Davy Crockett’s Best Life Lessons
Davy Crockett is an American folk hero of mythical proportions who gained immense popularity in the 50s and 60s through Disney miniseries and major films . But Crockett was a very real person in history, and he had a lot of wise deeds to share.
Welcome to Retro Week , where we light up the flux condenser and introduce you to the 1950s know-how of everything from making casseroles to building fallout shelters to joys for kids to relax and play with trash.
David “Davy” Crockett was born in 1786 (before the adoption of the US Constitution) and lived as a fugitive, soldier, border guard, and even was elected to Congress in 1825 after serving in the Tennessee legislature from 1821. but plays, songs and tales turned him into the certified raccoon-hat-wearing folk hero we know today.
About government and loyalty to your weapon
While in Congress, Crockett opposed much of President Andrew Jackson’s policies, including the Indian Relocation Act , which sought to relocate all Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. But Crockett’s determined opposition and his refusal to obey the demands of any political parties ultimately led to a difficult political career. He said a lot about those who act as political puppets:
“I would rather be defeated and be a man than be the chosen one and be a little puppy. I have always supported measures and principles, not men … “
In a letter following his election defeat in 1830, quoted in David Crockett’s book: Man and Legend (1994)
“I am free to vote as my conscience and judgment dictate to be right, without the yoke of any side on me or without a driver following me on my heels, with his whip in hand, ordering me Mr. ho, just for his pleasure. Look at my hands, you won’t find any holiday handcuffs on them! “
Letter dated January 28, 1834, published in The Narrative of the Life of David Crockett.
“I’m not a man. I bark without asking. I will never come and go, take and blow the whistle of a great man in the White House, whoever he is. “
Report of Colonel Crockett’s Travels North and East (1835)
When Crockett was defeated again in 1835, he abandoned politics and made way for Texas (then the Mexican state of Texas). However, he can at least say that he has always defended what he believed to be right.
Survival at the border
No wonder Davy Crockett is known as the “King of the Wild Frontier”. One of those reasons is Tom W. Blackburn’s 1955 song The Ballad of Davy Crockett, but another is because he was a hell of a hunter. When he wasn’t fighting or running for office, he made his living by hunting bears. He claims to have killed 105 bears in a seven-month period in the harsh winter of 1825-26 . Wow. So, is he lost in the forest:
“For the information of young hunters here, I’ll just say that whenever a guy gets lost, the way home is the way he doesn’t think it is. This rule will work nine times out of ten. “
Or freeze your ass in the cold:
“That night I suffered a lot from the cold as my leather breeches and everything else I was wearing were wet and cold. But I managed to get the bear out of the crack after a few ordeal, so I stabbed him to death and lay down to try to sleep. But my fire was very bad and I couldn’t find anything that could improve it; and I came to the conclusion that I should freeze if I am somehow not warmed up by exercise. So I got up and screamed for a while, and then I just jumped up and down and threw myself into all kinds of movements. But none of this worked; because my blood is now cold, and I got a chill. I, too, was so tired that I could hardly walk; but I thought that I would do my best to save my life, and then if I die, no one will be to blame. So I walked up to a tree about two feet away, not a branch on it for thirty feet, and I climbed up to my limbs, and then clasped my hands together and went down again. It would make my feet and hands very warm and pleasant from the inside. I continued this until dawn in the morning, and how often I climbed my tree and rolled down, I do not know, but I think at least a hundred times. “
The story of the life of David Crockett of Tennessee (1834)
Ah, the warming force of friction. The King of the Wild Frontier always knew what to do.
About humility
Davy Crockett was a big deal even during his lifetime, but he never let the attention get distracted on his head. In fact, he really didn’t understand what it was about.
“I know how little known I am, my name causes a lot of noise in the world. I cannot say why this is so and how it should end. I go where I want, everyone seems to want to spy on me … Therefore, in me or in me there must be something that attracts attention, which is mysterious even for me. “
The Story of the Life of David Crockett (1834)
He was kind of a version of the Chuck Norris jokes in the early 19th century. Despite all this, he remained fairly down to earth.
About helping people
One of the reasons people liked Davy Crockett so much is because he was always ready to help. Were they a neighbor in need of food for the winter:
“I worked with my hands until the bears got fat, and then went hunting to stock up on meat. I soon killed and salted as much as my family needed; but at about this time one of my old neighbors, who had settled on the lake about twenty-five miles from me, came to my house and said that he wanted me to come down and kill some of the bears in its parts. He said that they are very thick and very large. I knew that when they were fat, they were easy to take, because a fat bear cannot run fast and long. But I asked the bear only for politeness, for nothing else, because now I had eight large dogs, fierce as artists; so the bear had no chance of running away from them at all. So I went home with him and then went down to the Mississippi and started hunting. We were absent for two weeks and during that time we killed fifteen bears. Having fed my friend some meat, from time to time I again occupied myself with building a boat and obtaining staves. “
The Story of the Life of David Crockett of Tennessee (1834)
Or the occasional poor thing on the street:
“Whenever I had something and saw the suffering of a friend, I was more anxious to alleviate it than to benefit myself. And this is one of the true secrets that I am still a poor man. But this is my way, and although he often left me an empty wallet, nevertheless he never left my heart empty from the consolations that money could not buy, the consolations from the fact that sometimes I fed the hungry and sheltered the naked. “
Davy Crockett (1918)
Crockett just wanted to do the right thing, even if it meant he had less.
About trying something new
Crockett eventually tried his hand at poetry, and why not? He was sad and wanted to get rid of these feelings.
“It is said that grief will make even an oyster feel poetical. I have never tried myself in this type of writing, but in this particular case my state was such that I began to imagine myself inspired; so I took my pen and, as usual, went on. “
The exploits and adventures of Colonel Crockett in Texas (1836)
Here is one of his poems:
The corn I planted, the fields I cleared
The flocks that I raised and the hut that I raised;
Wife of my breast – Goodbye everyone!
In the land of a stranger, I rise or fall.
Not bad for a guy who in total went to school for about four days before the escape, to start a new life, full of adventure. Don’t let things get in your way if you want to try new things. Be like Davy and just try it!
How to Throw a Towel Correctly
Crockett ran for Congress for the fourth time and lost a second time in 1835. So he decided it was best to drop everything and move on to greener pastures.
“I also told them about how I was knocked down and dragged out, and that I did not consider it a fair fight, whatever they were. I put the ingredients in the cup, as I tell you, and ended my speech by telling them that I am done with politics for the moment, and they can all go to hell, and I will go to Texas. “
The exploits and adventures of Colonel Crockett in Texas (1836)
He definitely came out with a bang. Unfortunately for Crockett, he only had three months to spend in Texas before he was killed at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
In life
Crockett’s exploits were many, and it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, but he definitely lived well. This is partly due to his number one rule:
“I leave this rule to others when I die. Always be sure you are right – THEN GO FORWARD! “
David Crockett: His Life and Adventures (1874)
Simple but effective, right? Finally, he knew that he wanted to be known for the way he lived, and not for the way he died:
“I don’t know if the brilliant death of a dark and honest life is not preferable in the eyes of the whole world. Most people are remembered as they die, not how they lived. We admire the splendor of the setting sun, but we hardly catch a glimpse of its midday splendor. “
David Crockett: His Life and Adventures , 1875
