Davy Crockett and Tall Tales

What does Davy Crockett have to do with the CSET? If you are going to take the CSET English or the CSET Multiple Subjects exam, then you need to know about Davy Crockett and what the tall tale is.

David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) is a 19th-century American folk hero usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title “King of the Wild Frontier”.

Crockett was born in a cabin near the Nolichucky River in Greene County, Tennessee (not on a mountaintop).

There is no historical record that Crockett killed a bear when he was three years old.

Crockett stood about 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed approximately 190 pounds (86 kg). He was engaged to marry Margaret Elder, and although the marriage never took place, the contract of marriage (dated October 21, 1805), has been preserved by the Dandridge, Tennessee courthouse. It is well-documented that Crockett’s bride-to-be ran out on the wedding and married someone else.

On September 24, 1813, he enlisted in the Second Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Mounted Riflemen for ninety days and served under Colonel John Coffee in the Creek War. He was discharged from service on March 27, 1815. Crockett won the election of lieutenant colonel of the Fifty-seventh Regiment of Militia on March 27, 1818.

On September 17, 1821, Crockett was elected to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances. In 1826 and 1828 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. As a Congressman, Crockett supported the rights of squatters, who were barred from buying land in the West without already owning property which made in popular among the “common folk”.

Crockett was a staunch opponent of wasteful government spending, another popular position among common folk.

On October 31, 1835, Crockett left Tennessee for Texas, writing “I want to explore Texas well before I return”. He arrived in Nacogdoches, Texas, in early January 1836. On January 14, Crockett and 65 other men signed an oath before Judge John Forbes to the Provisional Government of Texas for six months. “I have taken the oath of government and have enrolled