two h u nd r ed I n dian

.

warrio rs rifle in hand and tomahawk at belt stealth

, ,

i ly took their position The white men took theirs

. .

At given signal the war-whoop bu rst from th e lips

a ,

of the savages and the wild halloo of the backwoods

,

men reverberated through the forest as both parti es ,

rushed forward in the impetuous charge We were .

all so fu rious writes Crockett that even the cer

”
, ,

tainty of a pretty hard fight could not have restrained

u s.

But t o the intense m ortifi cat ion of these valian t

men n ot a single living being was to be fou nd a s
,

food for bullet or tomahawk The hu ts were all

.

dese rted and despoiled of every article of any valu e

, .

There w as not a skin or an unpicked bone or a

, ,

ke rn e l of corn l e ft behind The I ndians had watc hed

.

the ma r ch of the foe an d with their wives and li ttle

, ,

one s had retired to regions where the famishi ng

,

a rm y co uld not follow t hem

I 56 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

O rleans The other d ivision under M ajor R ussel

.
, ,

pressed fo rward as rapidly as possible nearly north

, , ,

aiming for Fort Decatu r on the Tallapoosa R iver

, ,

where they expected t o find shelter an d provisions .

Crockett accompanied Major R ussel s party I n ’

.

dian sagacity w as n o w in g reat requisition Th e .

friendly savages led the wa y through scenes o f d iffi

culty an d e ntanglement where b ut for thei r aid , ,

the troops migh t all have perished So great wa s .

the destitution of food that th e soldiers were per

m it t ed to stray almost at pleasur
, e on either side of ,

the line of march Happy was the man who could

.

shoot a raccoon or a squirrel or even the smallest ,

bird Impli cit co nfidence wa s placed in the guid

.

ance of the friendly I ndians and the army followed ,

in single file along the narrow t rail which the In

,

dian s trod be fore them .

Crockett in this march had acqu ired so much

, ,

the confidence o f t h e o ffi cers that he seems t o have

enjoyed quite u nlimited license H e wen t where .

he pleased and did what he would A lmost i nvari .

ably a t n ight keeping pace with the army he w ould

, ,

bring in some small game a -bird or a squirrel and , ,

frequently several of these pu ny animals I t w as a .

rule when night cam e for all the hunters to throw

, , ,

‘
do wn what they had killed in one pile This was the n .

di vided among the messes as equitably as possibl e .

 TH E CA MP AN D TH E CABIN . 1 57

O ne night Crocket t ret urned empty - handed

,
.

H e had killed n ot hi ng and he was very hu n gry

,
.

Bu t there was a sick man in his mess who was su f ,

fering far more than he Crockett with his inva

.
,

ri a b le u n selfi sh n ess and generosity forgot h i s own ,

hu nger in his solicitude for his sick comrade H e .

wen t to the fire of Capta i n Cowen w ho was com ,

mandant of the company to which C rock ett b e -

longed and told h im his story Captain Cowen

,
.

was broiling for his supper the gizzard of a tu rkey

, , .

H e told Crockett that the turkey was all that h ad

fallen to the share of his company that night and ,

that th e bird had already been divided in very ,

small fragments among the sick Th e re w as no

, .

’
thing le ft for Crockett s friend .

O n this march the army was divided in to messes

of eight or ten men who cooked and ate their foo d
,

together This led Crockett to de cide that he and

.

his mess would separate themselves from the rest

of t he army an d make a small and independ ent
,

band The I ndian scouts well armed and ve ry

.
,

wary took the lead Th ey kept several miles i n

, .

advance of the mai n body of the troops that they ,

might give ti m ely warning should they en counte r

any danger Crockett and his mess kept close a fte r
.

t hem following their trail and leaving the army a n d

, ,

or two m i l es beh ind .

I 58 D AV I D C R OC K E I T
' ‘
.

O ne day the scouts came across n ine I ndians .

We are not info rmed whether t hey were friends or

en emies whether they were hunters or warr i o rs,
,

whether they were m en women or children whethe r

, , ,

t hey w ere in their wigwams or wan dering thro u gh

the forest whether they were all together or were
,

fou nd separately : we are simply told that they were

all shot do w n The ci rcu m stances of the case are
.

su ch t h at th e probabilities are ve ry st rong that they

,

were shot as a wol f or a bear wou ld be shot at sight , ,

withou t aski ng any questions The next day the .

sco uts found a frail en campment where there we r e

three I ndians They shot them all
. .

The su fferings of th e army as i t toil ed alon g ,

through these vast realms of unknown rive rs and

forest glooms and marshes and wide -sp read fl ow er
, ,

bespangled p rairies becam e more and more severe

, .

Game was ve ry, scarce For three days Crockett s

.
,
’

party killed barely enough to sustain li fe H e .

writes
At last we all began t o get nearly r ead y to gi ve
up the ghost and lie down and die for we h ad no
, ,

p rospect of provision and we knowed we cou ldn t g o

,
’

m uch fa rther without it "

.

While in t hi s condition they came u po n on e of

those wide and beauti ful prairies which fre q u en tly
em be ll ish th e landscape of the South and the We st .
x6c D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

a tall tree H e shot a t the an i mal and wou nded it

. ,

bu t it s u cceed ed i n creeping i nto a small hole in the

tree thirty feet from the grou nd There was n ot a
,
.

li m b for that distanc e to aid in climbing Still t he

’
.

wants o f the party were su ch that Crockett climbed

the tree to get the squ irrel and felt that he had ,

gained qu ite a treasure .

’
I shouldn t relate such small matters h e ,

writes only to sh o w what lengths a h ungry man

,
"
will go t o to get something to eat
,
.

Soon after he killed two m ore squ irrels J ust as

,
.

he was reloading his gun a large flock of fa t t urkey s

,

rose from the marshy banks of the creek along which

they were wan derin g and fl y i ng but a short distance
, ,

relighted V anzant crept forward and aimi ng at a

.
,

large gobbler fi red and brought him down T h e

, , .

flock i m m ediately flew back to n ear the spot where

Crockett stood H e levelled his rifle, took d elibe
.

rat e aim and another fin e turkey fell The flock

, .

then disappeared .

The two hu nters made the forest resou nd with

shouts of triumph They had t wo large fat turkeys
.
, ,

which wo uld be looked at wist fully upon any g ow

’
m a nd s table and for sid e dishes they had three
,
-

squirrels Thus they were prepared for t ruly a

.

thanksgivi ng feast Hastily they returned with

.

t heir treasure when they learned t hat the oth ers o f

,
 TH E CA M P AN D T I I E CABI N . 16 I

their party had fo und a bee -tree that is a tree , ,

where a swarm of be es had take n lodgmen t a nd .

were layin g in thei r winter stores They cu t down .

the tree with their hatchets and obtained an ample,

supply of Wild honey They all felt that they had

.

indeed fallen u po n a V ein of good luck .

It w a s bu t a sho rt distance from the cree k t o

t he gigantic forest rising sublimely in i t s luxurian c e
, ,

with sca r cely an encumbering shrub o f undergrowth .

They entered the edge of the forest built a hot ,

fi re roasted their game and while thei r horses were

, , ,

enjoying the richest of pasturage , they with thei r ,

keen appet ites enjoyed a more delicious feast than

,

fa r famed Delmonico ever provided for his epic u rean

-

guests .

Th e happy party rejoicing in the present and

.
, ,

taking n o thought for the morrow spent the night ,

in this camp of fe asting The next morning they

’

were reluctan t to leave such an inviting hunting

gro u nd Crockett an d V anzant again took to thei r
.

ri fles and st rolled into the forest in search of gam e

, .

Soon they came across a fine b uck which seemed to ,

have tarried behind t o watch the foe while the rest ,

of the herd of which h e w as protector had taken to

, ,

flight Th e beauti ful creatu re with erect head and

.
,

spreading an tlers gallantly stopping t o investigat e

,

the dange r to which his family was exposed wo u l d ,

1 62 D AV ID C ROCK E T I
’ ‘
.

have moved the sympathies of a ny on e bu t a pro fess

ed hu nte r Crockett s b u llet struck h im wou nded
.
’
,

hi m severely and he limped away H otly the t wo

, .

h unters pu rsu ed They cam e to a larg e t ree which

.

had been blown down an d wa s partly decayed , .

A n imm ense grizzly b ear crept growling from the

hollow of th is tree and plunged i nto t he forest
,

I t w as in vain t o pursu e him withou t dogs to re ,

tard his flight They howeve r soon overtook the

.

wounded buck and shot him Wi th this treasu re

,
.

of venison upon the ir should ers they had but just ,

ret u rned to their cam p when the main body of the

a rmy came up Th e game which Crockett had
.

taken and upon which they had feasted so a b u nd

,

a nt ly i f divided among twelve hu ndred men would

, ,

not h ave a fforded a mou th ful apiece .

The army was in the most deplorable condition

of weakness an d hunger E re long they reached .

the Coosa an d followed up its eastern bank

, .

About twen ty m iles above th e spot where they

struck th e river there was a small military post ,

called F ort Decatu r They hoped t o find some food

.

there A n d yet in that remote almost inaccessible

.
, ,

stat ion they could hardly expect t o meet with any

,

t hing like a supply for twelve hundred hal f-famished

m en .

U pon r each ing th e river Crockett took a cano e

,
1 64 D AV ID C R oc TT .

meal consumed all the provisions whi ch th e gar

rison could by any possibility spare They had .

n ow entered upon a rough h illy broken country , , .

The ho rses fo u nd bu t little food and began to give ,

out. A bout fi fty miles farthe r up the Coosa R iver

there w a s an othe r m ilitary station i n the lo nely ,

wi lds called Fort William Still starving and with

, . ,

tott ering horses they toiled on Parched corn and

, .
,

b u t a scanty supply of t hat was n ow almost t heir

,

only subsistence .

They reached th e fort O ne ration of pork and

.

o ne ration of flou r were merci fully given th em It .

was all w hi ch could be spared To remain where .

they were w as certain starvation Forty miles .

above them o n the sam e stream w a s Fort St r other .

S adly they toiled along The skeleton horses d rop

.

ped beneath their riders and were le ft saddled and

, ,

bridled for the vultures and the wolves O n their

, .

route to Fort Strother they passed directl y by the

ancient In dian fort o f Tallad ega I t will be remem .

bered that a terrible battle had been fought here

by General Jackson with the Indians on t he 7 t h ,

of December 1 8 1 3
, In the ca rnage of that bloody
.

day nearly five hun d red I ndians fell Those who .

escaped scatt ered fa r and W ide A few of them

0

sought re fuge i n distan t Florida .

The bodies o f the slain were le ft u nburie d .

 TH E CA MP AN D TH E CA BI N . 165

Slowly the flesh disapp eared from the bones eithe r ,

devou red by wild beasts or decomposed by the a c

t ioh of the atmosphere . Th e field asnow visited
, ,

p r esented an appalling aspect Crockett

. writes
We went through th e old battle grou nd an d -
,

it looked like a great gou rd patch The skulls of

- .

th e I ndians w ho were killed still lay scattered al l

,

about M any of their frames were still perfect as

.
,

”
their bo nes had n ot separated .

As they were thus despairingly totterin g along ,

they came across a n arro w I ndian trail with fresh ,

footmarks indicat ing that m occa sin ed I ndians had

,

recently passed alo ng It shows ho w l ittle they

.

had cause to fear from t he I ndians that Crockett , ,

entire ly alone should have followed that trail trus t

, ,

i ng that i t would lead h im to som e I nd ian village ,

where he could hope t o buy s o m e more corn

- He .

wa s not deceived in his expect a tion A fter thread

.

ing the na rrow and winding path abou t five miles he ,

cam e to a cluster of I ndian wigwams Boldly he .

en tered the little village withou t apparently the

,

slightest apprehension that he should meet with any

u n friendly reception.

He was entirely at t he mercy of the savages

.E ven if he we re mu rd ered it wou ld n ever be kno wn
,

by whom A nd if i t were kn own the starving arm y

.
, ,

m i les a wa y pressing alon g in its fligh t w a s in no

, ,
1 66 DAV ID C RO C KETT .

condition to ben d a detach me n t to endea vor t o

avenge the deed The savages received him as
.

though he had bee n one of their own kith and kin ,

and readily exchanged corn with him for powde r and ,

bullets H e then return ed bu t did not overtake

.
,

th e rest of the army un til late in the n ight .

The n ext morn ing they were so fortunate as to

encou nte r a detachment of U nited States troops
o n the march to Mobile These troops having just
.
,

commenced their jou rney we r e w ell supplied ; and

,

they liberally distributed thei r corn and provisions .

H ere Crockett fou nd his you ngest brother w ho had ,

en listed for the campaign There were also i n the .

band many others of his old friends and neigh

bors .The s u cceedi ng day the weary troops much , ,

re freshed reached a point on the R iver Coosa oppo

“

site Fo r t Strother and crossing the st ream , fou nd

,

there shelter and plenty of provisions .

We kno w not a nd do not care to know who w as

, ,

responsibl e for this milita ry m ovem ent which seems ,

to us n ow as senseless as it w a s cruel and disastrous .

But it is thus that poo r h umanity has e v er gon e

blu ndering on displaying but little wisdom in it s
,

a ffairs H ere Crockett had perm ission to visit h is

.

ho m e though he still o wed the cou ntry a month of

,

se rvice I n his exceeding r ude unpolish ed sty le

.
,

which pictures the man he writes ,

 TH E CA MP AN D
'

I H E CABI N . I 67

“
O nce mo r e I was sa fely landed at home with m y
wi fe and children I found them all well and doing
.

wel l ; an d though I w as only a rough sort of back

wo odsman they seemed mighty glad to see me
, ,

h owever little the quality folks m ight suppose it .

For I do reckon we love as hard in the backwood

co untry as any people in the whole creatio n .

Bu t I had been home only a few days when ,

we received orders to sta rt again and go on to the ,

Black Warrior and Ca ha u la rivers to see if the r e ,

we re no Indians there I know d well eno ugh the r e .

'

’
w as none and I wasn t willing t o trust my craw
, any
more where there was neither any fighting to do nor ,

an y thing to go on So I agreed to give a young man

.
,

w ho wan ted to go the balance o f m y wages if h e

, ,

w ould ser ve o u t my time which was about a month , .

H e did so A nd when they returned sure

.
,

’
enough they hadn t seen an I ndia n any more than if
they had been all th e time chopping wood in m y
, ,

clearing This closed my career as a warrio r ; and

.

I a m gl ad of it ; for I like li fe now a heap bette r

than I did then A nd I am glad all over that I lived
.
,

t o see these tim es which I should n ot have done i f I

,

had kept fooling along i n war and got used up a t ,

i t Whe n I say I am glad I j ust mean that I am

.
,

He p b b ly
ro a m ea ns his stom ach , the crop of bi d b i
r s e ng so

ll
ca ed .
[ 63 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

glad that I am alive for t here is a con fou nd ed heap

,
’ "
of things I ain t glad o f at a ll .

When Crockett wrote the above he w as a m em

be r of Congress an d a very earn est politician H e
, .

was much opposed to t he measu re of Presiden t

J ackson in removing the deposits from the U nited
—
States Bank a movement which greatly agitated
t he whole cou nt ry at that tim e I n speaking of .

things of which he was n ot glad h e writes : ,

'
I ain t glad for exa mple that th e Govern men t
, ,

moved the deposits and if my m ilitary glo ry shou ld

take su ch a t u rn as to make m e P resident a fter the
Gen eral s tim e I will move th em back Y es I th e
’
, .
,

Governm en t will take the responsibility an d m ove

, ,

t hem back again I f I don t I W ish I m ay be shot

.
” ’
.

'
The hardships of w ar had blighted Crocke t t s
e nthusiasm for wild adventu res an d had very co nsid ,

e rab ly sobered h im H e remained at home for two

.

years diligently at work u pon his farm The battl e

,
.

of N ew O rleans w as fought The wa r with E ngland

.

closed and peace w a s made wi th the poor I ndian s

, ,

w h o by B riti sh intrigu e had b een goaded to th e

, ,

disast rous fight D eath cam e to the ca bI n of

.

Crocket t ; and his faith ful W i fe the tender moth e r ,

of his children was taken from h im, We cann o t .

re frain from qu oting his ow n account of this even t

a s it do es mu ch hon or to his heart .

I 70 D AV ID C R O CK E TT .

r espect l ike that of a brother and sister yet i t fe ll

, ,

fa r sho rt of bei ng like that of a wi fe 5 0 I came to .

t h e conclusio n that it wouldn t do but that I m ust

'

ha v e anoth er wi fe .

O ne sees st riki ngly in the above qu otation t he

, ,

so ftening e fect of a ffliction on the h u man heart

f
There wa s a widow in the neighborhood a very ,

Worthy woman who had lost her h u sb nd in the

,
a
war She had two child r en a son and a daughte r
.
, .

both qu ite young She owned a snug little farm ,

.

and being a very capable woman was getting along ,

q uite com fo rtably Crockett d ecided that he should

.

make a good step-father to her children an d she a ,

good step mother for his

- Th e cou rtship was in
.

accordance with the most approved style of country

love-maki ng I t proved to be a congen ial marriage
. .

The two families cam e very harmon iously together ,

an d i n their lowly h u t enjoyed peace and conte n t

m en t such as frequ ently is not found in more ambi
tious homes .

Bu t the wandering propensity wa s inheren t in

th e ve ry n ature of Crockett H e soon tired of t h e
.

’
m onotony o f a farm er s li fe an d longed for change
, .

A few months a fter his marriage he set o u t with ,

t h ree of his n eighbors all well mounted on an ex

, ,

p lorin g tou r into Cent r al A labama hop ing to find ,

‘
new homes there J aking a southerly cou rse t he y
. ,
 TH E C A M P AN D TH E CA BI N . I 7:

crossed the Tenn essee R iver,

and st rikir g the uppe r
waters of th e Black Warrior followed down that ,

st ream a dist a nce of ab bu t two hundred miles from

t hei r start ing point till they cam e near t o t he plac e
-
,

whe r e Tuscaloosa the capita l of t h e State now

, ,

stands .

This region was then alm ost an unbroken wilder

ness But du ri ng the war Crockett had frequently
.

traversed it and was familiar with it s gen eral cha r

,

acter O n the route t hey came to t h e b u t of a man

.

who was a co m rade of C rockett in the Fl o r ida

campaign They spent a d ay w ith the r et ired sol
.

dier, and all went out in the woods togethe r t o hu nt .

F razi e r u n fortun ately stepped upon a ven omou s

sn ake partially cove red with leaves Th e repti l e
, .

stru ck itsdeadly fangs into his leg The e ffect w as .

instan taneous and aw ful Th ey ca rried the wound

.

ed man with his bloated an d throbbing limb back

, ,

t o th e hut H ere such remedies we re applied as

.

backwoods medical scien ce suggested ; but it w a s

ev i dent that many weeks wou ld elapse e r e the m an
cou l d move even should he eventu a l ly r ecove r
, .

Sadly the y we re c onst rained t o leav e the i r su fferin g

companio n the r e What becam e of him is n ot
.

r ecorded .

The th r ee oth e r s Crockett R obi n son an d R ich

, , , .

c ontin ued their jou rn ey Thei r route led them

.
 I 7 2 D AV ID C R O CKE TT .

th rough a ve ry fertile an d beau ti fu l r egion ca ll ed ,

J ones s Va ll ey Seve ral emigrants had pen et rated

’
.

and reared t he i r log h u ts upon it s r ich and b l oo m

i ng meadows .

When th ey r eached the spot whe r e the capita l

of the S tate n ow stan ds with its spacious streets , ,

it s pub l ic edifices it s ha l ls of lea rni ng it s chu r ches

, , ,

and its refi n ed an d cultivated society th ey found ,

only the si l ence solitud e and gloom o f the wilder

, ,

n ess .With th ei r hatchets they constru cted a rud e

camp to shelte r them from the nigh t ai r an d th e
h eavy d ew I t w as op en i n front H e r e they bu i l t
. .

their camp-fi re whose chee rful glow illum in ed t he

,

fo r est fa r and Wide an d which conve rt ed m i dnight,

glooms into almost midday rad ian ce The horses .

w e r e hobb l ed and t u rn ed ou t t o graze o n a l uxu

ri ant m eado w I t was supposed that the animals
.
,

’
wea ry of th e day s jou rn ey and finding abu ndan t ,

past u rage wou l d not st ray far The travellers

, .

cooked thei r suppe r an d thro wing th emselves u pon ,

th ei r couch of l eaves enjoyed that sou nd s l eep which ,

fa tigue he alth and com fo rt give

, , .

When th ey awoke i n the mo r ning the ho rse s

we r e al l gone By examin ing th e t rai l i t seemed
.

that they had take n th e back-t rack i n sea rch o f

t h e i r h omes Crockett w ho wa s th e m ost vigorou s
.
,

a nd at hlet ic of th e th r e e leaving R obin son an d R ic h ,

1 74 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

he cou ld scarcely bear its weight H e was toili ng

.

through a dark and glo omy ravine damp an d cold , ,

and th rown into shade by the thick foliage of the

overhanging trees So far as he kn ew n o h uma n
.
,

habitat i on wa s n ear N ight was approachi ng H e

. .

could go n o farther H e h ad n o food ; but he d id

.

not n eed any for a d eathly n ausea opp r essed him

, .

U tterly exhau sted h e threw him sel f down upon th e

,

g r ass and withe r ed l eaves on a small dry

, mound
formed by the root s of a large tree .

Crockett had n o w ish t o di e H e clung very

.

t enacious ly to li fe and yet he w as ve ry ap p reh en

,

sive that then an d the r e he w as to linger th rough

a few hou rs of pain and then die leavi n g h is
, ,

u nbu r ied body to be devou red by W ild beasts an d ,

his friends p robably forever ignorant of his fat e .

Con su med by feve r and agitated by thes e pain fu l

,

thoughts h e r emained for an hou r or tw o w h en he

, ,

h eard the soun d of app roaching footsteps and of

h uman voices His sensibilities were so st up efi ed
.

by h is sickness that these sou nds excit ed bu t littl e

emotion .

Soon three or fou r Indian s mad e th eir appeara nce

walking alo ng th e na rrow t rail in single file They .

sa w the prostrate form o f th e poor sick w h ite m an, ,

an d immediately gathered around him The rifle of .

C rockett and the powde r and bullet s wh ich h e had,

,
 TH E CA M P AN D TH E CA BI N . I 75

w ere, to these I n dians a rticles of almost inestimable

,

valu e O ne blow of the tomahawk would send the

.

helple ss m an t o realms wh ere rifles an d ammu nitio n

were no lon ger n eeded and his p riceless treasu res
,
.

would fal l in to th eir hands I ndeed it w a s n ot .

,

nec essa ry even t o st rike th at blow They had but .

to pick up th e rifle and u nbuckle the belt which

,

contained the p owder horn and bullet pou ch and

- -
,

leave the dyin g man t o his fate .

B u t these sava g es who had neve r r ead our

,

Saviou r s b eaut i ful parable of the good Sama ri tan

’
,

acted the Samaritan s pa rt to the whit e man whom

’

they found i n utte r helplessness and d estitutio n .

They kneeled arou nd him t rying t o ministe r to h is

,

wants O n e of them had a watermelon H e cu t

. .

f
rom it a slice of th e rich and j u icy fruit and ,

e ntreated him to eat it But h is stomach rejected

.

even that d elicat e food .

They then by ve ry exp r essive signs told hi m

, ,

that if he did not take som e nou r ishmen t he would

die and be bu ried the r e ”
a thing Crockett write s , ,

I was con fou ndedly a fraid of mysel f "

C r ockett
, .

inquired h ow fa r it w as to any hou se They sig .

’
n ifi ed t o him by signs that there wa s a wh ite man s
, ,

ca bin abou t a m il e and a ha l f fro m wh ere t hey then

were and u rged him to let th em con duct h im t o
,

t h at ho use H e ro se to make the a tt em p t

. But .
 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

he w as so weak that he could with d i ffi c ulty stan d ,

and u nsupported could n ot walk a st ep .

O ne o f these kind I ndians o ffered to go with him

an d r elieving Crockett of the burden of his rifle an d ,

with his st rong arm suppo rting and hal f carryin g him ,

at lengt h su cceed ed in getting him to t he log hu t

of the pion ee r The shades of nigh t were fallin g
. .

The sick man was so fa r gone that i t seemed t o

him that he could scarcely move another step A .

wom an came to the door of the lowly hut and

'

received them with a woman s sympathy There .

w as a cheer ful fi re blazin g in on e corn er giving ,

qu ite a pleasin g aspect to th e room I n an oth e r .

corner there w as a rud e b ed with bed clothing of ,

-

’
the ski ns of animals Crockett s b en e facto r laid
.

him tenderly u pon the b ed an d leavi ng him in th e ,

c harge of his co unt rywoman bad e him adieu and , ,

hastened away to ove r take his compan ions .

What a di fferen t world would this be from W hat

it ha s been did the spirit of kindn ess man i fested
, ,

by this p oor Indian u n iversally anim ate h u ma n

,

hea r ts !

0 b l f l d t thy h t thy b th
rother m an o o ear ro er

Wh p ity dw ll th p
ere f G d i th
e s e eace o o s
.
ere ;
T w h ip ightl y i t l v
o ors r h th s o o e eac o er,

E h il hy
ac sm h ki dly w d p
e a m n , eac n or a rayer.
”

’
The w oman s h u sb a nd w a s, at the tim e , a bsen t
1 78 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

foot-pace . As the
horse thus bore a double burde n ,

a fter jou rn eyin g an hour o r two Crockett s seat w as ,

’

chan g ed to t h e othe r hors e Thus alte rn ating t he

.
,

p a in ful j ou rn ey o f n early fifty miles w a s a ccom

p lish ed in about two days .

When they rea ched the camp C r ocket t a s was , ,

t o have been expect ed was in a fa r worse con dit ion

,

than wh en they commen ced the j ou rney I t w as .

evident that he was to pass through a long ru n

of feve r and that h is recove ry w a s very doubt ful
,
.

H is companions could n ot t hus b e d elayed They ,

.

had al r eady le ft Frazier one of thei r company per

, ,

haps t o die of the bite of a ven omo us snake ; and

now they we r e const rain ed t o l eave Crockett per ,

haps to di e of malarial fever .

They asce r tained that at th e distan ce of a few

,

m i les from them the r e was another log cab in in

,

the wilde rn ess They succeeded in purchasing a

.

couple of horses an d i n transpo rting the sick man

,

t o this hu mble hou s eof re fuge H ere Crockett was .

le ft to await th e result of his sickness u naided by ,

any m edical skill Fo rt unat ely h e fell in to the

.

hands of a family w ho t reated hi m with the u tmost

kindn ess For a fortnight he was in deliriu m and
.
,

knew not hing of wh at w as transp i ring arou nd h im .

Crockett was a v e ry ami able ma n E ven t he .

deliriu m of dis ease d evel oped it sel f in ki ndly w h rd s

 T H E CA MP AN D TH E CAB IN .
79

and grate ful feelings H e always won the love of

.

t hose arou n d him H e did n o t miss d elicacies an d

.

luxuri es of which h e had n eve r known anything .

Coarse as he was when measu red by the standard

of a highe r civilization h e w as not coarse at all in the
,

estimation of the societ y in the midst o f which he

moved In this humble cabin of j esse J onesnw it h
.

all its aspect of pen ury Crockett w as nursed with

,

brotherly and sisterly kindness and had every alle ,

via t io n in his sickness whi ch his n atu re craved .

The visito r to V ersailles is shown the magnificen t

apartment and the regal couch with it s gorgeous
, ,

hangings u pon which Lou is ! I V the proudest

, .
,

and m ost pampered man on earth langu ished and ,

died Crockett on his pallet in the log cabin with

. , ,

unglazed window an d ea rt hern floor w as a fa r less ,

u nhappy man than the dying monarch su rrou nded

,

with regal splendo rs .

A t th e en d of a fortnight t he patient began

slowly to men d H is emaciation was ext rem e a nd
.
,

his recove ry v ery g radual A fte r a few weeks h e .

was able t o t ravel H e w as then on a route whe re

.

wagons passed ove r a rough road team ing th e art i ,

cles n eeded in a new country Crockett hir ed a wag .

one r to gi v e him a s eat in his wagon an d to convey

’
him to the wagoner s house which w a s about twent y ,

mil es di stant Gai nin g st ren g th by t he w ay, wh ee

.
 D AVID C RO C KETT .

h e arriv ed t here he hi red a ho rse o f the wagone r ,

a nd set out fo r hom e .

Great was th e aston ishmen t of his fam ily u pon

h is arrival for they had given him u p as dead The
, .

n eighbors w ho set ou t on this j ou rney with him

h ad returned and so report ed ; for they had b een
m isin form ed Th ey told M rs Crockett that they
. .

had seen those who were with h i m when h e died ,

and had assisted in bu ryin g h im .

Still th e love of ch ange had not bee n dispelled

from the bosom o f Crockett H e di d n ot like
.

th e place where h e resided A fter spending a few

.

months at h om e h e set o u t in t h e au tu mn upon

, , ,

another exploring t ou r O u r N ational Governm en t

.

had recen tly pu rchased of the Chickasaw I ndian s a

, ,

l arge exten t of terri tory i n Southern Ten n essee .

Crockett thou ght that i n th ose n ew lan ds h e would

fin d the ea rthly parad ise of which h e was in search .

Th e region w as u nsu rveyed a savage wilderness and

, ,

there were n o recognized laws and no o rganized

government there .

Crockett m ou nted h is horse lashed h is r ifle to ,

h is back fi lled his powder h orn and bu llet pouch

,
- -
,

and j ou rn eying westward n early a hundred miles ,

th rough pathless wild s whose solitud es h a d a pe en

lia r charm for him cam e to a romantic spot called
, ,

Shoal Cre ek in what is now Giles Co u nty in t he

, ,
1 82 D AV ID C RO C KETT .

ri fle of the father would be pretty su re to pick u p

some game to add to t he evening repast .

’
Crockett a n d h is fam ily reached th ei r n ew hom e
i n safety Here qu ite a n ew sphe re o f li fe opened
.

be fore th e adven t u rer and he becam e so fi rmly set

,

tled that h e remain ed in that location for three

years I n the m ean ti me pionee rs fro m all parts

.
,

we r e rapidly reari n g th eir cabins upon the fertile

t errito ry w h ich was then called The N ew Purclra u
, .
 CHAPT E R VII .

Tire e t zce of Pea ce a nd the Leg i sla tor

'

Vag abon da g e.
— M easu res of P rot ect ion —M easures of Govern m ent
. .

Crockett s
’
C on fession M il i y H
—A
. Ca n didate for tar on ors.

C i
ur ous D i pl y s f M l
a C g o— Th S q i l H
ora — A ou ra e. e u rre u nt.

Can di d t f th L g i l
a e or —Ch
e i i El
e i i g
s a tu re. aracter st c ect oneer n .

Sp iec m en s of hi E l q —Gs P i y C l ity —E p

o uen ce. rea t ecun ar a am x e

di it on h F
to t e W —Wil d A d v
ar —Th M id ight
est. en tu res e n

Carouse. —A C bi R d a n eare .

T H E wealthy and the prospe rous are not d is

posed to l eave the com forts o f a high civilization for
t he hardsh ip s of the wilderness Most of the pio .

n eers who crowded to the N ew Pu rchase were eithe r

energeti c yo ung men who had th eir fortu nes to make ,

o r fam ilies who by m is fort u n e h a d encountered im

poverishment Bu t t here was st ill a nothe r class

. .

There were th e vile th e unprincipled the despe , ,

rat e ; vagabonds seeking whom they might devou r ;

crimi nals escaping the p enalty of the laws whic h
they had violated .

These were the men who shot d own an I ndian

at sight as they wo uld shoot a wol f m erely fer the
, ,

fu n of it ; who robbed th e I n dian o f his gu n a nd

game b u rned his Wigwam and at r ociously i nsulted
, ,
1 84 D AV ID C ROCK E I T
’ ‘
.

his wi fe and d a ughters These were the men whom

.

no law c ould rest rain ; w h o brought disgrace upon

the name of a white man and w h o o fte n provoked
,

the ignorant sav age t o the m ost dread ful and indis
c rimin ate retal iat ion .

So many of these in famous men flocked to this

N ew Purchase that li fe there became quite u nde
sirable There were no legally appointed ofli cers of
.

j ustice no organized laws E ve ry man did what

, .

was pleasing i n h is own sight There was no col .

le eti ng of debts no redress fo r violence no p unish

, ,

ment for cheating or the ft .

U nder these circumstan ces there w as a gen eral ,

gathering of the well-disposed inhabitants of the

cabins scatt ered around to adopt some measures
,

for their m ut ual protection S everal men were ap .

pointed justices of peace wit h a set of resolute ,

yo u ng men as c onstables to execu te their commis

, ,

sions These j ustices were investe d with almost

.

dictatorial power They did not pretend to kno w

.

anything abou t written la w or common law They .

were m erely m e n of good sou nd sense w h o could ,

j udge as to what was right i n all ordinary inte r

cou rse b etween man and man .

A com pla int wo uld be entered to Crocke tt th at

o n e man owed another mon ey and re fused t o pay
i

him . Crockett would s end his c onstables to a rres t

[ 86 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

Take th e th ie f strip off his shirt t ie h im t o a

, ,

t ree and give him a severe flogging

,
T h en bu rn .

”
down h is cabi n and drive him ou t of the country
, .

There w a s n o appeal from this verdict and no ,

evading i t s execu tio n Such w as the ju stice whic h

.

p reva iled in this

, remote region u n ti l th e Legisla ,

t ure of A labama an nexed the territ ory to Gile s

Cou nty and brought the region u nder t he domin ion
,

o f organized law Crockett who had performed his

.
,

funct ions t o the ent ire satisfaction of the community ,

then was legally appointed a j ustice of peace : an d

became fully entitl ed t o the appellation of esquire .

H e certainly could n ot then pretend t o any p ro

fou nd legal erudition for at this time he could ,

neither read nor write .

E squi re C rocket t commentin g u pon this trans

,

action says, I was made a Squ ire according t o

, ,

law ; thou gh now the honor reste d more heavily

u pon me than b e fore For at fi rst whenever I .
, ,

told m y constable says I Catch that fellow and

, , ,

’
bring him up for tri al away h e went an d the fello w
, ,

m ust come d ead or alive F o r we conside r ed this

,
.

a good wa rrant though i t was only i n verbal w ritin g

, .

Bu t a ter I w as appointed by the A ssembly ,

t hey told me that my warrants mu st be in real

writi ng and sign ed ; and that I m ust keep a boo k

an d w r ite my p r oceedings in i t This w as a ha rd .
 T HE J U STIC E OF P EACE . 1 87

busin ess on m e fo r I cou ld j ust bare ly w rit e my

,

o w n name Bu t to do this and w rite the warran ts

. ,

too was at least a huckleberry ove r my persimmon

,
.

I had a pretty well in form ed constable however , ,

and h e ai ded m e very much i n this busin ess : I n

deed I told him when he should happe n to be ou t
, ,

anywhere and s ee that a warrant was necessary

, ,

’
an d would have a good e ffect he n eedn t take t he ,

t rouble t o come all the way to m e to get on e bu t ,

he co uld j ust fill o ut one ; an d then on the trial I , ,

“

co uld correct the whole business if he had commit

ted any erro r .

“
I n this way I got on pretty well till by care , ,

an d attention I improved my handwriting in su ch a

,

man ne r as t o be able t o prepare my warrants and

keep my record books witho u t much d i fficulty My
- .

j udgments were never appealed from ; and if they

had been they wo uld have stuck like w ax as I gav e
, ,

my decisions on the p rinciples of com mon j ustice

a nd hon esty between man and man and relied on ,

natural born sense an d not o

- n la w learn i n g to guide
,
-
,

me ; for I had n ever read a page in a law book in al l -

"
my li fe .

E squ ire Croc kett was now a rising man H e .

was by no m eans d ifli d ent With strong native .

sense impe rt u rbable sel f con fi d en ce a memory

,
-
,

al m ost m iraculously stored with rude anecdotes a n d ,

1 88 DAVID C RO C KETT .

an aston ishing command of colloqu ial and slang lan

guage he w a s never e m barrassed and n ever at a
, ,

loss as to what to say or t o do .

They were about getting up a n ew regimen t of

militia there and a Captain Mathews an ambitious
, , ,

well to do settle r with cribs full of corn w as a can

- -
, ,

d id a t e for the colon elship H e came t o Crockett to .

insure h is support and en deavored to animate him ,

to more cordial co operation by promising to do

what he could to have him elected major of t he regi
m ent E squire Crockett at first d eclined saying
.
,

that h e was t horou ghly disgust ed with all military

operations and that h e had no desire for any such
,

honors B ut as Capt ain Math ews urged the ques

.

tion and Crockett reflected that th e o ffi ce would

,

give him som e addition al respect and infl u ence with

his neighbors and that M aj or Crockett was a very
,

ple a santly sounding t itle h e fi nally consent ed an d , , ,

o f cou rse very soon became deeply interested in t he

,

enterprise .

Captain Mathews as an electioneerin g measu re, ,

i nvited all his n eighbors fa r and near to a ve ry , ,

magnificent corn husking frolic There was to be a

-
.

”
great t reat on the occasion an d all the world a s , ,

th e Fren ch say were eager to be there Crockett

_
, .

and his family were of cou rse am on g the i nv ited

guests When Crockett g ot there he fou n d an im
.
1 90 D AV ID C R OCK E I T .
' ‘

’
the stump and on the Captain s own grou nds ad
, ,

'
d ressing th e Captain s guests and himsel f one of ,

those guests totally u nabashed made his first stump

, ,

speech H e was at n o loss for words or ideas H e

. .

was full to the brim of fu n H e could withou t any .

,

e ffort keep the whole assembly in roars of laughte r

, .

A n d there i n th e presen ce of Captain M athews and

,

his family he argued his total u n fi t n ess to be t he

,

c om mander of a regiment .

It is to be regretted that there was no reporte r

present t o transmit t o us that speech I t m ust have .

been a peculiar perfo rmance I t ce rtainly ad ded .

’
mu ch to Crockett s reputation as an able man and
an o rator W
hen the elect ion came both fathe r
.
,

and son we re badly beaten Soon a fter a commit .

,

t eewaited upon Crockett solici ting him t o stan d as

,

c and idate for the State Legis l ature to repr esent the ,

two counties of Lawre n ce and H ickman .

Crockett was begin ning to be ambitious He

‘

consented But he had already engaged to take a

.

dro v e of horses from Central Tenn essee t o the l o wer

part o f N orth Carolina This was a long jou rney
.
,

and go ing and co min g would take three months .

H e set ou t early in M arch 1 82 1 U pon his return , .

i n j u n e he commenced with all zeal his electio n ee r

,

ing campaign Characterist ically he says

.

It was a b ran fi re n ew business to m e I t now

- .
 TH E LE G IS LATOR . I 91

b ecame n ecessa ry that I should tell t he people

s omething abou t the Govern ment and an ete r n a l ,

sigh t o f othe r things that I know d n othing more ’

a bou t than I did about Latin an d law, and s uch ,

t hings as that I have said be fore that in th ose

.
,

d ays n on e of u s called General J ackson the G ov ern

Bu t I k n ow d so little about it that if any
’
m ent .

o n e had told m e that he was the Government 1 ,

shou ld have believed it for I had never read even a

"
n ewspaper in m y l ife o r anything else on the subject
, .

Lawrence Co un ty bou nded Giles Cou nty on

t h e west J ust north of Lawrence came Hickman
.

County Crockett first directed his steps to Hick

.

m an Cou nty to engage in his, bran fi re new work -

of electionee r ing for himsel f as a candidate for the

Legislatu re What ensued can not be mo re graph

.

’
i cally told than in Crockett s own language :
He r e they told m e that they wan ted t o move
t heir town nearer t o the cent re of the cou n ty and I ,

m ust come ou t in favo r of it

’
There s no d evil if I
.

'
k h ow d what this m eant or how the town was to be,

m oved And so I kept dark going on the identical

.
,

same plan t hat I n o w find i s called non-com m it t a l .

A bou t this tim e there w as a great squirrel

h u nt on D uck R iver which was among my people
, ,

T hey we r e to hunt two days ; then t o m eet and

c ou nt the scalps and have a big barbecu e and wha t
, ,
1 92 D AV ID C ROC K E I T .
’ ‘

m ight be called a tip top cou nt ry frolic The dinne r

- .

and a gen eral treat w as all to be paid for by th e

party having taken the fewest scalps I j oin ed one .

side and o t a gu n ready fo the hun t I killed a

, g r .

great m any s q u irrels and when we cou nted scalp s

,
”

my party wa s V ictorious .

The company had eve rything t o eat and dr i nk

“

t hat could be furn ish ed i n a new cou nt ry ; and

m uch fu n an d good hu mo r prevailed Bu t be fore .

the r e g ular frolic commen ced I was cal l ed on to

,

make a speech as a candidat e which w as a b usiness

,

I was as ignorant of as an ou tlandish n egro .

A publi c docu m en t I had n ever seen How

“

O
.

’
to begin I couldn t tell I made many apologies
. ,

’
and tried t o get off for I kn ow d I had a m an t o ru n
,

against wh o co uld speak pri me A nd I k n ow d t oo

’
.
,

’
that I wasn t able to cut and th ru st with him H e .

w a s there and knowi ng my ignorance a s well as I

,

di d mysel f he u rged m e t o make a speech Th e

,
.

t ru th is he thought my being a can didate was a

,

m ere matte r o f sport and d idn t think for a m omen t

’
,

t hat he was i n any d an ger from an igno rant back

w oods bear-hu nter .

’
B u t I fou n d I couldn t get off So I dete r
“
.

m in ed to go ahead an d leave it t o chan ce w h a t I

,

should say . I got u p and told th e peopl e I reckon d ’

’
they know d w hat I had come for ; but if not I co u ld ,
1 94 D AV ID CR OCKE I T
‘‘
.

so I pu t a li qu o r stan d and was fo ll ow ed by

off to -
,

t he g reate r pa rt of t he c r owd .

I felt c er tain t his wa s ne cessa ry for I kn ow d ,

'

m y competito r could talk Gove r nment matters to

t h em as easy a s he pleased He h ad howe v er .

, ,

m i g hty few le ft to hea r h im as I continu ed with ,

t he c r owd n ow an d then taki ng a ho rn and te ll ing

, ,

good-h umo r ed sto ries till he wa s done speaking I .

fou n d I was good for the votes at the h u nt ; an d

when we broke up I went on to th e town of V ernon ,
w hich was t he same they wan ted m e to move .

H e re they p r essed m e again on the subject I .

foun d I could get e i t her party by agreein g with

th em Bu t I to l d th em I d idn t know w hether it
.
’

would be r i ght o r not and so couldn t p romise eith e r

’
,

Th i s famou s barbecu e was on Sat u rday The .

n ext Monday the cou nty cou rt held it s session at

V e r non The r e was a g reat gatheri ng of th e pio
.

n e a rs fr om all pa rts of the county The candidates .

for th e G overnor of th e State for a representa ,

t ive i n Cong r ess an d for the State Legislature we r e

, ,

a ll p r ese n t Som e of these m en were of con sidera

.

ble abi li t y and ce rtainly of very flu ent speech The

,
.

backwoodsmen from their h u ts where th e r e w e re

, ,

n o books n o n ewspape rs n o intelligen t compan i on

, ,

ship , fou nd th i s a r ich int e l lectual tre a t Th ei r .

 T H E LEGISLAT O R . I 95

m i nd s we re g r eatly exci ted as

they listened t o t he
im passioned and glow ing utte ran ces of speake r a fte r
speake r ; for many of these stump orato rs had
comman d of a r u de but ve ry e ffective eloqu ence .

Crocket t list en ed also w ith i ncreasing anxiety

, .

H e knew that his tu rn was to come ; that he mu s t

mou n t t he stu mp and add ress the li stening throng .

He perceived that he co u ld n ot speak as thes e men

we r e speaking ; and perhaps for the fi rst tim e in his
li fe began to expe rience some sense of i n ferio r ity .

He wri tes
The tho ugh t of having t o make a sp eech mad e
my knees feel mighty weak and set my heart to,

flutte r ing almost as bad as my fi rst l ove-sc rape wit h

the Qu ake r s niece But as good l uck would hav e
-
’
.

it these big cand i dat es spoke n early all day and

, ,

when they quit the p eople we r e w o r n ou t wit h

fatigu e which a ffo r ded m e a good apology for
,

not discussing the Govern ment Bu t I listene d

.

mighty close to them and wa s l earn ing p retty fas t

,

abou t political matte r s When they were all done,

.

I got u p an d told som e lau ghabl e sto ry and quit , .

I fou nd I w as safe i n t hose pa rts ; and so I wen t

home and did not g o back again till a fte r the elec
,

tion w a s ove r But to cut this matter sho r t I was

.
,

electe d doub l in g my comp etit or and nin e votes

, ,

ov e r .
1 96 D AV ID C RO CKE TT .

A sho rt time a fte r this I w as at Pu l aski , wh ere

,

I m et w i t h Colone l now a membe r of Cong ress

Polk,
fr om Tenn essee *
H e was at that tim e a m embe r
.

el ected t o the L egislature as w ell as mysel f , In a .

la rg e company he said t o me We ll Colonel I sup , , ,

p os e we shall hav e a rad ical change of the j udiciary

at the n ext session o f th e Legis l atu r e V ery .
’

,
’
li kely sir says I , A nd I p u t out q uicker for I was
.
,

a fraid som e on e would ask m e wh at the j ud icia ry

was ; and if I kn ow d I wish I m ay be shot I don t
’ ’
.

i ndeed believe I had eve r be fore h eard that the re

was any such thin g in a ll natu r e Bu t sti ll I was .

n ot wi ll ing that the people the r e shou l d kno w how

”
ignoran t I was about it .

A t l ength the day a rr ived for t he m eeting of

th e Legis l atu r e C rockett r epai r ed to th e seat of
.

g o v e rn m ent W i th . all h is sel f comp l acen cy h e -

b egan t o app reciate that h e had much t o lea r n .

The t wo fi r st items of intelligence which he deemed

it impo rtan t that he as a memb e r of the Legis l a
,

t u r e should ac q ui r e w ere th e mean in g of the wo r d s

, ,

er n m ent an d d i B adroi t question in

'

g o v J h zc a ry y .
g
an d fixed thought he ere long stored up those ih
,

t ellect ual treasu r es T hough w ith b u t little capa

.

city to obtain know l edge from books h e becam e a n ,

S ubsequent ly P resid en t of the U nited St te

a s.
1 98 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

in the wo rld ; and then eve rybody will b e satisfied,

’
and we will scu ffl e for mo re .

This wa s ju st such talk as I wanted t o hea r for ,

’
a man s wi fe can hold him devilish un easy if she

begins to scold an d fret , and perplex him at a tim e ,

when he has a fu ll load for a railroad car on his

m ind a l ready A n d so you see I determined not
.
, ,

t o break full-han ded b ut thought it bette r to keep

,

a good conscien ce with a n empty pu rse than to g et ,

a bad opin ion of mysel f wit h a ful l one I the re fo re .

gave u p all I had and t ook a b ran-fi re n ew start

,
"
.

’
C rockett s l egislative career w as by no m eans
brilliant bu t characteristic H e was th e fu n make r
, .
-

of the house and like Fa l sta ff cou ld boast that he

, , ,

w as not only witty himsel f bu t the cause of wit in ,

othe rs H is stories were i rr esistibly comic ; but

.

they alm ost always contain ed expressions of p rofan e

ity or coa rseness which r ende rs it impossi ble for us

t o transmi t them to these pages H e w as an inim i .

table mimic an d had pe rfect comma n d of a Dutch

,

ma n s brogu e O ne of th e least object ionable of his

’
.

humo rous stories we will ventu re t o record .

There were h e said in V i rgi ni a t w o Dutchm en

, , , ,

broth e rs George an d J ake F ul wiler They we r e

,
.

both wel l t o do in t he world and each owned a ,

grist-m ill The r e w as an oth er Dutchman n ea r by

.
,

by t he nam e of H enry Snyder He was a mo no .

 THE L EGI SLATO R . i gg

m an i ac, bu t a harmless man occasion ally thinking ,

himsel f to be God H e built a throne and would

.
,

o ften sit upon it pron ounci n g j u d gm ent upo n

i
,

others and also u pon himsel f H e would sen d

, .

the culprits to h eaven or to hell a s his h u mo r ,

p rompted .

O ne day he had a little di ffi cu l ty with the two

F ulwilers . H e took his seat u pon his t hron e an d ,

in i magination su m mon ing the culprits be fore h im ,

thus addressed them :

“
Shorg e Fu lw iler stand up What hash y ou
,
.

been doin in dis lo we r wo r ld !

A h ! Lo rt ich does not kn ow
, .

Well Shorg e Fulwiler, hasn t you g ot a m ill P

,
’

Yes Lo r t ich hash

”
.
, ,

We ll Shorg e F ul wil e r did n t yo u neve r t ake

, ,
’

t oo much to ll !
"

“
Yes, L o rt i ch hash when de r wate r wash l ow
, ,

and mein st on es wash dull i ch take l eetle too muc h ,

to l l
.
"

We l l , den Shorg e Fulwiler you must g o t o def

, ,

l e ft mid d er goats ”
.

Wel l S hake Fulwile r n ow you stand u p What

, , .

hash y ou been doin in d is lower world !

A h ! Lort ich does not kno w
,
"
.

Well Shake Fulwiler hasn t you got a m ill !

, ,
'

Yes, L ort , ich hash

“ "
.
3 00 D AV ID C ROC KE TT .

'
Well , Shake Fulwiler hasn t yo u n eve r take n
t oo m u ch to ll !
"

Yes Lort ich hash ; when de r wate r w a sh low

, ,

an d m ei n stones wash dull ich take leetle too m uc h ,

”
toll
.

Well den Shake F u lwile r you m ust go to de r

, , ,

le ft mid de r goats
”
.

N ow i ch t ry m eznselfi H en ry Snyde r Hen ry

'
“
,

Snyde r stand up What hash y ou bin doi n in dis

, .

lower worl d !
A h Lo rt ich does not know
, , .

Well H en ry Snyde r hasn t you g ot a mi ll z

,
’
,

Yes Lo rt ich hash

”
.
, ,

’
Well H en ry Snyder did n t yo u never take t oo
, ,

m uch to ll !
Yes Lo rt ich hash ; when d er wat e r was h low
, , ,

and mein stones wash dull ich hash taken leetle t oo ,

”
much toll .

But H en ry Snyder v at d i d you do mid d er

, ,

Ah , Lo rt
ich gives it to der poo r
, .

The j udge paused for a moment , and th en said ,

Well H en ry S nyder you m ust go to der r igh t

, ,

m id der sheep But it is a t ight squ eeze

. .

A nothe r specimen of his more sobe r fo rensic elo

q u en ce is to be fou nd in th e following speech .

The re w as a bill b efore the h ou se for th e creation

3 02 D AV ID C R OCKETT .

So my neighb o r want i n g a ploughshare agreed

, ,

that he would go ove r the next day an d st rike til l

t hat was don e A ccordingly he we nt ove r and fe ll
. ,

ha r d at wo rk But toward night th e blacksmi t h

.

’
concl u ded his iron wou ld n t make a ploughshare ,

bu t twould make a fin e skow So my neighbor

'
.
,

ti r ed of working c ried A skow let it be ; an d

‘
,
’
,

the blacksm ith t aking up t he red hot i r on threw it

,
-
,

into a t rough of hot wate r nea r him and as it fel l ,

in it su ng out skate) A n d this M r Speake r will be

, .
, .
,
’ '
the way of that man s bill for a county H e ll kee p .

y o u all here do
, ing n othing a n d fi n a lly h is bill w ill , .

tu rn up a s tow ; now m ind if it don t " ’

.

A t this ti m e, Crockett by way of co u rtesy was , ,

usu ally c al l ed colon el a s with u s alm ost e v e ry

,

resp ectab le m an takes the ti tle of esqu ire One .

of the membe r s o ffend ed Co l onel Crockett by speak

ing disrespect fu lly of him as from the back woods ,

o r a s he exp r essed it the g entlem a n f rom the cone

, , .

C rockett mad e a ve ry bunglin g answer which did ,

not satis fy himsel f A fte r t he house adjou rn ed h e

.
,

ve ry pleasan tly invited the gen tlem an to take a

wal k w ith him They chatted v e ry sociably by t he
.

way till at the distance of about a mile they reache d

, , ,

a very secluded spot , w hen t h e Colonel t u rnin g t o ,

his opp onen t said ,

Do you know wh at I b roug ht yo u h er e for !

 THE L E GISLA TOR . 20 3

”
N o, was th e reply .

Well added the Colon el

”
,
I bro ught you ,

here for the express purpose of whipping you ; and

n ow I m ean t o d o i t .

Bu t says th e Colo n el in r ecordi n g the even t

”
, , ,
’
the fello w said he didn t mean anyt hing, an d kep t
g till I got into good hu mo r
’
p o log iz in .

They wal ked back as good frien ds as eve r an d ,

no on e b ut t he m selves kne w o f the a ffair .

A fte r th e adjou rn ment of the Legislatu re ,

Crockett retu rned to his impoverished home Th e .

pec u niary losses he had encou ntered ind uced him to ,

make another move and on e for wh ich it is di ffi cult

,

to conceive of any adequate m otive H e t ook h is .

eldest son a boy about eight years of age and a

, ,

you n g m an by the n am e of A bram H enry an d ,

with one pack ho rse to carry their blankets an d

-

provis i ons p l u nged i nto the vast w ilderness wes t

,

of them on an exploring tou r in search of a n ew

, ,

home .

Cro ckett and th e young m an sh ouldered thei r

rifles Day after day the three trudged along fo rd
.
,

i n g st r ea ms clambering hills wading m orasses an d

, , ,

t hreading ravines each n ight con structin g a frai l

,

shelte r and cooking by their cam p fi re such gam e

,
-

as they had taken by the way .

A fter traversin g these al m o st p a thle ss wil ds a

3 04 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

h u ndred and fi fty m iles and having adva nced

,

nearly fi fty miles beyond any white settlement they ,

rdz ch e d the banks o f a lon ely stream called O bion ,

R iver, on the extrem e weste rn frontier of Tenn essee .

This river em ptied into the M ississippi but a few

.

m iles fr om the spot w here Crockett decided t o rear

his cabin His n earest neighbor w a s seven miles
.

d istant h is n ext fi fteen his n ext twen ty

, , .

About ten years be fore that wh ole region had

,

been con v ulsed by on e o f the m ost t errible earth

qu akes recford ed i n h istory On e or t w o aw ful
.

hurricanes had followed the earthquake prostrating ,

the giganti c forest an d scattering the trees in all

,

d irection s A ppalling indications remain ed of the

.

po w er expend ed by these t re m endous forces of

nat ure The largest fo rest t rees were fou nd split
-

fr om their r oots t o th eir tops and lying hal f on

,

each sid eof a deep fissu re The opening abysses

.
,

the entanglement of th e prostrat e fo rest and the ,

dense underbrush w h ich had sprung up rendere d ,

the whole region almost impen etrable The count ry .

w a s almost entirely unin habited It had however

.
, ,

become quite celebrat ed as being the best h u nti ng

groun d in the West The fear of earthquakes and t he
.

general desolation had prevented even the In dia ns

from rearing thei r wigwam s there Co nseq u ently .

wil d animal s ha d g r ea tly incre a sed T he c ou nt ry .

206 DAV ID ca ocxs rr
' '
.

e xchange places with the residen t i n the most c ostly

m ansio n i n ou r great cities I n a few days he g ot .

C rockett s
’
e very t hing com fortable around him .

cab i n o r rather camp w as o n th e eastern side of

, ,

t he O bion R iver S even -m iles farther up the stream

. ,

on th e western bank a M r O wen had r eared his

, .

log house O ne morning Crockett taking the young

. , ,

man H en ry and h is son w ith him set out to v isit ,

M r O wen h is n earest neighbo r H e hobbled his

.
, .

horse l eavin g h im t o g raze u ntil h e got back

, .

