After seeing others make money off his celebrity,
Crockett published several books of his own. In 1833 he was
reelected to Congress. There was talk of his running for presi-
dent on a Whig ticket, allowing that party to steal the “com-
mon man” claims of the Jacksonians. In 1835, however,
Crockett was defeated for reelection to Congress by several
hundred votes. Thereafter, always on the lookout for cheaper
land, he told the voters of Tennessee,“you may all go to hell
and I will go to Texas.”
Several months later, toting his long rifle, Crockett rode
into the Alamo in Texas, then a part of Mexico. Thirteen days
later history caught up with the legend of Davy Crockett—
and perhaps surpassed it. (See Re-Viewing the Past,The
Alamo, pp. 316–317.)should, at least occasionally, legislate for the poor.” Such
positions aligned him with the Jacksonian Democrats—the
party of the common man.
But in 1830 Crockett broke with Jackson over the
removal of Indians from the South. Although Crockett readily
acknowledged that he had fought to “kill up Indians,” he
thought it wrong that “the poor remnants of a once powerful
people” should be driven from their homes. He voted against
the Indian removal bill, the only member of the Tennessee
delegation to do so. In the next election Jackson, furious,
campaigned against Crockett:“I trust your Congressional
District will not disgrace themselves longer by sending that
profligate man Crockett back to Congress.” Crockett’s frontier
constituents, too, wanted to be rid of the Indians. Crockett
lost the election.
But by then his fame had spread. Newspaper editors
seized on the story of the rough-hewn, bear-killing frontiers-
man. An 1831 play entitled The Lion of the West,based on
Crockett, was performed in New York and London. Publishers
found an eager audience for books about Crockett: some cel-
ebrated him, others lampooned him, but all exaggerated his
exploits. The Crockett Almanacs—the first comic books—told
of how Crockett rode his pet alligator up Niagara Falls,
skinned Indians “the natural way, with his teeth,” and
indulged in insatiable and exotic sexual appetites. Tens of
thousands were sold.
265Questions for Discussion
■Davy Crockett was arguably the first American to
become famous for his fame. What explains the appeal
of Crockett to Americans in the 1830s?
■Davy Crockett symbolized the frontier as violent, savage,
and uncouth. How did his life sustain that image? And
how did it undermine it?These pages are from the Crockett Almanacs—the first comic books. Published by various printers and authors, they exploited Crockett’s name
and made it even more famous.