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think about if you're a factory worker and you're in Philadelphia and it's
hot and it's dirty and you're on dirty streets and smelly streets and then
here's this guy representing beautiful water and green grass and you know the
wide open spaces you know you'd want more of that it intrigued people on this
episode we're exploring the man many say was America's first true celebrity and
it was built on his identity as a bear hunter he was world famous in his
lifetime and he believed that it all came upon him completely by accident all he
did was play the part of himself David Crockett this folksy Tennessee back
woodsman embodied the narrative of the self-made man and manifest destiny that
became a national obsession and deeply influenced our culture even to this day
I'm interested in how his life has affected my life as an American what do
you know about Davey Crockett other than that he wore a coonskin cap of course
you know that that ring tail hat is a low hanging field edge aker and compared
to what we're about to discover the Crockett myth in reality will be hard
to parse through but one thing's for sure I love this guy and I doubt you're
gonna want to miss this one folkloric characters are created and sustained
because of a need the culture needs them
my name is Clay Nukem and this is the Bear Greece podcast where we'll explore
things forgotten but relevant search for insight and unlikely places and where
will tell the story of Americans who live their lives close to the land
presented by FHF gear American made purpose-built hunting and fishing gear
that's designed to be as rugged as the places we explore
I need a baseline understanding of what average American people know about
David Crockett and in case you think I've already misspoken he never called
himself Davey that didn't start until 120 years after his death you two are
just the guys I've been looking for tell me everything that you know about
Davey Crockett I don't know much about Davey Crockett I did read about him
some I know who he is I don't necessarily know where he was from from
Kentucky close ish Tennessee okay all right in the area like what what did he
do who's a hunter right yeah use the hunter sir I'm talking to another
gentleman here what could you fill in the gap what do you know about Davey
Crockett I mean I mean I David Davey Crockett King of the Wild Frontier he
killed him a bear when he was only three I love it we've tapped into some
skeletal details about Crockett he was from Tennessee at a bear hunter true
story but he didn't kill a bear when he was only three can you sing that song
the fact that this dude can sing this song means something he was reaching deep
into the recesses of his childhood I need more info from these American
commoners excuse me sir what what do you know about Davey Crockett Davey
Crockett he was a man's man okay then I don't know anything about Davey
really you don't know anything you don't have any sense to where he's from
what he did how he affected American identity no comment you're you're a
well-educated man to senator I do not recall are you an American it's hard to
tell country it's hard to know parley on glass I don't know just say I don't
know he was a man's man did Crockett give our culture ideas about manhood
this is getting out of hand I'm very interested in how we're unconsciously
born with a value system because of a geographic location most of the world
especially at the time of Crockett didn't identify with the American value
system it was completely new this is Josh land bridge spill maker and his wife
Christie he was a big man Davey Crockett wasn't there a song about him
a Disney song about Davey Crockett was at the Alamo yeah and he was the king of
the wild front he was king of the wild frontier definitely he wore buckskin
skin hat for sure I don't think he wore a skin skin hat I think that's a I think
that's a farce but wasn't he a giant man no do you have any sense of how DC
Davey Crockett influenced American identity like even how you think about
yourself no you guys did pretty good in the song the Walt Disney song Davey
Crockett was king of the wild frontier he was a roughly six foot tall so wasn't
giant he's from Tennessee he wore a coonskin hat only after there was a play
about him in New York City in the actor wore a coonskin hat and then for a good
part of his life he started wearing a coonskin hat after that so I mean
legendary character but none of us know what the legend is all about like I
think every American would be familiar with the name Davey Crockett but not
know why well what you're gonna learn is is that David Crockett was truly
America's first celebrity Daniel Boone was our first one of our first
first fault heroes DC was truly a celebrity global celebrity
Born on a mountain top in Tennessee Green is stayed in the land of the free
raised in the woods so the new ever tree killed him the bar and he was only
three baby baby Crockett king of the wild frontier
bought single handed to the engine or till the Greeks was whipped and the
that song is the ballad of Davey Crockett from Walt Disney's 1954 David Crockett
trilogy the song seems to be embedded in the hearts of all American boys over
the age of 40 it was number one on the top ten list in America for 13 weeks and
sold over four million copies it was a true American hit at almost the exact
same time Elvis Presley came on to the scene Crockett had two surging peaks of
American and even global popularity one starting in the 1830s in his lifetime
and the second one in the 1950s national myths are simple but their real story
usually based in some level of truth is more complex Crockett was a Tennessee
pioneer born in 1786 he was a renowned bear hunter and houndsman he
