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Post by Danny48 on Sept 22, 2010 13:18:35 GMT -5
I've always been perplexed over Davy Crockett's impression of Texas. Not that I have anything against the beauty of Texas. But, it's so very different from the backwoods of Tennessee. I wonder why he was so enthusiastic to move there. Was it that he was tired of the woods, and longed for open land?
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Post by TRK on Sept 22, 2010 13:57:21 GMT -5
Maybe the prospect of free land, and lots of it, won out over the hilly, pricey land of Tennessee.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 22, 2010 14:25:54 GMT -5
Tom is right; Crockett was looking for a new start and some good land. He had spent most of his political career trying to get legal title to land occupied by his constituents - 160-200 acres, and he could not do that. In Texas, he found good land and plenty of it, which could be had for no more than a 90-day enlistment. He had enlisted in the Creek War for longer than that and got nothing for it. In Texas, he stood to gain more land than he ever dreamed of, so enlist he did. Had things worked out for him, he might well have obtained enough rich land to become a land agent himself.
Crockett also was fed up with U.S. politics and could not stand the thought of living under President Martin Van Buren, whom he despised even more than he disliked Jackson. He was looking for a new way to go and a chance to move up in the world after more than a decade of frustration and debt.
Allen
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Post by garyzaboly on Sept 22, 2010 14:48:34 GMT -5
The parts of Texas Crockett had seen by the time he wrote that letter were of east and northeast Texas----lots of woodlands in those sections! He also saw prairies---which are plains mixed with groves of trees. So he saw mostly a green environment, not a dusty brown one.
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Post by Danny48 on Sept 22, 2010 15:11:52 GMT -5
Very informative. Thanks!
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Post by glforeman on Sept 23, 2010 8:27:19 GMT -5
If you look at the NW corner of Tennessee (Crockett's last home) and connect the characteristics with that of NE Texas along the Red River, you would see great similarities. When we first saw the actual site that he described we thought that it reminded us of his old haunts in many ways. Many people forget that the great hunting grounds of "The Shakes" were and still are river floodplains, quite flat and open. Unfortunately, the ridiculous raping of the Tennessee waterways about 50 years ago with canals and irrigation plans ruined the natural lay of the land and now Tennessee is struggling to find answers on how to save this region.
GLF
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Sept 23, 2010 21:19:53 GMT -5
Texas is such a vast state, including woodlands, plains, prairies, saltwater beaches, canyons ..... many people picture Texas as being sort of flat and dry, with some scrubby brush at best. I would say the Piney Woods area might be close in nature to the woodlands he grew up and lived in in Tennessee. Plus, traveling through Texas in the late fall-winter would have been much milder than the extreme summer heat of Texas.
One thing that would have been different, though, would have been the lack of real mountains and vast, endless expanses of woodlands. I just drove through from Dallas to Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville on my way to New Hampshire last week. Some similarities, for sure, but not exactly the same by any stretch.
The one thing that has always struck me in a good way, is the vastness of the state. Wide open spaces and wide, open blue skies. I've always found the wildness of the land appealing. Not everyone finds beauty in Texas, but I do. Crockett may have discovered the same feelings when he saw Texas. I've always said that you either love Texas, or you hate it. There's not "sort-of" about it.
Paul.
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