Was the Notorious Bad Guy Davy Crockett the Grandson of Davy Crockett?

Yep, he sure was Davy’s grandson but if grandpa had been around he would have tanned his britches. David Crockett, named after his grandfather, was also born in Tennessee but, I don’t know if it was on a mountaintop but he might have killed a bear when he was only three.  Born in 1853, he spent most of his life in Texas where his father operated a toll bridge on the Brazos River. A strapping, bully of a lad, he was not cut from the same cloth as his famous grandfather.

Davy II drifted out to Cimarron, New Mexico where he hung out with the notorious Clay Allison.  On March 24th, 1876, Crockett murdered three black soldiers from nearby Fort Union.  He managed to beat the murder rap by claiming he was drunk when he committed the crime.  His punishment was a small fine for carrying firearms.

Crockett terrorized the citizens of Cimarron numerous times with gunplay and threats, until the peaceful citizens finally had enough.  When Sheriff Isaiah Rinehart and two deputies, armed with shotguns, attempted to arrest the drunken Crockett he mockingly told them to shoot, and they obliged.  The outlaw’s frightened horse took off on the run and when the lawmen caught up with the animal at the Cimarron River they found Crockett dead. Few mourned his passing that September 30th, 1876.

Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association. His latest book is Arizona Outlaws and Lawmen; The History Press, 2015. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or email him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu.