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Crockett and the Immortal Thirty-Two

3/1/2013

3 Comments

 
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David Crockett and his fellow Alamo defenders spent most of the siege hoping in vain for reinforcements.  But in the early morning hours of March 1, 1836, a few brave men from Gonzales did make their way into the old mission.  "It was only a reinforcement of thirty-two," as James Donovan writes in The Blood of Heroes, but "they told of more on their way, riding to Gonzales from all points.  If those reinforcements arrived before the rest of the Mexican Army, the rebels might have a fighting chance."  
     History records "the immortal thirty-two" as including a young man named Jonathan Lindley.  And one of the first people I ran into, as I was setting out to report Born on a Mountaintop, turned out to be a relative of his. 
     Dave Lindley and his wife, Joyce, were touring Tennessee's Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park when I arrived to do the same.  Despite a longstanding interest in history, Dave hadn't known he had an Alamo connection until a friend came back from San Antonio and said, "Hey, there's a Lindley on the wall!"  Jonathan Lindley, Joyce explained, turned out to be cousin of Dave's "third or fourth great grandfather."  He had gone to Texas, as so many did, in search of opportunity and land; the Lindleys believe he was manning a cannon in the Alamo church when the Mexicans broke through.
     I thought of Dave and Joyce when my Crockett road trip finally took me to to San Antonio.  I was               

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admiring the statue of Crockett that's part of the Cenotaph in Alamo Plaza when I looked down and saw a familiar name.  You can find it in the somewhat murky photo above, but here's a close-up.
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     When I'd asked Dave Lindley about Crockett himself, he'd had some thoughtful things to say.  Having read up on "the real man, as opposed to the Disney character," he wasn't inclined to overglorify him.  "The real man made a lot of mistakes, like most humans do," Dave said, "so putting him on a pedestal, to me, is not a proper place."  I couldn't agree more about Crockett being human.  His human flaws and human emotions, I think, only make his story more interesting.  But it's equally true that Americans put him on a pedestal long ago, for reasons that are just as fascinating as the facts of the real man's life.  
     Here's just one: We humans need stories that give us hope, and courage in the face of darkness.  And to that end, the stories of the famous Davy Crockett and the anonymous Jonathan Lindley both serve.

3 Comments
Marlis Jones Wilcox
3/7/2013 03:29:16 am

It gives those of us who remain in the background hope that heroes, both famous and unsung, will always be important to those who live and walk the earth. There were many, many pioneers who dared to walk into unknown woods, plains, and mountains and build a dwelling-place for their descendants. Thank you for bringing the real Davy Crockett to light, and thank you for acknowledging David Lindley's forbear ( mine, too! ) and his part in Western history and the Alamo as well. Marlis

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bob thompson link
3/9/2013 03:28:33 am

Hi Marlis -- Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I couldn't agree more about the importance of remembering unsung pioneers like Jonathan Lindley as well as the famous ones. Ran into many great stories while I was following Davy around, and found myself wishing that all of them could somehow be told. Bob

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David Lindley
3/20/2013 08:24:09 am

Bob,
Joyce and I are honored to have been included in your writings and to have our ancestor memorialized in this way. Marlis is my first cousin, from Greensboro, NC, and also a Lindley descendant and a real sweetheart. She is also very aware of the Lindley lineage and possesses the family bible from our great, great grandfather which lists our Irish connections. Best wishes on your book signings and sales. Say hello to San Anonio for us...we'll get there eventually.
- David Lindley

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    Author

    Bob Thompson spent 24 years as a writer and editor  at the Washington Post, where he often wrote about the intersection of history and myth.  Born on  a Mountaintop is his first book.  As he explains in chapter one, it never would have been written if his beloved daughters hadn't been introduced to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" at an impressionable age.   

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