A line in the shifting sand

National | Revising the myth of Davy Crockett: Alamo hero was brave, but did he die in the battle, or afterwards? | Les Sillars

Myths may spread more quickly on the Internet than in years past but popular legends, widely believed but with no

factual basis, are nothing new. Many tales about Pocahontas and John Smith are not true, for example, and there is no historical evidence that a young George Washington confessed, "I cannot tell a lie," when confronted with a felled cherry tree.

One of the most enduring myths in America describes the death of Davy Crockett at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. According to popular belief and the popular Disney movie, he went down swinging his broken rifle like a club as the bodies of Mexican soldiers stacked up around him like cordwood. Crockett, Alamo commander William B. Travis, Jim Bowie, and the other Texas soldiers at the Catholic mission near San Antonio fought to the death. The slaughter galvanized the forces of the Texas Revolution and led to the birth of the Republic.