fought in the Creek Indian Wars which was part of the war of 1812 and he
became one of America's first commoner politicians or what we'd call a
populist he almost ran for president and was the arch enemy of O'Hickory
himself Andrew Jackson who had become president but most notably he was the
wild American backwoodsman that gained global fame in his lifetime because of
his folksy witty humorous self-deprecating way of communicating but of all that
stuff he most identified as a bear hunter I love it in the words of Crockett
biographer Michael Wallace his bear hunting ability became a key ingredient
in the manufacture of the populist hyper masculine persona he often used to
bolster his public image and political career end of quote but Crockett would
seal his fame and myth in America's Hall of Fame when he died of martyr at the
alamo in Texas in 1836 it's the age of 49 which there is much controversy around
his martyr status and we'll get into that in later episodes so bam there you go
that's Crockett in a nutshell our story delivery strategy is that we're gonna
look at Crockett's influence first so we just kind of understand what he did
and how he did it and then we'll dive into the specifics of his life that made
him we're gonna spend a lot of time on Crockett because of how important he was
to American culture and let's head something off at the pass many would
view our beloved Daniel Boone and David Crockett is basically the same person
and there were many confusing commonalities but they're very different
people at different times did different stuff however they were both involved
in claiming land on the Western frontier there were commercial hunters were
involved in Native American conflicts both were failed entrepreneurs both were
in politics both were renowned storytellers that people were enamored with
however Crockett was much more of what we'd call a true celebrity he knew about
his fame he interacted with that fame but Daniel Boone DB didn't gain his fame
until he was in his mid-fifties and he would die a common impoverished man in
Missouri in 1820 at the age of 86 Boone was 52 years old when Crockett was born
in 1786 their lives overlapped but they never met probably the main reason
people get him mixed up is because the same Hollywood actor Fess Parker played
Crockett in the 1955 Walt Disney David Crockett trilogy and Fess Parker very
confusingly also starred as Daniel Boone in Disney's 1960 series in both he wore
buckskin a coon skin hat fought Indians shot a long rifle but perhaps the
differences in Boone are inconsequential to the masses and in some ways they
represent similar things but to those of us desirous of parsing out the nuance
of that backwoods roughing tumble self-made man identity that we just woke
up and found ourselves in the distinction between Boone and Crockett is important
more on this later bros here's the clip from Disney's wildly popular David Crockett
Indian fighter
speak up man soldiers are looking for Crockett but he's in the bushes with a
growling bear where is he a man points in the bushes what's he doing in there
what's he doing experimenting he's trying to grin down a bear
grin down you backwards buffoons think the rest of us will believe anything
don't you Crockett
Crockett's thrown out of the woods by the beast you sure are small things good
now I gotta do it the whole fashion
Crockett's experiment grinning down the bear fails so he goes back in with his
knife to finish the job Crockett was the original voice of American
frontier dialect that touched the world he was a folksy orator had an
unquenchable reservoir of anecdotes with keen humorous wit in real life he
often said that he could grin a coon out of a tree and even grin down a bear
Disney didn't make this up Crockett did once in a political speech the real
Crockett not the actor said this I discovered a long time ago that a coon
couldn't stand my grin I could bring one tumbling down from the highest tree I
never wasted powder and lead when I wanted one of those creatures he went on
to describe how he once thought he was grinning at a coon but it turned out to
be a knot on a tree branch and he said I saw that I grand all the bark off that
tree and left the knot perfectly smooth now fellas citizens you must be
convinced that in the griddin line I myself am not slow yet when I look upon
my opponents countenance remember he's talking about his political opponent I
must admit that he is my superior you must all admit it therefore be wide awake
look sharp and don't let him grin you out of your votes Crockett proved to be
an incredibly savvy politician self-deprecating funny but always sincere
what he was saying that his opponent was all smile an elite pretty boy but
Crockett smile could actually do something for you Crockett would become
famous for his political antics and showdowns more on this later here is
author and Crockett biographer R. Scott Williams of West Tennessee he wrote a
book called the accidental fame and lack of fortune of West Tennessee's David
Crockett there are a ton of Crockett biographies we're inside an authentic
log cabin at the Discovery Park of America Museum in Union City Tennessee
it's incredible I mean the way I've been describing it is he is America's first
celebrity I've got a poster in my office of folk heroes from the United States
and each one is placed in the state where they're from and so there's an
awful lot of folk heroes but I would definitely say in my opinion he was the
first celebrity he had lithographs with his image and his signature printed and
sold you know I don't know of any you know certainly Daniel Boone never did
anything like that you know he went on a book tour he saw that people were