They followed along the banks of th e ri v er ,

th r ough the forest un til they reached a poin t

,

nea rly opposite O wen s cabin

’
By crossin g the .

st r eam th ere and following up the western ban k

,

they wou l d be su re t o find h is b u t The re wa s n o .

boat and th e stream must be sw u m or forded

, .

R ece n t rain s h ad caused it t o overflow it s banks

and sp read w i dely o v e r t he marshy bottoms and
low count ry nea r by The wate r wa s icy cold A n d
. .

yet they took t o i t , says Crockett like so many ,

“

beave r s ”
.

Th e expanse t o be crossed was ve ry wi de and ,

they kn ew n ot how deep they should find t h e

chan n e l For some d istance th e w ater continu ed
qu ite shoal Gradually it deepen ed Crocket t led
. .

t he way wit h a pole in his hand

, Cau tiou sly h e .

sou nd ed t he de pth be fore h im , lest they should fall

 T H E LEGI S LAT OR . 2 07

i nto any slo ugh A den se growth of young tree s

.

covered the i nu ndated bo ttom over which they

were wading O ccasionally they cam e t o a deep
.

but na r row gully Crockett with h is hatchet

.
, ,

would cut down a small t ree an d by it s aid would , .

c r oss ,

A t lengt h the wat e r becam e so d eep that

’
Crockett s littl e b oy had t o swim though they evi ,

d ently had not yet r eached the chann el of the stream .

H av in g waded n early hal f a mile th ey cam e t o th e ,

chann el The strea m within it s n a t u ral b a nks ,

.
,

w a s bu t about f orty feet wide Large forest trees .

-

fringed t he shores O n e imm en se t r ee blow n

.
,

down by th e win d reached about hal fway across

, .

Crocket w i th very a rd uous labo r with his hatchet

, ,

cu t down an oth er so that it fell wi th the branches

,

of the two in t ert wining .

Th us aided they reach ed the opposite side Bu t .

still t he lowlands beyond were overfl ow ed as fa r

as the eye could s ee throu gh the dense forest On .

they waded for nearly a mile when to their grea t

, , ,

jy
o , they cam e in sight of dry land Their garments .

were dripping and t h ey were severely chilled as they

reached the shore But turning thei r steps u p t he
.

stream they soon came i n s ight of t he cabin whic h

, ,

looked to them like a paradise of rest I t wa s one .

of the r udest of hu ts The fen celess grounds a roun d

.
20 8 D AV ID C RO C KETT
we r e rough and u ngainly The dismal forest whic h .
,

chanced there to have escaped both earthquake an d

h u rricane spread apparently without lim its i n all
,

d irections .

Most m en m ost women gazi ng upon a scen e so

, ,

wild lonely cheerless would have said

, , , Let m e ,

sink i nto the grave rather than be doomed to such a

home as that But to Crockett and h is companion s
.

it presented all the attractions th eir hearts co uld

desire M r O wen and several other men were j ust
. .

starting away from the cabin wh en to thei r surprise , , ,

they sa w the part y of strangers approaching They .

waited u ntil Crockett cam e up an d i ntrod uced him

sel f The men with M r O wen were boatm en who
. .
,

had ent e r ed the O bion R iver from the M ississipp i

with a boat load of articles for t rad e They were
- .

j ust leaving to c o ntin u e thei r voyage .

Such men are seldom i n a hu rry Time is to .

them of but v ery little valu e Hospitality was a vir .

tu e which cost nothing A ny strange r with his rifle

’

. .
, ,

could easily pay h is w ay in the procu rement of food .

They all tu rned back and entered the cabin toge

”

ther M rs O wen was an excellent moth erly woman

. .
, ,

about fi fty years of age H er sympathies were im .

m ed iately excited for the poor l ittle boy whose gar ,

m ents were d renched and who was shiverin g as if in

,

an a g ue -fi t She replen
. ished the fi re d ried h is ,
2IO D AV ID C RO C KETT .

me the li ttle b oy was le ft to the tender ca re or

“

ca on

Mrs O wen while the rest of the pa rty repaired t o

.
,

the cabin of the boat to make a n ight of it in d ri n k

,

ing and ca rousal .

They h ad indeed a wild t ime There was w h is .

key i n abundance Crockett was in h is element and

.
,

kept the whole company in a constant roa r Thei r .

shouts an d bacchanal songs resou nded through t h e

solit udes with clamo r and p ro faneness which m u s t
,

’
have fallen pain fully upon angels ears if any of ,

heaven s pu r e and gentle spirits we r e within h earin g

’

di stance .

We had writes C rockett , a high night of ,

“

i t as I took steam en ough to drive ou t all the col d

,

t hat w as in me and abou t three times a s mu c h ,

”
m o re .

These boon companions became warm fri ends ,

according t o the most app ro v ed style of backwood s

M r O wen told the boat men that a few
”

friendship . .

miles fa rthe r up the ri ve r a h u rr icane had entirely

p rostrated th e fo r est and that the gigantic t rees so ,

e ncumbered the stream that he w a s doubt ful w heth e r

the boat cou ld pass u nless th e water should ris e ,

highe r Consequ ently he with C rockett and H en ry

.
, ,

accompanied the boatmen up to th at point t o hel p

t hem th rough should it be possible t o e ffect a p a s

,

sa ge But it -was fo un d impossible and t he bo a t

. ,
 T HE LE GISLA TOR . I I

d ropped down again to it s moo rings opposite M r .

O wen s cabin
’
.

A s i t was n ow n ecessa ry t o wait till the river

shou l d rise the boat men an d M r O wen all con
, .

sented t o accompany Crockett to the p la ce where h e

wa s to settle an d bu ild h is hou se fo r him
, I t seems .

ve ry st range t hat in t hat d ismal wilderness Crockett

, ,

shou ld n ot have pre ferred to bu ild h is cabin n ea r so ‘

k ind a neighbor But so i t was H e chose h is lot

. .

at a distance of seven miles from any companion

ship
A nd so I g ot the boatmen h e writes all to , ,
“

go ou t with m e to w here I was going to settle and ,

w e slipped up a cabin in l ittle or n o t ime I got .

from the boat fo u r barrels of meal on e of salt and , ,

abou t ten gallons of whiskey .

For these h e paid i n labor agree i ng to a ccom,

p any th e boatm en u p th e rive r a s fa r as th ei r land

ing -place at McL em onc s Bl uff

’
.
 C HA P T E R VI II .

L ife on t he Obion .

Huntin g Adv Th V y g h
en tures
p R i v — S i -
th e o a e u t e en cenes n e
C bi —R
a n.H —R v l f th F ily —C k tt
eturn om e. em o a o e sm . roc e
’
s

R i h —A P il
c es. E t p i —R f hi C l b i y
er ous n er r se ea son s or s e e r t .

C k N iv —A B H —Vi i J k —Ag i
roc
’
ett s a rra t e. ear- un t . s t to ac son . a n

aC did f h L gi l t — E l i i g d E l i
an a te or t e e s a u re ect on eer n an ect on .

T HE next day a fter build ing the cabin to which ,

Crockett i ntended t o move his fam ily it began to ,

”
rain , as he says rip roariou sly ,The river rapidly -
.

rose and th e boatmen were ready to resume th ei r

,

voyage Crockett stepped ou t i nto the forest an d

.

shot a dee r which he l e ft as food for A bram Henry

“

an d his little b oy who were to remain in the cabi n

,

u ntil his retu rn H e exp ected to be absent six o r

.

seve n days Th e stream w as very sluggish By

. .

al ing as it w called that is by pushing the boat

p , a s , ,

with long poles they reached the encu mbranc e,

cau sed by the h u rricane wh ere they stopped for t he ,

n ight .

I n th e morn ing as soon as th e day da wn ed , ,

C rockett thinking it impossible for them to get

,

t hrough the fallen timber that day took h i s ri fle ,

z r4 DAV ID C RO C KETT .

both of wh ich he shot The intel l ectua l cu ltu r e

.

o f the m a n m ay be i n ferred fro m th e followin g

characteristic desc ription which h e gives of these
events :

I saw two m ore bu cks ve ry la rge fell ows t oo

,
.

I took a blizza r d at one of them an d up he t u mbled , .

Th e othe r ran off a few j umps and stopped and ,

stood there u ntil I loaded again and fi red at him .

I kn ocked h is t r otte rs from u nde r h im an d then I ,

h un g them both up I p ushed on again , and abou t

.

su nset I saw th ree othe r bucks

’
I d ow n d with one
.

o f th em and th e other two ra n off

, I h ung this one .

u p also h aving killed six that day

, .

I t hen p u shed on t il l I got to t h e h u rrican e

“
,

and at the lower edge of it about where I expected

,

th e boat w as H ere I hollered a s hard as I could

.

roar bu t cou ld get n o answe r I fi red off my gu n

, .
,

an d th e men on the boat fi red one t oo But quite .

,

cont rary t o my expectations th ey had g ot t hrough

,

the timber and were abou t t w o m iles above m e

, .

I t was now dark and I had t o c r awl through the

,

fallen t imb e r th e b est w ay I could ; and if the

’
reader do n t know it was bad enough I am su re I ,

do F o r the vines and briers had grown all th rough

.

i t an d so thick that a good fat coon co uldn t m uch

,
’

m ore t han get alon g I got t hrough at last and

.
,

went on t o n ea r where I had killed my last de er ,

 LI FE ON TH E O BI ON . 2 15

an d onc e mo re fi red off my gun which wa s again ,

ans w ered from the boat which was a little above ,

me I moved on as fas t as I could b ut soon cam e

.
,

t o w ater ; and not knowin g h ow deep i t w a s I ,

halted an d hollered till they came t o m e with a

,

ski ff . I now got to t h e boat withou t fu rther d ifli ‘

c ulty But th e brie rs had worked on m e at such a

.

rate that I felt l ike I wanted sewing u p all over I .

took a p retty sti ff horn which soon made me feel ,

mu ch bet ter Bu t I was so tired that I could

.

”
scarcely work my jaws to eat .

Th e next morn ing Crockett took a young man

,

with him and went o u t into the woods to brin g i n

the game he had shot Th ey b rought i n t wo of the
.

bucks which a ffo rd ed t he m all the supp l y of venison

,

they n eeded and le ft the oth ers hanging u pon the

,

t rees The boat men then push ed their way up th e

.

r iver The progress was slow an d eleven toilsom e

.
,

days passed be fo re t hey reached their dest ination .

Crockett had now dis charged his debt an d prepared ,

to ret urn to his cabin There was a l ight ski ff .

attached to the large fl at bot t om ed boat in which -

they had ascended the ri ve r This ski ff Crocket t .

took and accompanied by a you n g m an by the

, ,

name o f F lavius Ha rris who had d ecided to g o ,

back with him speedily paddled thei r way down t he

,

stream to his cab i n .

2 16 D AV I D C RO C KE TT .

There we re now fou r occupants o f this lonely ,

drea ry h ut which was surrou nded by fo rests a n d

,

fa llen trees an d briers and b r ambles The y all wen t .

to wo r k vigorously in clearing some land for a corn

fi e l d that they might lay in a sto re for th e comin g

,
’

w inter The spring was fa r advanced and the sea

.
,

son for p l anting n early gon e They had brough t

.

so m e seed with them on thei r pack hors e and th ey -

,

soon had the pleasu re of seeing the te nder sprou t s

pushing up vigorously t hrough the luxu riant virgi n
soil It Wa s not necessary t o fence th eir field
. .

Crockett writes :
The re was no stock no r anything else t o distu rb
’

ou r corn except the wild w r m zrzts ; and t h e old ser

l
’
p ent himsel f with a fence
, t o help him co u dn t keep ,

”
them out .

H e r e C r ockett and his three companio ns remai n

ed th rough the su m me r and into the autumn u ntil ,

they could gather i n their harvest of corn Du rin g .

that time they lived as they deemed sumptuously

, , ,

up on game To kill a grizzly bear w a s ever consid

.

e red an achievemen t of which any hunter m igh t

b oast D uri ng th e su m m er Crockett killed ten of
.
,

these fe rocious m onst ersf Thei r flesh was regard

ed a s a great d elicacy A nd their sh agg y skin s
.

were invaluable in the cabin for beds a n d beddin g .

H e al so shot d ee r in great abu ndance T he sm aller .

 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

w ou ld have a v isit from M r O we n s househo l d ; or .

’

t hey would all go up to his b u t for a carouse Two .

o r three times d u ring the su mmer small parties

, ,

ex plo ri ng the country came along and would rest ,

’
a day or two u nder Crockett s hospitable roo f .

Thus with these men with their pecu liar hab its and
,

tastes the su mmer probably passed away as pleas

,

a nt ly a s with most people i n this world of ca r e and

trouble .

E arly in the aut umn C rockett retu rned to Cen

,

tral Tenn essee t o fetch h is fam ily to the n ew home .

U pon reaching his cabin in Giles County he was ,

m et by a su mmons to attend a special session of the

Legislature H e at tended an d served ou t his time
.
, ,

though h e took bu t little int erest in legislative

a ffairs H is thoughts were elsewhere and h e was
.
,

i mpatient for removal before cold weather should

,

set i n to his fa r distant hom e

,
- .

Late in O ctober h e set ou t with his little family

o n foot for thei r l ong j ou rney of o n e hu ndred and
,

fi fty miles through almost a pathless forest His .

pove rty w as extrem e But th e peculiar characte r

.

of th e man was su ch that he did n ot seem to regard

that at a l l Two pack ho rses conveyed all thei r

.
-

household goods Crockett led the party with a

.
,

child on on e arm and his rifle on th e other He .

walked gayly along singin g as merrily as t he b rd s

,
i
 LI F E ON THE OBI ON . 2 l9

Ha l f a dozen dogs followed him Then cam e t he.

‘
ho rses in single file H is wi fe and older children
.
,

follo w ing one a fter the o ther in single file alon g

the narrow trail closed up the rear I t was a very
, .

singular p rocession thu s winding it s way through

, ,

forest and moor ove r hills an d prairies, t o t he silen t

,

shores of the Mississippi The e vent ful jou rn ey was

.

sa fely accomplished an d he fou nd all things as h e

,

had le ft t h em A rich ha rvest of golden ears Wa s

.
'

waving in his co rn fi eld and h is com fortable cabin

-
,

i n a l l respects a s com fortable as the one he had

le ft was ready to receive its i nmates
,
.

H e soon gathered in his ha rv est and was t hu s ,

amply supplied with b read for the w i nt e r F u e l .

,

directly at his hand was ab u ndan t and thu s as we

, , ,

may say his coal bin was full Gam e of every kind
,
- .
,

excepting b u ffaloes wa s rangin g the woods which

, ,

requ ired n o she l ter or food at his e xpense and ,

fro m which he could at pleasu r e select any variety

, ,

of the most delicious animal food he mi ght d esire .

Thus his larde r was full to repletion The skin s of .

animals fu r nished them wi th warm and com fortable

clothing: easily decorated with fringes and som e
b right colo ring whose beauty w a s taste ful t o eve ry
,

eye Thus th e family wardrobe wa s amply stored

. .

Many m ight have deeme d Crockett a poo r m an .

He r ega rded himsel f as one of th e lords of c r eatio n .

 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

Christmas was drawing n igh I t may be d oubt .

:

ed whether C r ockett had the slightest appreciatio n

of the sacred characte r of that day which com m em o

ra tes the advent o f th e Son o f G od to su ffe r and die

for the si ns of the wo rld Wit h Crockett it had

.

ev e r been a day of jollifi ca t io n H e fi red sal ute s

.

with his rifle H e s u ng h is mer r iest songs H e

. .

told his fun n iest stori es H e indu lged himsel f in

.

t h e highest exhilaration wh ich whiskey could in

duce .

A s this h oliday app roached Crockett was m u ch

,

t roubled in finding that his powder w a s nearly

expended and that he h ad non e to fi re Christmas

,

guns .
”
This seemed r eally to an noy h i m mo r e
t han that he had n on e to h unt with .

I n th e mean tim e a brother in law had moved

,
- -

to that region and had reared his cabin at a distance

,

of six m iles from th e h ut of David Crockett on the ,

weste rn bank of R utherford s Fork on e of the tribu

’
,

t aries of O bion R iver H e had b ro ugh t wit h him a

.

keg of powd er for Crockett which had not yet b een

,

delivered .

The region al l arou nd was low and swampy .

The fall rains had so swollen the streams that vast

extents of territory were inu ndated A ll th e r ive r .

bottoms were covered wit h water Th e m eadows .

which lin ed the O bion where Crockett would ha ve

,
2 22 D AV ID C RO CKETT .

ould r each h is brother s cabin I qu ote from his

’
sh .

ow n accou nt of the adventure .

’
I didn t be fore kn ow how m u ch a person co u l d
“

su ffer and n ot die The snow was abou t fou r inche s

.

deep when I sta rted A n d when I got to th e water

.
,

which was only about a qu a rte r of a mile off it looked ,

like an ocean I pu t in and waded on till I came t o

.
,

the chan n el where I crossed that on a high log

, .

I then took wate r again h aving my gu n and al l my

,

h unting tools along and waded till I cam e to a deep

,

slough that w a s wide r than th e r iver itsel f I had

, .

o ften crossed i t on a log ; but behold when I got , ,

th ere n o log w as t o be seen .

’
I kn ow d of an island in the slough and a sap ,

l ing stood on it close to the side of t hat log which ,

’
w a s n ow en ti rely u nder water I know d further .
,

that th e wate r w as about eight or ten feet deep

u nde r the log an d I j udged it t o be three feet deep
,

over it A fter st u dying a little what I sho u ld d o I

.
,

determined to cut a forked sapling wh ich stood nea r ,

m e so as t o lodge it agai nst the on e that stood on

,

the island I n this I su cceeded very well I the n

. .

cu t m e a pole and then crawled along on my sap

,
.

ling till I got t o th e o n e it was lodged against which ,

was abou t six feet above the wat er .

I then felt about with th e pole til l I foun d t he

log which w as ju st about as de ep u nd er th e wat er
,
 LI FE ON TH E O BI O N . 223

as I had judged I then crawled back and g ot my

.

gun which I had le ft at the stum p of th e sapling I

,

had cut and again made my way to the place of

,

lodgment and then climbed down the othe r sapling

,

so as to get on t he log I felt my way along with

.

m y feet in th e water about waist deep bu t it was a -

,

mighty ticklish busin ess H owever I got over and.

, ,

by this t ime I h ad very litt le feel i n g in m y feet a n d

legs a s I h a d been all the time in th e water except
, ,

what time I w a s crossing the high log over the r iver

.

and climb ing my l odged sapling .

“ I wen t b ut a short distance when I came to

anothe r slough over which the r e w as a log but it was
, ,

floating on the wate r I thought I could walk it so I

.
,

mounted on it Bu t when I had g ot abou t the mid

.

dle of the deep wate r somehow or somehow else it

, ,

tu rn ed over and in I went up t o my head I waded

, .

ou t of this deep wate r an d wen t ahead till I cam e

,

to the highland where I stopped to pull of my wet

,

clothes and put on the ot hers which I held u p with

,

my gun above wate r when I fell in ”

.

This exchanging of h is dripping garments for

d ry clothes standing i n the snow fou r inches deep
, ,

and exposed t o the wintry blast must have been a ,

p retty sever e O peration Hardy a s Croc

. ket t w a s ,

he was so chilled and n umbed by t h e excessive cold

that his flesh had scarcely any feeli ng H e t ied his .
2 24 D AVID C RO C KETT .

we t clothes together and hu ng them u p on the l imb

of a t ree t o drip and dry
, H e thought he woul d
then set o u t on th e full run an d end eavor thus to
,

warn himsel f by prom oting the more rapid circul a

.

t ion of h is blood Bu t to h is su rprise he could

.

sc arcely move Wit h his utmost exertions h e cou ld

.

n ot take a step more than six inches in length

. .

H e had still five miles to yvalk through a rough , ,

pat hl ess forest encumbered with snow

,
.

By great and pain ful e ffort he gradu ally recov

e red th e use of his limbs and t oiling along for two or
,

three hou rs l ate in the evening wa s cheered by seeing

,

the light of a bright fire shin ing through the chinks

’
between the logs of his brother s lonely cabin H e .

wa s received with the u tmost cordiality E ve n his .

hardy pion eer brother listened with astonishment t o

the na r rat iv e of the perils he had su rmou nted and
the su fferings he had endured A fte r th e re fresh
.

m ent of a warm supper C rockett wrapped himsel f

,

in a bearskin and lying down upon the floo r with

, ,

h is feet to the fire slept the sweet u ntroubled sleép

, ,

of a babe I n t h e morning h e awoke as well as eve r

.
,

feeling n o bad consequ ences from th e ha rdships of

the prec eding d ay .

The next mo rning a freezing gale from th e n ort h

wailed through the snow-whiten ed forest and t he ,

co l d was almost u nen du rable The earnest per

. .
226 D AV I D C R O C KE TT .

to the th ickness of the ice that it would bea r hi;

-

w eight .

H e there fo r e shouldered his m usket and agai n

went into the woods on a hunt Though h e saw a n .

i mmense bear and follo wed him for some distance

, ,

he wa s u nable to shoot hi m A fter several hours ’

.

ab sen ce he r eturned empty-hand ed

, .

Anothe r morning dawn ed lurid and chill ove r , ,

the gloomy forest A gain h is frien d s entreated him

.

n ot to r u n the risk of an attempt t o return in such

fear ful weathe r
”
It wa s bitter cold he writes
.
“
, ,

’
bu t I know d my family was withou t m eat and I ,

det ermined to get home to them or die a trying ,

- .

We will let C r ockett tell his own story of his

adven t u res in going back
“
I took my keg of powd e r and all my hunti ng
tools an d cu t ou t When I got to the water it wa s
.
,

a sheet of ice as fa r as I cou ld see I p ut on t o it .

,

but hadn t got fa r be fore it broke th rough with m e ;

’

and so I took ou t my tomahawk and broke my way ,

along be fore m e for a considerable distan ce .

“
At last I got to where the ice would bear me
for a sho rt distance and I mou nted on it and wen t ,

ahead . But it soon b roke i n again and I had t o ,

wade on till I came to my floating log I fou nd it .

’ ’
so tight this t ime that I kn ow d it couldn t give m e
,

anothe r fa l l as it was frozen in with the ice

, I .
 LI FE ON TH E O BI ON . 2 27

c ro ssed over it withou t m u ch d ifli cu lty a nd worked '

a long till I cam e t o my lodged saplin g a n d m log

y
under th e water .

The swi ftness of th e cu rrent prevented the

wate r from freezing ove r i t ; an d so I had to wad e ,

j ust as I did when I crossed it be fore When I got .

to my sapling I le ft my gu n and climbed ou t with

, ,

my po wder keg first and then went back and got

-
,

my gu n By this tim e I w as n earl y frozen to death

.
,

bu t I saw all along be fore me w here the ice had

been fresh broke and I thought it m ust be a bear
,

strugglin g abou t i n t he wat er I there fore fresh .

primed my gu n and cold as I was I w as determined

, , ,

to make wa r on him if w e m et But I follo wed the .

trail till it led me hom e Th en I fou n d that it had .

been made by my you ng man that lived with me ,

who had been sent by my distressed wi fe t o see if ,

he could what had become of me for they all be

, ,
.

’
lieve d that I was dead When [ g ot h ome I wasn t .
,

q u ite dead but mighty n igh it but had my pow

,

der and that w as what I wen t for

,
.

’
The night a fter Crockett s return a heavy rai n
fell which toward m orning tu rned to slee t
, ,
But , .

there was no meat i n th e cabin There were at tha t .

t ime three men who were inmates of that lo w ly hut

—Crockett a young man Flavius Harris w ho had
, , ,

taken up his abode with the pion e e r and a b rothe r ,

:
228 D AV I D C RO C KETT .

ia -law , who had recently emigrat ed to th at wild

country and had reared his cab in not far distant
,

’
from Crockett s They all tu rn ed ou t hu nting
. .

Crockett hoping to get a bear went up the river in to

, ,

the dense and almost impen etrable thickets w he re ,

the gigantic forest had been swept low by the hu rri

cane The oth er t w o fo llowed down the st ream in
.

search of tu rkeys grouse an d su ch small game

, ,
.

C rockett took with him three dogs one of which ,

w a s an old hound faith ful sagacious but whose

, , ,

most vigorou s days were gon e The dogs were .

essential in hunting bears By their keen scent they

.

would find th e animal which fact they would a n

,

n ounce t o the h un te r by their loud b a rking Imme .

d ia t ely a fi erce ru nn ing fight would ensu e By this .

attack th e bear wou l d be greatly retarded in his

fl ight so that the hun te r could overtake him and
, ,

h e would o ften be d riven into a t ree where th e u n ,

erring rifl e-bullet would soon brin g him down .

'

The storm of sl eet still raged an d n oth ing could ,

be more gloomy than the aspect of d reariness an d

desolati on whi ch the w recked forest presented wit h
its dense growth of b riers and thorns Crockett .

toiled through the sto rm and the b r ush abou t six

m i l es u p the river and saw nothing,
H e then .

c rosse d over about fou r m iles t o another st re a m

, ,
.

Still n o gam e appeared T he storm was gro win g

.
2 30 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

o n as they sa w h im approach ing plunged into t he

s o

thicket .

Fo r a th ird time and a fou rth tim e this w as

, ,

repeated Cro ckett could not u nderstan d what i t

.

meant Crockett became angry at being thus de

. .

ceiv ed and resolved th at he would shoot th e O ld

,

h ound whom h e considered the ringleader in the

,

m ischie f as soon as h e got n ear enough to do so

, .

With th is i nt ention he says

“
I pushed on , ,

t he harder till I cam e t o the edge of an open

“

prairie ; and looking on be fore my dogs I sa w abou t ,

the biggest bear that eve r was seen in A merica .

H e looked at the distance h e w as from m e like a

, ,

large black bu ll My dogs we r e a fraid to attack

.

him and that was the reason th ey had stopped so

,

O ften that I might overtake them .

This is certainly a remarkable instance O f anima l

sagacity The th r ee dogs by some inexplicable
.
,

con feren ce among themselves decided that the ,

enemy was too formidable for them to attack alon e .

They there fo re su mmon ed their maste r to t hei r aid .

A s soon as th ey saw that he was n ear enough t o

len d his co operation then th ey fearlessly assailed ,

the monste r .

The sight i nspi red Crocket t with n ew li fe .

Th rough thickets briers and brambles they al l

, ,

r ushed— bea r dogs and hunter At lengt h t h e

. , .
,
 LI F E ON TH E O BI ON . 23:

shagg y m onster so fi ercely assailed climbed for

, ,

re fuge a large black oak tree an d sitt ing am ong the

-
,

bran ches looked composedly down upon th e do gs

,

barkin g fierc e ly at its foot Croc k ett crept u p withi n

.

about eighty yards and taking deliberate ai m at h is

,

b r east fired Th e bullet stru ck and pierced the

, .

m onster directly upon the spot at which it w a s

aimed The bea r u ttered a sh a rp cry mad e a convul
.
,

sive movem ent with one pa w an d remained as be fore ,

Speedily Crockett reload ed h is rifle and sent ,

another bullet to follow the fi rst The shaggy brute .

shuddered in every limb an d then tumbled h ead ,

long to the icy ground Still he w a s n ot killed . .

The dogs plu nged u pon hi m an d there w a s a tre ,

mendo ns fight The howling O f th e b ear a n d the

.
,

frenzied barking O f th e dogs with thei r sharp cries ,

O f pai n a s the claws of th e monster tore their fles h ,

and the d eathly struggle witn essed as they rolled

over an d ove r each other in the fi erce fi ght pre ,

sen ted a terrific spectacle .

