What Happened to Davy Crockett?

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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The way Davy Crockett died is not at all agreed on by historians.

• Would you like to study the facts and come to your own conclusion?

You'll have a chance to do that, and then prepare for a lively discussion about it.

When you are asked to participate in a group discussion, you must do some preparation, such as reading the material assigned to you or doing research on the topic.

Sometimes the discussion will be about a story, poem, or article everyone has read, but sometimes it will be about an issue that can be debated. For such discussions, you'll prepare your evidence and then carefully choose points to dive into and discuss.

The first step for this discussion is to read about the history of Davy Crockett and the Battle of the Alamo. While you're reading, take notes on the arguments and the facts that are presented for each version of how he died.

The Death of Davy Crockett

Background

In 1836, a group of tough Texans— around 200 of them—held out in the Alamo, an old Spanish mission they were using as a military fort.

They were trying to gain independence from Mexico, but they were greatly outnumbered. The famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett, was said to have died in that battle.

But some witnesses later declared that Davy had actually been captured by the Mexican forces and was later executed.

Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee in 1786. As a young man, he became well-known for his scouting and hunting ability and served the U.S. Army in those areas during the Creek War.

He later served in Congress and became famous for telling tall tales about himself and his adventures.

When he heard about the Texans’ fight for independence, he headed to Texas with a group of Tennessee volunteers to join them. They arrived at the Alamo in February of 1836 and were a very welcome sight.

A skilled negotiator, he helped to lessen the tension between the two rebel leaders, Jim Bowie and William Travis.

In late February, Mexican General Santa Anna began his siege of the Alamo.

He did not block the city exits and the Texans could have escaped if they wanted to, but none did. They all chose to remain and fight.

On March 6^th, Santa Anna's troops attacked the Alamo, and the fighting was over in two hours. Around 200 Texans died, along with 600 Mexican fighters.

However, a few (maybe seven) of the Texas fighters were taken alive and soon executed. The question remains: was Davy Crockett one of them?

Below are some witness of the battle and their testimonies.

Testimonies that Crockett Died at the Alamo

Francisco Antonio Ruiz

Francisco Antonio Ruiz, the mayor of San Antonio, had met Crockett before the battle. He said that after the battle Santa Anna ordered him to identify the bodies of Crockett, Travis, and Bowie. He identified a body that had fallen on the west side of the Alamo as Crockett.

Susanna Dickinson

Susanna Dickinson, the wife of one of the Texans, was among the women and children who were spared by the Mexican troops. She was interviewed many times about the Alamo over the course of her life but never wrote down her testimony.

She said that after the battle, she saw Crockett's dead body lying on the ground between the chapel and the barracks. That roughly corroborates Ruiz's account.

Another significant fact is that Santa Anna never claimed to have captured and executed Crockett.

Testimonies that Crockett was taken prisoner and executed

Fernando Urissa

Urissa was a young Mexican soldier who was wounded in a later battle and treated by an American doctor, Nicholas Labadie.

Labadie asked Urissa about the Alamo and he mentioned the capture of a "venerable-looking man" with a red face. He said he believed the others called him "Coket." He was brought to Santa Anna and then executed, shot by several soldiers at once.

Jose Enrique de la Peña

De la Pena was a Mexican Army officer. He is said to have written a diary about his experiences in the Alamo (although it was not found until 1955). He claims that Davy Crockett was taken prisoner and brought to Santa Anna.

The Mexican general ordered the prisoners to be executed. The regular soldiers, tired of all the fighting that day, did not immediately carry out his order. But other, higher-ranking officers, wanted to impress Santa Anna and went immediately to attack them.

De la Peñ wrote that the prisoners "died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers."

Problems With the Testimonies

There are many problems with each of the above testimonies. Urissa's testimony is considered "hearsay" since it was written down by someone else.

The original of Ruiz's account in Spanish has never been found; there is only an English translation.

Some historians think that De la Pena's document is fake. They also relate that de la Pena hated Santa Anna and could possibly have made up the story to make him look bad.

Dickinson never wrote anything down, so all her testimony is “hearsay” as well, and other aspects of her accounts have been questioned.

Conclusion

Davy Crockett was certainly a hero of American history, for his courage and cheerfulness enlivened and uplifted the struggling Texans.

We know for certain that he stayed at the Alamo when he could have escaped and fought until the end. But what that end was exactly, we may never know.

• Now that you've read the article, what do you think?
• If you had to argue one view or another, which would you take?

Get ready—you'll make your choice in the Got It? section!