06 - The Camp and the Cabin

Chapter 6: The Camp and the Cabin
Describes Crockett’s life in the wilderness, his hunting expeditions, and domestic life in the cabin, emphasizing his skills as a frontiersman. Summary by Dream Audiobooks

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six of David Crockett, His Life and Adventures. This
is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
LibriVox dot Org. Recording by Brent W. Downey. David Crockett,
His Life and Adventures by John S. C Abbott, Chapter six,

(00:24):
The Camp and the Cabin. The army, far away in
the wilds of southern Alabama, on the banks of the
almost unknown Chattahoochee, without provisions, and with leagues of unexplored
wilderness around, found itself in truly a deplorable condition. The
soldiers had hoped to find in the Indian village stores
of beans and corn and quantities of preserved game. In

(00:48):
the impotence of their disappointment, they applied the torch and
laid the little village in ashes. A council was held,
and it was deemed best to divide their forces. Major
Childs took one half of the U. S Army and
retraced their steps westward, directing their course towards Baton Rouge,
where they hoped to find General Jackson with a portion
of the army with which he was returning from New Orleans.

(01:11):
The other division, under Major Russell, pressed forward as rapidly
as possible, nearly north, aiming for Fort to Catur on
the Tallapoosa River, where they expected to find shelter and provisions.
Crockett accompanied Major Russell's party. Indians agacity was now in
great requisition. The friendly savages led the way through scenes

(01:31):
of difficulty and entanglement, where but for their aid, the
troops might all have perished. So great was the destitution
of food that the soldiers were permitted to stray almost
at pleasure. On either side of the line of march.
Happy was the man who could shoot a raccoon, or
a squirrel, or even the smallest bird. Implicit confidence was

(01:51):
placed in the guidance of the friendly Indians, and the
army followed in single file along the narrow trail which
the Indians trod before them. Buckett, in this march had
acquired so much the confidence of the officers that he
seems to have enjoyed quite unlimited license. He went where
he pleased and did what he pleased, almost invariably. At night,

(02:12):
keeping pace with the army, he would bring in some
small game, a bird or a squirrel, and frequently several
of these puny animals. It was a rule when night
came for all the hunters to throw down what they
had killed in one pile. This was then divided among
the messes as equitably as possible. One night, Crockett returned
empty handed. He had killed nothing, and he was very hungry.

(02:34):
But there was a sick man in his mess who
was suffering far more than he. Crockett, with his invariable
unselfishness and generosity, forgot his own hunger. In his solicitude
for his sick comrade. He went to the fire of
Captain Cowan, who was commandant of the company to which
Crockett belonged, and told him his story. Captain Cowan was

(02:54):
broiling for his supper, the gizzard of a turkey. He
told Crockett that the turkey was all that had fallen
to the share of his company that night, and that
the bird had already been divided in very small fragments
among the sick. There was nothing left for Crockett's friend.
On this March, the army was divided into messes of
eight or ten men, who cooked and ate their food together.

(03:15):
This led Crockett to decide that he and his mess
would separate themselves from the rest of the army and
make a small and independent band. The Indian scouts, well
armed and very wary, took the lead. They kept several
miles in advance of the main body of the troops
that they might give timely warning should they encounter any danger.
Crockett and his mess kept close after them, following the

(03:37):
trail and leaving the army one or two miles behind.
One day, the scouts came across nine Indians. We are
not informed whether they were friends or enemies, whether they
were hunters or warriors, whether there are men, women or children,
whether they were in their wigwams or wandering through the forest,
Whether they were all together or were found separately. We
are simply told that they were all shot down. The

(04:00):
circumstances of the case are such that the probabilities are
very strong that they were shot as a wolf or
a bear might be shot at sight without asking any questions.
The next day the scouts found a frail encampment where
there were three Indians. They shot them. All the sufferings
of the army as it toreed along through these vast
realms of unknown rivers and forest glooms and marshes, and

(04:21):
widespread flower bespangled prairies became more and more severe. Game
was very scarce. For three days, Crockett's party killed barely
enough to sustain life. He writes, at last, we all
began to get nearly ready to give up the ghost
and lie down and die, for we had no prospect
of provision, and we knowed we couldn't go much farther

