The Crockett Almanacks

• Phases of the Moon and Davy wrestling snakes: Fact and Myth in the Crockett Almanacks

• The roots of American folklore - the tales get taller

• Learn More about the Crockett Almanacs

The Crockett Almanacks, like most almanacs of their time, included helpful information as well as entertaining reading. The first Crockett Almanack, published for 1835, included information on eclipses, a biography of Crockett, astronomical and moon phase charts for each month, and many short essays on the life habits of various wild animals. Over time the factual essays were replaced by more imaginative stories. The 1837 edition included a description of “Method of Catching Wild Horses on the Prairies of Texas” while the 1846 edition included a fanciful story of Crockett eliminating a plague of rattlesnakes.

The Roots of American Folklore are frequently traced to the tall tales of the Crockett Almanacks. Although they were not written by the historical figure Davy Crockett, it is clear that he participated in the creation of his own mythical personae and thus in the creation of Western folklore and the myth of the frontier. Crockett’s A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee, published in 1834, is characterized as a “campaign biography” - an historically authentic account of his life embellished with promotional rhetoric and early examples of what becomes the classic humor of the West and Southwest.