Crockett hastened to the aid of h is dogs A s .

soon as th e bear saw hi m approach he forsook the

“

i n ferior an d tu rn ed with all fu ry u pon th e supe r io r

,

foe. Crockett w as hu rrying fo r ward wi th h is toma

hawk in on e h an d an d his big bu tcher k ni fe in t he -

ot her when th e bear with eye s flashin g fire rushed

, , ,

u p on him Crockett ran back seized his rifle and

. . .
23 2 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

with a thi rd bullet pen etrated th e mon ster s brai n ’

'

a nd he fell dead The dogs and their master seem

.

ed to rej oice alike in thei r g reat achievement .

By the rou t e wh ich Crockett had pursued he ,

was about twelve miles from hom e Leavin g the .

huge carcass wh ere t he an imal had fallen he en ,

d ea vored to m ake a straight lin e th r ough the forest

to his cabin That he m ight fi nd h is way back
.

again he would at eve ry little distan ce blaz e as it

, , , ,

w a s called a sapling that is ch ip O ff some O f the

, , ,

b a rk with his hatchet When h e g ot within a mile. .

of home thi s was no longer n ecessary .

Th e othe r two men had already retu rn ed to the

cabin A s the wolves might d evour the va l uable
.

m e a t be fore mo r ning they al l th ree set out imme

,

d iat ely n otwithstandin g thei r fatigu e and th e sti l l

,

ragin g sto rm and taking with them fou r pack

,

h orses hastened back t o bring i n their treasu re

, .

Crocke t t w rites :
“
We got there j ust be fore dark and struck a ,

fi re, and c o mmenced bu tcherin g my bear I t was .

some time i n the n ight be fore w e finished it A nd .

I can assert o n my hono r t hat I believe h e would

, ,

have weighed six hu n d red pounds It was th e sec .

o n d la rg est I ever saw I killed one a few years .

,

afte r th at weighed six h tind red a nd seven teen

,

p o unds I now felt fully compensat ed for m y su f

. .
2 34 D AV I D C RO C KE TT .

men presen t who were cand idates for th e State Le

g isl a t u.re While they were h aving a ve ry merry tim e ,

on e as though u ttering a though t which had that

,

m oment occu rr ed to him exclaimed Why C ro ckett

, , , ,

you ought to O ffer you rsel f for the Legislatu re for

you r district Crockett replied
. I live at least ,

”
forty miles from any white settlem ent H ere the .

matter dro pped .

A bout ten days afte r Crocket t s ret urn home a

’
,

’
stranger passing along stopped at Crockett s cabin
, ,

and told him that h e was a candidate for Legislature ,

and took from h is pocket a paper and read to him ,

th e annou ncemen t of the fact The re was so m e .

thing ia the st yle O f the arti cle which satisfied

Crockett that there was a little disposition t o make
fu n of him ; an d that h is nomination was intended a s
a bu rlesqu e This r oused him and he r esolved t o
.
,

put in h is claim with all h is zeal H e co n sequently .

hired a man t o work upon his farm and set ou t on ,

an electioneering tour .

Though very few people had seen Crockett he ,

had obtained very considerable renown in that com

mu nity of backwoodsmen as a great bear h unte r - .

Dr Butler a man of considerable p retension s and

.
, , ,

by ma r riage a neph ew o f General J ackson w as t he

, ,

rival candidate and a formidable one In deed he

, .
,

and his frien ds q uite amused themselves with the

 LI FE ON THE O B I ON . 235

idea that th e gentleman from the cane as they ,

contemptuously designated Crockett could be so ,

in fatuat ed as to think that there was the least chance

for him Th e population O f that wilderness region
.

was so scarce that the district for which a repr o

sen t a t ive was to be chosen consisted O f eleven
cou nties .

A great political gathering was called which was ,

to be held in M adison Cou nty which was the strong ,

est of them all H ere speech es were to be made by

.

the rival candidates and their friends and election ,

c ering w as to be practised by all the arts customary

in that rude community Th e narrative O f the events

.

whi ch ensu ed int rod uces us to a very singular stat e

of so c iety At the day appointed there was a large
.

assembly in every variety O f backwoods cost ume

, ,

among the st u mps and the lowly cabi ns O f J a ckson .

Crockett mingled with the crowd watching events , ,

listening to everything which was said and keeping ,

himsel f as far as possible u nknown .

Dr Butle r seeing a group of men entered among

.
, ,

them and called for whiskey to treat them all The

, .

Doctor had once met Crocket t w hen a few weeks b e

fore h e had been in Jackson selling his fu rs He .

ho wever did n ot recognize his rival among the crowd .

As th e whiskey was passin g freely around Crocket t ,

thought it a favorable moment to make h imsel f

236 D AV ID c noc rr .

known and to try his skill at an election eering speech

. .

H e w as a good looking man wit h a face beamin g

-
,

with fu n an d smiles and a cl ear ringing voice H e

, , .

j u mped u pon a st u mp and shouted out in tones ,

which sounded fa r and w i de and which speed i ly ,

gathered all arou nd him .

’
Hallo ! Doctor Butler ; you don t know m e
do you ! B ut I l l make you know m e mighty wel l
’

be fore A ugust I see they have weighed you ou t

.

’
against me Bu t I ll beat you mighty badly
. .

Butler pleasantly replied A h Colonel Crockett , , ,

is that y ou ! Where did you come from !

Crocket t rejoin ed O h I h ave j u st crept ou t
,
“
,

from the can e to se e what discoveries I could make

,

among the white folks You think you have greatly .

’
the advantage O f me Butler Tis t rue I live forty
, .

miles from any settlement I am poor and you are .

,

rich You see it takes two coonskins here to buy

.

’
a quart Bu t I ve good dogs and my little boys at
.
,

hom e will go to thei r de ath t o support my election .

They are mighty industrious They hu nt every .

n ight till twelve O clock I t keeps the little fellows

’
.

mighty busy to keep me in whiskey Wh en they .

gets tired I takes my rifle and goes ou t and k ills a

,

wol f for which the State pays m e three d ollars So

,
.

”
one way o r oth er I keeps knocking along .

Crockett perhaps judged correctly th at t h e can .

2 36

known a n d t
.

H e w as a g
with fun a n d
j umped u po ,

which so un c
gathered al l
H allo 2
do you ! B
be fore A u g r
against me .

Butler pl
is that you 3
_

Crocke t t
fr om the ca r
among t h e I:
the a d va nt a '

miles from a
rich You
.

a quart I l
.

hom e will
They a re
n ight till t ~

mighty b l .

gets tired ,

wol f for i t
,

on e way 0

Cro ck!
2 38 D A VID ‘ ‘
C RO C KET I .

Crockett soon made himsel f k now th rough all t he

grounds and he became immensely popula r The
, .

ba ckwoodsmen regarded hi m as their man belong ,

ing to their class and r epresenting their i nterests .

Dr Butle r was a man O f som e cultu r e an d a lit

.
,

tle proud and overbearing in his man ners H e had .

acquired what those poor m en deemed considerable

p rop erty H e lived in a framed ho use and i n his best
.
,

roo m he had a rug or carpet spread over the m iddl e

o f the floor This carp e t was a luxu ry whi ch many
.

o f the pio neers had n ever see n o r conceive d O f .

The Doctor standing on e day at his wi ndow saw

, ,

several persons whose votes he desired passing

, ,

along and he called them in to take a drink

, .

There was a table in the cent re of the room with ,

choice liqu o rs u pon i t The carpet beneath the .

table covered only a small portion of t he floor leav ,

ing on each side a vaca nt space aroun d the r oom .

The men cautiously walked arou nd this space with ,

.

o u t daring to put thei r feet upon th e carpe t After .

many solicitations from D r Butle r and seeing him .

,

u pon the carpet they ventured up to the table and

,

drank They ho wever we re u nde r great restraint

.
, , ,

and soon le ft mani festly not pleased with thei r

,

r eception .

Call i ng in at the n ext log house to which they

came they fou nd there one O f C r ockett s wa rm
’
,
 LI F E ON TH E O BI ON . 2 39

friends .They i nquired O f him what kind of a man

th e great bear hu nter was and received in reply that
-
,

he w as a fi rst rate man one O f the best h unt ers i n

-
,

the world ; that he was not a bi t proud ; that he

l ived in a log cabin withou t any glass for his win
,

dows and with the earth alone for his floor

, .

“
A h ! th ey exclaimed with o n e voice he s
”
,
“ ’

’
the fellow for us We ll n ever give ou r votes for
.

s uch a proud man as Bu tler H e called u s into his

.

hou se to take a d rink and spread down one O f his

,

best bed -quilts for us t o walk on I t was nothing .

”
b u t a piece of p ride
.
.

The day of election came an d Crockett was ,

v ictorious by a majority O f two hun d red and fo rty

seven votes Thus he fou nd himsel f a second time

.

a membe r O f the Legislatu re O f the State O f Ten

nessee and with a celebrity which caused all eyes t o
,

be tu rned toward t he g entleman from t he cane

”
.
 C HA PT ER I! .

Adom t urer in l lar Forest , on fire R iver, a nd

The Bear H unter s

’
—S ervi ce in the L egisl ature —C an didate
St ory.

for Con g ress .

—E l
ect ion eeri n g —The N ew S p ecul a tion — D isas
.

trou s Voyage —N arrow E scap e —N ew E l ection eeri n g E xpl oits

—Odd S peeches —T be Visit to Crockett s Cab in —His Pol iti
. .

’
. .

c al V iews — H is H onesty —O p p osition to J ack son

. . Scen e at .
-

R al eigh —D im s with the P resident -Gross Caricature —His .

CRO C K ETT w a s ve ry fond O f h u nting adventu r es -

,

an d told sto r i es of these enterprises in a racy w ay ,

p ecu liarly charact eristi c of the man The followin g .

narrati v e fro m his own lips the reader w ill certainly

,

peruse with m uch interest .

I was sitting by a good fire in my littl e cabi n ,

ou a cool N ovembe r evening roastin g potat oes I

-
,

believe and playin g w ith my child ren when som e

, ,

on e ha lloed at the fence I went out and there

.
,

were three st rangers who said they come to take a n

,

e l k h unt I was glad to see em invited em in

- .
’
,
’
,

an d a fter supper we cleaned our guns I took down .

old Betsey rubbed her up g rea sed he r and lai d

, , ,
 AD VEN T U RE S— F ORE ST R I V E R , ,
CITY . 24 !

he r away t o rest S he is a m ighty rough old pi ece

.
,

but I love her for sh e an d I have seen hard times

, .

Sh e mighty seldom t ells me a li e I f I hol d he r .

right she always sends the ball wh ere I tell he r

, .

A fte r we were al l fixed I told em hunting storie s

’
-
,

til l bedt i me .

“ 1
N ext m or n ing was clear and cold and by times ,

I sounded my ho r n and my dogs came howl in g ,

’
bout m e r eady for a chase O ld R attler was a
, .

l ittle lame— a bear bit h im i n the shoulder ; b ut

Sou ndw ell Tiger and the rest O f em we r e all
’
, ,

m ighty anxiou s We got a bite and saddled ou r

.
,

h orses I w ent by to git a neighbo r to drive for u s

.
,

and O ff we sta rt ed for the H a rrzkone My dogs .

looked m ighty w olfi sh they kept ju mpin g on on e

anothe r and growlin g I kn ew th ey were run mad .

’
for a fight for they hadn t had o ne fo r t w o or three
,

days We we r e in fin e spirit s and going long

.
’
,

th rough ve ry open woods when one of the st r an ge r s ,

’
Said I w ou ld give my horse now to see a bear .

Said I Well give me you r hOrse, and I point

,
’
,
‘

ed to an O ld bear abou t th ree or four h undred yard s

,

ahead of u s feeding on acorns

,
.

I had been looking at him some time bu t he was ,

’ ‘
so fa r off I wasn t c ertain what it was
, H owever .
,

I hard l y spoke be fore we all st rained off an d t he ,

woods fairly echoed as we ha rked the do g s on T he .

I I
 AD V E N T U R E S F O RE S T , R I V E R ,
— CI TY . 24 3

wiry edge 8 0 I placed th e st rangers at the stand s

.

through which I thought th e elk wou ld pass sen t ,

t h e d river w a y u p ahead and I wen t down below , .

E very th ing was quiet an d I l eaned old B etsey ,

’ ’
gin a tree an d laid down I s pose I had bee n
, .

lying there n early an hou r whe n I h eard old Tiger ,

ope n H e opened on ce o r twice and old R at tle r

.
,

gave a long howl ; the balanc e j o i n ed in and I ,

knew t he elk we r e up I ju mped up an d seized my .

rifl e I could h ear nothin g b ut on e contin u ed roar

.

of all my dogs comin g right towards m e , Though .

I w as an old hun ter the mu sic made my hai r stan d

,

on Soon a fter t hey fi rst started I hea rd one ,

g u n go o ff a n d my dogs stopped bu t no t long for

, , ,

they took a littl e tack towards where I had placed

the stra ngers O ne of th em fi r .ed an d they dashe d ,

ba ck and circled rou nd w ay to my le ft I run down

,
.

’
bout a qua rt e r of a m ile and I heard my dogs mak e ,

a bend like th ey were c omi ng t o me While I w a s .

l isten ing I heard the bushes break i ng sti ll lowe r

,

down and started to run there

,
.

A s I was going long I seed two elks bu rst ou t

’
,

’
of the H u r rica ne bou t on e h u ndred and th irty o r

fo rty yard s b elow m e The r e w a s an old b u ck an d

. .

a doe I stopped wait ed till they g ot in t o a clea r

.
,

lace an d as the old fel low m ad e a l eap I rais ed

p , ,

old Bet p ulled t rigge r and she spok e ou t The

, , .
 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

s moke blinded m e so that I could n t see what I

,
’

d id but as it cl e ared away I caught a glimpse of ,

only on e of t hem going th rough th e bushes ; so I

t hought I had th e other I wen t up and the re lay
.
,

t he old buck kicking I cut his throat and by

.
,

that t i me Tige r and t w o of my dogs cam e u p I

, .

’
t hought it singular that all my dogs wasn t there ,

and I began to think they had killed another .

A fter the dogs h ad bit him and fou nd ou t he was ,

d ead old Tige r began t o gro wl and cu rled h imsel f

, ,

u p between h is legs E ve rything had t o stand off

.

t hen for h e wouldn t let the devi l himsel f tou ch

,
’

I sta rt ed off to look for the strange rs My .

two dogs followe d me Afte r gitting away a piece

.
,

I looked back and once in a while I could see old

,

Tiger git up and shake the elk to see if he wa s ,

r eally dead and then cu rl up between his legs agin

, .

I fou nd the st range rs round a doe elk the dri v er had

kill ed and one of em said he w as su re he had killed
’

o n e lowe r down I a sked h im if he had horns H e

. .

said he didn t see any I put th e dogs on whe r e he

’
.

said he had shot and they didn t g o fu r be fo re they

,
’

came to a halt I went u p and th e r e lay a fin e

.
,

buck elk ; an d thou g h his horns were fou r o r five

feet long the fello w who shot him was so scare d
,

that he neve r saw them We had th r ee elk an d a

.
,
 AD V EN T URES F OR E S T, R I VE R , orrv
— . 24 5

bea r ; and we m an aged t o git it home then butch ,

ered our game , talked over ou r hu nt and had a glori ,

”
ou s frolic .

Crock ett se rved in th e Legislatu re for two years ,

d uring which time n othing occu rred of special inte r

est These were the years of 1 82 3 and 1 824 Colo
. .

n el A l exander was then th e rep resentative i n the N a ,

t ional Legislatu r e of th e dist r ict in which C r ockett

,

li v ed H e had o ffen ded h is con stitue nts by voti n g

.

for th e Tari ff I t was proposed to ru n Crockett for

.

Congress in opposition t o h im C rockett says .

I t old th e peop l e that I could not stan d t hat .

’
I t was a step above my knowledge ; and I kn ow d
n othing abo ut Cong r ess m atte rs ”
.

They pe rsisted ; bu t he lost th e e l ect i on ; for

cotto n w as very high an d A lexan der u rged that i t
,

w as i n conse qu en ce of the Tari ff Two years passed

.

away which C rockett spent i n th e wildest a dven

,

t ures o f h unting He was a t r ue man of the woods

.

w i th no amb i tion for any b etter hom e than t he log

cab i n h e occupied There was n o excit ement so
.

d ear to him as th e pu rsu it an d captu re of a g ri zz l y

b ea r Th ere is n oth ing on reco rd in th e w ay of
.
,

hu nt i ng w hich su rpasses th e exploits of this r enown

,

ed bear hu nte r Bu t th ere is a ce r tai n de g ree of

-
.

sameness i n these n arratives of sk ill and end u r a nce

wh i ch would wea ry the r ead er .

 A D VEN T U RE S — FORE ST RI V ER CITY
, , . 24 7

a nd obstinate that i t was ne xt akin to im possible to

do any thi ng at all with them or to g uide them ,

right i n the river .

That eveni ng we fell i n company with some

O hi o boat s an d abou t night we tri ed t o land but
, ,

w e could not The O hio men hollered to us to go

.

on and run all n ight We took their advice though

.
,

we had a good deal rath e r not B u t we couldn t .

’

do any other way I n a sho rt distance we got into

.

what is called t he Devil s E lbow A nd if any place

’
.

in the wide creation has its own p r oper na m e I

‘

t hought it w as this H ere w e had about the hard

.

est wo r k that I was ever engaged i n i n my li fe to ,

keep out of dange r A nd even then we were in i t

.

a ll the while We twice attempted to lan d at

;

’
Wood Yards which we could see bu t couldn t
, ,

reach .

“
The people would r un out with lights and try ,

to instruct us how to get to shore ; but all in vain .

O u r boats were so h eavy that we could not take

t hem much any way except the way they wanted to
go a nd just t he way the cu rrent would carry them
, .

A t last we quit t rying to land and concluded j ust ,

to go ahead as w ell as we could for we found we ,

couldn t d o any bette r

’
.

Some tim e in the night I was down in the cabi n

of one of the boats sittin g by the fire thinkin g o n
, ,
 D AV ID C RO C KETT .

what a hobble we had g ot into ; and how m u ch

b e tter bear hunting was on hard land than floating
-
,

along o n the wate r when a fellow had to go ahead

,

whether he was exactly willing or not The hat c h .

way of the cabin came slap down right th rough the ,

to p of th e boat an d it was th e only way ou t except ,

a s m all hole i n the sid e whi c h w e had used for put

ting ou r arm s through to dip up water be fore we
lash ed the boats together .

We we re now floating sideways and the boat I ,

w as in w as th e h indmost a s we went A l l at once I .

h ea rd the h ands begin to ru n over th e t op of the

boat in great con fusion and p ull with all their migh t
, .

A nd the fi rst t hing I know d a fter this we wen t

’

broadside ful l tilt against the head of an island ,

wh ere a la rg e raft of dri ft timber had lodged Th e .

nat ure of such a pl ace would be a s eve rybody knows

, ,

t o su ck the boats down an d tu rn th em r ight u nde r

t his r a ft ; an d the u ppe rmost boat wou l d o f course , ,

’
be suck d dow n and go u nder fi rst A s soon as we .

struck I bu lged for my hatchway a s the boat was

, ,

turning u nder su re en ough Bu t when I got t o i t

.
,

the water wa s pou ring th ro u gh in a cu rrent as larg e

as the hole wou ld let it , and as stron g as th e w eight
-

of the river would force it .I found I couldn t g et ’

ou t here for the boat w a s now t u rned down in su ch

,

a wa y that it was st eeper than a house top I n ow - .

 A DVEN T U RE S F ORE S T
-
, RI vE R , CITY .

thought the ho l e in the side and m ade my w ay

of ,

i n a hurry for that .

With d i ffi culty I g ot to it and when I got there , ,

I fou nd it was t oo small for m e to get dut by my

ow n powe r an d I began to think that I w a s in a
,

worse b ox than eve r Bu t I p u t my arms th rough .

,

and holle r ed as l oud as I cou ld roar as the boat I ,

’
was in had n t yet quite filled with water u p t o my
head ; an d the han ds w h o were next to the raft see ,

ing my a r ms out and h earing m e holle r seized

,
v
,

them and began t o pull I told t hem I w as sink

, .

i ng and to p ull my a rms off or force m e th rough for

, , ,

’
n ow I k now d well en ough i t wa s n eck or n othin g ,

com e ou t or sink .

By a V iolent e ffort they jerked m e th rough ; but

I was i n a p retty pickle wh ea g ot through I had .

been sitting without any clothing over my shi rt ;

’
t his was torn off an d P was literally skin n d like a
,

rabbit I was however well pleased t o get ou t in

.
, ,

any way even withou t shi rt or hide ; a s be fore I

,

could straighten mysel f on th e boat n ext to the ra ft ,

’
the one they p ull d m e ou t of went entirely u nder ,

and I have n eve r seen it any m o re t o this day We .

all escaped on to the ra ft whe re we were comp elled ,

to sit all n ight about a m ile from land on either side

,
.

Fou r of my company were barehead ed an d th re e ,

bare foote d and of that n umber I was on e I recko n .

V
I I
 AD VEN T UR E S— F ORE ST R I V ER , ,
CITY . 2 5]

This was the last of my boats a n d of my boat ,

in g ; for i t wen t so badly with me alo n g at th e first ,

t hat I had n ot m uch mi nd to try it any m ore I .

now returned home a gain and as the n ext A ugust , ,

wa s the Congressional election I began to t u rn my ,

attention a little to that matter as it was begin ni n g ,

”
to be talked of a good d eal among the people .

Co tton was down very low Crockett c ould n ow .

say to the peopl e : You see th e e ffects of the

“

”
Tari ff There were two rival candidates for the
.

o ffice Colonel A lexander and Gen eral A rn old

, .

M o n ey w as n eeded to carry the election and Crock

o ,

ett had no money H e resol ved however to t ry

.
, ,

his chan ces A friend loan ed him a little money t o

.
-

start with wh ich su m Crockett of cou rse expended , ,

i n whiskey as the most potent influence then and

, ,

there to secu re an election

, .

”
So I w as a b le writes Crockett , to buy a ,

’
little of the creatu re to put my friends in a g o od
,

hu mor as well as the other gen tlem en for they al l

, ,

treat i n that cou ntry ; n ot to get elected of cou rse , ,

for that would be against the law b ut j ust to mak e ,

themselves and thei r friends feel their keeping a

”
little
.

The contest was as usual made u p of drinking

, , ,

feastin g and speeches , Colonel A lexander was a n

.

int elligen t and worthy man who had been publi c ,

2 52 D AV ID CRO C K ETT .

su rv eyor . Gen eral A rnold w a s a l awyer of very

r espectab l e attai nments N eith er of these m en
.

consid ered Crockett a cand idat e i n the sligh test

degree to be feared They only feared each other
.
,

and t ried t o circu mvent eac h other .

O n on e occasion there was a large gat hering ,

where all three of the candidates were p resent and ,

each on e w as expe cted to make a speec h I t cam e .

’
Crockett s lot to speak fi rst H e knew nothing of .

Cong ressional a ffai rs and had sense enough to be

,

a ware that i t w a s not best for him to attempt to

speak upon s ubjects of which he w a s e ntirely ig no

ran t H e m ade on e of his fu nny speeches very
.
,

sho r t and entirely n on -committal Colon el A lex .

ande r followed en deavoring to grapple with the

,

great q u est ions of tari ffs fin ance and in ternal im

, ,

p ro v em ent s which ,
were then agitating th e nation .

Gen eral A rnold then in h is tu rn took the, ,

st ump opposing th e measu res whi ch Colon el A lex

'

ander had le ft He seemed e ntirely t o i gnore the

.

fact that Crockett was a cand idate N ot th e slight .

est allusion wa s m ad e t o h im in his speech Th e .

n ervous tem perament predom inated in the m an ,

and he was easily an noyed While speaking a .

,

l a rge flock of guin ea hens came along whose p ecu

‘
-
,

lia r an d no i sy cry all will r e m emb er w h o have eve r

heard it . A rnold was greatly dist urbed and at ,
 A D VEN T U R ES— F ORE ST R I V ER , , c m Y.
‘
2 53

la st requ ested som e to d rive the fow l s away

one .

A s soon as h e had finished h is speech C ro cket t ,

again mounted the st ump and ostensibly address ,

ing A rnold bu t really addressing th e crowd said

, , ,

i n a loud voice bu t ve ry jocosely

,

Well Gene ral you a r e th e first man I eve r saw

, ,

t hat u n derstood the language of fowls You had .

n ot th e politeness even t o allu de to me i n you r

speech But when my littl e friends the g u in ea

.

‘
hens came u p and began to holler Crockett
, ,

Crockett Crockett you we re u ngen e rous en ou gh

,
’
,

”
to drive them all away .

This raised such a unive rsal l augh that even

C rockett s opp orients fea red that h e wa s getting
’

the best of them i n win ni ng the favo r of the people .

When the day of election came the popula r bear ,

h u nter beat bot h of his competitors by twenty

seven h un d red an d fo r ty seven votes Thus David - .

Crockett u nable to read and ba r ely able t o sign his

,
‘

n ame becam e a member of Cong r ess t o assist i n

, ,

fram ing laws for the grandest r epublic earth h as

ever known H e r epresented a constitu ency of
.

abou t one h u ndred thousand souls .

A n i ntelligent gen tlem an t ravelling in Wes t ,

T en nessee fi ndin g h imsel f withi n eight miles of

,

’
Colonel C rock ett s cabin decided t o call upon the
,

m a n whose name had now b ecom e q u it e renowne d .

’
 ADV EN T U RE S— F O RE ST R IV ER , , CITY . 2 55

This is Colonel Crock et tis resid en ce I pre ,

"
su me said the stranger
, .

”
“
Y es w a s th e reply with a smile as of w el
, ,

com e .

H ave I the pleasu re of seeing that gentlem an

be fore me ! t he st ra ng er added '

w a s the cou rtly reply

’
I f it be a pleasure , ,

”
yo u have sir , .

Well Colon el responded th e stranger I have

, , ,

ridden m u ch ou t o f my way to spend a day or t wo

”
with you and take a hu nt
, .

’
Get do wn sir said the Colonel cordially
, ,
I , .
“

am delighted to se e you I like t o see st ra ngers . .

A nd the only careI have is that I cann ot a ecom

m od a t e them a s well a s I could wish I h ave no .

corn bu t my little boy will take your horse over t o

,

’
my son in law s H e is a good fellow an d will take
- - .
,

”
care of him .

L ead i n g the st ranger i nto his cabin Crockett ,

very cou rteously in t rodu c e d him t o his brother his ,

wi fe and his daughters H e then added :

, .

“
You see we are mighty rough h ere I am .

a fraid you will think it hard times Bu t w e have .

t o do t he best we can I started m ighty poor an d

.
,

’
have been rooting long ever since Bu t I hate apol .

ogies What I live upon always I t h ink a friend

.
,

ca n for a day or two I have bu t l ittle b u t th a t

.
2 56 D AV ID '

C RO C K E I T
‘
.

l ittle as free a s t he water that r uns S o make

is .

”
you rsel f at hom e .

M rs Crockett w a s an intelligent and capable

.

w om an fo r on e i n h er statio n i n li fe Th e cabin .

was clean and orde rly an d p rese nt ed a gene r al ,

a spect of com fort Many t rophies of th e chase were

’

in th e h ouse and spread arou nd the yard Several

, .

dogs lookin g like w a r wo rn veterans were su nnin g

,
-
,

themselves in vario us pa rt s of t he premises .

A ll th e fam ily we re n eatly d ressed in ho me

made garments M rs Crockett w as a grave digu i
. .
,

fi ed woman very cou rteous to her gu ests

,
The .

daught ers were remarkably p retty bu t v ery d iffi ,

d ent Though entirely u n edu cat ed th ey could con

.
,
’
verse very easily seeming to i nh erit their father s
,

flu ency of u tterance Th ey we re act ive and e ffi cient

.

in aid in g thei r mother in her household work .

