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Crockett

There is a legend which says an Indian chief had twin sons. What is a legend? One son was fair-skinned with light hair, the other dark-skinned with dark hair. When they became adults, the chief didn't want them to fight for control of the tribe. To avoid conflict, he ordered them to move their own families and friends in opposite directions. One went east into what is now Louisiana and the other moved west, farther into what is now Texas. Because the two brothers remained on good terms, their communities visited and traded with each other.

The connecting trail was well established by the time the Spanish came. They extended it to connect the northern Spanish missions like San Francisco de los Tejas(1690--later moved and known as San Francisco de la Espada) with the Spanish settlements on the Rio Grande. During the time of Spanish control the road was known as El Camino Real or The King's Highway. By the 1800's it was what we today would consider a "freeway". Cotton, lumber, supplies, mail, pioneers, and soldiers moved or were transported along this road. The extended route between and beyond the two Indian settlements eventually became what is now Highway 21.

Here you see the remains of two Caddo ceremonial mounds. The Caddo Indians were members of the Hasinai (means "our own folk") Confederacy which was a group of thirteen Indian tribes living between the Neches and Trinity rivers. Locate those two rivers on a map.

The Hasinai were first known as "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies" from which we have the name of our state.

Archeologists have found evidence dating from 500-1100 AD to show both mounds supported temples and the larger mound also revealed several burial sites. How long ago was that? All around these mounds on the flat land below, there would have been houses of the village. Pipes, charred corn cobs, nuts, flint points and pot fragments have been found in the area. From descriptions left by Father Damian Massanet, we know their homes resembled giant beehives.

This school in the Allen Chapel community east of Crockett is a symbol of Black America's pride in education. Churches and schools were the center of pioneer life. In the very early days the church-school might also have served the pioneers as a fort. The situation was much different for slaves. While religion played an important role in their lives, they were not allowed to attend any existing schools or to have schools of their own until after passage of the 13th Amendment. Even then, their schools remained separate and less than equal until the middle of this century.

What is an amendment? What does this one amend?

This school is significant because it resulted from the work of a man named Julius Rosenwald. He was a philanthropist from Chicago. What is a "philathropist"? Realizing the importance of education, he began awarding grants in 1913 to fund school buildings for Negroes. This building was one of 518 Rosenwald schools constructed in Texas with funds from such a grant. It operated until 1955.

Playground equipment consisted of a baseball diamond, a basketball goal, and a swing in the mulberry tree. What equipment do you have to use at recess or in PE?

This home in Crockett was owned by the grandnephew of President James Monroe. When was James Monroe president? There was no hotel in the area, so the owners would loan the upstairs rooms (where you see the dormer windows) to couples who came into town to get married.

Wedding ceremonies were quite dull by today's standards. The ceremony was simple and usually private. The best clothes and partying were saved for the "First Day" celebration which occurred the day after the wedding. Often the owners of this home would open the entire downstairs for such celebrations.

The design of the home is an upscale "dog-trot" with a wide porch extending the entire length of the house across the back.

This home was completed in 1893 using materials brought in from other states. There were no "Builder's Square" or "Home Depot" stores in 1893. It has a well house designed to protect the outside water source. Have you ever tried to fill a bathtub by carrying water to the tub one pan at a time? It was the first home in town to have running water.

What did a bathroom look like in 1900?

The city of Crockett is named for Davy Crockett, the Tennessee scout who camped in the area on his way to the Alamo in 1836. It is said some people in the area thought he was a horse thief and nearly had him arrested.

Would history have changed if he hadn't made it to the Alamo?
What happened to horse thieves in the 1800's ?

Books to Read and Other Resources

Web resources:

Dramatizing Legends, Folktales, and Myths

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation

Suggested Activities

1. On a map of Texas, locate both the county and the forest that are also named for Davy Crockett.

2. Pretend it is one hundred years from now and the state of Texas wishes to place an historical marker on your house. Use a program like PrintShop to design your marker. Consider carefully what you want included as information before you word process it into your design. A sample is included here.

For more information, write to:

Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce

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