The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-05-04
The Alamo

a
w. All 10 his turbulent career; close
& n upon his moccasined heels as
SG he flashes across the page Of
S"NS history come pressing whole
line of wild West" heroes
whose renown might easily have eclipsed his;
yet, in this year 1884 the name and fame Of
Davy Crockett still 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 cele
bration the dominant figure in memory will be-
of course, Sam Houston, the George Washington
Of the Revolution of 1886 and the first president
of the Lone Star republic But there will also be
occasion to Remember the Alamo!" and to re-
call again the names of its heroic defenders
Bowie and Bonham and Travis and, most of ALL
Davy Crockett.
Why is it that the words ALAMO and "Davy
Crockett" are so closely associated in our minds?
Travis was the commander there and as Santa
Annals hosts closed in, he sent that immortal
defiance: 81 shall never surrender or retreat.
l am determined to sustain myself as
long as possible and die like a soldier.
Victory or DEATH" Bowie was his second in
command and already famed far and wide for
his desperate valor with the terrible weapon
that bears his name, the Bowie knife. 1t was
Bonham, a boyhood friend Of Travis, who made
that futile and dangerous ride TO Fannin's camp
through the Mexican sentries to enter the Alamo
again and die with his friends.
Any one of these three might be the persona
fcation Of the spirit which has made the story
of the Alamo one of the most glorious pages in
Texas history, and all three were peculiarly
Texas heroes, in that they had borne promi-
nent part In her fight for independence from the
beginning Of the struggle. AS for Crockett, he
had been In Texas less than two months, SO he
recent recruit to the cause Of Lone Star
liberty. The manner Of his dying was no more
heroic than that of Travis, Bowie or Bonham,
nor, for that matter, than that of the 160-odd
other defenders of the ancient stone mission.
Yet, in the minds of most Americans Davy
Crockett is the apotheosis of the Alamo and he
is second only to Sam Houston as the most men,
orable figure in the fight by Texas for freedom
from Mexico. Why?
Perhaps the best explanation can be found in
the book 'Davy Crockett" by Constance Rourke,
published recently by Harcourt Brace and COM
pany In the foreword to this volume, the auth
says:
when a country is young 1t discovers its
heroes, and these not always leaders in bat
tie. They may only be men who have had the
adventures others long for. They may show ad-
mired traits, or strange ones. They may talk
laugh In fashion which others enjoy. Always
stories are told about them
"Davy Crockett was one Of these. Springing
from adventurous stock he was born soon after
the Revolution, in the river country of Tennessee,
not far from the Blue Ridge when the Chero-
KEGS were still powerful and the Creeks still on
the warpath. He knew wild life as few have
known it. and he became the most noted hunter
of his time. Even when he was an obscure back
woodsman comical 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 he suddenly seemed
TO the popular Imagination all that had been
known or guessed about life in the western
woods or on the western waters There was
truth in this; even in the most soaring Of the
many tall tales about Crockett there was truth.
Fantastic as these were, they belonged to the
western country-its great rivers, trees, high
winds, storms, earthquakes, wild beasts
About no single American figure have so
many legends clustered After Crockett's death
whole cycles of legendary tales were told about
him that form rich outhowering Of the
American imagination. But side by side with
the legend is the living figure. The core of fact
in Crocketts life is plain. :"
In those words is definite clue to the reason
why the figure of Davy Crockett is still green
In the memory of his fellow-Americans though
hundred years have passed since he stopped
living and laughing his way into the hearts of
long for" is not enough to guarantee his immor-
tally. Daniel Boone had those adventures. He
also could "show admired traits" And these,
taken together, were enough to make him the
outstanding symbol of pioneer Hfe 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 to other re-
gions as we'll he was both q teller of tall
tales" and an actor In them So the legends
began to cluster about his name, for frontier
America loved Its Awhoppers" And for that
matter because this so-called modern" America
Is still so near to the frontier phase Of its ma
tional life ii still loves them.
Perhaps another reason why this fact-and-
fiction hero Davy Crockett Is still such vivid
figure in our national consciousness Is because
of two words which we associate with him: Go
aheadl" We Americans love notices, slogans,
catchwords pat phrases, or whatever else you
choose to call concise combination Of words
which expresses an idea wildly Almost all of
our popular heroes have tagged to them some
phrase that has become historic. Repeat the
words Of that phrase and Instantly the figure Of