Colon el Crockett wi th m uch apparent pl easu r e

, ,

conducted h is gu est over the small patch of g r ound

he had grubbed a nd was cultivating H e exhibited .

h is growing peas a n d pu mpkins and h is little field ,

o f corn with as m uch apparent pleasure as an Illinois

,

farm e r wou ld now poi nt ou t h i s h u ndreds o f acres

of waving grai n The h unter seemed su rprisi n gly
.

well in formed A s w e have m enti on ed n atu re had

.
,

endowed him with u n u su al strength of mind and ,

with a mem ory which was almost m iraculous He .

 D VENT U R ES FORE ST
A — , R I VER , CITY . 2 57

ne ve r fo r got a n yth i ng h e had h eard H is e l ectio n .

c ering to u r s h d been to him very val u abl e schools

a
of ed ucation Care fully he listened t o all t he
.

speeches and the conversation of the i n telligen t

men he m et with .

John Quincy A dams was then in the Pr esidentia l

c hai r . It was the yea r 1 82 7 N early all Crockett s .
’

constitu ents were st rong Jackson m en Crockett - .

,

w h o a fterward opposed Jackson subsequ ently said , ,

speaking of his vi ews at that time

I can say on my consci en ce that I w as with , ,

ou t disgu ise the friend and suppo rter of Gene ral

,

Jackson upon h is princi ples as h e had l aid them ,

down and as I un derstood them , be fore his e l ec

,

tion as P r esident ”
.

A llud i ng t o Crockett s political V iews at t hat ’

time h is gu est wri tes

, I held in high estimation
,

the p resen t A d m inistration of ou r cou nt ry To this .

he w a s opposed H is views howeve r delighted me

.
, , .

A nd were they m o r e generally adopted we shou ld

be non e the lose r He w as opposed to the A dmin
.

ist rat ion and yet con ced ed th at m any of it s acts

,

w ere wise and efli cien t and would have r ecei ved ,

h is cordial support H e admired M r Clay b ut had

. .
,

obj ections t o h im H e was opposed t o the Tari ff

. .

yet I think a supporte r of the U nited States Bank

, ,

He seem ed t o ha v e the m ost horrib l e obj ectio n

 AD V E N T U R E S— F ORE ST , I VER CIT Y
R , . 2 59

did n ot give way that I might come t o the fi re I .

wa s rooting my w ay to th e fire n ot in a good

‘

hu mor when som e fellow sta g gered u p towards me

, ,

and cried ou t H u rrah for A dams

,
’
.

‘
Said I St ranger you had better h urrah for
, ,

’
hell an d praise your ow n cou nt ry
, .

A nd who are you ! said h e I replied .

“ ‘
I am that sam e David Crockett fresh fro m ,

the backwoods hal f horse hal f alligat or a l ittle

, , ,

touch ed with the snappi ng tu rtle I can w ade th e - .

M ississippi leap the O hio ride u pon a streak of

, ,

lightn i n g and slip witho ut a scratch down a hon ey

,

locust . I can whip my weight i n W ild cats and

, , ,

if any gentle m an pleases fo r a te n dollar bill he

,
-

can thro w i n a pan ther I can hug a b ear t oo close

.

fo r com fort and eat any man opposed t o Genera l

,
’
J ackson .

A ll eyes were im m ediately tu rn ed toward this

strange m an for al l had heard of h im A place was
,
.

p romptly made for hi m at the fi re H e w a s a fte r .

ward asked if this wond rous ou tbu rst of slang w a s

en ti re l y u npremeditated He said that it w as ;
.

that it had all popped into his h ead at once ; an d

t hat he should n ever have thought of it again ,

had not t h e story gon e the rou nd of the n ews

p apers .

“
I came on t o Washington he says , ,
2 60 D AV ID C RO C KE TT .

d ra w ed two hu ndred and fi fty dollars , and p ur

chased with it a ch eck on the bank in N ashvil l e ,

and enclosed it to my fri end A n d I may say in

.
,

truth I sent t his m on ey with a mighty good will ;

,

for I r ecko n nobody i n this world loves a frien d

”
bett e r than me or rem embers a kin dness longer
, .

Soon a fte r his arrival at Wash ingto n he wa s

i nvited t o d in e w ith President A dams a m an o f ,

the high est cu ltu re w hose manners had been

,

formed in th e cou rts of E u rope Crockett totally

.
,

u nacquaint ed with the usages of soci ety did not ,

know what the note of i nvitation m ean t an d ,

in q uired of a friend the H on M r V erplanck

, . . .

H e says
’
“
I w a s wild from t he backwoods and didn t ,

know nothin g about eating d in ne r wit h the big

folks of o u r count ry A nd h ow shou ld I having
.
,

b een a hu n ter all my l i fe ! I had eat m ost of my

d in n ers on a log i n the woods an d som etimes n o
,

d in n er at all I kn ew wh ether I ate dinner with

.
,

the President or n ot was a matter of no importan ce ,

for my const ituents we re n ot t o be benefited by it .

I did not go t o co urt the President for I w as ,

o p posed t o h im in prin ciple an d had n o favors t o

,

ask at his hands I w a s a fraid , howev er I shou l d

.
.

be awkward as I w a s so entirely a st r ange r t o

,

fashion ; and in going along I resolved t o obser ve

,
 A D VEN T URE S— F ORE ST R IV ER , , CIT Y . 2 6.

the con d u ct of my frie nd M r V erplanck and to d o .

,

a s he did A nd I kn ow that I did behave mysel f

.

righ t well .

Some cr u el wag wrot e the following l udicrous

accou nt of this dinner party which wen t the rou nd -
,

of all the papers as veritable history The writer pre .

’
tended to quote Crockett s own accou nt of th e dinne r .

"
Th e first thing I did said Davy a fter I got , ,

’
to Washington was to g o to the Presiden t s
,
I .

stepped int o the Presi dent s hou se Thinks I who s ’

.
,
’

’
afeard I f I didn t I wish I may be shot Says I
.
, .
,

‘
Mr A dams I am M r Crockett from Tennessee
.
, .
, .
’

So says he H ow d ye do M r Crockett ! A nd
, ,
’ ’
,
.

’
he shook m e by the hand although he know d I ,

’
wen t th e whole hog for Jackson I f he didn t I .
,

wi sh I m ay be shot .

N ot only that but he sent m e a printed ticket

,

’
to dine w it h him I ve got it in m y pocket yet I
. .

w en t to din n e r and I walked all aroun d the long

,

table lookin g for something that I liked At last

,
.

I t ook my seat beside a fa t g oose , an d I h elped

’
m ys el f to as m u ch of it as I wanted Bu t I hadn t .

took three bites whe n I looked away up the table

,

at a man they called Ta s/z (a tt ach e) H e w a s talk .

i ng French to a woman on t othe r side of the table ’

.

H e dodged his head an d she dodged hers and the n ,

they got t o dri nki ng wine across the table .

 A D V E NT U R E S— FO R E ST R I V E R , , CITY . 2 63

’
.

sweet and good so I took six of them I f I didn t

,
.
,

I wish I m ay be shot l
This hu m orous fabrication was copied into
almost every paper in the U n ion The more re .

’
sp ect a b le portion of Crockett s constitu ents were so

a n noyed that t heir representative should be thus

held up to the cont empt of the nation that Crockett ,

fel t constrain ed to present a reliable r e futation of

H e t here fore obtai ned an d published
'

the sto ry .

certificates from thre e gentlemen testi fying t o h is ,

good behavior at th e table H on M r V erplanck. . .

,

o f N ew York, testifi ed as follows

’
I dined at the Presiden t s at the time allud ed
“
,

t o in company with you and I ha d I recollect a

, , , ,

good d eal of conversation with you Your behavi or .

there was I t hough t per fe ctl y becom ing an d proper

, , .

An d I do not recol lect o r believe that you said o r

, ,

”
li d anyth i ng resembling the n ewspaper accou n t .

T wo other m embers o f Congress were equally

e xplicit in their t estimony .

’
D uring Crockett s fi rst t w o sessions in Congress
h r g ot along very smoothly co operating gen erally
,

w i th what was called the J ackson party I n 1 8 29 .

h e was again re elected by an overwh elming major

it y . O n the 4 t h of March of this year A ndrew Jack ,

son w as inaugu rated President of the U n ited States .

I t may be doubted whet h er there ever was a mo r e

2 64 D AV ID C RO C K E I T
' ‘
.

honest conscientious man i n Congress than Dav i d

,

Crockett H is ce l ebrat ed m otto Be su re that y ou

.
,

are right an d th en go ahead , seemed ever to an i ,

mate him H e cou l d n eithe r be menaced or bribed

.

t o support a ny m easu re which h e thought t o be

wrong E re long he fou nd it n ecessa ry to O ppose

.

’
som e o f J ackson s measu res We will let h im t ell .

the sto ry in his ow n truth ful w ords :

“
S oon a fter the com m en cem ent of this secon d
t e r m I saw or thought I d id that it was expected
, , ,

of me that I wou l d bow to th e nam e of A ndre w

J a c k so n a n d fo l low
, h i m i n all his mot ions and wind ,

i n gs and t urn i ngs even a t the expense of my con

, ,

science and j udgment Such a thing was n ew to me .

,

'
and a total stranger to my principles I kn ow d .

w el l en ough though that if I did n t h u r rah for

’ ‘ ’
, ,

h is n am e th e h ue an d cry w a s t o be raised against

,

m e and I was t o be sacrificed if possible His

, , .

famou s or rathe r I should say his inf a m ous I n dia n

,

bill was brou g ht fo rwa rd and I O pposed it from th e ,

p u rest m otives i n t h e worl d Several of m y col .

lea gu es got arou n d m e and told m e h ow well they ,

loved m e and that I w as r uining mysel f They said

, .

this w a s a favorite m easu re of the Presiden t a n d I

'

o ught t o g o for it I t o l d them I be lieved it w as a

.

w icked u i u st m easure an d that I shou ld g o agai n st

, ,

it let th e cost to mysel f b e what it might ; that I

,
 A DVE N T UR E S — F O R E S T R I VER , , CITY . 265

was wi l ling t o go w i th Gen e ral J ackso n i n eve ryth i ng

t hat I beli e v ed w as hon est an d right ; bu t fu r th e r ,

than this I wouldn t go for him or any othe r man in

,
’

t h e whole c r eat ion .

I had been elect ed by a m ajority of th r ee thou

san d five h u n d r ed an d e ighty-fi ve votes and I be ,

lieved they we re honest m en and w ould n t wan t

’
,

m e to vote for any u nj u s t n otion to p l ease Jackson ,

or a ny on e e l se ; at any rate I w as of age an d

, ,

dete r m in ed t o t rust th em I voted against this

.

I ndian bill and my consci ence yet tells m e that I

,

ga v e a good h onest vote and one that I believe w ill

, ,

n ot make m e ashamed in the day of j udgmen t I .

se rved out my te r m an d t hough many amus i n g

,

t hings happen ed I a m n ot disposed to sw e ll m y

,

n arrat i ve by i nsertin g th em .

Wh en it closed and I r etu r n ed hom e I found

, ,

t h e sto r m had raised against m e su r e en ough ; and it

was e choed fr om side t o side and fr om end t o end o f

,

my dist rict that I had tu rn ed against Jackson This

, .

was conside r ed the u npardon able sin I was h u nted .

down l ike a wild va r ment an d in thi s hu nt eve ry

,

l itt l e newspap e r i n the district an d eve ry little pi n

,

ho ok l awy er w as engaged Ind eed t hey we r e ready

.
,

to p ri nt anything an d everything that the ingen u

it y of man cou ld inven t against m e .

I n con se q ue n ce of this opposi tion C rockett lo st ,

 CHAPT E R x .

Crockett s Tour to tire N z a nd

ari / tire E ast.

His R el ti t C g —Th N th T —Fi t S ight of l

e ec on o on ress e or ern our. rs

R i l d R pti i Phil d lphi —Hi Fi t Sp h —A

a roa .
- ece on n a e a. s rs eec r

riv l i N w Y k —Th O v ti
a a e th —Vi it t B t
or C e a on ere. s o os on. - am

b idg d L w ll —Sp i
r e an f hi S p
o eh —E xp
. i ofec m en s o s eec es ans on

hi I d
s —R pid I p v
eas t a m ro em en .

CO L ONE L CRO C KE TT h av i ng b een reé lect ed ,

ag ain r epaired to Wash ington D u ring the sess i on , .

to complete his ed ucation an d th e bette r to p repa r e ,

himse l f as a l egi slato r for th e who l e n ation , he d ecided

to take a sh ort t r ip t o th e N o rth and th e E ast .

His health had also b egu n t o fail an d h is physician s ,

adv i sed h im to g o H e w as thoroughly ac q uainte d

.

with th e Great W est Wit h his r ifle upon his shou l .

de r i n the C r eek Wa r h e h ad m ad e wide e xp l o r a~

,
-
,

tions t h rough the S ou t h Bu t th e N o rth and t he .

E ast were regio n s as yet u n known t o him .

O n th e 2 5t h of A pril 1 834 h e le ft Washington , ,

for this N o r thern to u r H e reached Baltimore that .

e v ening wh e r e he was i nv i ted t o a suppe r by som e

,

of the leadin g gent l em en H e w r ites : .

E arly next mo r nin g I sta rted for Ph il ade lp h i a ,

268 D AV ID C R O C K E TT .

a p l ace wh ere I had n eve r been I so rt of felt l on e

.

some as I wen t down t o t he steamboat The ide a .

of going amo ng a n e w people where the r e are ten s

,

of thousands who wo uld pass me by w itho u t kno w

i ng or ca ring who I was w ho are al l taken up with

,

t heir own pleasu res or thei r own busi ness m ade m e ,

feel small ; and indeed if any on e w ho reads this

, ,

book h as a g rand id ea of hi s own i mpo rtance let ,

h im g o t o a big city and he w ill find t hat he is n ot

,

higher val ued t han a coo n skin .

The steamboat w as the Ca rro ll of Ca rrollton a ,

fi n e craft w ith the rum old Commodo re Chaytor for

,

h ead m an A good fe l low he i s a ll sorts of a man

.
—
—bowing an d scraping to the l adies nodd i ng to ,

th e gentlemen cu rsi ng the crew and h is ri ght eye

, ,

br oad-cast upon the oppos i tion l in e a l l at th e

’
,

same ti me Le t g o l said the dld on e and off we

.
,

w alked i n prim e style .

O u r passage down C hesap eake Bay w a s v e ry

p leasant . I n a v ery short run we cam e t o a place

where we were t o get o n board th e rail ca r s This - .

was a clean new s i ght t o me About a dozen big

.

stages hu n g on to o n e machine After a goo d .

deal of fuss we all got seated an d moved slo w ly

off the engin e wheezing a s though sh e had t h e
,

t iz z ic
. By-an d-by she began t o take short b r eaths,
,

and away we w ent wi th a b l u e st reak a fte r uh

, The
 T O UR NORTH AN D EA S T .

whol e distance is seven tee n miles I t was r u n in .

fi ft y-fi ve m in utes .

A t Delaware City I again embarked on board ,

of a splendid steamboat When din ner was ready .

,

I set down w i th th e rest of the passengers A mon g .

them was R ev 0 B Brown of th e Post Offi ce De

. . .
,
-

p a rt m e n t ,w h o sa t n ea r m e D u ri n g din n er h e .

o rde r ed a bott l e of wi n e and called upon me for a ,

t oast . N ot kn owing wheth e r h e in te nded t o c om

p l im e n t m e o,r abash m e among so many strangers ,

o r have som e fu n at my expense I conc l uded t o g o ,

ahead an d give h im and his like a b lizzard So ou r

, .

glasses being filled the word wen t round , A toast

,

from Colon e l C r ockett

’
I g ive it as follows .

’
H ere s wishi ng t h e bones of tyran t kings m ay
answer in hell i n place o f grid iron s to roast the
, ,

souls of To r ies on ’
A t t his the parson appeared
.

as i f he w a s st u m p t I said N eve r heed ; it w as

.
,

meant for whe r e it b elonged ’

H e did n ot repeat .

h is i nvitat i on and I eat my din n e r qu iet l y

, .

A fte r d in n er I went u p on the deck and saw ,

th e capta i n hoist i ng t h ree flags S ays I What ‘

.
,

d oes that mean ! H e replied t hat he w a s u nde r ,

promise t o th e citizens of Phi l adelph ia if I w as on ,

board to h oist his fla g s as a friend of m ine had sai d

, ,

he expected I would be alon g soon .

“
We went on till w e cam e i n sight o f the city
 T O UR NO RTH AN D EA ST . syr

st r eet , a nd
pressing in to th e hou se t o shake hand s .

I was cond u cted u p stai rs , an d walked ou t on a

plat form d rew O ff my h at and bowed r o u nd t o t he
, ,

people They c ried o u t from a ll q ua rters A s peech ,

.
,

a speech Co l one l C rockett

,
’
.

A fte r t he n oise had qu it so I co uld be hea rd I , ,

said t o th em t he fol lowin g wo r ds

G E N T LE M E N OF PH I LADE LP H I A
‘“
M y visit to you r city is rathe r acciden ta l I .

had n o expectati on of a t t rhcting any u ncom mo n

atte ntion I am t r a v elling for my healt h w it hou t
.
,

the least wish O f excit ing the peop l e in su ch t i mes

of high political feeling I d o not wish to en cou rage
.

it I am u n able at this tim e t o fin d l anguage su it

.

able to r etu rn my g ratit ud e to the citizens of Phila

d elphia H owever I am alm ost ind uced to believ e
.
,

—
it fla t t ery perhaps a bu rlesqu e This is n ew to m e .
,

yet I see n othi ng bu t friendship in you r faces ; an d

if yo u r cu riosity is t o hea r the backwoodsman I wi ll ,

assu re you I am i lly p repa red t o address this most

en l ighten ed people Howe v e r gen tlem en if th i s is
. , ,

a cu riosity to y ou if you w ill meet me t o-morro w

, ,

at on e O clock I w ill endeavo r t o add ress you i n m y

’
, ,

pla i n mann e r ’
.

“
So I m ade my obe i san ce to them and r eti r ed
,

into t he h ou se .
 DAV ID C RO CKETT .

I t is tru e that th e r e was much of mere curios

i ty in the d esi re to see Colonel Crockett H e was a .

st range and an i nco mpreh ensible man H is m an ly .

,

hon est cou rse i n Congress h ad secu r ed mu ch respec t .

But such de v e l opmen ts of cha racte r as w e r e shown in

his r ude and vulga r toast b e fore a pa r ty of gentle
,

m en and ladies excited aston ishment H is noto

, .

ri e ty p r eceded him wherever he went

, and al l were
alike c u r ious to see so strange a spec imen of a m a n .

The n ext mo rni ng several gentlem en called

,

u pon him an d took him i n a carriage t o see the

,

va r ious O bjects of int erest i n t he city Th e g entle .

men m ade him a pres en t of a rich seal represent ,

i ng two horses at fu ll speed with the wo rds , GO ,

A head The you ng m en also m ad e h im a presen t

.
"

of a truly magn ificen t rifle F ro m Philadelphia h e

.

w en t to N ew Y o rk The shippin g aston ished h i m

. .

”
They beat m e all hollow h e says an d looked
, ,

for all th e world like a big clearing i n the West ,

”
with the dead trees all stand in g
“

The r e wa s a great crowd u pon the wha rf t o

g r eet him .A n d wh en th e captain of the boat le d
him cons p icu ously fo rward an d pointed him out t o
,
‘

t he m u lt i tu de th e che ering was trem endou s A

, .

com mittee cond uct ed h i m t o the A merican H ot el ,

an d t r eat ed him w i th the greatest disti n ction .

Ag ai n he was feted and l oaded with the g reat est

,
 TO U R NORTH AN D EA ST . 2 73

atten tion s H e w a s i nvited to a ve ry spl e nd id su p

.

r got u p i n h is honor at which th ere were a

p e, ,

h u nd red guests The H on J udge Clayt on , of

. .

Georgia was presen t and make a speech wh ich as

, , ,

Crockett says fairly mad e the tu mblers hop

, .

Crocket t was th en called u p as the u n d eviat ,

i ng su pporte r of th e Con stitution and th e l aws ”

.

I n response to th is toast he says , ,

I made a short speech and concl uded with t he ,

sto ry of t he red c ow wh ich w a s that as long as

, ,

Gen e ra l J ackson w ent st r aight I follo wed him ; bu t ,

when he b egan to g o t his way an d that w ay and , ,

eve ry way I wouldn t go a fte r him ; like th e b oy

’
,

whose mast e r orde red him t o p l ough across th e

field to the r ed cow Well h e began to plough an d
.
, ,

she began to walk ; and he ploughed all foren oon

a fte r her So when the master came he swo re at

.
,

’
him for going so crooked Why sir said th e boy .
, , ,

‘
yo u told me to plough to the r ed c ow and I kept ,

a fte r her bu t she a l ways kept m oving

,
’
.

H is t rip t o N ew York was conclu d ed by his vis

i ting J ersey C i ty to witness a shootin g mat ch with -

ri fles H e was invited to t ry h is hand Standing

. .
,

at th e distance of one hu nd red an d twenty feet h e ,

fired twice striking very near th e ce ntre of the mark

, .

Some one then p u t u p a qu arte r of a dollar in t he

midst of a black spot and requested him to shoot at
,

I 2
 T OU R NO R T H AN D EA ST . 2 75

for wh at I w s not
a —
I wo uld n ot g o it Th e r e had .

been on e doctor m ade fro m Tenn ess ee already and ,

I had no wish to pu t o n the cap and bells .

I told the m that I did not go to th is b randin g

school ; I did n ot want to be tarred with the sam e

stick ; on e digni tary w as eno ugh from T enn esse e ;

that as far a s my l earn in g went I wou ld stan d ove r ,

it a n d spell a strive o r two with a ny of them from

, ,

a b a b t o cru cifix
- - which wa s whe r e I le ft O ff at
,

school .

A gen tleman at a din ner-pa rty ve ry earnestly

, ,

invi ted Crockett to visit him H e r eturned the .

compliment by saying
I f y ou ever com e to m y part o f the cou n t ry I ,

hope you will call an d see m e .

“
An d how shall I fin d where y ou live ! t he
gentlem an inqui red .

Why sir Crockett answe r ed

,
”
, ru n dow n t he ,

M ississippi till you com e t o the O b i o n R iver R u n .

a sm all st reak up th at ju mp ashore anyw here an d ,

inq u ire for m e ”

.

F rom Boston he wen t to Lowel l The hospi

,
.

tality he had enjoyed i n Boston w on h is warm es t

com mendatio n A t Lowell h e wa s quit e cha rmed
.
,

by t he aspect o f wealth i n dust ry an d com for t

, ,

wh ich m et h is eye U pon hi s ret u rn to Boston, he

.

s ent the e v en in g with several ge n tlemen and l a die s

p ,
276 D AV ID C RO C KETT .

at the pl ea sa nt residence o f L ieut en ant G ove rr o t -

A rmstrong I n re feren ce t o this V isit he writ es

.
,

“
This was my last night i n Boston an d I a m ,

sure if I n ever see the place again I n ever can for

, ,

get th e ki nd and fri endly m an n e r i n which I w as

treat ed by them I t appeared t o m e that everybody
.

was anxio us t o serve m e and make my time agre e

,

able A nd as a proo that comes home when I

. f —
called for my bill n ext m orning I was tol d there wa s
,

n o charge to be paid by m e and that he was ve r y

,

m uch delighted that I had m ad e his house my hom e .

I forgot t o mention that they t reated m e SO in

—
Lowell b u t it is t rue This was to m e at all , ,

events proo f enough of Yankee liberality ; an d

,

more than they gen erally get credit for I n fact .

,

from the t i me I entered N ew E ngland I was treated ,

w ith the g r eatest fri endship an d I hope n e ver shal l

, ,

forget i t ; and I wish all w h o read this book an d ,

who never were there would take a t rip am on g

,

’
th em I f they don t learn h ow to make money
.
,

’
they will kno w how to u se it ; an d if th ey don t
l earn i nd u stry they will see how com fortable eve ry
,

body can be t h at tu rn s his han ds t o som e employ

”
ment .

Crockett w as n ot a m ere joke r H e w a s an .

h onest man and an earn e st m an ; an d u nder t he

.

t u ition O f Congress had form ed som e ve ry decided

 TO U R NO RTH AN D EA ST . 2 77

p olitica l principles wh ich he vigorously

,
en force d

with his fu d e eloquen ce .

W h en he first wen t t o Congress he w a s merel y

a big boy o f ve ry strong m ind
,
b u t totally u n in ,

formed an d u n cultivated
,
H e very rapidly im .

p roved u n der the tu itio n of Congress ; and in

som e degree awoke t o the consciousn ess of h is great
intellectual i mper fect ions S ti l l he w a s n ever diffi .

dent . H e close d on e o f h is o ff hand a fter-d inne r r

-

speeches in Boston by saying ,

Gen tlem en o f Boston I co m e here a s a private ,

ci tizen , t o see you an d no t t o S h ow mysel f I had

, .

n o id ea of attracti ng attention Bu t I feel it my .

d uty t o thank yo u with my gratitu de to y ou an d

, ,

w i th a gratit u de t o al l w h o have given a plain man ,

l ike m e so ki nd a reception I come from a great

, .

w ay o ff . But I shal l neve r repen t of having been

persu aded t o com e h ere an d get a kn owledge o f ,

y o u r ways which I can carry h om e wi th m e We

, .

only wan t to do away prej u di ce and give t he

p eople i n fo rm ation .

“
I hope ge ntlem en y ou wi ll excu se my plain
, , ,

u nvarnished ways wh ich m ay seem strange t o yo u

,

he r e . I neve r had bu t six m onth s schooling i n ’

all my li fe A n d I con fess I conside r mysel f a

.
,

poo r tyke t o be h ere addressing th e most intelligen t

people in the world But I think it th e d uty of.
 T OU R N O RTH AN D E A ST . 2 79

held on to it by natur ; that c alled cheate ry m dt her

wit ; that h u ng on t o political power because they
had n u mbers ; that raised up man u factures to kee p
d own the South and West ; and i n fact ; had so ,

m u ch of th e devil i n all their machin ery t hat they ,

w ou ld n eithe r lead n or drive u nless the load wa s ,

going i nto th eir ow n cribs Bu t I assu re yo u gen

.
,

t lem en I begi n to thin k di fferen t o f you and I

, ,

thi nk I see a good man y good reason s for so doi n g .

I don t mea n t hat b ecause I eat you r bread

“ ’

and drink you r liqu or that I feel so N o ; tha t

, .

don t make m e see cleare r t han I did I t is you r

’
.

habi ts a n d m a nn ers an d c ustoms ; yo u r ind ust ry ;

‘

, ,

you r p rou d independent spirits ; you r hanging o n

,

to the eternal principles of right and wrong ; you r

“

liberal ity in prosperity a nd yo u r patie nce wh e n yo u

,

are gro u nd down by legislation which in stead of , ,

crushing you whets you r inven tion t o strike a pat h

,

withou t a b l aze on a t ree t o gu ide you ; and above

all you r n ever dyi ng deat hless grip t o ou r glorious
,
-
,

Constitution These are the things that m ake m e

.

”
t hink that y ou are a mighty good people .

H ere the speake r was interru pted by grea t

appla u se .

Gen tlem en I believe I have spoke the tru th

, ,

an d not flatte ry ; I ai n t u sed t o oily words ; I am

’

used t e speak w ha t I thin k of men and t o me n , ,

 D A VID C RO C KE TT .

I am perhaps more of a come by ch an ce than a n y

, ,
- -

of yo u ever sa w ; I have m ad e my way t o the plac e

I now fi ll withou t w
, ealth an d against ed ucation ; I
,

was raised from obscu rity and placed i n the hi gh ,

councils o f the nation by the kindness an d liberality

,

o f the good people O f my district — a people whom I

will n ever be u n faith ful to here or elsewh ere ; I ,

love them an d th ey h ave honored m e ; and accord

,

’
ing as God has given me judgment I ll use i t for ,

t h em come O f me what m ay
, .

