The Davy Crockett Almanac and Book of Lists

The real Davy Crockett, hero of the Alamo, has been hard to define. Was he "half-horse-half-alligator" or an inarticulate representative of poor canebrake squatters who, like him, saw the Western horizon as a place of economic opportunity? Was he a self-promoting politician or a genuine democrat who fought for those citizens who lacked a voice in government? Perhaps Crockett was atypical- an uncommon man.

William R. Chemerka is the founder of the Alamo Society and edits its quarterly publicati…