When I was a little girl, I would sit on the couch on Sunday afternoons and watch the hands of the clock slowly climb to 2:00. I would eagerly anticipate the next episode of Walt Disney’s television series, “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier”.
I wasn’t the only ten-year-old in the neighborhood who was caught up in the Davy Crockett craze. However, I was the only one who had a mother who gave in to my pleas and bought me a Davy Crockett t-shirt and a coonskin cap. I had moccasins, too, but Davy’s name was not involved. Oh, and I had a Little Golden Book that told a short story of his life.
Turns out that, although he was an excellent hunter and volunteer soldier, he spent most of his adult life in the United States Congress.
As Sweetheart and I were on our way to Gatlinburg, TN, we saw a roadside sign advertising Crockett Tavern which had been owned by his parents, John and Rebecca in the late 1700s. It was located in Morristown TN.
As memories of that TV program wove through the cobwebs of my mind, I suggested to Sweetheart that we stop and check it out. And, so we did.
As we got out of our car, we could see the curator sitting at a little table just inside the door, waiting for visitors. Well, we could have just paid our entrance fee and wandered around on our own, but we wanted to get our money’s worth, so we asked for the grand tour. And, grand it was.
That woman sure knew her business. It was obvious that she had done her research about the Crockett family. She said she was a distant relative of the family and attended the family reunions when she could. Since Davy and his parents both had large families, the reunions are large, too.
It was 3:30 in the afternoon when we arrived at the tavern/museum and we were only the second visitors of the day. It’s too bad that more people don’t stop, as they would learn some of the inaccuracies of the ballad about Davy that was sung on the TV series. And they might learn about the deep patriotism he had for the fledgling country he lived in.
We proceeded to the gift shop, where Sweetheart wanted to get a copy of Davy’s autobiography. I wanted to get a DVD of the TV series. So, we got both. We rewarded our tour guide for her good work and went on our way.
I spent part of our traveling time reading the new book we had purchased to Sweetheart as he drove. We were impressed that he seemed to be such a virtuous man, with good character and morals. When he believed in an issue, he didn’t waver. And he fought against anyone who strayed from the narrow path—whether he was fighting Indians or fighting men in Congress.
I discovered that there was already underhandedness and chicanery in government 200 years ago. Yet, Davy Crockett fought against it.
We could use more people like him in government now.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or make a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com