making money off his name image and likeness and so he wanted a piece of it
and so he himself went to some buddies it could help him write and and publish
this autobiography and then went on a book tour you know and so you read about
that book tour and the audiences were screaming and yelling and you know I
think he absolutely was the first in his lifetime first and biggest celebrity
David Crockett was considered an exotic celebrity who rose amid America's
growing nationalism we were feverishly grasping for identity that would
signify how we were different than the Europe from which we were hewn the eyes
of the world were on the western edge of the American frontier I think it's hard
for us to understand today how intriguing American expansion into the West was
it was a wildly unknown world just first explored by Lewis and Clark in 1804 and
it was considered a wilderness free to those brave enough to come and take it
in a world dominated by poverty and personal land ownership only for the
ultra wealthy there is nothing like this in the world today a land grab like this
and nor will there ever be again a very important piece of the Crockett puzzle
is understanding the worldview and characteristics of his people the Ulster
Scots from Ireland man I told you this is gonna be a deep dive boys you guys
remember Robert Morgan the author of the best boon biography of all time
boon but he's also a Crockett expert here's Mr. Morgan is a long history of the
Ulster Scots and it does explain I think the aggressiveness of people looking for
land they had been encouraged let's say to leave Scotland to go to Northern
Ireland and settle there to have a Protestant presence in this Catholic
country and were offered land and of course land was the important thing land
was owned by the big landowners the gentry the aristocracy and the best you
could do the poor person was pay quit rents and release it so they had moved
over from Scotland and then they the upper class wanted that land so they
were kicked off and many came to North America that was the thing where there
lots and lots of land so these people had basically been kicked off land in
Scotland and then Northern Ireland and was so hungry to own land and to be able
to hunt to be able to go into the wilderness and you arrive in the new
world and there's an infinite amount of land and deer and bear and smaller
animals so where would they go the free land or the cheap land was on the
frontier and those people are really a part of the settlement in the history
of the United States they were very aggressive they were they were determined
they learned to use weapons they were willing to go into the wilderness and
nothing was going to stop them no treaties no laws no Indians anything
that stood in their way to have land yeah it's hard for us to understand that
hunger and the idea of letting the native people stand in the way to them were
just ridiculous mm-hmm the Scotch Irish were very very determined and aggressive
and explained an awful lot of the history of the frontier they were not
alone there were Germans there were Welsh people people from England people
from Scotland but the most aggressive people I think were the Scots Irish
we have names like Jackson and Crockett the people of the United States and
Europe couldn't intake enough media about the frontier this thin edge where
our people met the wilderness that's where Crockett was the frontier became
the breeding grounds of our national identity and the new to the world
democratic ideas of the self-made man from this unique situation creating a
unique ideology America grew to become one of human history's most powerful
empires it wasn't just a land grab but it was an experiment in government and
ideology and this ideology became attached to people who gained mythical
status at this time as the hype of the moment became personified and in Crockett's
time and even after almost 200 years since his death he still carries the
baton here's Mr. Morgan we can only speculate on why would he become such a
celebrity well he was charming it was funny but he met the need folkloric
characters are created and sustained because of a need the culture needs
them Daniel Boone becomes so famous because they needed somebody with a great
hunter had gone into the wilderness who was self-sufficient Johnny Apple seed
becomes this iconic figure because this aggressive society needs a folklorist
figure who's so gentle doesn't kill Indians and plants apple trees and
thought they need that kind of character as opposed to the people who killed the
Indians take their land and Crockett becomes so famous because at that
particularly point 18 and 30 the country needs on the one hand somebody looked
down on not as good as they are but somebody who's really smart and funny
and tells these jokes and again the parallels with the minstrel shows and
all these people in the Northeast and to somebody in the South are amused by
this fellow who's not quality but he's a lot of fun we can we can you know he's
from the cane he's from the backwoods he has it double because the people from
the backwoods American people love him also hmm you know so he's popular with
everybody the people from the city thought he was a sensational crass
wild man and the people from the backwoods thought he was one of them on all
sides people had reasons to be attracted to Crockett it's interesting to me that
many of the armor bearers of American identity weren't the rich elite and
educated but rather a category unique to the world the backwoods men Crockett
was a part of the first generation to carry America's torch without the help
of the founding fathers author Paul Hutton said the rise of men like Crockett
represented to many the triumph of pure democracy in a complete rejection of
