The Coolidge examiner., 1934-05-04

sss AZ upon his moeeaslned heels as
H he flashes across the page Of
SsS history come pressing a whole
line Of ~wild West" heroes
whose renown might easily have ecllpsed his;
yet. tn this ycar 1884 the name and fame Of
Davy Crockett s,lll goes ahead
Down In Texas they are getting ready TO cele.
brate. two years hence. the centennial OF Texan
Independence from Mexico and during that oele.
brRtiou the dominant figure IN memory will be.
of course sam Houston. the George Washington
% the Revolution % 1896 and the arst preslden;
of the Lone star republic. But there viii also be
occasion TO Remember the Alamo r. and 70 re
call again the names of It's heroic defenders
Bowie and Bonham and Travis and most of al.
Davy Crockett
For Ia the minds OF most Americans Davy
Crockett IA the Apotheoss OF the Alamo and be
is second only TO sam Houston as the most men,
orable hgure In The hghi by Texas for freedom
from Mexico. why1
Perhaps the best explanation can be found In
the took ''Davy Crockett By Constance Rourke
published recently by Haroourt. Brace and CON-
paay. In the foreword TO this volume. the auth
or says:
When country is young II discovers It's
heroes. and these are not always leaders In bat.
tie. They may only be men who have had the
adventures others long for. They may show ad.
mlred traits. or strange ones They may talk or
laugh In fashion which others enjoy. Always
stories are told about them.
-Davy Crockett knew Wild iIse as few have
known u. and be became the most noted hunter
of his time. Even when he was an obscure back.
woOdsman eomlcal tales and high talk could be
heard about him. and his own humor had fame
among the people OF his region. when he
emerged from the wilderness and appeared In
the East as congressman. be suddenly seemed
10 the popular Imagination all that had been
known or guessed about life in the western
woods or the western waters. There was
truth In this: even in the most soaring OF the
many tall tales about Crockett there wns truth
About no single American figure have 80
many legends clustered. After Crockett's death
whole cycles OF legendary tales were told about
him that form a rich outaowering OF the
American Imagination. -
In those words Is a definite clue 10 the reason
why the figure Of Davy Crockett Is siill green
In the memory OF his fellow-Americans though a
hundred years have passed since he stopped
living and laughing his way into the hearts OF A
people The fact that he had adventures others
long for Is not enough 20 guarantee his lmmor-
tality. Daniel Boone had those adventures lie
also could show admired traits" And these.
taken together were enough 20 make him the
outstanding symbol OF pioneer life. of the Amer.
lean frontier. But Davy Crockett had something
also which Boone had not-that gift OF humor
which gave him flame among the people OF his
region"-a fame that soon spread "a other re-
gions as well lie was both teller ~ 'tal
tales" and an actor In them. So the legends
began to cluster about his name for frontier
America loved It's "whoppers" And for that
matter because this so-ealled modern" America
Is still so scar to the frontier phase OF it's na.
tonal llfe IL still loves them.
Perhaps another reason why this factand-
fiction hero. Davy Crockett. ls stu such vivid
figure In our national consciousness Is because
OF two words which we associate with him: Go
ahead" We Americans love notices. slogans
catchwords and all such things. Almost all Of
popular heroes have tagged 10 them some
phrase that has become historic. Repeat the
words OF that phrase and instantly the figure OF
the man who uttered them rises In the mind Of
the hearer.
So Davy Crockett unconsciously perhaps was
guaranteeing his Immortality when he adopted
his motto "Be always sure you right. then
90 ahead" II particularly apt motto for
his time. In Crocketf's day America and pariIc-
ularly the Americas frcntiersman was "going
ahead" he had but recently surEed over the
barrier OF the Aueghanics. He was engaged In
the conquest OF the great interior basin OF North
America. the Mississippi valley. lie was already
gazing lonEingly across the Father OF Waters to-
ward the western plains and another huge bar
rier. the Rockies Lewis and Clark had proved
that that barrier could be scaled. so nothing less
than the Pacific ocean was his ultimate goal.
And he was sure OF his rightness in doing all
this. The mere fact that the original inhabitants
OF all this country, the Indian. opposed him
wasn't enough 10 change that belief. From that
period Of our history dates our Indian policy
of taking the red mans land by any means. fair
or foul For this was the beginning OF an era OF
treaties made only to be broken and Of Indian