PNC Hosts Colloquium, “The Mysterious Demise of Davy Crockett as an Historical Problem”

Purdue University North Central will present a Social Sciences Colloquium with Dr. James Pula, professor of History, speaking on "The Mysterious Demise of Davy Crockett as an Historical Problem" on March 22 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Library-Student-Faculty Building Assembly Hall, Room 02. The event is free and open to the public.


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Pula explains his colloquium topic, "In Walt Disney's version of the Alamo, Fess Parker's portrayal of Davy Crockett is last seen swinging his empty musket at encircling enemy soldiers. In John Wayne's rendering, Davy is speared but then heroically explodes the Alamo's magazine in a last act of defiance. Billy Bob Thornton's portrayal has Davy captured and then executed after a suitably heroic moment of defiance. Which of these versions, if any, is correct?"

"Although how Davy Crockett died is not a significant historical question outside of Texas, and often not inside either, an exploration of this mystery yields the kind of conflicting evidence and claims that illustrate how historians work and the difficulties they encounter. This presentation will examine some of this evidence in an attempt to show how difficult it can be for historians to answer questions even when there is quite a bit of documentation from which to work."