European values of social class and aristocracy these were common men who
made their economic and political fortunes through hard work coupled with
natural ability Crockett came to symbolize a rough egalitarianism freedom
of opportunity manifest destiny and reaffirmation of the cherished principles
of the declaration of independence end of quote I think part of the reason
Americans are so enamored or appalled by Britain's royal family is because of
how we've outright rejected the idea of a monarchy it's so foreign to us a king
a man given honor and title without merit because of his birth I know some of
you boys probably don't even know it but King Charles was just made king yep I
think gazing upon the antithesis of our values helps us define our
values it helps to define what we're not a deep American value is that you get
what you have by merit but honestly this is even a myth here's more from
Scott on Crockett's influence why was America so enamored with this guy like
what what did he do what what was the character of him that made him so so
appealing I think it was a combination of humor I think he was funny you know I
think he was one of America's first comedians I think that he was self
depreciating yeah and so I think that was something that people weren't used to
he was representing America's future so if this guy's out there look how
successful he is look what he's doing and I think for them that was exciting it
was an exciting time to think there's brand new lands that we can you know
imagine if we had millions of acres and and it's available and we're trying to
decide you and I'm trying to say here we're gonna hit your wagons up and wagon
train over there my own ancestors settled on Revolutionary Land Grant land
here in in West Tennessee so they were they were probably influenced by Crockett
absolutely you know and he was there represented so my ancestors traveled
across the state and settled here and then they did not leave until my parents
went to college in the 50s and so both sides of my family come out of that
group of people you know those were the kind of people that that David Crockett
was representing people with enough spirit and enough attitude that they're
willing to say goodbye to their families forever knowing that they will probably
never see their friends and family and loved ones ever again and so they carved
out you know the land was rough and they carved it out and began farming and for
somebody who's up north who's a shopkeeper who's well established in a
place and probably never gonna leave right and but some of those people I
think David Crockett was maybe sparking a sense of curiosity he had
something for everybody for the person that wasn't gonna leave he was just
intriguing and entertaining right and but then he was also spur in some of
those people to go to go yeah absolutely he was he was he was just the right
voice at the right time because that's a great point is it really was he was at
the right place at the right time yeah think about if you're a factory worker
and you're in Philadelphia and it's hot and it's you know you're it's dirty and
you're on dirty streets and smelly streets and then here's this guy
representing beautiful water and green grass and you know the wide open
spaces you know you'd want more of that you'd want to read about it you know and
so it was in magazine articles and plays as we mentioned in books and you know it
it uh it intrigued people it intrigued people in 1831 a newspaper labeled
Crockett an object of universal notoriety author Paul Hutton said he
represented the quote Donny Nage of the common man who symbolized Western
egalitarianism and unbridled opportunity so Crockett again had two surges of
fame in America the first starting in the 1830s during his life and lasting for
decades after his death but again his popularity surged in the 1950s with that
Disney movie and song we've established that he was a celebrity in his own time
primarily because of his political prominence which led him to writing an
autobiography released only after several other fake autobiographies had come
out and you can understand why that would be frustrating people were writing fake
stories about it so he had to write his own to rectify his reputation Crockett's
real autobiography was essentially a New York Times bestseller you can order it
today on Amazon and unlike Boone we can hear firsthand the written voice of David
Crockett if you remember multiple times Boone's attempts at an autobiography
were spoiled once an entire manuscript was lost and one of the great mysteries
of Boone is that we never really heard his unfiltered voice not so with Crockett
and I think that might even be to his detriment when you see someone as honest
and vulnerable as Crockett they become easier to criticize but I think it's
important we understand why we're still talking about Crockett today Walt Disney
laid the modern track for hyper commercializing our heroes using Crockett
in the 1950s this was a big one and the first time it was really done at this
extent Scott previously worked for Elvis Presley Enterprises so he understands
Americans marketing their heroes coming from the Elvis world I know a little bit
about licensed product and and paraphernalia and memorabilia and and they
had never seen anything like it before and honestly since the amount of David
Crockett Davey Crockett is what they call it the amount of Davey Crockett
merchandise that was produced and manufactured and distributed and sold
was just incredibly heard of Disney was making millions of dollars off of this
today if somebody's even curious and looking you can go to eBay in search
Davey Crockett and you'll see everything imaginable from guitars to old stuff