“
These people once passed sentence upon m e
’
of a two years stay a t hom e for exercising t hat
- -
,

which I con t en d b elongs t o eve ry free m an i n th is

nation : that was for d i ffering i n opin ion with the
,

chi e f magistrate of this nation I was well acquaint .

ed with him H e was but a man an d if I was n ot

.
,

be fore my con stit u ents had m ade a man of m e I

,
.

had marched an d counter m arched with him : I ha d -

stood by him in the wars a nd fou ght u nder his flag,

at th e polls I h elped t o h eap th e m easu re of glo ry

t hat has cru shed an d smashed everything that h as

com e i n contact with i t : I helped to give h im t h e

’
n am e of H ero which like the l ight nin g fro m
, ,

heaven h as scorched an d blasted everyth ing tha t

,

st ood in it s way— a n ame which like th e p rairie fi re , ,

y o u have to bu rn agai nst o r you are gone

,
— a nam e

wh i ch ought t o be the fi rst in war and the last i n ,

 T O UR NOR TH AN D EA S T .

pe ace — e nam e which like J a C

k the lan te,r n ‘ ’
-O -
,

blinds your eyes while you fo l low it through m ud

and mire .

Gentlemen I n ever opposed A ndrew Jackson

,

for the sake o f popular i ty I kn ew i t was a hard

”

row to hoe bu t I stood u p to th e r ack considerin g ,

it a duty I owed t o the co u nt ry that governed m e .

I h ad reviewed th e cou r se Of other P r es i dents an d ,

came to the conc l usion that h e did not of right p os

sess any m ore po w er th an those that had gone
be fore him When he t ranscended that powe r I
.
,

p ut down my foot I kn ew h is popula r ity ; that he

.

had com e into place with th e largest majority of any

on e that h a d gon e be fore him w h o had opposition ,

bu t st ill I did n ot conside r this as givin g h i m the

,

right to do as he pleased and constru e ou r Const it u ,

tion to meet his ow n views .

“
We h ad lived the happiest peopl e u n d e r t he
su n for fi fty y ears governed by th e Constitution and
,

l aws on well established const ruct ions : an d when I

,
-

sa w the Gove r nm en t administered on n ew prin

cip les I objected

, and was politically sac rificed : I
,

persisted i n my sins h aving a cl ear conscience , ,

that be fo r e G od and my cou n t fy I had don e my

, ,

du ty .

“
My constituents began t o l ook at both sides
a n d finally at the end O f two years approvi n g of
, ,
r
 TO U R NORT H AN D E A ST . 283

for t hem E verythin g then that could cemen t t he

.

S tates togeth e r by giving them access the o n e to

,

t he oth er was right

, When he got i nto powe r
. ,

so me of his friends h ad hard wo rk to dodge and ,

follo w and sh ou t
, I called off my dogs and quit
.
,

the hu nt Ye
. s gentlemen Penn sylvania and O hio
, , , ,

and Tennessee an d othe r States voted for him a s a

, , ,

supporter of in tern al improvem ents .

Was he not a Tar i ff m an ! Who dare deny it

W hen did we first hear of his opposition ! Certainly
n ot in his exp ression that he wa s i n favo r of a j ud i
cious t ari ff . That was supposed to be a cli ncher ,
.

even in N ew E ngland u nti l a fte r power li fted him

,

above the opposition of t he supporters of a tari ff . .

’
H e was for putting down the m onst er party ,

a nd being the P r esident O f th e people Well in .

,

one se nse , this h e t ried t o do : h e pu t d own every

o n e h e cou ld who w a s opposed to hi m eith er by ,

rewa r d or pu ni shment ; an d could all have com e

i nt o his notions and bowed th e kne e t o h is im age

, ,

I s uppose i t m ig ht have don e ve ry well so far as he ,

wa s concern ed Whethe r it wou ld have been a

.

fair reading of h is famous l ette r t o Mr Mon roe is .

,

rath e r question abl e .

H e was t o ref orm th e Gove rnment N ow if .

,

ref orm a t ion consists in tu rning ou t an d pu tti n g in ,

he d id it with a vengeance .
 D AV ID C RO CK E TT .

H e was last of all to retrenelz t/ze expend it u res

, , .

Well in tim e I have n o doubt th is m u st be don e ;

, , ,

bu t it will not consist in t h e aboli shing useless ex

n d it res of form er A dministrations N O gentl e
p e u .
,

men ; the spoils belonged t o the victo r ; an d it

would n ever do to lessen th e t eats w h en the li t te r
was doubled The t reasu ry t rou gh had t o be ex
.

t ended and th e pap t hicken ed kin were t o b e

,

provided for ; and if al l things keep on as they are ,

his ow n extravagances wil l h ave to b e r etrenched ,

or you will get you r tari ff u p again as h igh as y ou

please .

I recollect a boy once who w as told t o turn the ,

“

pigs o u t of th e corn fi eld Well h e mad e a great-

.
,

n oise halloo i n g and callin g t h e dogs

,
— an d cam e
back By and by his m aste r said J im you rascal
.
- -
, ,

’ ’
y o u d idn t t u rn o u t th e pigs Sir said h e I called , ,

’
the dogs and set the m a bar k i n g
,
- .

So it w a s w it h that big R et r en chm en t R ep o r t ,

’
i n 1 82 8 Maj o r H am ilton g ot Ch ilton s place a s
.

chai rm an — and call ed the dogs I n gh am worke d .

h o nestly like a beave r ; Wickli ff w a s as keen a s a

,

c utwor m : all of them worked hard ; an d they did

really I suppose convi n ce th emselves that they had
, ,

fou n d ou t a great deal of iniqu ity ; or w hat wa s ,

m ore desirabl e c onvin ced th e people that A n d re w

,

ack son and h is boys w ere t h e only fellows t o m en d

J
 T OU R NO R TH AN D EA ST
. 2 85

s hoes for noth in g and fin d their ow n cand les E ve

, .

r ett an d Sargean t who mad e the minority report

, ,

were scou ted at What h as com e of all this ! N O

.

th i n g —w o rse tha n n othi n g J ackson used th ese .

very m en like dogs : th ey knew t oo m u ch an d m u st ,

“

b e got rid O ff o r they wou ld stop his p roflig a cy to o

, .

They w ere greased and swallowed : an d h e gav e

them u p t o th e torments of an anti Jackson con -

science.

Yes gen tlem en as long a s y ou th ink with hi m

, , ,

ve ry w ell ; bu t i f n ot — clear ou t m ake w a y for

som e fellow who has saved his wind an d becau se
h e has just begu n t o huzza has m o re wind to spare, .

Gen era l Jackso n has tu rn ed o u t more m en for op in -

ion s sake than all oth e r Preside n ts p u t togethe r

’
, ,

five ti mes ove r : an d t he broo m sweeps so low that

it r eaches th e h u mblest o ffice r w ho happens t o have
a m ean n eighbor t o retail any l ittle sto ry which h e
m ay pick u p .

I voted for A ndre w J ackson because I believed

h e possessed certain principles and n ot becau se his ,

nam e w a s A n dre w Jackson or the H ero or O ld , ,

H ickory A nd when he le ft tho se principles which

.

i nd uced m e to support him I con sidered m yselr ju s

,
’

t ifi ed i n opposing h i m This thi ng of man worship

.
-

I a m a s t range r t o ; I don t l ike it ; it taints eve ry

’

act i o n of li fe it is l ike a sku nk gettin g into a hous e

 T O UR NO RT H AN D EA ST .

h ea rts of the people s leaders : and their re q ue t s

’
s

for relie f a r e t r eated with scorn and contempt .

They m eet th e sam e fate that they did be fore K in g

G eorge and his pa rliament I t ha s been d ecided by a
‘

m ajority of Cong ress that A n dre w J ackson Shall be

,

th e Gove r n ment and that h is will shall be the law

,

o f th e la nd .He takes th e respon sibility and vetoe s ,

any bill th at do es n ot meet his approbation H e .

takes th e r esponsibility an d seizes the treasu ry an d

, ,

r emoves it from where th e laws had placed it ; a nd

n ow hol ding purse and sword h as bid d e fi ance t o
, ,

Congress and to the nation .

“
Gentle men if it is for opposing th ose high
,

hand ed measu res that you compliment m e I say I ,

have don e so and wil l do so n ow an d fo r ever I

, , .

’ ’
will b e n o m an s m an a n d n o party s m an othe r
, ,

’
tha n to be th e pe ople s faith ful represe ntative : an d
I am deligh ted t o see t h e noble spirit of libe r ty
retained so boldly h ere whe r e th e fi rst spark was ,

kin dled ; and I h opet o see it S hin e an d sp r ead o v e r

o u r whole cou n t ry .

G en t l e men I have detain ed yo u m uch l onge r

,

than I in t ended al l o w m e to conc l ude by t hanking

you for you r att entio n an d kindn ess to th e stran ge r
fr om the fa r West
”
.

The following extract also shows th e ca ndo r of

3 88 D AV ID C RO CKETT .

his mind his anxi ety to lea r n and th e prog ress h is

, ,

m ind w as making in t he sci ence of politica l econo m y

I com e to yo u r cou n try to get a knowledge o f

things w h i ch I could get in n o other w ay but b y
,

seeing with my ow n eyes an d hearin g w i th my ow n

,

ear s — ’
i n formation I can t get an d nobody else fro m
, ,

book knowl edge I com e fello w-citizens t o get a

.
, ,

kno wledge of the m an u factu rin g i nte rest of N ew

E ngland .I w as ove r persu aded t o com e by a
-

gen tleman who had been t o Lowel l an d seen t h e

man u facto r ies of you r S tate by Gen e r a l Thomas
— ,

o f Lo u isian a H e persuad ed me t o com e and see

. .

When I wa s fi rst ch ose t o Congress I was op ,

posed to th e protectin g syste m They told m e it

.

wou ld h elp the r i ch and h u r t the poo r ; a n

, d tha t
we i n th e West was t o be taxed by it for the benefi t
of N ew E ngland I supposed it was so ; bu t wh e n
.

I come to hear it a rgu ed in th e Con gr ess of th e n a

t i on I begu n to have a di ffe re nt opin i on of it I
,
.

saw I w a s O pposing the best inte r est o f t h e country :

e specially for the ind ustrio u s poor man I told my .

p eople w h o sent m e t o Con g r ess t hat I s ho uld

,
op

pose it no longe r : that withou t it w e shou ld be ,

obliged t o pay a tax to the British Govern ment a n d ,

support t h em in stead o f our ow n labo r

,
An d I am .

satisfied o f it th e more sin ce I have V isit ed N ew

E ngland O nly l et the So u ther n gen tlemen com e
.
 T OU R NO R TH AN D EAST .

h e re and exam in e the man u facto ries an d see how ,

i t is and it would make more peace than all the l egis

,

at i on in Congress can do I t would give di ffe r en t

.

ideas to t hem who have been de l uded and S poke i n ,

st r ong terms of disso l ving the U nion

”
.

Crockett retu r n ed to Wash in gton just i n t im e to

be present at the closin g scenes and then set ou t,

for home So m u ch had been said of h i m in th e public

.

jou rnals of h is speeches and his pec u l i a ri t i es th a t his

, .

re n own now fi ll e d t he lan d .

‘
3
 T HE DI S A PPO I N TED P O LITICI AN . 29 1

At Cincin atti an d Lou i svil l e im me n se c ro w ds

’

assemb l ed t o h ear h i m I n b oth p l aces he sp ok e

.

q u ite at len g th A nd all wh o heard him we re

.

su r p r ised at th e powe r h e d isplayed T hough h is .

speech was r u de an d u npo l ished the clearn ess of h is ,

views an d the i nte l ligence he man i fested caused

, ,

th e j ou rn als gen era l ly t o sp eak of h im i n q u ite a

d i fferent st rain from that wh ich th ey had b een
accusto m ed t o u se Probably n e v e r d i d a m an
.

make so mu ch intelle ct u al progress in the co urs e ,

of a few mon ths as Davi d C rockett had made in

,

that ti me H is wond erfu l m em o ry of n ames dates

.
, ,

facts a ll the i nt ri cacies of st at i stics w a s su ch tha t

, , ,

alm ost any stat esman might be i nst r ucted by h is '

add resses and not many m en co u l d sa fely encoun te r

,

hi m i n argum e nt T he V i ews he p rese nt ed upon

.

the subj ect of th e Constitu t io n fin ance i nt ernal im , ,

p ro v e m en t s etc we
,
r e ve.ry su
, rpris i n g w hen on e con ,

siders the limited ed ucat i on h e had enjoyed A t the .

close of these agitat i ng scen es he tou chingly writes :

“
I n a short t im e I set ou t for my ow n hom e
y es, m y o w n hom e my o w n so il, my h u mb l e ,

d welling my ow n fam ily m y ow n h ea rts my ocean

, , ,

of l o v e and a ffection wh i ch neithe r c i rcumstan ce s

,

n o r ti me can d ry u p H ere l ike th e w ea r ied bi rd ,

.
,

l et me sett l e down for a w h il e and sh u t out the ,

world
”
.
 D AV ID C RO C K ETT .

But hu n tin g bea rs had lost it s cha r m s for

Cro cket t H e had b een so flatte r ed that i t is
.

p r obable that h e fully expected t o be chosen P r es .

ident o f the U nited Stat es There w ere t wo great .

pa r ties th en divid ing th e country the Democrat s ,

an d th e Wh i gs The great object of each was t o

.

fi nd an a va ila ble can didate n o matter h ow u n fi t for ,

the o ffi ce The leaders wish ed t o elect a Pres i den t

.

w h o w ou ld be l ike th e Queen of E nglan d m erely

, ,

the orn amental fi g u re-h ead o f the sh ip of stat e;

wh ile th eir en ergies should p ropel and gu ide t he
maj estic fabric For a tim e som e few thou gh t it
.

possibl e that in th e p op u larity of the gr eat bear

h un te r su ch a candidate m ight b e foun d .

Crockett u pon his r et u rn hom e r esum ed his

, ,

d ee rskin leggi ns h is fringed h unti ng sh i rt h is fox

,
-
,

sk i n cap and S hou l dering his rifle plu nged , a s he

, ,

t hough t wi th h is original zest , into th e chee rl es s,

,

tangled ma rshy fo r est wh i ch su r r ounded h im Bu t

, .

t h e excitements of Washington the splendid en ter ,

t a in m ent s of Philadelphia N ew Y o rk an d Bosto n , , ,

t h e flatt e ry t h e speech making w h ich t o h i m wit h

,
-
, ,

h i s marvellous m emo ry and h i s wonder fu l fl u en cy

of sp eech w a s as easy a s b r eathing th e applau s e
, ,

showe r ed upon h i m and the g org eou s vision O f the

,

P r esiden cy l oomin g up be fore h im en g rossed his ,

m i nd. H e sau nte r ed li stless l y th rou g h the forest,

 T HE D I SAPP O I N TED P O LI TICI AN . 29 }

his be ar hunt i ng en ergi es all pa ralyzed H e so on

- .

g r ew very weary of h om e an d of all its emp l oy

m ents an d w as eager t o ret u rn t o the i n fin i t ely
,

h igh e r excitements o f pol itical li fe .

G en era 1 J a ck son was th en almost idolized by his

.

party A ll thro ugh th e Sout h an d West h is g am e

.

w a s a towe r of strength Crockett had origin ally

.

been elected a s a J ackso n m an H e had abandon ed - .

the A dm ini stration and was n ow on e of the m ost

,

i nveterat e O ppon ents of J ackson The majo r ity in .

C rockett s d ist rict we re in favor of J ackSon Th e

'
.

time cam e for a n ew election of a r ep resentative .

Crockett m ade eve ry e ffort in h is Ol d style to se cu re

, ,

t h e vote H e appeared at t h e g ath e r ings in h is

.

garb as a bear h un ter w ith h is rifle on h is shoulde r

-
,
.

H e brou g ht coonskins t o b uy wh iskey t o t r eat

’

his fri en d s. A coonskin in the cur r en cy of that

’

count ry w as considered t he e q u ivalent for twenty

fi ve cents H e m ad e fu n ny speech es But i t was
. .

all in vain .

G reat l y t o h is su r p r i se an d st i ll m o r e t o his cha

.

grin h e lo st his e l ecti on H e w as b eaten by t wo

, .

h u nd red and thi r ty vot es T he who l e pow e rfu l ia fl u

.

ence o f the Govern m ent was exerted aga i nst C r ocket t

a nd i n favo r o f h is competito r I t is sai d that large

.

b rib es were pa i d for votes C rockett w r ote in a st r ai n

.
,

which r eve al s t he bitterness of h is d isapp oin tm en t :

 O FF FO R TE XA S . 29 ;

po l i tical meeting of h is const it u ents The following .

ext ract fro m his a u t ob iog ra p ly w i ll give the reader a

ve r y vivid idea of h is feelin gs at th e tim e a nd of ,

th e v ery pecu l ia r character which circu mstan ces had

d evel oped in him
A few days ago I went to a m eet i ng of my con
st it u en t s. My appetite for polit ics w as at on e tim e
just abou t as sharp set as a saw mill bu t lat e even ts-
,

h ave give n m e som ething of a s ur feit m ore than I ,

cou ld w el l d i gest ; st i ll habit th ey say is second

, , ,

nat u r and so I went and ga v e them a piece of m y

, ,

mi n d tou chi ng the Go v ern men t and the succession ,

by way of a cod i c il to what I have o ften said be fo r e .

I told them moreover of my se rv ices pretty

, , ,

st r aigh t u p an d d own for a m an may b e allowed t o

,

speak on su ch subj ects wh en othe rs are about to for

get th em ; an d I also told them of th e mann e r in
which I h ad b een knocked d own an d dragged ou t
‘

an d th at I did n ot conside r it a fai r fight anyhow

they cou l d fi x i t I put t h e ing r edien ts in the cu p
.

p retty st r ong I tell y o u an d I conc

, l uded my speec h
by telling them that I w a s don e with politics for the
presen t an d that th ey m ight all go to he l l and I
, ,

would go to Texas .

When I r etu rn ed home I felt a sort of cast

down at th e chan ge t hat had ta ken place in m y
fo r t u n es and s orr ow it is sa i d wi ll make eve n a n
, , ,
296 D AV I D cnocxs r r
' '

oyst e r fee l po et ica l I n eve r tr i ed m y h and at t h at

.

sort of w ri ting but on this pa rti cu l a r occasio n su ch

wa s my state o f feeling that I began to fan cy ,

mysel f in s pi r ed ; so I took pen in hand and as u su al ,

I went ahead When I h ad got fair ly th r ou gh my

.
,

p oet ry l ooked as zigzag a s a worm fen ce ; the lin es -

wou ld n t tally n o h ow ; so I showed them to Pe l eg

’ ‘

Long fellow, who has a fi rst rate r ep utation with u s -

for that sort o f writin g h avin g som e years ag o mad e,

a ca r rier s address for th e N ashville Ban ne r ; an d

'

Pe l eg lo pped of some lin es an d st retch ed ou t ,

othe rs ; b ut I wish I m ay b e shot if I don t rath e r

’

think he has made i t wo rse than it w a s when I

placed it in h is hands I t being my first and n o .
, ,

doubt l ast piece of poetry I wi l l prin t it i n this

, ,

p l ace a s i t wi l l se rve t o express my feelings on l eav

,

in g my hom e my n eighbors an d frien ds and cou n

, ,
.

t ry for a st r ange l and as ful l y a s I cou l d i n pla i n

, ,

ros e
p .

Farewe ll t o the m ountains whose m az es to m e

Were m ore b eautiful far than Ed en cou ld b e ;
b
N o fruit was for idden , b u t N ature ha s read d p
l
H er bou n tifu board , a nd her chi d ren were fed l .

The hil s were ou r am ers—our herds w i d y rew

l g ll g
An d N ature was h ph
s e erd a n d hu s b an dm an too.
I fe l t l ik e a m on arch , yet thou ght l ik e a m an ,

As I thank ed the G reat G iv er, a n d w orshi p p d hi pl

e s an.

“
The hom e I forsake where m y p g
offs rin arose ;
The g ra v es I forsak e where m y child ren rep ose .
 O FF FO R TE XAS .

T he hom e I red eem ed from th e sa vg

a e an d wi dl
The hom e I ha v lvd
e o e as a fa ther h is chi d l
T he corn th a t I pl t d an e , th e fi e d s that l I l
c ea red ,

T he fl ock s that I ra ised , a n d the ca bi n I rea red ;

T he w ife of y b
mo som — F arew e to e a ll !
y ll
I n the l an d of the stran er I ri se or I fa g ll .

F arewell to m y coun try ] I fou ht for thee w e g ll ,

When the vg
sa a e rushed for th l ik e the dem on s from hell.
In p eace or i n w a r I ha v e sto od by thy side
My count ry, for thee I ha e i ed , w ou d have d ied v lv l
But I am cast off m y career n ow is run ,
,

A n d I wan d er a b road l ik e the p ro d i gl a son

Where the wi l d savage v ro es, a nd the b road p ra iries s read, p

The f ll —
a d p i d—will g
en es se a ai n
g o a hea d .
”

A party of A m erican adventure rs t hen called ,

fi lib u st ers had gon e i n to Texas i n th e endeav o r to

, ,

w rest that i mm ense and beauti fu l te r r ito ry la r ger ,

tha n the whole E mpire of Fr ance fro m fe eble dis , ,

tracted m ise rable M exico t o wh i ch i t belonged

, , .

These fi lib ust ers were generally the m ost wo rthles s

and desperate vagabonds t o be fou nd i n all the
Sé u t h ern States M any S outhern gen tlemen of
.

wealth and ability bu t st rong advocates of slave ry

, ,

were in cord ial sym pathy with this movement a n d ,

aided i t wit h th eir pu rses and in many othe r ways , .

I t was thought that if Texas cou ld be w rested fro m

Mexico and ann exed to the U nited States it migh t ,

be divided into seve ral slaveholding Stat es and ,

thu s ch eck th e rapidly increa sing preponde r an ce of

the free States of the N orth .
 O FF FO R TE XAS . 2 99

F ollowing u p the w indings of th e river three h u n

dre d m iles on e cam e to a clu ste r of a few st raggling
,

huts called Litt le R ock which constitu tes now the

, ,

c ap ital of th e State .

Crockett asce nd ed the rive r in th e steam er and , ,

u n en cu m bered with baggage sa v e his ri fle hasten ed , ,

t o a t a vern which he saw at a little distan ce fro m

the shore arou nd which there w a s assembled qu ite
,

a crowd of men H e had been so accust omed t o

.

p ublic t ri u mphs that he suppos ed that th ey h ad

assembled in hon or of h is a rrival Stran ge as it may .

”
seem h e says t hey took no more notice of m e
, ,

than if I had bee n Dick J ohn so n the wool grower

.
,
- .

”
This took me somewhat aback ; and h e inqu i red
what wa s th e m ean in g of the gatheri ng .

H e fou nd that the people h ad been called t o

gethe r t o witn ess th e feats of a celebrated j uggle r
an d gambler The n am e of Colonel Crockett had
.

gon e th r ough th e nation ; and gradu ally it becam e

noised abroad th at Colonel C rockett w as in th e
c r owd . I w i sh I may be shot Crockett says , ,
’
“
i f I wasn t looked upo n as alm ost a s great a sigh t
"
as Pun ch and J udy .

H e w a s invi t ed to a public din ne r that very day .

A s i t took some time to cook the d in ne r the whol e ,

com pany we nt to a little di stan ce t o shoot at a m a rk .

All had heard o f Crockett s skill A fter several of

'
.
300 D AV I D w om a n .

the best sh arpshoote rs had fi red w i th r emarkab l e ,

accuracy i t came to Crock ett s tu rn A ssu ming an

,
’
.

ai r of gre a t ca r elessness h e raised his beauti ful rifl e

, ,

which he called Betsey to his sho ulder fi red and it, , ,

so h appened that th e b ull et str u c k exactly in th e

’
c entre o f th e bu ll s eye A ll were astonish ed and
- .
,

so was Crockett himsel f But wi th an air of m uch in

.

d ifference h e t u rned u pon h is heel saying The r e s , ,

’

"
n o mistake in Betsey
‘
.

O n e o f the best marksm en in th ose p a rts cha ,

g r i n e d at being so b eaten said Colon el that mu st , , ,

”
have been a c ha n ce sho t .

"
I ca n do it Crockett repli ed five times out
, ,

"
o f six any day i n th e w eek
, .

"
I kn ew he adds in his autobiography it w a s
, , ,

not altogethe r as cor rect a s it m igh t be ; bu t when

a man sets abou t goin g th e big figure hal fway ,

m easu res w on t answer n o h ow

’
.

I t was now p roposed that the r e sho uld be a sec

o n d t r ial Crockett w a s ve ry reluctant to consen t
.

to this , fo r h e had n othing to gain an d everything ,

t o lose . Bu t they i nsisted so v ehemently that he

had t o yield A s wh at ensu ed does not red ou nd
.

m uch t o h is credi t w e w ill l et h im t ell th e sto ry in

,

his ow n language .

So to it again we went Th ey we r e n ow p ut .

upon their m ettle and t hey fired m u ch bette r than

,
 O F F F OR T EXAS .
3 0 1

t he first time ; and it was what might be called

p retty sha r p S hooting Whe n it came t o my
. t u rn I ,

squared mysel f and tu r n ing to the prim e shot I

, ,

gave hi m a knowing nod by way of Showing my ,

’
con fidence ; and says I Look ou t for the bull s ,

eye strange r
,
’
I blazed away and I wish I m ay
.
,

’
be shot if I did n t miss the target They exam .

ined it all ove r and co uld find n eithe r h ai i nor

'

hide of my bullet and pronou nced it a dead ,

miss ; when says I Stand aside an d let m e look

, ,

and I war r ant you I get o n the r ight t rail of the

critter They stood asid e an d I examined the
.
,

bull s eye pretty pa r ticular and at length c r ied ou t

’
-
, ,

’
Here it is ; there is n o sn akes if i t ha n t followed
'

th e ve ry track of the other They said it w as .

D

u tterly impossible b ut I i nsist ed on the ir searching

,

th e hole an d I agreed to be st uck up as a m ark

,

mysel f if they did not fi nd t wo bullets there They

, .

searched for my satis faction and su re enough it al l ,

come ou t j u st as I had told them for I had picked

up a bu llet that had been fired an d stu ck i t d eep ,

i nto the hole witho u t any one pe r ceiving it

, They .

were all per fectly satisfi ed that fa m e had n ot mad e

too great a flou rish of t r ump ets wh en speaking of
m e a s a ma rksman ; an d t hey al l said th ey had

en ough of shooting for that day and they mo ved ,

t hat we adj ou r n t o the tavern and liquo r

"
.
 O FF FO R T EXA S .
303

twenty miles farther west toward a littl e settl em ent

called Gree nville He fou nd h is n ew fri end to be
.

a ve ry charming companion I n describing the ride

.
,

Crockett writes :
“
We talked about polit i cs r eligion an d nat ure , , ,

farmin g and bear hu n tin g and the m any blessings

,
-
,

that an all bo u n ti ful Providen ce has bestowed upon

-

ou r happy c o unt ry H e continu ed to talk u p d n

.

this su bj ect travelling over the whole grou nd a s i t

,

we r e unti l h is imagin at ion glowed and his so ul

, ,

becam e full t o overflo w in g ; an d h e checked his

horse an d I stoppe d m in e also and a st ream of elo
, ,

q u en c e bu r st forth from his age d lips su ch a s I have ,

seldom listen ed to : it came fr om th e overflowi n g

fou ntain of a pu re an d grate fu l heart We were .

alon e i n th e wildern ess bu t a s he p roceed ed it

, ,
'

seemed to m e as if t he tall t rees ben t the ir tops

t o listen ; t hat the m ountain stream laughed o u t
joy fu lly as i t boun ded on like som e living thing
t hat the fadi ng flowe rs of a utu mn sm iled an d sen t ,

fo rth freshe r fragran ce as if c on scxo us th at they

,

wou ld revi v e in sp r in g ; and even th e sterile rocks

seemed t o be end u ed wit h som e mysteriou s in fl u
en ce We were alon e i n the wildern ess bu t al l
.
,

t hings t old m e th at Go d w as th ere Th e though t

“

r en ewed my stren gth an d cou rage I had le ft m y .

cou ntry felt somewhat l ike an outcast believed tha t

, ,
3 4
0 D AV ID C RO CKETT .

