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DAVY CROCKETT
SPRING
Photographs by: Mike Bennett
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Anyone traveling down El
Camino Real, known today as
Texas Highway 21, through
Crockett, probably has stopped
at the Davy Crockett Spring to
see where David "Davy" Crockett
drank from a spring on his
fateful journey to San Antonio,
TX and the Battle of the Alamo.
Local Renovation efforts have
given the spring site in
downtown Crockett new life.
It now includes a mural
depicting a reunion between Davy
Crockett and Andrew Edward
Gossett. The Gossett
family were friends of the
Crockett family in Tennessee
before moving to the Texas
Territory.
A log cabin similar to the one
Gossett most probably built near
Crockett when he settled in what
was to later become Houston
County, was moved from the Davy
Crockett Memorial Park to the
site of the spring. A fence of
logs similar to the type used by
pioneers in the area has been
erected as well as a display of
six flags. The spring fountain
has been cleaned and renovated;
this fountain has stood at
the site longer than most people
in the area can remember.
A mural created by Lucas Short,
a local artist, depicts Davy
Crockett and Andrew Gossett
meeting in a rural setting in
late 1835. Three months later,
David Crockett and about 180
other Alamo defenders perished
at the Alamo; creating a chapter
in Texas history that has become
a vivid symbol of the Texas
Spirit and drive for
independence.
When Houston County was created
by the Republic of Texas in June
of 1837, A.E. Gossett donated
land for a county seat and
because of his donation, he and
his father Elijah Gossett were
given the privilege of naming
the county and the county seat.
Both Gossett's had served at the
Battle of San Jacinto in April
of 1836, therefore their choice
was to name the county for Sam
Houston who was another
Tennessee bred hero and served
as President of the Republic of
Texas. Houston had also
led the troops during the Battle
of San Jacinto. Their
choice for naming the county
seat was Crockett after Elijah
Gossett's boyhood friend, David
Crockett, from Rutherford
County, Tennessee.
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