As legend has it, he was born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, killed a bear when he was only 3 and then fought to his death protecting the Alamo. Since Davy Crockett joined Congress in 1826, his outsized, near mythical persona has rarely matched reality. We explore how legend transformed the “King of the Wild Frontier” into a pop culture icon, from the plays and folklore of his time to Disney’s “Crockett craze” in the 1950s and beyond.

Guests

  • Bob Thompson Author of “Born on a Mountaintop: On the road with Davy Crockett and the Ghosts of the Wild Frontier.”

Images Of The Legendary Davy Crockett

Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Read An Excerpt

Reprinted from “Born On A Mountaintop” by Bob Thompson. Copyright © March 2013. Published by Crown, a division of Random House, Inc.

Related Links

Topics + Tags

Most Recent Shows