Davy Crockett Crosses Into Texas (Oral Tradition)

Neighbor from Washington, Arkansas | 4-11-04 | YepYep (via Oral Tradition)

[norton]

Off the main subject - but you're right on with Deadwood.

COULD be great entertainment but I've yet to get through an entire episode because of language burn-out. [and, trust me, my own language ain't too very tidy]

[norton]

In mid sixties Washington Arkansas was a really neat little town. Both central in the beginnings of Texas (local tavern was much used in Texican planning and organizing) and one time capital of the Confederacy.

I sincerely hope it has not been reduced to grovellling PC by today's reconstructionists.

I THINK someone claimed that "the" Bowie knife was forged there but without a lot of supporting evidence. At any rate, the Bowie of that time was not much like the versions we see today.

[Ditter]

Thanks for the info on Washington Ark. There is also a Washington La. where my husbands family lived before emigrating to Texas in the 1840's. If I may offer a small correction, the word used for early Texans was 'Texian'. I see the word Texican used a lot but it is not correct when used to name these early residents.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Howdy neighbor. I'm not sure where you heard of Texas not claiming Miller County. I've been reading the Government Printing Office's collection of territorial correspondence (1828-36) and it is plain that Texas was claiming all the way to the Red River (i.e., the current Miller/Lafayette boundry). In fact Texian Col. Milam was preparing to fortify the Sulphur River where it meet the Red. DC told the Arkansas Government to abandon all claims west of the Red until an agreed upon boundary was reached.

[wildbill]

I've always been taught that the Arkansas toothpick knife was considerably different from the Bowie knife, being more in the tradition of a long narrow stilletto, called a snee by the Scots-Irish.

The Arkansas toothpick was the weapon of choice for the riverboat thug Mike (Fink????) that Bowie fought with in the historic knife fight on the island in the Mississippi. That was where the legend of the Bowie's superior design as a weapon began.

[Ditter]

"bears maybe"??? Didn't you believe me when I said I had seen one/have had one? My husband has hunted bears & his guide removed them. One bone I know of my husband gave to his friend who was an orthopaedic Dr, as a curiosity.

[YepYep]

Howdy back at you, neighbor. Regarding the matter of Texas claiming the really rowdy area in Miller County in the 1800's, well, it sounds as though you have sound research to back up your questioning this. Since my source for this information is not as sound as yours, I will have to bow to your understanding of this matter (for the present).

[YepYep]

Okay, back to your questions about the Arkansas toothpick. I understand that Jim Bowie got it (his knife) from his brother and that it was forged in Washington (Hempstead County)Arkansas. In battle, Jim Bowie made the knife famous, and reportedly had it with him to his death at the Alamo. There are still a small number of craftsmen in the area who know how to come real close to forging this type of knife. Classes have been held in the area but the cost was in excess of $600 to learn this craft. No, I do not own one.

[Happy2BMe]

You are correct - Jim Bowie got his Arkansaw Toothpick - the Bowie Knife on his way to the Alamo in Texarkana, AR.

The original family that made it lived in Texarkana, AR.

They all died off and now the knife is made for a U.S. Army unit at Mountainburg, AR.

You still stumped on what unit wears it?

(If you want to see a pic of it, FRmail me.

[SwinneySwitch]

See #4 for Yep Yep.

[DeaconBenjamin]

When were they living in Texarkana?

[gopheraj]

Wasn't snee a guy in Peter Pan? ;^)

[wildbill]

Snee in Peter Pan?

I think that was sMee. or sMew.

[gopheraj]

I realized that after I posted. LOL I gets my N's & M's mixed up.;)

[Hannahs-dad]

I live in Texarkana and have visited Washington Arkansas numerous times. I am not aware of this Crockett story but if you got it from somebody from Washington arkansas it is most likely accurate. See there is very little TO Washington Arkansas BUT history. Since history is about 90% of Washington's importance, most people there are pretty familiar with it.

Probably the reason I'm not familiar with the Crockett story is because there is another man, also of Alamo fame, who is far more a significant man of history to this area than Crockett, and that is James Bowie. He is supposed to have built his famous "Bowie knife" in Washington Ar. which is just a short drive northeast of Texarkana and was the site of a ferry (which is still there, but no longer used). In fact the Texas side of Texarkana resides in the extreme northeastern portion of texas in the county of Bowie, named for James Bowie.

As to the "toothpick" fable; I've heard both stories, that it was the bone of a raccoon penis and that it was the Bowie knife. Early on I just decided to believe it was the Bowie knife and am unaware of whether a raccoon has a bone in it's penis. I would point out though, one poster mentioned that bears have bones in their penis. Well raccoons are related to bears, supposedly, so maybe it does have a bone also.

As to the violence and crime that existed around the Texarkana area from the mid 1800's all the way through the early to mid 1900's; This is true. In fact Texarkana for most of those years had a nick-name, it was also called Little Chicago. In fact, I can't remember what year it was, but there is supposed to be a time magazine that was written which listed the top 10 most dangerous cities in the country, and Texarkana was one of them. It was home to many criminal gangs, and most notably the dixieland mafia. This was due to texarkanas' strategic location both as a crossing point of 4 or 5 (memory vague on that one) railroads, and as the gateway to the southwest, a trail having been travelled for hundreds of years, even before white settlement it had been the way into what is now Texas. The criminal gangs preyed on travellers and settlers, so IMO your Crockett story could easily be true. There were several different ferry crossings along the red river at that time.

I am pleased to be able to report that things have changed though. Texarkana these days is a very friendly city with a below average crime rate compared to other cites around the country. Why that is I don't know, but it's now a city where I rarely lock my door, things I leave in my yard stay in my yard, and I leave my keys in the car even at the mall. Texarkana and the metropolitan area around it has around 200,000 in population now and we have an average of 1 - 2 murders a year, with many years in which there is no murder or rape or anything like that. Our schools still don't have guards or metal detectors, if that tells you anything. The principal is still the "security" in our schools.

[Hannahs-dad]

Norton, don't know why it says Ditter up there. I am replying to Norton and his mention of Texian and Texican. As a native Texan, I would like to give you MY definition of the two terms as we understand them. Both terms are correct, but they have slightly different meanings. A Texian was anybody who had migrated here and sided with/hoped to see it become Texan rather than Mexican territory. So Texian was more of a political affiliation term. Texican referred more to heritage and ancestry. It meant that your heritage was of both Texan AND Mexican people, and that you were a native of the area. As a native born Texican, you likely had some hispanic ancestry as well as caucasian ancestry.