How Did David Crockett Die?

[Allen Wiener]

Was David Crockett executed following the battle of the Alamo?

The jury still seems to be very much “out” on this one. While there is probably more evidence suggesting that Crockett and a few others did survive the battle, only to be summarily executed, then any accounts of his dying during combat, it is not conclusive. There is equal uncertainty about where in the fort Crockett’s body was found. Source material on this issue includes, but is not limited to:

Kilgore, Dan and Crisp, James E. How Did Davy Die and Why Do We Care So Much? Includes Dan Kilgore’s original 1978 monograph and an updated essay by Jim Crisp (Texas A&M University Press, 2010).

De La Pena, Jose Enrique. With Santa Anna in Texas (Expanded Edition), Original translation of de la Pena’s memoir, by Carmen Perry (1975), and a new introduction by Jim Crisp (Texas A&M University Press, 1997).

Crisp, James E. Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2005).

Davis, William C. "How Davy Probably Didn't Die." Alamo Battlefield Association Journal, fall, 1997, p. 10. A discussion of the various accounts of Crockett's death, and of the uncertainty about where in the fort he died.

Gracy, David B. III. “‘Just As I Have Written It’: A Study of the Authenticity of the Manuscript of Jose Enrique de la Pena’s Account of the Texas Campaign.” (Southwestern Historical Quarterly, October, 2001, p. 255). Describes and discusses the results of tests applied to the de la Pena papers, which confirmed their authenticity.

This topic has been addressed in several threads here on the ASF; here is a good sampling:

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=523

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=620

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=2

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=488

The following is a discussion of the de la Pena papers, which seem to lie at the heart of much of the controversy over Crockett’s death:

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=837

And here’s one on the Dolson letter:

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=18

The following thread addresses the related issue of where Crockett may have died:

alamostudies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=alamohistory&action=display&thread=41