Davy Crockett and Tall Tales

my name as a volunteer and will set out for the Rio Grande in a few days with the volunteers from the United States.”

The Texas forces of 180-250 were overwhelmed by the attacking 1,300-1,600 Mexican soldiers. The Mexican commanders understood their superiority of numbers and position and offered free passage to all concerned. Travis refused to surrender. Legend has it that Crockett went down fighting inside the Alamo compound, but actual evidence that has come to light since 1955 (the diary of José Enrique de la Peña) indicates that there may have been a half dozen or so survivors, with Crockett perhaps among them. The prisoners were taken by Mexican General Manuel Fernández Castrillón after the battle and summarily executed by order of Mexican General and President Antonio López de Santa Anna.

His achievements and fictional exploits have entered the American imagination. It’s difficult to distinguish what he did and said from what has been attributed to him.

Read the Wikipedia article on Davy Crockett then return to this lesson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett

The Tall Tale

A tall tale is a story that claims to explain the reason for some natural phenomenon, or sometimes illustrates how skilled/intelligent/powerful the subject of the tale was. In either case, the tall tale is fictional.

Tall tales are built by combining the fictional element of exaggeration with historical elements of nostalgia about the past and anxiety about the future.

American tall tales harked back to an era of rugged individualism, the first half of the 19th century.

In the first half of the 19th century, America was undergoing rapid change.

A revolution in transportation stimulated interregional trade as well as the spread of tales and folklore. Massive migration encouraged the development of towns and cities.

During the 1820s and 1830s, American society burst beyond its traditional physical and