David Crockett: A Fascinating Failure

Well, I'm finally reading something other than mystery or suspense thrillers. I started last week with the history of David Crockett, a biography by Michael Wallis, David Crockett: The Lion of the West, a book in which he emerges as a real person, and quite different from the legendary Crockett of TV and movies.  Oddly enough, though, he is more like another folksy character who seemed to have been more invented than real: Will Rogers.

The more I read this biography, the more I identify Mr. Crockett with Will Rogers.  They were both great storytellers and charismatic figures who were not overly successful in anything other than show business.  David Crockett was an interesting fellow, not the least of which because his life was so improbable.

I'm learning a great deal about the times as well as the life of David Crockett.  One of the sad facts of the early 19th century is the relentless push west and the devastating consequences for the native peoples of our continent.  The urgency of grabbing more and more land for those settling here was at the root of many of the policies of our government up to the Civil War.  Not only its policy toward the indigenous people, but also with respect to the waging of war.  Not only the Indian wars but the War of 1812 and the war to grab Texas were started with the idea of getting more and more land to settle and farm.  Such policies set the stage for later ones that helped settle lands on the Great Plains, lands not really suitable for farming, and that ultimately led to the Dust Bowl and other disasters of the twentieth century.

David Crockett was in the midst of all the changes and for a man who characterized himself as a simple country fellow, he seemed to be involved in politics to a great extent.  As successful as he was at the state level with getting bills passed that benefited the poor, at the national level he was largely unsuccessful, despite his many efforts.

Crockett was a risk taker, and unfortunately, he seldom won the bets he made with himself, especially when it came to producing income for his large family.  Nature and bad luck seemed to conspire against him as they did his father before him, so that the only time he made money was when he worked for the government as a representative.

Eventually his wife left him after many years of being neglected and forgotten at home while he was off on various ill-fated adventures that did little to help to diminish the debts he continued to accumulate or to secure his family's financial future.

I'm now at the point in the book where Crockett, having failed as a politician for the last time, decides to go to Texas and start over.  We all know how things go from there.

This is a very well written book that is quite engaging.  More later.