(04:42):
without it. While in this condition, they came upon one
of those wide and beautiful prairies which frequently embellished the
landscape of the south and the west. This plain was
about six miles in width, smooth as a floor and
waving with tall grass and the most brilliantly colored flowers.
It was bordered with a four of luxuriant growth, but
not a tree dotted its surface. They came upon a

(05:04):
trail leading through the tall, thick grass. Crockett's practiced eyes
sull at once that it was not a trail made
by human footsteps, but the narrow path along which deer
strolled and turkeys hobbled in their movement across the field
from forest to forest. Following this trail, they soon came
to a creek of sluggish water. The lowlands on each
side were waving with a rank growth of wild rye,

(05:26):
presenting a very green and beautiful aspect. The men were
all mounted, as indeed was nearly the whole army. By
grazing and browsing, the horses as they moved slowly along
at a foot pace, kept in comfortable flesh. This rye
field presented the most admirable pasturage for the horses. Crockett
and his comrades dismounted and turned the animals loose. There

(05:49):
was no danger of their straying far in so fat
a field. Crockett and another man, van Zant by name,
leaving the horses to feed, pushed across the plain to
the forest in search of some food for themselves. They
wandered for some time and found nothing. At length, Crockett
espied a squirrel on a limb of a tall tree.
He shot the animal and wounded it, but it succeeded

(06:10):
in creeping into a small hole in the tree thirty
feet from the ground. There was not a limb for
that distance to aid in climbing. Still, the ones of
the party were such the crocket climbed the tree to
get the squirrel, and felt that he had gained quite
a treasure. Ah, I shouldn't relate such small matters, he writes,
only to show what links the hungry man will go
to to get something to eat. Soon after he killed

(06:34):
two more squirrels. Just as he was reloading his gun,
a large flock of fat turkeys rose from the marshy
banks of the creek along which they were wandering and flying.
But a short distance relighted van Zant crept forward, and,
aiming at a large gobbler, fired and brought him down.
The flock immediately flew back to the spot where Crockett stood.

(06:54):
He leveled his rifle, took deliberate aim, and another fine
turkey fell. The flock then disappeared. The two hunters made
the forest resound with shouts of triumph. They had two
large fat turkeys, which would be looked at wistfully upon
any gourmand's table, and for side dishes, they had three squirrels.
Thus they were prepared for truly a thanksgiving feast. Hastily

(07:17):
they returned with their treasure when they learned that the
others of their party had found a bee tree, that is,
a tree where a swarm of bees had taken lodgment
and were laying in their winter stores. They cut down
the tree with their hatchets and obtained an ample supply
of wild honey. They all felt that they had indeed
fallen upon a vein of good luck. It was but

(07:37):
a short distance from the creek to the gigantic forest,
rising sublimely in its luxuriance, with scarcely an encumbering shrub
of undergrowth, they entered the edge of the forest, built
a hot fire, roasted their game, and while their horses
were enjoying the richest of pasturage, they, with their keen appetites,
enjoyed a more delicious feast than the far famed del

(07:59):
Monico ever for his epicurean guests. The happy party, rejoicing
in the present and taking no thought for the morrow,
spent the night in this camp of feasting. The next morning,
they were reluctant to leave such an inviting hunting ground.
Crockett and van Zant again took to their rifles and
strolled into the forest in search of game. Soon they
came across a fine buck, which seemed to have tarried

(08:21):
behind to watch the foe, while the rest of the
herd of which he was protector, had taken to flight.
The beautiful creature, with erect head and spreading antlers, gallantly
stopping to investigate the danger to which his family was exposed,
would have moved the sympathies of any one but a
professed hunter. Crockett's bullets struck him, wounded him severely, and

(08:41):
he limped away Hotly. The two hunters pursued it came
to a large tree which had been blown down and
was partly decayed. An immense grizzly bear crept, growling from
the hollow of this tree, and plunged into the forest.
It was in vain to pursue him without dogs to
retard his flight. They, however, soon overtook the wounded buck
and shot him, with this treasure of venison upon their shoulders.

(09:04):
They had but just returned to their camp when the
main body of the army came up. The game which
Crockett had taken, and upon which they had feasted so abundantly,
if divided among twelve hundred men, would not have afforded
a mouthful of peace. The army was in the most
deplorable condition of weakness and hunger. Ere Long they reached
the Cousa and followed up its eastern bank. About twenty

(09:25):
miles above the spot where they struck the river, there
was a small military post called Fort to Katur. They
hoped to find some food there, and yet in that remote,
almost inaccessible station, they could hardly expect to meet with
anything like a supply for twelve hundred half famished men.
Upon reaching the river, Crockett took a canoe and paddled across.

(09:45):
On the other shore, he found an Indian. Instead of
shooting him, he much more sensibly entered into relations of
a friendly trade with the savage. The Indian had a
little household in his solitary wigwam and a small quantity
of corn in store. Crockett wore a large hat, Taking
it from his head, he offered the Indian a silver
dollar if he would fill it with corn. But the

(10:05):
little bit of silver, with its enigmatical character stamped upon it,
was worth nothing to the Indian. He declined the offer.
Speaking a little broken English, he inquired, you got any powder?
You got any bullets? Crockett told him he had. He
promptly replied, me, will swap my corn for powder and bullets.
Eagerly the man gave a hatful of corn for ten

(10:27):
bullets and ten charges of powder. He then offered another
hatful at the same price. Crockett took off his hunting shirt,
tied it up so as to make a sort of
bag into which he poured his two hatfuls of corn.
With this great treasure, he joyfully paddled across the stream
to rejoin his companions. It is pleasant to think that
the poor Indian was not shot, that his wigwam was

(10:48):
not burned over his head, and that he was left
with means to provide his wife and children with many
luxurious meals. The army reached Fort Decatur one single meal
consumed all the provisions which the garrison could, by any
possibility spare. They had now entered upon a rough, hilly,
broken country. The horses found but little food and began

(11:08):
to give out. About fifty miles farther up the Coosa
River there was another military station in the lonely wilds
called Fort William. Still starving and with tottering horses, they
toiled on parched corn and but a scanty supply of
that was now almost their only subsistence. They reached the
fort one ration of pork, and one ration of flower

(11:30):
were mercifully given them. It was all which could be spared.
To remain where they were was certain starvation. Forty miles
above them, on the same stream was Fort Struther. Sadly,
they toiled along. The skeleton horses dropped beneath their riders,
and were left saddled and bridled for the vultures and
the wolves. On their route to Fort Struther, they passed

(11:51):
directly by the ancient Indian fort of Talladega. It will
be remembered that a terrible battle had been fought here
by General Jackson with the Indians on the seventh of
December eighteen thirteen. In the carnage of that bloody day,
nearly five hundred Indians fell. Those who escaped scattered far
and wide. A few of them sought refuge in distant Florida.

(12:11):
The bodies of the slain were left unburied. Slowly the
flesh disappeared from the bones, either devoured by wild beasts
or decomposed by the action of the atmosphere. The field,
as now visited presented an appalling aspect crockett rites. We
went through the old battleground, and it looked like a
great gourd patch. The skulls of the Indians who were

(12:32):
killed still lay scattered all about. Many of their frames
were still perfect, as their bones had not separated. As
they were thus despairingly tottering along, they came across a
narrow Indian trail with fresh footmarks indicating that moccas and
Indians had recently passed along. It shows how little they
had caused to fear from the Indians that Crockett, entirely alone,

(12:54):
should have followed that trail, trusting that it would lead
to some Indian village where he could hope to buy
some more corn. He was not deceived in his expectation.
After threading the narrow and winding path, about five miles,
came to a cluster of Indian wigwams. Boldly he entered
the little village without apparently the slightest apprehension that he
should meet with any unfriendly reception. He was entirely at

(13:17):
the mercy of the savages. Even if he were murdered,
it would never be known by whom, and if it
were known. The starving army miles away, pressing along in
its flight, was in no condition to send a detachment
to endeavor to avenge the deed. The savages received him
as though he had been one of their own kith
and kin, and readily exchanged corn with him for powder
and bullets. He then returned, but did not overtake the

(13:40):
rest of the army until late in the night. The
next morning, they were so fortunate as to encounter a
detachment of the United States troops on the march to mobile.
These troops, having just commenced their journey, were well supplied,
and they liberally distributed their corn and provisions. Here Crockett
found his youngest brother, who had enlisted for the campaign.

