Davy Crockett

**Colonel David 'Davy' Crockett** is a historic frontiersman of legendary status

## History

### Disney version

Davy Crockett was an American pioneer of legendary status during the early half of the 19th century. He was born on a mountain-top in Tennessee (technically Greene Country, North Carolina) and according to legend killed himself a b'er when he was only three. He was a woodsman and trapper of incredible skill who frequently traveled with his companion George "Georgie" Russel.

Crockett contemptuously served under infamous U.S. president Andrew Jackson during the Creek wars (1813-1814) where he disobeyed the mad president and brokered a peace with the Indigenous of whom he waged war with. In 1826, Crockett was elected into the U.S. House of Representatives shortly after the death of his wife Polly.

In 1836, Georgie and Crockett accompanied a gambler named Thimblerig to the Alamo in Mexico while on a trek to Texas. Crockett later took up arms within the Alamo when it was under threat and died in battle attempting to protect it.

## Appearances and allusions

The Davy Crockett miniseries was the primary factor in the creation of Frontierland at the Disney Parks. During Frontierland's early days, it was heavily themed to Davy Crockett with Crockett being the namesake of many attractions. He was also identified by signs as being the, "Marshall of Frontierland". Many of these allusions have been watered down if not entirely removed over the years due to the feigned popularity of the television show and problematic elements of glamorizing colonial American history.

### Country Bears Jamboree

The Ballad of Davy Crockett is sung by the Country Bears in this attraction.

### Crockett's Tavern

Crockett's Tavern in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness Resort is themed to being a tavern of which Davy Crockett was the proprietor. It is filled with memorabilia from Crockett's adventures, taxidermy kills of his, and a historic portrait of him.

### Davy Crockett Ranch

Crockett is the namesake for this ranch area in Disneyland Paris' Frontierland.

### Gaston's Tavern

Davy Crockett's iconic coonskin cap can be spotted adorning an antler chandelier within this tavern belonging to the villainous hunter Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. However unless this is pertaining to a Fantasyland counterpart to Crockett, it is unlikely that this is truly belonging to Davy Crockett given its 18th century French provincial setting.

### Legends of the Wild West

Davy Crockett appears in Fort Comstock in this attraction, shooting a flintlock while aiming in a mirror.

### Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

There are multiple allusions to Davy Crockett within Pecos Bill's Tumbleweed inn. Outside the inn is Davy Crockett's clothes at a Chinese laundry on a clothesline. Inside, a satchel, coonskin hat, gunpowder horn and wide-brimmed hat can be seen on display within Bill's collection. Along with this are the blueprints to Crockett's rifle and a satchel containing written Davy Crockett stories belonging to Georgie Russel.

### Silver Spurs Supplies shop

Part of this shop is themed to the,"Crockett & Russel Hat Co." in reference to Davy Crockett and Georgie Russel. A window identifies the shop's proprietor as being one Fess Parker (Crockett's actor) who is affiliated with Davy Crockett and the *Coonskin Cap Supply Company.*.

### Tobias Norton & Sons, Frontier Traders

The late proprietor of this Thunder Mesa shop is Tobias Norton, a soldier who served under Andrew Jackson and who accompanied Davy Crockett during his adventures in the Creek Civil War. There are allusions within the shop to Crockett having been a customer at the Frontier Traders.

### Tom Sawyer Island

A figure of Davy Crockett used to appear in Fort Wilderness alongside a figure of Georgie Russel and then President Andrew Jackson, representing them during the wartimes of the War of 1812.

#### Mark Twain Riverboat

Crockett and Russel are mentioned in Disneyland's Mark Twain Riverboat as visiting Mike Fink in his cabin on Jackson Island, the in-world name for Tom Sawyer Island.

### Walt Disney World Railroad

A bulletin at Main Street station mentions a train called the D. Crockett.

## Connections

### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

The Tall Tale Inn and Cafe is advertised to Tumbleweed employees of the Big Thunder Mining Company in the queue for the Magic Kingdom's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

### Pirates of the Caribbean

Jackson Island where Crockett operated in the Disney Park mythos with Andrew Jackson has a history with pirates such as Jack Sparrow, William Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Davy Jones as shown in Disneyland's *Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island*. Even when the war of 1812 would have transpired the island was home to historic pirate Jean Lafitte who is frequently affiliated with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise such as being the namesake for *Laffite's Landing* or having a portrait in Isla Tesoro that was stolen by the pirates of *The Wicked Wench*.

### Skipper Canteen

One of the books in the Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen is titled, *Keelboats of the Mississippi* by Fink. Given the title and surname it is very likely that this book was written by Crockett's ally Mike Fink though it is also possible that it was a relative of his.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.disneyhistory101.com/new-gallery-19davycrockettfrontierarcade
2. ↑ https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en\_CA/dining/cabins-at-fort-wilderness-resort/crockett-tavern/
3. ↑ https://www.mouseplanet.com/10145/Visiting\_Gastons\_Tavern
4. ↑ https://allears.net/2009/02/12/disneyland-paris-frontierland-part-1-thunder-mesa/
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnjFk4KP\_Ok&list=PLZg0YgjlWEqQRuCbtjWun1x8HZRWaTHGY&index=16
6. ↑ https://allears.net/2020/09/18/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-walt-disney-worlds-frontierland/disney-world-magic-kingdom-frontierland-pecos-bill-tall-tale-inn-and-cafe-davy-crockett/
7. ↑ https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2009/12/did-you-miss-it-davy-crockett’s-window-in-frontierland/
8. ↑ http://disneyshawn.blogspot.com/2011/07/mosey-on-back-to-town.html
9. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2019/01/south-bound.html
10. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2016/01/d-tales-14-hidden-disney-history-at-big-thunder-mountain-railroad/