Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-08-12
Sflett Misfellallg.
DAVID CROCKETT. 7.
BY JAMES PARTON.

Few men have reached Congress by ;
stranger road than the eccentric individ
ual named at the head of this article
Some men Lave talked, others have writ
ten, others have fought themselves int
Congress, but David Crockett shot him.
self thither It was his wonderful skill
as a marksman, and his daring as be al
hunter, which made him SO popular in
his district, that when he chose to run
for Office, he usually distanced all compe
titors. He could shoot a humming bird
on the wing with a single ball. Seated
upon the margin Of river, he would aim
at a fish, and as soon as the crack of his
rife WAS heard, one Of the little inmates
of the stream would be seen struggling
on the surface He used to speak of his
battered old rife in words like these:
"She's mighty rough old piece; but l
love her, for she and [ have seen hard
times. She mighty seldom tells me a lie.
IF I hold her right, she always sends the
ball where [ tell her.
Shooting was not his only qualification.
He had other gift and graces calculated
to win the favor of frontier population ;
although it was his matchless skill with
the rife that first drew attention to him.
He was an abundant relator of comic
anecdotes and an utterer OF those eccen-
tric remarks which are passed from mouth
to mouth, and form large part of the
common stock of wit in a country place.
Forty or fifty years ago, almost every
newspaper that appeared had story IN
it, il some old corner, in which the name
of David Crockett figured.
He was born in East Tennessee in 1907,
the youngest but one of the six sons oi
John Crockett, who by turns was farmer
miller and tavern-keeper. This John
Crockett was the son of an etnigrant from
the north Of ireland, who, after fightin 9
with noted courage through the Revolu
tionary war, settled in East Tennes
see. There he and his wife were mur
dered by the Greek Indians; one Of then
sons was wounded and another was car
ried into captivity, and remained priS.
oner with the Indians for seventeen years
John Crockett escaped, grew up, and II
due time became the father Of the fam
GUS David. When the boy was seven
wears old his father met with a misfor.
tune which reduced him to utter poverty
A freshet swept away new mill in which
he had invested the savings of life time
It was carried off bodily, lea wing not a
wreck behind. The unfortunate proprie.
tor then removed to another county, and
opened small tavern not far from the
present city of Knoxville.
It happened, one evening, when Da-
vid was twelve years of age, that an old
Dutchman, drover, put up at his faith
er's tavern, having with him drove OF
cattle. To this Dutchman, John Crock
ett hired his son, as droyer's boy, with
the understanding that he was to help
drive the cattle, as far as Richmond and
then return. Away he went, and was
soon in high favor with the Dutchman
from whom he learned those Dutch an,
ecdotes and the Dutch brogue which he
afterward employed with SO much effect
He liked his master we'll, but after trav
cling for some weeks with the cattle, he
became homesick, ran away, Joined ;
wagner bound for East Tennessee
and reached home again.
The next winter his father sent hin
to school for the first time in his life
but before he had been at school week
he had fight with one of the scholars
in which he gained the victory and bea
his antagonist so severely that he dared
not show himself in school again. So he
played truant for several days but dis
covering that his father had found hin
out, he thought it prudent to beat re
treat, and hired himself to another drovel
who was going to Virginia. Many were
his adventures. His employer, after i'll
treating him in various ways, turned hin