(14:00):
They were also in the band many others of his
old friends and neighbors. The succeeding day, the weary troops,
much refreshed, reached a point on the River Cusa, opposite
Fort Struther, and crossing the stream, found there shelter and
plenty of provisions. We know not, and do not care
to know, who was responsible for this military movement, which
seems to us now as senseless as it was cruel

(14:22):
and disastrous. But it is thus that poor humanity has
ever gone blundering on, displaying but little wisdom in its affairs.
Here Crockett had permission to visit his home, though he
still owed the country a month of service. In his
exceeding rude, unpolished style, which pictures the man, he writes
once more, I was safely landed at home with my

(14:43):
wife and children. I found them all well and doing well,
and though I was only a rough sort of backwoodsman,
they seemed mighty glad to see me. However little the
quality folks might suppose it, for I do reckon. We
love as hard in the backwood country as any people
in the whole creation. But I had been home only
a few days when we received orders to start again

(15:04):
and to go on to the Black Warrior and Cohala
rivers to see if there were no Indians there. I
knowed well enough there was none, and I wasn't willing
to trust my craw any more where there was neither
any fighting to do nor anything to go on. So
I agreed to give a young man who wanted to
go the balance of my wages if he would serve
out my time, which was about a month. He did so,

(15:26):
and when they returned, sure enough they hadn't seen an
Indian any more than if they had been all the
time chopping wood in my clearing. This closed my career
as a warrior, and I'm glad of it, for I
liked life now a heap better than I did then.
And I am glad all over that I lived to
see these times, which I should not have done if
I had kept fooling along in war and got used

(15:47):
up at it. When I say I am glad, I
just mean that I'm glad that I am alive, for
there is a confounded heap of things I ain't glad
of at all. When Crockett wrote the above, he was
a member of Congress and a very earnest poltician. He
was much opposed to the measure of President Jackson in
removing the deposits from the United States Bank, a movement
which greatly agitated the whole country at that time. In

(16:10):
speaking of things which he was not glad, he writes,
I ain't glad, for example, that the government moved the deposits.
And if my military glory should take such a turn
as to make me president after the general's time, I
will move them back. Yes, I the government will take
the responsibility and move them back again. If I don't,
I wish I may be shot. The hardships of war

(16:32):
had blighted Crockett's enthusiasm for wild adventures, and had very
considerably sobered him. He remained at home for two years,
diligently at work upon his farm. The Battle of New
Orleans was fought, the war with England closed, and peace
was made with the poor Indians, who, by British intrigue
had been goaded to the disastrous fight. Death came to

(16:53):
the cabin of Crockett, and his faithful wife, the tender
mother of his children, was taken from him. We cannot
refrain from quoting his own account of this event, as
it does much honor to his heart. In this time
I met with the hardest trial which ever falls to
the lot of man. Death, that cruel leveler of all distinctions,

(17:13):
to whom the prayers and tears of husbands and even
of helpless infancy are addressed in vain, entered my humble
cottage and tore from my children an affectionate, good mother,
and from me a tender and loving wife. It is
a scene long gone by, and one which it would
be supposed I had almost forgotten. Yet when I turned
my memory back upon it, it seems but as the

(17:35):
work of yesterday. It was the doing of the Almighty,
whose ways are always right, though we sometimes think they
fall heavily upon us, and as painful as even yet
is the remembrance of her sufferings and the loss sustained
by my little children and myself. Yet I have no
wish to lift up the voice of complaint. I was
left for three children. The two eldest were sons, the

(17:57):
youngest a daughter, and at that time a mere in
It appeared to me at that moment that my situation
was the worst in the world. I couldn't bear the
thought of scattering my children, and so I got my
youngest brother, who was also married, and his family to
live with me. They took as good care of my
children as they well could, But yet it wasn't all

(18:18):
like the care of a mother. And though their company
was to me in every respect like that of a
brother and sister, yet it fell far short of being
like that of a wife. So I came to the
conclusion that it wouldn't do, but that I must have
another wife. One sees strikingly in the above quotation the
softening effect of affliction on the human heart. There was

(18:40):
a widow in the neighborhood. A very worthy woman who
had lost her husband in the war. She had two children,
a son and a daughter, both quite young. She owned
a snug little farm, and, being a very capable woman,
was getting along quite comfortably. Crockett decided that he should
make a good step father to her children, and she
a good step mother. For his courtship was in accordance

(19:01):
with the most approved style of country love making. It
proved to be a congenial marriage. The two families came
very harmoniously together, and in their lowly hut, enjoyed peace
and contentment such as frequently is not found in more
ambitious homes. But the wandering propensity was inherent in the
very nature of Crockett. He soon tired of the monotony

(19:21):
of a farmer's life and longed for change. A few
months after his marriage, he set out with three of
his neighbors, all well mounted, on an exploring tour into
central Alabama, hoping to find new homes there. Taking a
southerly course, they crossed the Tennessee River and striking the
upper waters of the Black Warrior, followed down that stream
a distance of about two hundred miles from their starting point.

