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American Legend: King of the Wild Frontier,
1835-2002
| 1853 | Clipper Ship David Crockett is launched. |
| 1872 | Frank Murdock and Frank Mayo's play, Davy Crockett: Or, Be Sure You're Right, Then Go Ahead, debuts with Mayo in the lead. |
| 1896 | The play closes upon the death of its lead performer, Frank Mayo. |
| 1909 | Charles K. French stars in the first Crockett film, the silent one-reeler, Davy Crockett - in Hearts United. |
| 1954 | "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter," starring Fess Parker, debuts on Walt Disney's Disneyland TV show on December 15. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is recorded. |
| 1955 | "Crockett Goes to Washington" is broadcast on Disneyland on January 26. "Davy Crockett at the Alamo" is broadcast on February 23. Disney edits the three episodes as a theatrical release, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Bill Hayes' version of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" reaches #1 on the Billboard charts. |
| 1960 | John Wayne stars as Crockett in the motion picture The Alamo. |
| 1967 | U.S. Post Office issues a first-class five-cent stamp commemorating Davy Crockett. |
Student Reading
After his death at the Alamo, Crockett became an even more popular figure, whose legend went on to fulfill all aspects of Manifest Destiny for the American people. In fact, Crockett has been continuously celebrated in song, book, play, poem and film over the course of two centuries.
The Crockett of popular culture was firmly established by 1836 when Richard Penn Smith wrote another Crockett "autobiography," Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas. The Crockett almanacs, which were printed regularly from 1835 until 1856, featured outrageous tales of the frontiersman taming wild animals, riding up Niagara Falls on an alligator and battling comets!
Following the War Between the States, Crockett appeared to yet another generation of Americans courtesy of new magazine articles and dramatic stage productions. The play Davy Crockett; or, Be Sure Youre Right, Then Go Ahead debuted in 1872 and ran until 1896, when its star, Frank Mayo, died. William F. Cody's Story of the Wild West in 1888 included tales of Crockett along with other legendary frontier heroes. In 1909, a silent film titled Davy Crockett - in Hearts United premiered, and more books, magazine articles and films were produced throughout the late 19th and the 20th centuries.
The most celebrated Crockett decade in the twentieth century was the 1950s, when Walt Disney produced a three-part series titled Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Starring Texas-born actor Fess Parker, the Disney series created a merchandising craze of nearly 5,000 items including coonskin hats, which soared in price from two cents to five dollars apiece because of high demand, and the theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," which sold several million copies and topped the national record charts for five consecutive weeks. In 1960, John Wayne released his epic film, The Alamo, in which he starred as Davy Crockett.
The Crockett of Disney and Wayne had become a more traditional western hero, but still defended the same values of the original David Crockett - the man who struggled for the common people, who fought and died for Texas independence, and who defined for his time and for ours just what it meant to be an American.
Watch this video clip from The History Channel's Boone and Crockett: The Hunter Heroes. Write down at least one fact you learn that is not included in the Student Reading. From the images in the documentary, why do you think Fess Parker was such a popular Davy Crockett?
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These items are part of Sunrise in His Pocket: The Life, Legend and Legacy of Davy Crockett, Temporary Exhibit at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, March 2 - August 18, 2002.
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