from that time period from that time from that little era because it came and
then it went I mean when it ended it ended like a lead balloon it was over
you couldn't sell anything else they didn't manufacture anything else it was
over so there's this era in there where he was the hottest thing going so many
little boys and girls bought raccoon skin caps that they were worried raccoons
were going to go extinct Wow that's incredible it is it is when you look at
the amount of coon tails right they started selling skunk tails and
Nyanum so that it was because they didn't have enough raccoons
Wow man that's a concert that would be the answer to some of our conservation
shoes right now with raccoons eating our turkey and quil eggs man we need to
revive Davey Crockett the coon skin hat that's a personal mission of mine
yeah there you go we used to start wearing wearing a coon skin cap Scott it's
already happening I've got more authentic hound treat Ozark Mountain
coon skin hats that I have broke mules but for whatever reason in all the
literature coon hides were recorded as sold by the pound so hides went from
25 cents a pound to over six dollars per pound creating a 2,000 percent increase
in the price of coon hides in 1956 they were selling over 5,000 coon skin
hats every day that's putting a herd on old Ricky raccoon but don't feel bad
today per the science raccoon numbers in North America are soaring and are far
above pre-European settlement numbers
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Scott makes a point in his book that today Crockett would hardly be remembered
if it wasn't for Disney to think of us sitting here and David Crockett being
just kind of like a yeah he was a guy that you know just kind of an obscure
character in history right because Dave well Davey Crockett what Disney made
him that name would probably be equivalent to the the top most recognized
names maybe in the world is that what you think that would be true oh well
certainly if you were going to take me to Disneyland Paris the most popular
place to go is the Davey Crockett campground where they have it's a large in
Paris and so they have Davey Crockett they have themed it's all themed you know
what what Europeans must think we live like here in West Tennessee but with
wagon wheel salad bars and little carved animals out of wood everywhere and you
know today right now so yeah I mean I would say you would be hard-pressed to
mention the word Davey Crockett to somebody and not have them at least
recognize the name and know that he was somebody famous as much as Crockett
was commercialized even in his time there was a lot of moral substance and
American hunting grit in this Crockett and I don't want us to think that he was
all show he was the real deal but as we examine his influence on early American
culture we can't go any further without talking about the Broadway play in New
York City called the Lion of the West which came out in 1831 Crockett had
nothing to do with it but the main character's name was Nimrod Wildfire and
everyone in the country knew it was supposed to be Crockett so much of the
fame Crockett got he never asked for nor did the things he did seem like they
would get this kind of return on investment he was just a normal dude
being himself I think Crockett was as surprised as anyone in the foreword of
Crockett's autobiography he says I know that as obscure as I am that my name is
making a considerable deal of fuss in the world I can't tell why it is nor in
what it is to end go where I will everybody seems anxious to get a peep at
me and it would be hard to tell which would have the advantage if I the
government and a black hawk and a great eternal caravan of wild varmints were
all to be shown at the same time in four different parts of any of the big
cities of the nation I am not so sure that I shouldn't get the most custom of
any crew there must therefore be something in me or about me that attracts
attention which is even mysterious to myself
sometimes Crockett's assessments of himself can sound arrogant on paper but
when you look at him in so many areas of his life he was humble generous loyal
loving and empathetic to the poor I think a good editor could have helped
Crockett tone down the vibe he was putting out and it wouldn't have come
across is so arrogant but back to the play the Lion of the West here is the line
that comes from the play not Crockett and see if you think it sounds like Crockett
he said and let all the fellers in New York know that I'm half horse half
alligator a touch of earthquake with a sprinkle in a steamboat if I ain't I
wish I may be shot end of quote this was the line in the play but Crockett was
actually quoted once the saying I'm that same David Crockett fresh from the
backwoods half force half alligator a little touched with snapping turtle I
can wait the Mississippi leap the Ohio ride upon a streak of lightning and slip
without a scratch down a honey locus and I can whip my weight and wild cats he
actually said that it's clear this play was about Crockett here's Scott well
David Crockett didn't say it was David Crockett and they never really said this
is David Crockett right but the character wore a wild cat on its head you
know which is really where the idea of Davey Crockett wearing a koonskin cap
came from right so it was the most performed play in the world at the time
well this play was all over Europe and you can actually find it online and there's
a lot of really interesting things written about that play because it was a
very early theatrical you know it was an example of an early American performance
which at the time they were bringing in a lot of place from Europe but there
wasn't yet a big strong American culture of the popular culture right of even
