Opinion: Davy Crockett song still in our heads

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, the greenest state in the land of the free, he was raised in the woods so’s he knew every tree.

And he killed him a bear when he was only 3.

Davy, Davy Crockett, was the king of the wild frontier — and every boy within the sound of Walt Disney’s voice pretended to be him 65 years ago this summer.

For that matter, a lot of young boys fancied themselves Davy Crockett well into the 1960s, and they had the coonskin cap to prove it.

“Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier” was released to movie theaters on May 25, 1955. By late June, it had found its way to theaters in Clovis and Portales.

Fess Parker played the lead role, with Buddy Ebsen portraying best friend George Russel.

The 93-minute movie — kind of a trick since it had already been released in three parts on Disney’s TV show — told the story of Crockett fighting in the Creek Indian War, getting elected to the U.S. Congress, and finally fighting and dying for Texas independence at the Alamo.

“I’m half-horse, half-alligator and a little attached with snapping turtle. I’ve got the fastest horse, the prettiest sister, the surest rifle and the ugliest dog in Texas. My father can lick any man in Kentucky ... and I can lick my father. I can hug a bear too close for comfort and eat any man alive opposed to Andy Jackson,” Crockett boasts.

In real life, Crockett didn’t care much for Jackson or his policies, but the target audience didn’t get hung up on political correctness either way in 1955.

Best of all, all the gear a young frontiersman needed to blaze their own trails could be found at Montgomery Ward, located at 307 Main in Clovis.

An ad in the Clovis News-Journal gave us a sampling:

• $2.98 for an authentic frontier shirt, complete with fringe

• 98 cents for a tomahawk and pistol set

• $1.94 for a lunch box and 10-ounce thermos. (The lunch box had a picture of Davy about to kill a bear.)

• Davy Crockett belts, socks, hunting jackets, t-shirts and even a tent (with a free record) could also be had at Ward’s “extra low prices.”

But the most important accessory was a coonskin cap, with real fur trim, just like Davy wore. (Not really, but, again, kids weren’t so discerning then as today. And about that bear story ... maybe he was a little older than 3.)

A full Davy Crockett suit, including the cap, was just $4.49. The cap by itself was $1.66.

Thank goodness Ward’s had a convenient charge card, which parents were no doubt still paying off well into the disco era.

The coonskin caps are mostly gone by now, but the boys still have that song in their heads 65 years later.

“He fought single handed through the Injun war,

“Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored.

“And while he was handling this risky chore,

“Made himself a legend, forevermore.

“Davy, Davy Crockett ... the man who don’t know fear.”

David Stevens writes about regional history. Contact him at:

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