Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so’s he knew ev’ry tree,
kilt him a b’ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!
The preceding lyrics are the opening stanza of the Ballad of Davy Crockett. Crockett hailed from eastern Tennessee, where his rifle can be found at the East Tennessee Historical Society. Rey may do his practicum there. In his ballad, it claims that he killed a bear when he was only three, an amazing feat for a young toddler, but what if it was the bear that was only three and not Davy. The ballad was written long after Crockett’s life and was based upon his legend. Could that line have been the result of some inside joke? Oh, I was a boy during the Davy Crockett craze. I had the coon skin cap and loved Fess Parker’s portrayal of him. I’ll even give the man props for opposing Andrew Jackson’s Indian policy, which eventually doomed his political career and then led him on the road to the Alamo and his famous death. I just have trouble believing the whole bear thing.