music and see a lot of things were coming over from Europe but but Crockett was
the first embodiment of true American culture and so these plays are being
performed and this character Nimrod Wildfire is saying these words on stage
and journalists are writing it down and saying David Crockett said blah blah blah
and so so without anybody even doing anything the media played a part in
people suddenly thinking that David Crockett is Nimrod Wildfire yeah which
was fascinating isn't it wild it seems like all throughout history media plays
such a powerful role inside of even writing the functionality of what people
believe about what happened I mean it happened with Boone like Daniel Boone this
formative American archetype you know the only reason we know about him is he
there was a chapter in a book written about him when he was in his 50s right
and all of a sudden we hear about Boone and his myth and Lord grows and grows
and then hear Crockett the reason we know Crockett I mean obviously is
because of media because people talking writing doing stuff but they were
looking for what would sell what the American public wanted to hear about
would be interested in and and then here was this wildcat on the frontier that
was this great orator well and he was just responding to a gut instinct
constantly you know and he was he just barreled through and so you know it was
fascinating to see how he didn't hesitate he and you know he didn't always
know he was right and he just barreled through and did stuff one of Crockett's
sayings he said be sure you're right and then go ahead exactly and that's
what he and to me it's fascinating here's this guy who had a tagline yeah he
wrote that everywhere go ahead became a huge popular culture thing that people
would say and attribute to him go ahead poster be sure you're right then go
ahead when the Queen made a carriage for Tiny Tim as a gift she put go ahead on
the side of it wow I was another thing that I found was interesting as I was
looking and researching and I came upon several instances of a popular culture
saying at the time around his death and after his death was like if you were to
brag to me I would say yeah that may be true but it's nothing to Crockett and
so people would say it's nothing to Crockett and that was a famous saying
that people said yeah Crockett was the embodiment of the first true American
culture we were starving for American things that weren't connected to Europe
Crockett had his own tagline in a world of social media it's easy to understand
how this could happen but imagine the energy and hype that would have had to
have followed this guy for his catchphrase to be so widespread but I guess one
could say that's nothing to Crockett as we're learning the Crockett story I
want to introduce him to you in four distinct sections of his identity this
is the way that America knew him and will go through these sections chronologically
so you can understand where these identities arose and first I want to
introduce you to Crockett the bear hunter this was the foundation of his
fame here's Mr. Morgan well there weren't many bears around the eastern
Tennessee then there was only when he got to central Tennessee that there were
enough bears for him to become a bear hunter but he hated farming and he
loved hunting and he particularly liked bear hunting I mean there were deer and
other things he hunted but he discovered his great talent he was better at bear
hunting than anybody else and when he got to that region where there were a
lot of bears that's what he loved to spend this time doing and I guess he
could make some money out of that too you can sell the oil and meat and the
skin and he became very famous in that region as a bear hunter and there are
three Crockets maybe four Crockets and one of them is the bear hunter the
great bear hunter and there's the politician and there's the martyr at the
Alamo but I think there's a fourth which is the soldier in the Greek war which
happened a little later in 1814 but the bear hunter is the original one
he was known he was famous as the bear hunter and he was famous at telling
stories about it too and he used that in his political career for the rest of
his life is he he talked about bear hunting he told stories about it and
that was kind of the foundation of his his folk character was bear hunting that
impressed people in the East you know that gave him prestige in the East as
well as in Tennessee he was the bear hunter Lincoln was the rail slitter and
honest Abe and he was he was Crockett the bear hunter and it was all
frantic he was a great bear hunter I want us to listen to a bear hunting story
and David's words this is a wild adventure from his autobiography written in 1834 I
had seen the track of the bear they were after and I knowed he was a screamer I
followed on to about the middle of the hurricane but my dogs pursued him so
close that they made him climb an old stump about 20 feet high I got in shooting
distance of him and fired but I was all over in such a flutter from fatigue and
running that I couldn't hardly hold steady but however I broke his shoulder
and he fell I run up and loaded my gun as quick as possible and shot him again
and killed him but when I went to take out my knife to butcher him I found I had
lost it coming through the hurricane the vines and briars was so thick that I
would sometimes have to get down and crawl like a varmint to get through it
all and a vine had as I supposed caught in the middle of the handle and pulled it
out while I was standing and studying what to do my friend came to me he had
followed my trail through the hurricane and he found my knife which is mighty
good news to me as a hunter hates the worst in the world to lose a good dog or