I had been neg l ected and lost sigh t But I w a s o f.

n ow conscious that there w as still on e watch ful E y e

over me ; n o matter whether I dwel t in th e p op u

l ous cities or th read ed th e pathless forest alon e no
,

matter whet he r I stood i n the high places among

m en or made my solit ary lai r in t he u nt rodden
,

wild that E ye was st ill u pon m e

,
My ve ry soul .

leap ed joyful l y at the thou gh t I n ever felt so .

g rate ful i n all my l i fe I n eve r loved my God so sin

.

ce re ly in all my li fe I felt t hat I stil l had a friend

. .

When the old man fin ish ed I fou nd that my ,

eyes were wet with tea rs I approached and pressed .

h is han d and thanked him and says I

, N ow let us
, ,

’
take a dri nk I set him t he exam ple and he fol
.
,
.

lowed it and i n a style t oo that satisfi ed m e that if

, ,

he had ever bel onged to th e t emperan ce society ,

he had e i the r renou nced m em be rship or obtain ed ,

a dispensation H aving liqu ored we p roceed ed on

.
,

o u r j ou rney keeping a sharp lookou t fo r mil l seats

,
-

an d plantations a s w e r od e a l ong .

I le ft the worthy old man at Green ville an d ,

sor ry en ough I was t o pa r t with him for he talked ,

a gr eat deal and he seemed t o know a little abo u t

,

everything H e kn ew all abou t t he h istory of t he

.

cou nt ry ; was well acqua in ted with all th e l eadin g

men ; kn ew where all t he good l ands lay in most of
West ern States .
 O FF FO R T EXA S .
3 5
0

H e was very cheerful and happy thou gh t o ,

all appearan ces ve ry poo r I thought that h e would

.

make a fi rst rate agent for taking up lands an d men

-
,

t ion ed it to him H e smiled an d pointi ng above,

.
,

’
said , My wealth lies n ot in this world .

From Greenville Crockett pressed on about fi fty

,

or sixty m iles throu gh a cou n t ry interspersed with

forests a n d t reeless p r ai r ies u nti l he r ea ched Fulton

,
.

H e had a lette r of int rod uction t o on e of the p rom i

nent ge ntlemen h e re and was recei v ed with ma rked
,

distinctio n A fter a sho rt V isit he disposed of his

.

horse ; h e took a steam er to descen d the river sev

e ral hundred miles to N atchitoches pronounced N ak ,

it osh a small st raggli n g V illage of eight hund red

,

i nhabitants on the r ight ban k of the R ed R iver

, ,

about two h undred m i l es from its entrance into the

Mississippi .

I n descending t he rive r the re was a juggle r on

board who performed many skil ful j u ggling t r ick s
, ,

and by va rious feats of gambling won mu ch m oney

from his d u pes C rockett w as opposed to gamblin g
.

in all it s forms Becom i n g acquai nted with th e

.

j uggle r an d finding him at hea rt a well m ean in g

,
-
,

good n atu r ed fellow he endeavored t o rem onstrate

-
,

wi th him u pon his evil p ractices .

I told him says Crockett that i t was a b u r

, ,

lesqu e on hum an natu re t hat an able bodied man ,

-
,
 O FF FO R TE XA S .
3 07

s ett i ng su n yet scarcely b estow a passing glan c e

,

’
u po n its noonday splendor .

You are r ight ; bu t how is this t o be d on e !

‘ ’

Accom pa n y m e t o Texas Cu t aloo f from you r

‘

d egrading habits and associates here an d i n fightin g , ,

’
for t h e freedom O f the Texans regain you r ow n , .

T he man seem ed m u ch moved H e caught u p.

h i s gambl ing i nstru men ts th rust th em into h is

,

pocket with hasty strides trave rsed th e floo r two

,

or th ree times an d then exclaim ed

,

By heaven ; I wil l t ry to b e a m an again I will .

l ive h on estly, or die bra v ely I will go with yo u to

.

’
Texas .

To confi rm h i m i n his good r eso l ution Crockett ,

asked hi m t o l iquo r . A t N atchitoches Crockett ,

e n cou nte red anothe r ve ry singular character H e .

w a s a remarkably han dsom e young m an of poetic ,

i magin ation a sweet sin ge r an d with i n nu merabl e

, ,

scraps of poet ry an d of song ever at his t on gu e s end ’

.

Ho ney t r ees as they w e re cal l ed w e r e v e ry ab u n d

-
, ,

an t in Te xas The pra i r i es we r e al most bou ndles s

pa r terres of th e r ichest flowe rs f ro m which the bees
,

mad e large q uantities of the most delicious hon ey .

This they deposited i n the ho l lows of trees N ot on ly .

wa s the hon ey va l uab l e , b u t the wa x constituted a

v e ry i mport an t a r tic l e of com m erce in M exico a nd ,

b rought a high p r ice being u sed for th e immen se

,
308 D AV I D C R O CKE TT .

c na dles which they bu rn ed in th e i r ch u rches The .

bee -h u n ter by p ractice acqu i red m u ch skill in

, ,

cou rsing the bees to t heir h ives .

This man decided to join Crockett and th e ju g

g le r in thei r jou rney over the vast p r airies o f Texas .

Small b u t very strong and t ough M exican ponies

, ,

cal l ed m ustangs we r e very ch eap

,
They were foun d .

wi ld in droves of thousands grazing on the prai ries

, ,
.

The th ree adventu rers m ou n ted t hei r ponies an d ,

set ou t o n thei r j ou rney d ue west a distance of on e ,

h undred and t w enty m i les to N acogdoches Thei r , .

route w as along a m ere trail , which was called t he

old Span ish r oad I t led ove r vast prairies where
.
,

there was n o pat h an d where th e be e-h u nte r was

,

their guid e and through forests where their course

,

was marked on ly by blazed t r ees .

The bee h u nte r sp eaki ng of th e state of society

-
,

i n Texas said that at San F el ipe h e had sat down

,

with a sm al l pa r ty at the break fast table wh e r e -

,

e l even o f th e com pany h ad fled from the State s

fl

charged with the crim e of m u rde r S o accustome d .

w e r e the inhab itants t o the appearance of fugitive s

from j ustice that wh en ever a stra nge r cam e amo n g
,

t hem th ey took it for granted th at h e had com

,

m it t e d some cri m e which rende r ed i t n ecessa ry for

him t o take re fuge beyond the g r asp of his count ry s

’

l aws .
 OFF FOR TE XA S 309

They r eached N acogdoches withou t any special

advent u re It was a flou rishing little Mexica n tow n
.

of abo u t on e thousand inhabitants sit uated in a ,

romantic dell abou t sixty miles west of the R ive r

,

Sabi ne The M exican s an d the I ndians we re very

.

nearly on an i ntellectual and social equality Grou ps .

of Indians harmless an d fri endly we r e eve r sau n

, ,

tering throu gh th e street s of the little town .

’
Colonel Crockett s horse had becom e lame on the
jou rn ey H e obtai ned an other and with hi s feet
.
, ,

n early touchin
g the g r ound a s he best rode the littl e

an imal th e party resum ed its lon g an d weary jou r

,

n ey d i recting thei r cou rse t w o or three h u nd red

,

m iles fart her sou thwest th rough th e ve ry heart of

Texas t o San A nton io They frequ ently encou n
.

t ered vast expanses of caneb rakes ; su ch canes a s

N orthern boys use for fi shing p o les There is one - .

on the banks of Caney Creek s eventy m iles in length

, ,

w ith sc a rcely a tree t o be seen for th e whole distance .

There was gen erally a trail cu t t hr ough t hese bare ,

ly wide en ough for a sin gle m u stang to pass The .

reed s we re twenty or thirty feet high and so slende r ,

t hat hav ing no support over the path they drooped

, ,

a li ttle inward and intermin gled th ei r tops T h u s a .

v ery singula r an d beaut i fu l canopy w as fo rm ed b e-f ,

ne a th wh ich t he travellers moved along sheltere d

from the rays of a Texan su n .
 O FF FO R T EXA S .
3 I I

ov e r th e li ne of civ il ization t hese were the coa rsest ,

samp l es he h ad ever m et .

O n e proved to be an old pirate about fi fty yea rs ,

of age . H e was tall bony and in aspect seemed , ,

scarcely hu man The shaggy hair of his whiske r s

.

a nd bea r d cove r ed n early his whol e face He had .

o n a sailo r s rou n d j acket an d tarpau lin hat

’
The .

deep sca r apparent l y o f a sword cu t d e fo rm ed h is

, ,

fo r ehead and an othe r si milar scar wa s on th e back

,

o f o n e of his hands H i s compan ion was a you ng

.

I ndian wild as the wolves bareh eaded an d with

, , ,

scanty d ee rskin d r ess .

E arly the n ext m orn ing t h ey a l l r esu med thei r

jou rney the two st r angers followin g on foot Thei r
, .

pat h led ove r the smooth an d t ree l ess prai r ie as ,

beau ti fu l i n its verd u re an d its flowers as th e m ost

cultivate d park co uld possibly b e A bou t n oon .

t hey stopped to r e fresh t h eir h o rses an d d in e

ben eath a c l uste r of t r ees i n th e open p ra i ri e Th ey .

h ad b u ilt thei r fi r e we re cooking th ei r gam e and

, ,

we re all seated upo n the g rass chat ti ng very ,

sociab ly when th e bee-hun te r sa w a bee , which in

,

d ica t ed that a h ive of hon ey might be fou nd n ot far

d istan t . H e l eaped u pon his m u stan g an d w ith ou t ,

saying a wo rd started off like m ad and scou red

, ,

a lon g the p rairi e We wat ch ed h i m

.
”
says ,

C rockett u nt i l h e seem ed n o large r than a rat ,

,
“

an d fi naily disappea r e d i n th e distan c e ”

.
 CHA PT E R ! I I .

A dvent ures or: fire P ra ir ie.

Disa pp f th B H
earan ce o —Th H d f B ffal —C k
e ee u n ter. e er o u oes roc ett
l t —Th Fight wi h h C g A pp h f S v g
os e t t e ou ar. - . roac o a a e s.

Th i F i dl i —P i i h P i i — Pi q S
e r r en n ess. cn c on t e ra r e ct ures ue cen e .

Th L t M t g
e os .v d —U p t d R i —D p
us an reco ere nex ec e eun on . e a rt ~

f h S v g —Ski
u re o t e i h w i h th M i
a a es —A iv l rm s t e ex cans rr a at

the A l am o .

S O ON a ft e r the b ee h u nte r had d isappeared a ll

-
,

we r e start l ed by a strange so und as of dista n t ,

thu nde r I t w a s one of the most bea uti fu l of su m

.

m e r days There was n ot a cloud to be seen T h e

. .

u ndu l atin g prairi e waving with flowers lay sprea d

, ,

ou t b e fo re them m o re beauti ful u nde r n atu re s

,
’

bou nti fu l a d orning s than th e most artistic pa rt e rre ,

park or lawn w hich the han d of man eve r reare d .

A gentle cool b reeze swept t hrough th e grove fra

.
, ,

gr ant and r e freshin g as if from A raby the blest I t .

was j ust on e of those scen es an d one of those hours

in which all vestiges of th e F a ll seemed t o h a v e
bee n obliterated and E den itse l f again appeare d
,

bl ooming in its pristin e beauty .

St ill those so u nds growing more an d m o r e d is

,
 A D VEN T U RE S ON TII E P RAI RI E .
3 I3

t inct we r e not soun ds of peace we re not m olian

, ,

warbli n gs ; they were m u tterings as of a rising

'

te mpest and i nspired awe and a sense of peril

, .

Strain i ng their eyes to ward the fa r distan t west -

.

whe nce the s o u nds came they soon saw an im m ense

’

black c l ou d j ust em erging from t h e ho rizon and ap

p a ren t l
y ve ry low down S w eeping the ve ry su r f
,
ace
o f t h e p rairi e This st range m en acing clou d was
.
,

app roachin g with mani festly great rapidity It wa s .

comi ng d irectly to w ard th e grove where the t rav

elle rs were shelte r ed A clo u d of d ust accompani ed
.

the p henom en on ever growing thicker and rising

, ,

hi g he r i n th e a i r .

What can that a ll m ean ! exc l aim ed Crockett ,

i n e v iden t alarm .

The j uggle r sp r ang to h is feet sayi ng Burn my , ,

”
old S hoe s i f I know .

E v en t he m u stangs wh ich we re grazing n ear by

, ,

were frightened They st opped eat ing p ri cked u p ,

thei r ears and gazed in ter r o r u pon th e approaching

,

danger I t w as t hen supposed that the black cloud

.
,

w ith it s m utte r ed th u n derings m u st b e on e of thos e ,

terr ible t o r nadoes whic h occasional ly S wept th e re

gion beari n g down eve ryt hi ng be fore i t The m er
, . .

a l l r ush ed for the protection of th e m u stangs I n .

th e great est haste they st ru ck off thei r hobbles a nd

l ed them into t he g rove for sh elte r .

14
 A D V E N T UR E S ON T HE P RA I R IE .
315

a ttempt to escape They shive red i n eve ry n e rv e as

.

if st r icken by an ague .

A n immense black bull l ed the hand He was a .

few feet in advance o f all th e rest H e came roa rin g .

along his tail e r ect i n the air as a javeli n h is h ead

'

, ,

nea r the groun d an d his stou t bony horns p rojected

, ,

as if he we r e j ust ready t o p l un ge upon his foe .

C rockett w r ites
I n ever felt such a desi r e to have a crack at any
t h ing in all my li fe
'
H e drew n igh th e place w h ere
.

I was standing I raised my beauti fu l Bet sey to my

.

shoulde r an d blazed away H e roared an d suddenly

.
,

stopped Those that we r e n ear h i m did so likewise

. .

The c omm otion occa sion ed by the impet u s of those

in the rea r was su ch that it w as a mi racle that som e
o f t hem did n o t break their h eads or n ecks
o
The .

black b u l l stood for a few m om e nts pawing t h e

grou nd a ft er he was shot then darted off a r ound t he
,

cluste r of trees an d m ad e for th e upla n ds of t he

,

p ra i ries The who l e he rd followed sweepi n g by

.
,

li ke a to rnado A nd I do say I n ever wi tn essed a

.

sight mo r e beau ti ful to the eye o f a h un ter i n all m y

l i fe ”
.

Th e temptat ion t o pu rsu e them was t oo st ron g

for Crockett t o r esist F o r a mom en t h e w as him
.

sel f bewi ldered an d stood gazing with asto n ishmen t

,

u p on th e w ond rous spe ctac l e Speedily he reloade d

.
3 16 DAV ID C R OC K E T I
' ‘
.

h is rifle
spru n g u pon his horse an d set ou t in p ar
, ,

su i t over the green an d boundless prai ri e Ther e .

wa s som ething n ow qu ite ludicrous i n th e scen e .

Th ere was spread ou t an ocean expanse of verd u re .

A h erd o f countl ess h u nd r eds o f m a

jestic bu ffaloes ,

eve ry an i mal very ferocious in aspect was c l att e r in g ,

along and a few rods behind them in eager pu rsu i t

,

w a s on e man mounted on a little

,
i nsigni fican t ,

Mexican pony n ot m u ch larger than a don key I t

,
.

wou ld seem that bu t a score of this inn um erabl e

a rmy n eed bu t t u rn roun d and face t heir foe an d ,

th ey could t oss horse and rider i nto the air an d ,

then contemptu ou sly trample them into th e dust

Crockett was almost beside himsel f wi th excite .

ment Lo oking n eithe r t o the right nor the le ft

.
,

u nconsc i ou s in what direc tion he was goi n g h e ,

u rged forward with whip a n d spu r the little m u s

, ,

tang to the utmost speed of the animal and ye t

, ,

sca r cely i n the least dimin ished the distance be

tween h im and the swi ft footed bu ffaloes E re lon g
- .
,

it w as ev i dent that he was losing in the chase Bu t .

t he hun ter th i nking that the bu ffaloes could n o t

,

long contin u e thei r flight at su ch a speed , and that

t h ey wo uld soon in weariness loiter an d stop t o
, ,

g raze vigo,r ously p ressed on t hough his

, jaded beas t
was rapi d l y being d i stan ce d by the h erd .

A t length th e enorm o ws moving mass appea red

*
Io
 A D VEN T U R E S O N T HE P RA I R I E .
3 17

b t
.. as a cloud in the distan t horizon Sti ll C rock et t .
, ,

h i mind ent irely absorb ed in th e excitement of t he

ch ase u rged his weary steed on u ntil th e b ufi a
'

, ,

l o cs en tirely disappeared from V iew in th e d istanc e .

C rockett w rites :
I n ow pau sed t o al low my mustang t o b r eath e ,
who di d n ot altogeth e r fan cy the rapid ity of my
m ovem ents ; an d to conside r w hi ch cou rse I would
have to t ake to regain the path I had abandoned .

I m i ght have ret raced my steps by followin g the

t rail o f the bu ffaloes b u t i t h a d always b een my
,

prin c i ple to go ahead and so I turn ed to th e wes t

,

and pu sh ed forwa id '

“
I had not rode m ore than an hou r be fore
I fou nd I w a s complet e l y bewildered I l ooked
, .

a ro und and there w a s as far as the eye could reach

, , ,

sp read be fore me a cou nt ry apparently in the high

est state O f cultivat i on — exten ded fields beauti fu l ,

and p roductive g roves of trees cleared from t he

,

u nde r wood an d wh ose ma rgin s were as reg ula r as

,

if th e art and taste O f m an had been employed upon

them Bu t there wa s no other evid ence that t he
.

soun d of t h e axe o r the voi ce o f m an had eve r

, ,

he r e dist u rbed th e solitud e of nat u r e My eyes .

w ou ld have cheated my sen seS i nt o the be l ie f that I ‘

was in an earthly paradise but my fea rs t o l d m e ,

t hat I was in a wild ern ess .

 A D VEN T U RE S ON T H E P RA I R I E .
3 9 I

h is ad miration H e w as just eme rging from a very

.
i

l ovely grove c arpeted with grass which grew t hi ck

, ,

and green beneath the l ea fy canopy which o v erarched

i t There was not a pa rticle of underbrush to ob
.

st r u ct one s movemen t th rou gh this n atu ral park

’
.

j ust beyond the g r ove there w a s another expanse Of

treeless p rai rie so rich so beauti ful so brilliant with
, , ,

flowers that even Colonel Crockett all u n accustomed

, ,

a s he w as t o the devotional mood reined in his ,

ho rse an d gazi ng ent ranced u pon th e l andscape

, ,

e xclaimed :
O God what a world of beau ty hast thou ma de
,

for man ! A nd yet how poor l y does he r e q uite thee

for it ' H e does not even repay thee with grati
tude .

The attractiveness of the scene was enhanced by

a d rove of more than a h undred w ild horses really ,

beauti fu l animals qu ietly pastu ring I t seemed

, .

i mpossible bu t that the han d of man m ust have

been employed in embellishing th is fa i r creation .

I t was all God s wo r k

’
When I looked a rou nd
.
“

and fully realized i t al l writes C rockett , I ,

“

thought of the clergyman who had p r eached t o m e

in th e w i lds of Arkansas ”
.

Co l on e l Crockett rod e out upon the prai ri e .

The ho rses n o soone r espied hi m tha n e xcited bu t , ,

not a l a rm ed th e whole d ro v e with ne i ghings , a nd

, ,
3 20 D AV ID C RO CKE TT .

t ails u pli fted l ike ban ne r s commen ced cou rsi n g ,

arou nd h im in an extended circle, wh ich grad u ally

became sm a lle r and smaller u n t il th ey ca m e in close
,

c ontact ; and the Colon el not a littl e alarm ed fou n d

, ,

h imsel f completely su rrounded and apparently th e ,

p i ison e r of these power ful steeds .

The little m u stang u po n which th e Colon e l w a s

m o u nt e d seemed very happy in its n ew compani o n
ship I t t u rned its head to o ne sid e an d then t o
.
,

the othe r and pranced and n eighed play ful ly bitin g

, ,

at th e man e of on e horse rubbing his n ose again st ,

that of another and in joyous gamb ols kicking u p

,

its heels The Colonel w a s anxious to get ou t of

.

the mess Bu t h is little m ustang was n ot at all dis

.

posed to move in that direction ; neit her did the

othe r ho rses seem disposed to acquiesce in su ch a

Crockett s h eels we r e arm ed with ve ry formidable

’

Span ish spu rs with prongs sha rp a nd long Th e

, .

hu nter writes :
To escape from th e an noyance I beat th e ,

’
d evil s tat too on h is ribs th at h e might have som e
,

mu sic t o dance to an d w e went ahead right merr il y

, ,

the whole d rove following i n ou r wake head up a nd , ,

tail and m an e stream ing My little critter who w as

.
,

both bl ood an d bott om seemed d elighted at b ein g

,

at the he ad of the heap ; and h aving once fai rly g ot

 A D VEN T U RE S ON T H E P RA I RI E .
3 2 x

started I wi sh I may be shot if I did n ot fin d it

,

impossible to stop him H e kept along tossin g his

.
,

head proudly an d occasionally n eighing as m u ch a s

, ,

’ ’
to say , Come on my hearties you see I ha n t fo r
, ,

g ot o u r old amu sement yet ”

A n d they did com e
.

o n w i th a ven gean ce clatt er clatt er clatter as

, , , ,

if so many fiends had b roke l oose The p rai rie l ay .

extended be fore m e as fa r as th e eye co uld reach ,

and I b egan to think t hat t here would b e n o en d t o

th e race .

My little animal was full of fire and m ettle and ,

as it was the fi rst bit of gen u in e sport that h e had

ha d for some time he appeared dete rmin ed t o make

,

the most of it H e kept the l ead for ful l hal f an

.

hou r frequen tly n eighing a s if in triu mph and deri

,

sion I th ought of J ohn Gilpin s celebrated ri de bu t

.
’
,

’
that was child s play to this Th e p rove rb says .
,

The race is n ot always t o the swi ft n or th e battl e ,

’
t o the strong and so it proved i n th e p resent in
,

stance My m ustang was obliged to carry weight

.
,

while his c ompetitors were as free as nat u re had

mad e them A beau ti ful bay w ho had trod close
.
,

upon my h e els th e who le way n ow came side by ,

sid e with my m ustan g and w e had it hip and thigh

,

for abou t ten min ute s i n su ch styl e as wo uld have

,

delighte d th e h e a rt of a t ru e lover o f the t u r f I .

n ow felt an i ntere st in the race mysel f and for t h e , ,

 AD V E N T U RE S ON THE PR AI RI E. 3 3
2

p ossible that the m ust ang cou ld w and er to any con

sid era b l e d ista n c e I ndeed h e fully expected t o fi nd
.
,

the u tterly exhau sted beast w h o could n o longe r ,

stan d upon his legs dead b e fo re m orning

, .

N ight was fast closing aroun d h im H e b egan .

to look ar o u nd for sh el ter The re w as a large tree

.

b l own do w n by th e sid e of the stream its top branch ,

ing out very th ick an d b ushy Croc k et t though t .

that with his kn i fe i n the m idst of that dense foliage

,

with it s i nterla cing bran ches h e could make him sel f ,

a sn ug arbor where wrapped in his b lanket h e could

, , ,

enjoy re freshing sleep H e approached the tree ,

.

an d began to work am on g th e alm ost im p ervious

bran ches when h e h eard a low gr ow l which h e says
, ,

he i nt erp ret ed to mean Stranger these apart m ent s

,
“
,

”
are already t aken .

Lo oking abo ut to see wh at kind of an anim al he

had dist u r bed an d whose d ispleasure h e had mani
,

fest ly encountered he saw the b rillian t eyes gl arin g

,

throu gh the leaves of a large Mexican cou ga r, so me

ti mes called the panthe r or A m e r ican lion Th is .

anima l endowed with ma rvellou s agility and strength

, ,

w ill pou nce fro m his lair on a deer and eve r a bu ffalo , .
,

a nd easily w i th tooth and cla w tear h im t o pieces .

H e w as not mo r e than five or six paces fr o m m e

”
,

wr ites Crockett ,and was eying m e a s a n e picu re

“

su rv eys the table b efore he selects his i ish l have .

3 4
2 D AV ID C RO C K ETT
n o d oubt the cou gar looked upon m e a s th e subject
o f a fut u re Supper R ays of light darted from h is
.

l arge eyes he showed his teeth like a n egro i n hys

,

t erics an d he w a s crou ching on his hau n ch es ready

,

fo r a S p ri ng ; all of which convinced m e that unles s

I was pretty qu ick u po n th e trigge r posterity wo ul d ,

kno w little of the term i nation of my even t ful caree r ,

and i t wou ld be fa r less glorio us and use ful than I

"
i ntend t o m ake it .

Th e con flict which ensu ed can not b e more graph .

’
ica lly described than i n Crocket s ow n words
O n e glanc e satisfi ed m e that th ere was no tim e
t o be lost The r e was no ret r e a t eithe r for m e or
.

the cou ga r So I levelled m y Betsey and b l aze d

.

away Th e report w as followed by a fu rious growl

.
,

and th e n ext mom ent when I expected to fi n d t h e

,

tarn al critte r stru ggling with d eath I beheld h i m ,

shaking his head as if n othi ng m ore than a bee had

,

stu n g h im The ball had st r uck hi m on th e fore

. .

h ead and glan ced off doin g n o other inj ury t han
,

stu nn ing him for an instan t and tearing off t he ,

skin which t end ed to i n fu riate him t h e m ore

, .

Th e cou ga r wasn t l ong i n m ak i ng up h is m in d

’

what to do n o r was I neither ; bu t he would h av e

,

it all h is ow n way an d vetoed my m otion to bac k

,

ou t . I had n ot retreated th ree st eps be fore h e

sprang at me like a steamboat ; I ste pped asid e
 A D V E NT U RE S ON TH E P RA I R I E .
3 5
2

and as be lit u pon t h e gro u n d I stru ck h im v io

,

’
le n t ly with t h e barrel o f my rifl e bu t he didn t ,

m in d that but wh eeled arou n d an d m ad e at m e

,

again The gu n was now of no use so I threw it

.
,

away an d d rew my h u nting kni fe for I kn ew we

,
-
,

sho uld com e t o close qu arters be fore the fi gh t

“

would be ove r This t im e he su cceeded in fasten

.

ing on my l e ft arm an d w as u st beginn ing t o

,

amus e himsel f by t earin g th e flesh off w ith his

fangs wh en I ripped m y kni fe i nto h i s S ide and h e
, ,

let go h i s hold mu ch t o m ysat is faction

,
.

H e w heeled about and cam e at me with ih

creased fu ry occasion ed by the smarting of his
,

wou nds I n ow tri ed to blind him knowing that if

.
,

I su cceed ed h e would become an easy p rey ; so a s h e

app roached m e I watched my opport u n ity an d aimed ,

a blow at his eyes with my kni fe ; b u t un fortu nately

it stru ck hi m on the n ose and he paid no othe r
,

a tt ention to it than by a shake of th e head an d a

low growl . H e pressed m e close , an d as I wa s
stepping backward my foot tripped i n a vine an d I ,

fell to th e g r ou n d H e was d own upon m e like a

.

n ight-hawk u pon a J u ne -bu g H e seized hold of .

the ou ter part of my right thigh which afforded ,

him con sid erable am usemen t ; t he h in d e r part of

his b ody was towards my fac e ; I grasped h is tail
‘
with my le ft hand an d tickled h is ribs with m y
,
 A D V EN T U R E S ON TH E P RA I R I E .
3 27

nest mad e for himsel f a v e ry co m fo rtable bed

, .

There was an abu n dan ce O f m oss d ry plia n t and

'

, , ,

crispy h anging in festoons from the trees Thi s

, .
,

spread i n thick folds over his lit ter made as luxu ,

riant a mattress as on e could d esire H is horse .

blanket b ein g laid dow n upon this t h e weary trav ,

eller with seren e skies above hi m an d a gentle

, .

b reeze breathing throu gh h is bower had n o cause ,

to envy t he occu pant of th e most l uxu rious chambe r

wealth can fu rn ish .