(19:43):
Till they came near to the place where Tuscaloosa, the
capital of the state, now stands. This region was then
almost in an unbroken wilderness, but during the war Crockett had
frequently traversed it and was familiar with its general character.
On the route, they came to the hut of a
a man who was a comrade of Crockett in the
Florida campaign. They spent a day with a retired soldier,

(20:05):
and all went out in the woods together to hunt.
Frasier unfortunately stepped upon a venomous snake partially covered with leaves.
The reptile struck its deadly fangs into his leg. The
effect was instantaneous and awful. They carried the wounded man,
with his bloated and throbbing limb, back to the hut.
Here such remedies were applied, as Backwood's medical science suggested,

(20:27):
but it was evident that many weeks would elapse ere
the man could move, even should he eventually recover. Sadly,
they were constrained to leave their suffering companion there. What
became of him is not recorded. The three others, Crockett, Robinson,
and Rich continued their journey. Their route led them through
a very fertile and beautiful region called Jones's Valley. Several

(20:50):
emigrants had penetrated and reared their log huts upon its
rich and blooming meadows. When they reached the spot where
the capital of the state now stands, with its spacious streets,
its public edifices, its halls of learning, its churches, and
its refined and cultivated society, they found only the silence, solitude,
and gloom of the wilderness. With their hatchets, they constructed

(21:11):
a rude camp to shelter them from the night air
and the heavy dew. It was open in front. Here
they built their camp fire, whose cheerful glow illumined the
forest far and wide, and which converted midnight glooms into
almost midday radiance. The horses were hobbled and turned out
to graze on a luxuriant meadow. It was supposed that
the animals, weary of the day's journey and finding abundant pasturage,

(21:35):
would not stray far. The travelers cooked their supper, and,
throwing themselves upon their couch of leaves, enjoyed that sound
sleep which fatigue, health and comfort give. When they awoke
in the morning, the horses were all gone. By examining
the trail, it seemed that they had taken the back
track in search of their homes. Crockett, who was the
most vigorous and athletic of the three, leaving Robinson and

(21:57):
rich in the camp, set out in pursuit of the runaway.
It was a rough and dreary path he had to tread.
There was no comfortable road to traverse, but a mere
path through the forest, bog and ravine, which at times
it was difficult to discern. He had hills to climb,
creeks to ford swamps to wade through. Hour after hour,

(22:18):
he pressed on, but the horses could walk faster than
he could. There was nothing in their footprints which indicated
that he was approaching any nearer to them. At last,
when night came and Crockett judged that he had walked
fifty miles, he gave up the chase as hopeless. Fortunately
he reached the cabin of a settler, where he remained
until morning. A rapid walk, almost a run of fifty

(22:40):
miles in one day, is a very severe operation, even
for the most hearty of men. When Crockett awoke after
his night's sleep, he found himself so lame that he
could scarcely move. He was, however, anxious to get back
with his discouraging report to his companions. He therefore set
out and hobbled slowly and painfully along, hoping that ex
exercise would gradually loosen his stiffened joints. But mile after

(23:04):
mile he grew worse rather than better. His head began
to ache very severely. A burning fever spread through his veins.
He tottered in his walk, and his rifle seemed so
heavy that he could scarcely bear its weight. He was
toying through a dark and gloomy ravine, damp and cold,
and thrown into shade by the thick foliage of the
overhanging trees. So far as he knew, no human habitation

(23:27):
was near. Night was approaching. He could go no farther.
He had no food, but he did not need any,
for a deathly nausea oppressed him. Utterly Exhausted, he threw
himself down upon the grass and withered leaves on a
small dry mound formed by the roots of a large tree.
Crockett had no wish to die. He clung very tenaciously