any part of his hunting tools I now left McDaniel to butcher the bear and I went
after our horses and brought them as near as the nature of the case would allow
I then took our bags and went back to where he was and when we had skinned the
bear we fleeced off the fat and carried it to our horses at several loads we
then packed it up on our horses and had a very heavy pack of it on each one we
now started out and went until about sunset when I concluded we must be near
our camp so I hollered and my son answered me and we moved on in the
direction to the camp we had gone but a little way when I heard my dogs make a
warm start again and I jumped down from my horse and gave him to my friend and I
told him I would follow them he went on to the camp and I went ahead after my
dogs with all my might for a considerable distance till it last night came on the
woods were very rough and hilly and all covered with cane I now was compelled to
move on more slowly and was frequently fallen over logs and into the cracks
made by the earthquakes so that I was very much afraid I would break my gun
however I went on about three miles when I came to a good big creek which I
waited it was very cold and the creek was about knee deep but I felt no great
inconvenience from it just then as I was all over wet with sweat from running and
felt hot enough after I got over the creek and out of the cane which was very
thick on all of our creeks I listened for my dogs I found they had either
treed or brought the bear to stop as they continued barking in the same place
I pushed on as near in the direction to the noise as I could till I found the
hill that was too steep for me to climb and so I backed down and went down to the
creek some distance till I came to a hollow and then took up that till I come
to a place where I could climb up the hill it was mighty dark and was difficult
to see my way or anything else when I got up to the hill I found I had passed
the dogs and so I turned and went to them I found when I got there they had
treed the bear in a large forked poplar and it was setting in the fork I could
see the lump but not plain enough to shoot with any certainty as there was no
moonlight so I set in to hunting for some dry brush to make me a light but I
couldn't find none though I could find the ground was torn mighty to pieces by
the cracks at last I thought I could shoot by guests and kill him so I pointed
as near the lump as I could and fired away but the bear didn't come he only
climbed higher and got out on a limb which helped me see him better I now
loaded up again and fired but this time he didn't move at all I commenced loading
for the third time but the first thing I knowed the bear was down among my dogs
and they were fighting all around me I had my big butcher knife and my belt and I
had a pair of dressed buckskin breeches on so I took out my knife and stood
determined if he should get ahold of me to defend myself from the best way I
could I stood there for some time and could now then see a white dog I had but
the rest of them and the bear which were dark colored I couldn't see it all it
was so miserable dark they fought all around me sometimes within three feet of
me but at last the bear got down in one of the cracks that the earthquakes had
made in the ground about four feet deep and I could tell the biting end of him
by the holler into my dogs so I took my gun and pushed the muzzle of it about
till I thought I had it against the main part of his body and fired but it
happened only to be the fleshy part of his foreleg with this he jumped out of
the crack and the dogs had had another hard fight all around me as before at
last however they forced him back into the crack again as he was when I'd shot
I had laid my gun down in the dark and now I began to hunt for it while I was
hunting I got ahold of a pole and I concluded I would punch him a while with
that I did so and when I would punch him the dogs would jump in on him when he
would bite him badly they would jump out again I concluded as he would take
punching so patiently it might be that he would lie still enough for me to get
down in the crack and feel slowingly along until I could find the right place to
give him a dig with the butcher so I got down and my dogs got in before him and
kept his head towards them till I got along easing up to him and placing my
hand on his rump I felt for his shoulder just behind which I intended to stick
him I made a lunge with my long knife and fortunately stuck him right through
the heart at which he just sank down and I crawled out in a hurry and a little
time my dogs all came out to and seemed satisfied which was the way they always
had of telling me that they had finished him I suffered very much that night with
cold as my leather breeches and everything else I had was wet and frozen
but I managed to get my bear out of the crack after several hard tries and so
butchered him and laid down to try to sleep but my fire was very bad and I
couldn't find anything that would burn well to make it any better so I concluded
that I should freeze if I didn't warm myself in some way by exercise so I got
up holler-to-while and then I would just jump up and down with all my might and
throw myself into all sorts of motions but all this wouldn't do for my blood
was now getting cold and the chills coming all over me I was so tired too that
I could hardly walk but I thought I would do my best to save my life and then if I
died nobody would be to blame so I went to a tree about two feet through with
not a limb on it for 30 feet and I would climb it to the limbs and then lock my
arms together and slide down to the bottom again this would make the inside