H e speedi ly prepared for hi mself a frugal su p

per carried his saddle in to the treetop an d though
, , ,

oppress ed with anxiety in vi ew of th e prospect

be fo r e hi m fe ll as l eep a nd i n bliss fu l u nconscious
, ,

n ess th e hou rs passed away u n til the su n was risin g

in th e m orn in g U po n awaking h e felt very sti ff
.
,

and sore from t h e wo u n ds he had r eceived in h is

con flict wit h th e cou gar Lookin g ove r th e ban k
.
,

he saw the dead body of the cou gar l y ing th e re an d ,

felt that h e had m uch cause of g r atit u de that h e

,

ha d escaped so great a dan ger .

H e then began t o look a rou n d for h is horse .

Bu t the animal w as nowhere to be seen H e as .

cen d ed on e o f th e ge n tle swells of land wh ence h e ,

cou ld look far an d wid e ove r th e u n obstru cted

p ra i r i e To his s u rp r ise and n ot a little to his con
.
,
.

st ern a t ion the an i m a l had d isappeared

"
,
withou t ,
3 2 8 D AV I D ’ ‘
C RO C K E I T.

l ea ving trace ha ir or h ide

of A t fi rst h e though t
.

t h e m ustang m ust have be en devou red by -wolve s

o r some ot her beasts of prey B ut then it was mani
.

fest they could not have eaten h is bones and som e ,

,

thi ng would have remai ned to indicate t he fate of

the poor creature While t hu s perplexed Crocket t
‘

.
,

reflected sadly that he was lost alon e an d on foot , ,

o n th e boundless p rairi e H e was h owever t oo

.
, ,

m uch accustomed t o scenes of the wi ldest adventu re

to allo w h i m se l f t o be mu ch cast down H is app c .

t ite was not distu rbed an d h e began to feel t he

,

cravings o f hu nger .

H e took h is rifle an d st epped ou t i n search O f

h is break fast H e had gon e but a sh o r t distanc e
.

e re he saw a large flock o f wil d geese on the ba nk ,

o f the rive r Sel ecti ng a large fa t gander h e shot

‘

.
,

him soo n st ripped him of h i s feathers built a fi re

, , ,

ran a stick th rough the goose for a spit and then , ,

supporting i t on two sticks with p rongs roasted h is ,

savory V ian d in t he m ost app r oved style H e had .

a little tin cup with h im and a paper of ground ,

c o ffee w ith w hich he m ad e a cup of that m os t

,

re freshi ng beverage Thus he break fasted su m p t u

.

o n sly .

H e w as j ust preparing t o d epart with his sadd le ,

u pon his shou l d er m uch p e rplexed as t o the cou rs e

,

h e should p u rsu e when he was agai n alarmed by

,
 A D VEN T U RE S ON T HE P RA I R I E .
3 9
2

on e of t hose wild Scenes ever occu rrI ng I n th e West .

F irst faintly then loud er an d louder came the sou nd

,

as o f the tramplin g of m any horses on the ful l

gallop H is fi rst thought was th at another en o r
.

mou s herd o f bu ffaloes w a s swe eping d own u pon

h im B u t soon he sa w i n th e d istan ce a b a n d of
.
, ,

about fi fty Comanche Indians w ell mou nted painted , , ,

pl u m ed an d bann ered th e horse and rider apparen t

, ,

ly on e animal coming d own u pon h im thei r h orses

, ,

be i ng u rged to th e utmost speed I t w a s a sublim e .

an d yet an appallin g spectacl e as this ban d of hal f ,

n aked savages th eir spears glittering in the m orning

,

su n, and their lo ng hai r st reamin g behi nd cam e ,

r u sh in g o n .

'

Crockett w a s stan d ing in full view u pon the

banks of th e stream The col um n swept on an d .
, ,

with m ilitary precision as i t approach ed divided , ,

i nto t wo sem ici rcles and i n an i nst ant th e two en ds

,

o f th e circl e reache d the rive r an d Crockett was ,

su rrounded Th ree of the savages p erfo r med t he

.

p art o f t ru mpeters and with wonder f,ul resem

blan ce from th eir l ips emitted th e pealing notes of
, ,

the b ugle A lmost by i nsti n ct h e grasped hi s rifle

.
,

bu t a flash of though t tau gh t h im that u nd er th e

'

cir cu mst ances any att e m pt at r esistan ce would be

,

wo rse than u n availin g .

The chie f s p ran g from h is horse an d advanc i n g ,

 AD VE N T U R ES ON TH E P RA I RI E .
33 1

g uid ed hi m an d h is party to the spot where the y

h a d fou nd h i m ! Th e ch ie f said that they were at
a great d istan ce bu t had seen the smoke from his
,

fi re a n d had co me t o ascertain the cause of it

,
.

H e i n q ui red , writes Crockett w hat had

,
“

b r ou gh t m e th ere alon e I told h im I h ad come to

.

h u nt an d that my m ustang had becom e exhausted ,

,

and t hough I thou ght he was abou t t o d ie that h e

, ,

had escaped from m e A t this th e chie f gave a

.

l ow chu ckling l au gh and said t hat it was all a trick

,

of th e m ustang which is the most wily and cu n

,

n ing o f all an im als . But h e said that as I w as a brave

h u nte r, h e wo uld furn ish me with a nother H e .

gave o rd ers an d a fi n e young horse was immediately

,

b rough t forward .

Th e savages sp eedily discovered the dead body

of the couga r and commenced skin n ing him
, Th ey .

w e r e greatly su rp rised on seeing th e n umbe r o f the

stabs and i nquired i nto the cause When Crockett
, .

ex plain ed to them the con fl ict the p roo f of which

,

w as m ani fest in his ow n lacerated skin and i n th e ,

w o u nds inflicted upon th e cougar they w eregreatly

,

i mp r essed with the va l or he had d isplayed Th e .

chi e f exclai med several times in tones of com min

,

gled ad m i ration and aston ish men t Brave h u nter !

,

brave man ! H e also expressed th e earn est wish

that Crockett would consen t to be adopted as a son
33 D AV ID w om an .

of the t ri be . B ut th is o ffe r was respec t fully de

clin ed .

This frien dly chi e f ki nd ly consen ted to esco r t

Crockett as fa r a s the Colorado R iver Crockett p u t .

h is saddle on a fresh horse and having mou nt e d , ,

the c hie f with Crocke tt at his side took th e l ead

, , ,

and off the whole ban d we nt scou ring over t h e ,

pathless prairie at a rapid speed S everal of t h e .

band w ere squa w s They were the t rumpete rs .

”

They m ade the prairie echo w ith their bu gle blasts -

,

o r as Crockett irreverently but perhaps m ore c or

, ,

rec t ly says Th e old squ aws at the h ead of t he

,
“
,

t roop were braying like yo u ng j ackasses th e whol e

,

“
way .

A fte r th us ridin g over the green and treeles s

e xpanse for abo u t three hou rs t h ey cam e upon a ,

d rove of w ild horses qu ietly pasturing o n the ri ch

,

herbage O n e of th e I ndi an s immediately prepare d

.

h is lasso an d darted ou t toward the herd to make a

,

captu re The horses did n ot seem to be alarmed by

.

h is appro ach but wh en h e got pretty nigh the m

,

they b egan to circle aro un d him k e epi n g at a ca u ,

.

tious distan ce with th ei r heads e l evated and wit h

,

loud n eighings They then following the lead er

.
,

sh ip of a splend id stallion set off on a brisk cante r , ,

an d soon disappe a r ed beyon d th e u nd ulations of t he

p r airie .
 A D V E N T U R ES ON T H E PRA l RI E .
3 33

One ofth e musta ngs remain ed quiet ly grazing .

Th e I n dian rode t o w ithin a few yards of him an d ,

ve ry skil fully threw his lasso

’

The m u st a ng seem ed
.

t o be u pon th e wat ch fo r h e adroitly do d ged h is

,

he a d bet ween his fore fe et and th u s escaped th e

fatal noose .Th e I n dian rode up t o hi m an d the ,

horse patiently submitted t o be bridled and th us

secu red .

When I approached }: writes C rockett I imm e ,

d ia t ely r ecogn ized in the captive th e pestilent little

, ,
‘

animal that had sha m med sickn ess and escaped from
m e th e day be fo re A nd when he caught my eye
.

he cast down his head and looked rather sh eepish ,

as if he were sensible and asham ed of the d i rty trick

he had played m e I expressed my astonishment to

.
,
’
t h e I ndian chie f at the m ustang s allowing him sel f
,

t o be cap tured without any e ffort to escape H e .

to l d m e t hat they were generally h urled to the

grou nd with such violen c e wh en first taken with ,

th e lasso that they rem ember e d it ever a fter ; an d

,

that the sight of t h e lasso will subd u e th em to sub

"
mission t hough they may h ave run wild for years
, .

A ll t h e day lon g Croc kett with his con voy of

,
’

fri endly savages t ravelled ove r t he beauti ful prai rie

,
.

Toward evening th ey cam e ac ross a drove of fa t

bu ffa l oes grazing i n the richest o f earthly p ast u res .

It was a beaut i fu l sight -t o witness the skill wit h

 AD VEN T U RE S ON TH E P RA I R IE .
335

we re hobbled and tu rned loose t o g raze E ve ry .

on e o f t he I nd ia ns selected his ow n portion an d all ,

we re soo n merrily an d even a ffecti on ately engaged

i n th is picni c feast b eneath ski es which Italy neve r
,

rivalled and su rrounded with the lovelin ess of a park

,

su rpassing the highest creations of art in London ,

Paris o r N ew York
, .

Th e I ndians we re q u ite delighted wi th thei r

guest H e told them stories of his w i ld h u nting
.

e xcu rsions and of his encou n te r s with panthers and

,

bea rs They were cha r med by his na rratives a nd

.
,

t hey sa t eager listen ers u ntil lat e into the night ,

beneath the stars an d a r ound the glow i n g camp-fi res .

Then wrapped in thei r blankets they th r e w them

, ,

selves down on the thick green grass and slept S uch .

are the joys of peace and friendship .

They resu med their jou rney in th e mo r n i ng and ,

ressed along with n othing of special inte r est o ccu r

p ,

ring u ntil t hey r eached the Colorada R i v e r A s .

th ey we r e followi ng down this st r eam to st rike t he ,

road which l eads t o Be xa r they saw in t he distanc e

,

a sin gle colu m n of smoke ascending the c l ea r sky .

H asten i ng towa rd i t th ey fou nd that it rose from the

,

c en tre of a sm all grove n ea r the ri ve r When with .

in a few h u nd red ya rds th e wa rri o rs extended thei r

li n e so as n early t o enc i rcle the grove whi l e t he
, ,

c hie f and Crockett advanced cau tiously t o r eco n

33 6 D AV I D C R OC K E I T
’ ‘

noit re . To thei r su rprise th ey saw a solita ry m a n

seated upon th e gro u n d near the fi r e so entirel
y ,

absorbed i n some occupation that he d id not observ e

t h ei r app r oach .

I n a mom ent Crockett m u ch t o his joy perceive d

, , ,

t hat it wa s his lost fri end the j uggle r H e w as all .

engaged in practising his game of thimb les on t h e

c r own o f h is hat . C rockett w a s now resto red to his

compan i on and wa s nea r t he p l ain r oad t o Bexa r
, .

I n desc r ibing t his scen e and the depa r ture of his

kind Indian friend s t he h u nte r w r ites :
,

The chie f shou ted the w ar whoop and sudd en ly

-
,

t he wa rriors cam e r ush in g i n from all qu a rters pre ,

ceded by the old squaw tru mpeters squalling like

mad . T he conj u rer sprang to his feet an d wa s ,

ready to sink into the earth when h e beheld th e

fe rocious-lookin g fello ws that su rrou nd ed him I .

stepped u p took him by the han d an d qu iet ed h is

, ,

fea rs . I to l d the ch i e f that he w a s a frien d of m in e ,

a n d I w as ve ry glad t o h ave fou nd him for I was a fr ai d ,

that h e had pe r ished I n ow thanked him for his

.

ki n dness i n gu idi ng m e o v e r th e prair i es an d gav e ,

h i m a l arge bo w ie kn i fe w h ich h e said h e woul d

-
,

k eep for the sake of th e b r ave hu nte r Th e who l e .

sq uadron th en wheeled o ff and I sa w them n o mo r e

, .

I have m et with many polite m en i n my ti m e bu t ,

no on e who p ossessed in a g r eate r d egre e w ha t

 A D VE N T U RE S ON TH E P RA I R IE .
3 37

m ay be called t r u e spon taneous politen ess t han thi s

Comanche chie f a lways excepting Philip H on e E sq
, , .

of N ew Yo r k whom I look upo n a s the politest

,

m an I eve r did see ; for wh en he asked me t o take

a d rin k at his own sid eboard he t u r n ed h is back upo n
,

m e that I mightn t be asham ed to fi l l as m u ch as I

,
’

wan ted That was what I cal l doing the fai r thi ng
’
. .

The poo r j uggle r w as quit e ove rjoyed in m eeti ng

his frie nd again w hom h e e v idently r egarded wit h
,

m uch r e v e r en ce H e sai d that h e was very m uch

.

alarmed when he fo u n d himsel f al on e on t he path

l ess p rairie After waiti ng two hou rs in much anxiety
.
,

he mo unted h is mustang a nd w a s slowly ret racing his

,

steps when h e spied the bee hunt e r ret u rning

,
- He .

wa s l ad en with ho ney They had t h en jou rn eyed

.

on t o g e t he r t o the presen t spot The h u nte r ha d.

j ust gon e ou t i n sea rch of game H e soo n r etu rned

.

w i th a p l ump t u r key upon h is shoulders They .

bu ilt thei r fir e , and we re joy o usly cooking thei r sup

r w hen t he n ei ghing of a horse nea r by startled
p e,

them Looki ng u p th ey saw two men approaching

.
,

on horseback . They p roved to be th e old pirate and

t he yo u ng I ndian with whom t hey had lodged a few

n igh t s be fo r e U pon being hailed they alighted an d

.
,

politely r equ ested pe r missio n t o join th ei r pa r ty .

Th i s was gladly assented to a s they we r e now en t e r

,

i ng a region deso l at ed by the wa r bet ween t he

15
 A D V E N T URE S ON THE P RA I R I E .
3 3g

took his ad vi ce for the n e xt m i n u t e we w e re sa

,

l uted with a discharge of m usket ry th e r epo rt of ,

w h ich w as so lo u d th at we w ere convin ced th e y all

had fired Be fore the sm oke had cleared away w e
.

had each selected ou r m an fi r ed and I n ever d id , ,

se e su ch a scattering amon g thei r ranks as followed .

W e beheld seve ral m ustangs r u nn i ng w ild w it hou t

t he ir r ide rs ove r th e p rai ri e and th e balance of t he
,

com p an y w ere already r et r eat i ng at a m o r e r ap i d

,

gait t han th ey approached We h astily mou nte d .

,

an d com menced p u rsu it which w e ke p t up u nt i l we

,

beheld the indepen dent fl ag flyin g from the batt l e

men ts of t he fo r tress of A lamo ou r p l ace of dest i ,

nation Th e fugitives su cceed ed in e vading our

.

pu rs uit an d we rod e up t o t he gates of th e fo rt ress

, ,

annou n ced t o t he sentinel who we w e r e an d the ,

gates we r e thro wn open ; and w e ent ered am id

sh outs of welcom e besto w e d up on u s by th e
pa
”
triots.
 C H A PT E R ! II I .

The Fortress of A lam o — Colonel

. B b d t f ti B owie. om a r m en o n
F ort —C rocket t s ’
j l —S
ournah p h i g F ig h
.t i d f h
a r s oot n .
- outs eo t e

F ort . D
- ea th of h B t eH K f N
ee gd h un ter. - a te o aco oc es

Assault on the Ci d l —C k P i
ta e . Hi D roch et t a r son er. - s ea t .

T H E fort ress of A lam o is ju st outsid e of t he

town o f Bexar o n th e San A nton io R ive r T he
, .

town is abo ut o n e hu nd red and forty miles from the

coast an d contained at th at t im e a bout twelve
, , ,

hu nd red inh abitants N early all were M exicans ,

.

though th e re were a few A merican fam ilies I n t he .

year 1 7 1 8 the Spanish Governm ent had established

,

a military outpost h e re ; and in th e year 1 72 1 a ,

few emigran ts from Spai n com menced a flou rishin g

settl em en t at t his spot Its site is beauti ful t he .
,

ai r salubriou s the soil h ighly fertile an d the wate r

, ,

of c rystal p u rity .

Th e town o f Bexar s u bsequ ently r eceived the

n am e o f San A ntonio O n th e ten th o f Decembe r .
,

1 83 5
,
the Texans captu red th e town and citad el
fro m the Mexicans These Texan R a ngers we re
.

rude men who had but little regard for the refi ne
,

men t s or h uman itie s o f civil iz ation \Vhen Crocket t .

x:
 C ON CL U S I ON .
34 1

w i th compan ions arrived Co l one l Bo wi e of

h is , ,

Louisiana on e of the most desperate of West ern

,

adven tu rers w a s in the fortress

, The celebrated .

bowi e kn i fe was n am ed a fte r this man There w as

- .

bu t a feeble garrison an d it w a s t hrea t ened w it h an

,
~

attack by an ove rwhelmin g force of M exicans u nde r

Santa A n na Co l on el Travis was i n com man d H e
. .

was ve ry gl ad t o rece i ve even so sm all a rein fo r ce

men t The fame of Colon el Crockett a s one of the
.
,

bravest of men had already reached h is ea rs

, .

Wh i le we were conversing w rites Crocket t

”
, ,

Co l on el Bowie had occasion t o draw h is famou s

kn i fe and I wish I may be shot if th e bare sight of
,

’
it wasn t en ough t o give a man of a squ eamish stom
ach the colic H e saw I w as ad mi r ing it and said
.
,

he Colon el you m igh t tickle a fello w s r ibs a long

, ,
’

tim e with this litt l e inst r um ent be fo r e you d mak e ’

m ake hi m lau g h .

A ccording to Crockett s accou nt many shame fu l

’
,

o r gi es took p l ace i n the lit tle garr i son They we re .

e vident ly in con s i de rable t repidatio n for a la rge ,

fo rce wa s gathe rin g against them and they could ,

n ot lo o k for any cons i d e rab l e rein forcem ents fro m

any qua r ter R u mo r s were contin ually r eachin g

.

them of t he form idable p reparations Sa n ta A nn a

was m aking t o attack the place Scou ts ere lon g .

bro ugh t in t he tidings that Santa A nna President of ,

 c on c w sror
v .
34 3

ban ne r I t w as thei r significan t intimation t o t he

.

garrison that n o quarte r was be expected Santa .

Anna having advantageously p osted his t roops in

, ,

the a fternoon sen t a su m mons to Colon el Travis ,

d emanding an u nconditional su rrend er threaten ing , ,

in case o f re fusal t o pu t eve ry man to the sword

, .

Th e only r eply Colonel Travis made w a s to th row a

cannon-shot int o the t own The M exicans then .

opened fi re from thei r batteries bu t without doing ,

m u ch h a r m .

I n the n i gh t Colo ne l Trav i s sent th e old pi rate

,

o n an exp r ess to Colon e l Fan n ing who with a smal l , ,

military force wa s at Goliad to entreat him to come

, ,

'
to h is aid Goliad was about fou r days march from
.

Bexar . The n ext m orning th e M exicans ren ewed

thei r fi re from a batte ry about three h u nd red an d
fi fty yards from the fo rt A thre e ou n ce ball st ruc k
.
-

the j uggle r on t h e breast i n flicting a pain ful bu t n ot

,

a dangerous wou nd .

Day a fter d ay this storm of war con tin u ed T he .

wa l ls of th e ci tad el we re st ron g and the bomba rd ,

.

m en t inflicted bu t little inj ury The sharpsh oot .

ers withi n the fortress struck down many of t he

a ssailants at great distances .

The bee h u nte r writes Crockett is about t he

-
"
, ,
“

qu ickest on the t rigger and the best rifl e shot we

,
-

have i n the fo rt I have al ready seen him b ri ng

.
344 D AVID ca oc xar r
'

down eleven of th e enemy and at such a distan ce ,

'

that w e all t hou g ht t h a t it would be a waste o f

”
ammu nition t o attempt it Provision s were begi n
.

ning to become scarce an d the citadel was so su r

,

rou nd ed that it wa s i m poss ible for t he garrison t o

cut its w ay through the l ines an d escape .

U nder date of Febru ary 2 8t h Crocket t writes i n ,

his J ou rnal :
“
Last night ou r h u nters brough t in some co rn ,

a nd had a brush with a scou t from the ene my

beyond gu nsh ot o f the fort They p ut the sco u t .

t o fligh t and g ot in withou t inju ry They brin g

, .

accou nts that the sett lers a re flying i n all q u ar

ters in d ismay leavin g th eir possession s to t he
, ,

mercy of the r uthless invad er w ho is literally ,

engaged i n a war of ext e rm ination m ore brutal tha n

the u ntutored savage of the desert co uld be gui l ty
of. Slaughter is ind iscrimi nat e spa ri ng n eithe r sex, ,

age n or c ond it ion

, ,
Bu ildi n gs h ave been bu rn t
.

d o w n farm s laid waste and Santa A n na appears

, ,

d et erm in ed t o veri fy his th reat and convert t he ,

b looming parad i se in to a howling wilderness For .

j ust o n e fai r crack at that rascal even at a hu nd red ,

’
yards d istance I would bargai n t o break m y Bet
,
.

My name s n ot
’
sey and n ever pu ll trigger again
, .

’
Crockett if I wouldn t get glory enough t o appease
m y stomach fo r the re mai nd er o f my li fe .
 C ON CL U SI ON .
34 5

“
Th e scou t s repo rt that a settler by t h e na me
o f J ohnson flying with h is wi fe an d th re e l ittl e
,

child ren w hen t hey reached the Color a do l e ft h is

, .

fa mily o n the shore an d wad ed into th e river t o see

,

w h ether it would be sa fe to ford w ith h is w a gon .

When abou t th e m iddl e of th e ri ve r h e w a s seized

by an alligato r an d a fter a struggle w a s d ragged
,

u nder th e wate r and perished The h elpless woman

, .

and her b abes were discovered gazing in a gon y on ,

th e spot by other fugitives w h o happily passed tha t

, ,

way and reli eved them Those w h o fight the bat

,
.

t les experien ce bu t a small part of t h e privation .

su ffering an d angu ish that follow in ihe t r a in of

,

ruthless war Th e can n on adin g con t inu ed at in t e r

.

vals th rough ou t t hed ay an d all han ds were kept u p

,

”
to their work .

The n ext day h e writes : I had a little sp ort “

this mo rn ing be fo re break fast Th e en emy had .

planted a piece of ordnan ce withi n gu nsho t o f t he

fo r t d u ring th e n igh t a n d th e first thing in t he
,

morn ing they com men ced a brisk can nonade po i nt ,

blank against t he spot where I was snoring I tu rn ed .

o u t pretty sm art and mou n t ed the r ampart The .

gu n w as charged again ; a fellow stepped fo rt h t o

t ouch her o ff, but be fo r e h e cou l d apply the mat ch ,

I l et him have it an d he keeled ove r

, A seco nd .

st epped u p snatched t he match from t he h and

,

“
15
 C ON CL U SI ON .
347

t he spot the M exicans were close on the heels of the

o ld man w ho stopped suddenly tu rn ed short upon
, ,

his pu rsuers d ischarged h is ri fl e and o n e o f t h e

,
’
,

en emy fell fro m his horse T h e ch a se w a s ren ewed . ,

b ut fi n d ing that h e would b e ove rt aken and cut to

pieces he n o w tu rned again and to th e amazemen t
, , ,

o f the enemy becam e the assailant i n his t u rn

, He .

clubbed his gu n and dashed among them like a

,

wo u nded tige r and they fled like sparrows By this

, .

tim e w e reached the spot and in the ard o r o f the , ,

m om ent followed som e d istance be fore we saw that

,

o u r retreat to the fort was cut off by an other d etach

m ent of caval ry N othing was to be d on e b ut fight

.

o ur way through We were all of the sam e m ind

. .

‘ ’ ‘
Go ahead ! cried I ; and they shou ted Go ,

ahead Colon el
,
We dashed among them a n d a ,

bloody confl ict ensu ed They were abou t t w enty .

i n n u mb e r and they stood their gro u nd A fter the

, .

fight had con ti n u ed abou t five m in utes a detach ,

m ent was seen i ssu ing fro m the fort to ou r reli e f and ,

the M exicans scampered off leaving eight o f their ,

com r ades d ead u pon the fi eld But we did not .

escap e u n scathed for both the pirate and the bee

,

h u nte r w ere m ortally wo u nded and I received a ,

sab re cut across the forehead The old m an died

- .

without speaking as soon as w e entered the fort

, .

We bore my you ng friend t o his bed dressed h is ,

3 4 8 D AV I D C RO C K E I T .
' ‘

wou nds and I watched beside him H e lay w ith

, .
,

o ut com plain t or mani festing pain u ntil abo u t ,

m id night when he spoke and I asked him if h e

, ,

wanted a nything N oth ing he repl ied but dre w

.
,
’
,

a sigh that seem ed to rend h is heart as he added , ,

Poo r K ate o f N a cog d oches H is eyes were filled .

’

with tears as he co n tin u ed H er words w ere pro -

, ,
I

p h et ic Colon
, el and the n he sang in a low voice ,

that resembled the sweet n otes o f his own de voted

K ate
But toom ca m
'
the sad dle , a ll bl u id y to see ,
A nd h a m e c a m e t he s teed , b u t ha m e ne v er c a m e he .
’

H e spoke n o m ore and a few in u t es a ft er died

'

,
m .

Poor K ate who will tel l this to thee

,

The roman ti c bee hu nter had a sweeth eart by -

th e n am e o f K ate in N acogdoches She seems t o .

h ave been a very a ffectionate and rel igious girl I n .

parting she had presen ted her l over with a Bible

, ,

and i n angu ish o f spirit had expressed h er fears

that he wo uld n ever r etu rn from h is p eri l ous enter
p rise .

The n ext day Crockett si mply writes ,

M a rc/z ,

5 t./
z Pop pop pop ! ,Bo rn bom bom
, ! through , .

o u t the day N O t i m e fo r m emo rand u ms n ow

. Go .

ahead Liberty and I ndep enden ce foreve r ”

.

Be fore day brea k on the 6 th of M arch th e cita ,

del o f the A lam o was assaulted by the whol e M ex

 CO N C L U S I ON .
349

i can army the n n u mberin g about three tho usand

,

m en . Santa A n na i n person comm anded The .

assailant s s w arm ed ov er th e w o rks and into t he

fort ress The battl e w as fought w ith the u t m os t
.

d esp eratio n u nti l daylight Six only o f the garri son .

then remai ned alive They were su rrou nded and

.
,

they su rren dered Colonel Crockett was o n e H e

. .

at the ti m e stood al one i n an angle of the fort like ,

a lion at bay H is eyes fl ashed fi re h is shattered

.
,

rifle in his right hand and in his le ft a gleam ing,

bo w ie kn i fe stream ing with blood

-
H is face wa s .

covered with blood fl owi ng from a deep gash a c ross

his fo rehead A bout twen ty M exicans d ead and
.
,

’
dying we re l y ing at his feet The j uggler was also
, .

there d ead \Vith o n e ha n d he was clen ching the

.

hai r o f a d ead M exi c an whil e w ith the other he ,

h ad d riven his kn i fe to the h a ft i n the bosom o f

h is foe .

The Mexican General Castri llon to whom the ,

p risoners had su rrendered wi shed to spare thei r ,

l ives. H e l ed them to that part o f the fort where

San ta A n na stood su rrou n ded by his sta ff As .

Castrillon marched h is prisoners i nto the pres en ce

o f th e Pr esiden t h e said ,

“
Sir here are six p rison ers I h a ve take n alive
, .

H o w shal l I dispose o f them P

”

Santa A n n a see m ed m u ch ann oyed an d said , ,