(23:48):
to life, and yet he was very apprehensive that then
and there he was to linger through a few hours
of pain and then die, leaving his unburied body to
be devoured by wild beasts, and his friend, probably forever
ignorant of his fate. Consumed by fever and agitated by
these painful thoughts, he remained for an hour or two
when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and of

(24:10):
human voices. His sensibilities were so stupefied by his sickness
that these sounds excited but little emotion. Soon three or
four Indians made their appearance, walking along the narrow trail
in single file. They saw the prostrate form of the poor,
sick white man, and immediately gathered around him. The rifle
of Crockett and the powder and bullets which he had

(24:32):
were to these Indians articles of almost inestible value. One
blow of the tomahawk would send the helpless man to
realms where rifles and ammunition were no longer needed, and
his priceless treasures would fall into their hands. Indeed, it
was not necessary even to strike that blow. They had
but to pick up the rifle and unbuckle the belt
which contained the powder, horn and bullet pouch, and leave

(24:54):
the dying man to his fate. But these savages, who
had never read our Saviour's beautiful parable of the good Samaritan,
acted the Samaritan's part to the white man, whom they
found in utter helplessness and destitution. They kneeled around him,
trying to minister to his wants. One of them had
a watermelon. He cut from it a slice of the
rich and juicy fruit, and entreated him to eat it,

(25:16):
but his stomach rejected even that delicate food. They then,
by very expressive signs, told him that if he did
not take some nourishment, that he would die and be
buried there a thing. Crockett writes, I was confoundedly afraid
of myself. Crockett inquired how far it was to any house.
They signified to him by signs that there was a

(25:37):
white man's cabin about a mile and a half from
where they were, and urged him to let them conduct
him to that house. He rose to make the attempt,
but he was so weak that he could with difficulty stand,
and unsupported, could not walk a step. One of these
kind Indians offered to go with him, and, relieving Crockett
of the burden of his rifle, and with his strong
arm supporting and half carrying him at length, succeeded in

(26:00):
getting him to the log hut of the pioneer. The
shades of night were falling. The sick man was so
far gone that it seemed to him that he could
scarcely move another step. A woman came to the door
of the lowly hut and receive them with a woman's sympathy.
There was a cheerful fire blazing in one corner, giving
quite a pleasing aspect to the room. In another corner

(26:20):
there was a rude bed with bed clothing of the
skins of animals. Crockett's benefactor laid him tenderly upon the bed, and,
leaving him in the charge of his country woman, bade
him adieu and hastened away to overtake his companions. What
a different world would this be from what it has been?
Did the spirit of kindness manifested by this poor Indian
universally animate human hearts? O brother man, fold to thy heart,

(26:46):
thy brother, where pity dwells, the peace of God is there.
To worship rightly is to love each other, each smile
a hymn, each kindly word, a prayer, The woman's husband
was at the time absent, but she carefully nurished her patient,
preparing him for some soothing herb tea. Delirium came and
for several hours Crockett, in a state of unconsciousness, dwelt

(27:09):
in the land of troubled dreams. The next morning he
was a little more comfortable, but still in a high
fever and often delirious. It so happened that two white
men on an exploring tour, as they passed along the trail,
met the Indians, who informed them that one of their
sick countrymen was at a settler's cabin at but a
few miles distance. With humanity characteristic of a new and

(27:31):
sparsely settled country, they turned aside to visit him. They
proved to be old acquaintances of Crockett. He was so
very anxious to get back to the camp where he
had left his companions, and who, knowing nothing of his fate,
must think it very strange that he had thus deserted them,
that they, very reluctantly, in view of his dangerous condition,
consented to help him on his way. They made as

(27:53):
comfortable a seat as they could of blankets and skins,
which they buckled on the neck of one of the
horses just before the saddle. Upon this Crockett was seated.
One of the men then mounted the saddle behind him,
threw both arms around the patient, and thus they commenced
their journey the sagacious horse, who was left to pick
out his own way along the narrow trail at a

(28:14):
slow foot pace, as the horse thus bore a double burden.
After journeying an hour or two, Crockett's seat was changed
to the other horse, thus alternating. The painful journey of
nearly fifty miles was accomplished in about two days. When
they reached the camp, Crockett, as was to have been expected,
was in a far worse condition than when they had
commenced the journey. It was evident that he was to

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pass through a long run of fever, and that his
recovery was very doubtful. His companions could not thus be delayed.
They had already left Frasier, one of their company, perhaps
to die of the bite of a venomous snake, and
now they were constrained to leave Crockett, perhaps to die
of malarial fever. They ascertained that at the distance of
a few miles from them, there was another log cabin

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in the wilderness. They succeeded in purchasing a couple of
horses and in transporting the sick man to this humble
house of refuge. Here Crockett was left to await the
result of his sickness, unaided by any medical skill, fortunately
fell into the hands of a family who treated him
with the utmost kindness. For a fortnight he was in
delirium and knew nothing of what was transpiring around him.