of my legs and arms feel mighty warm and good I continued this till daylight in
the morning and how often I clumb that tree and slid down I don't know but I
reckon at least a hundred times in the morning I got my bear hung up so as to
be safe and then set out to hunt for my camp I found it after a while and
McDaniel and my son were very much rejoiced to see me back for they were
about to give me up for lost we got our breakfast and then secured our meat by
building a high scaffold and covering it over we had no fear of it spoiling for
the weather was so cold it couldn't we now started after my other bear which
had caused me so much trouble and suffering and before we got to him we
started after another and took him also we went on to the creek I'd crossed the
night before and camp and then went to where my bear was that I'd killed in the
crack we examined the place and McDaniel said he wouldn't have gone into it as I
did for all the bears in the woods we took the meat down in our camp and
salted it and also the last one we'd killed and tended in the morning to make
a hunt in the hurricane again we prepared for resting that night and I can
assure the reader I was in need of it we had laid down by our fire and at 10
o'clock there came a most terrible earthquake which shook the earth so that
we were rocked about like we had been in a cradle we were so very much alarmed
for though we were accustomed to feeling earthquakes we were now right in the
region which had been torn to pieces by them in 1812 and we thought it might
take a notion to swallow us up like the big fish did Jonah in the morning we
packed up and moved to the hurricane where we made another camp and turned out
that evening and killed a very large bear which made eight we had now killed
in this hunt the next morning we entered the hurricane again in a little or no
time my dogs were in full cry we pursued them and soon came to a thick cane
break in which they'd stop their bear we got up close to him as the cane was
so thick we couldn't see more than a few feet here I made my friend hold the
cane a little open with his gun till I shot the bear which was a mighty large
one I killed him dead in his tracks we got him out butchered him and in a
little time started another and killed him which now made 10 bears we'd killed
and we know we couldn't pack any more home we only had five horses along
therefore we returned to the camp salted our meat to be ready for the start
homeward the next morning the morning came we packed our horses with meat and
had as much as they could possibly carry and sure enough cut out for home it was
about 30 miles and we reached our home the second day I had now accommodated my
neighbor with meat enough to do him and had killed and all up to that time 58
bears during the fall and winter as soon as the time come for them to quit their
houses and come out again in the spring I took a notion to hunt a little more and
in about one month I killed 47 more which made 105 bears I had killed in less
than one year from that time that was incredible Crockett talked about the
new Madrid earthquake of 1812 and all the cracks in the ground he killed a bear
down in one of the cracks the Bear Grease Hall of Famer Tecumseh is believed
by some to have invoked that earthquake when he prophesied that he'd stomp the
ground and it would shake down every house that quake was felt from New Orleans to
Canada and all the way to Maine it made the Mississippi River run backwards and
the quakes lasted for four months Tecumseh would die in Ontario in 1813 if
there's one thing I know from chasing bears and pounding around in the
mountains of the yeast that killing 105 bears fully processing them in the back
country using primitive gear packing them out with horses he'd have been better
off with meals we all know but that was some rough living and you can't fake it
Crockett was the real deal he said in his autobiography that he had seven of
the most vicious Bear hounds in the south bear hunting was so core to Crockett's
identity I felt like we needed to establish that up front and it's so hard
to tell a complex story like this but mr. Morgan told us there were four Crockett's
that were the building blocks of his fame the bear hunter the soldier the
politician and the martyr at the Alamo on the next episode we're gonna start
into the chronology of Crockett's life from his birth because all that stuff
all the stuff he did is what made him who he was in America knew that story and
it's gonna get wild but it's nothing to Crockett we hadn't even started yet now
how'd you kill that brute with my knife I was figured on granting the death but
this here stumble-footed made yours come along busted up my concentrate
grinning to death what the thunderation is that oh which some I've been
experimenting with you see there's nothing so absolutely irresistible as an
old-fashioned good-natured grin like this I start out on coons I got so good at
one day an old coon thought up his hands a minute he seen my teeth you got me
daily hollered and he skinned down that tree and plopped itself my side for I
don't what was up I figured the same thing ought to work on bars but I never
got a chance to find out the major here come along and busted up my
concentrate I wound up having to rise so let's put the critter into table meat
I can't thank you enough for listening to Bear Grease we've got several more
Crockett episodes and we're diving in deeper than we probably ever had and hey
Dave Smith decoys are now part of the meat eater family for over 23 years they've
made the most realistic turkey deer and goose decoys in the world and I don't
expect them to stop now I look forward to talking with everybody on the Bear
Grease render next week
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