Meet Davy Crockett

                 When your parents or grandparents were your age, they may have played "cowboys and Indians."  Your dad or granddad may have worn a coonskin cap and pretended to hunt large animals and tame the wild frontier. 
                 Sometimes kids pretended to be folk heroes.
What's a folk hero?
                 A folk hero  is often based on an ordinary person who does something extraordinary or memorable.  Over time, that person's skills or abilities may be exaggerated, or made to seem bigger of better than they really are. 
                 You may already know some folk heroes.  Maybe you've studied:

• Johnny Appleseed, who brought apples to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
• Calamity Jane, who worked as an Army scout in the Wild West.
• Paul Revere, whose midnight ride warned of the British coming during the American Revolution.

Davy as a boy
               David crockett was born Aug. 17, 1786, in what is now Tennessee.
               When he was only 13, Davy ran away from home.  He had gotten in trouble at school and was afraid of his father's punishment.  Davy stayed away from home and traveled from town to town for almost three years, learning different skills.  He was a good marksman, or shooter, when he needed to hunt animals for food.
Growing up
              When Davy returned home, he went to work for John Canaday, a Quaker farmer who lived nearby.  Davy lived with the Canaday family and became close to them.  Canaday not only taught Davy different skills, but he also became a role model for Davy.  His strict values helped Davy become honest, kind and ambitious.
               At 19, Davy decided to start his own family.  On the day before his 20th birthday, he married Polly Finley.