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Crockett was a very amiable man. Even the delirium of disease,
developed itself in kindly words and grateful feelings. He always
won the love of those around him. He did not
miss delicacies and luxuries of which he had never known anything. Course,
as he was when measured by the standard of a
higher civilization, he was not coarse at all in the
estimation of the society in the midst of which he moved.

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In this humble cabin of Jesse Jones, with all its
aspect of penury, Crockett was nursed with brotherly and sisterly kindness,
and had every alleviation in his sickness which his nature
craved the visitor to Versailles is shown the magnificent apartment
and the regal couch with its gorgeous hangings, upon which
Lewis the Fourteenth, the proudest and most pampered man on earth,

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languished and died. Crockett, on his pallet in the log
cabin with unglazed window and earthen floor, was a far
less unhappy man than the dying monarch. Surrounded with regal splendors.
At the end of a fortnight, the patient began to
slowly mend. His emaciation was extreme, and his recovery very gradual.
After a few weeks he was able to travel. He

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was then on a route where wagons passed over a
rough road. Teeming the articles needed in a new country.
Crockett hired a wagoner to give him a seat in
his wagon and to convey him to the wagoner's house,
which was about twenty miles distant. Gaining strength by the
way when he arrived there, he hired a horse of
the wagoner and set out for home. Great was the

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astonishment of his family upon his arrival, for they had
given him up as dead. The neighbors who had set
out on this journey with him had returned and so reported,
for they had been misinformed. They told Missus Crockett that
they had seen those who were with him when he died,
and had assisted in burying him. Still, the love of
change had not been dispelled from the bosom of Crockett.

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He did not like the place where he resided. After
spending a few months at home, he set out in
the autumn upon another exploring tour. Our national government had
recently purchased of the Chickasaw Indians a large extent of
territory in southern Tennessee. Crockett thought that in those new
lands he would find the earthly paradise of which he
was in search. The region was unsurveyed, a savage wilderness,

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and there was no recognized laws and no organized government there.
Crockett mounted his horse, lashed his rifle to his back,
filled his powder horn and bullet pouch, and journeying westward
nearly a hundred miles through the pathless wilds, whose solitudes
had a peculiar charm for him, came to a romantic
spot called Shoal Creek in what is now Giles County,

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in the extreme southern part of Tennessee. He found other
adventurers pressing into the new country, where land was abundant
and fertile and could be had for almost nothing. Log
cabins were rising in all directions in what they deemed
quite near neighborhood, for they were not separated more than
a mile or two from each other. Crockett, having selected
his location on the banks of a crystal stream, summoned,

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as was the custom, some neighbors to his aid, and
speedily constructed the cabin of one apartment to shield his
family from the wind and the rain. Moving with such
a family is not a very arduous undertaking. One or
two pack horses convey all the household utensils. There are
no mirrors, bedsteads, bureaus, or chairs to be transported. With
an auger and a hatchet, these articles are soon constructed

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in their new home. The wife, with the youngest child
rides the husband with his rifle upon his shoulder, and
followed by the rest of the children, trudges along on foot.
Should night or storm overtake them, an hour's work would
throw up a camp with a cheerful fire in front,
affording them about the same comforts which they enjoyed in
the home. They had left a little meal baked in

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the ashes, supplied them with bread, and during the journey
of the day the rifle of the father would be
pretty sure to pick up some game to add to
the evening repast. Crockett and his family reached their new
home in safety. Here quite a new sphere of life
opened before the adventurer, and he became so firmly settled
that he remained in that location for three years. In
the meantime, pioneers from all parts were rapidly rearing their

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cabins upon the fertile territory, which was then called the
New Purchase. End of chapter recording by Brett Downey