Davy Crockett King Frontier

I loved the Disney Davy as a kid; never noticed things like I saw on TV recently; filmed in Florida where they're fightin' the Seminoles; the chief has a Plains Indian Buffalo-horn head-dress! Then Davey is wading thru water, at one point his horn goes into the drink! They ALL have horns that are WAY too long hanging way down flopping around. Like many here, I got started in history by watching the series on Disneyland TV Sunday nights in the 50's, so I'm being loving, not critical! The attacking Mexicans at the Alamo climax actually look pretty good! Uniforms, etc. It was a shock as a kid to see them "go down"! They followed up with the River Pirates episodes, remember Big Mike Fink?? Who could forget him?

Remember Big Mike Fink??

"Wimmen hide,
And brave men shiver.
'Cause I'm MIKE FINK!
King of the river!"

Jeff York had that role nailed!

It was interesting to me how flat Daniel Boone’s (Fess Parker) shooting pouch was. Didn’t look like there was even a couple round balls in it. He was still my hero though. I had the coonskin hat and rubber tomahawk too!

springfield art said:

I loved the Disney Davy as a kid; never noticed things like I saw on TV recently; filmed in Florida where they're fightin' the Seminoles; the chief has a Plains Indian Buffalo-horn head-dress! Then Davey is wading thru water, at one point his horn goes into the drink! They ALL have horns that are WAY too long hanging way down flopping around. Like many here, I got started in history by watching the series on Disneyland TV Sunday nights in the 50's, so I'm being loving, not critical! The attacking Mexicans at the Alamo climax actually look pretty good! Uniforms, etc. It was a shock as a kid to see them "go down"! They followed up with the River Pirates episodes, remember Big Mike Fink?? Who could forget him?

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Those were the days but they are gone forever. Thanks for the memories .

I still wear a coonskin and I’m on season 4 of Daniel Boone.

Crockett movies are fun. Love how Davy’s fur hat changes from a big one to a smaller one from time to time.

Back in the early 1950's , all us kids thought we were Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. My Daisy BB gun was even malfunctioning to the extent , I could only load one BB at a time into the muzzle , then cock the lever and fire. Looking back , that was some carma. I'm still loading one ball at a time , then shooting.

Looking back it's a wonder we're still alive. We used to hunt each other in the woods with our BB guns, among other things probably just as stupid.

The Crisco Kid said:

Looking back it's a wonder we're still alive. We used to hunt each other in the woods with our BB guns, among other things probably just as stupid.

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BB gun wars, those were the days. No aiming for the face but I did take a few pot shots at the back of my cousins head. Forget who but someone shot my cousins left front tooth out, ( that ended the fun and games for (awhile) , my older brother shot me in the arm with his arrow, we learn to swim along the river bottom, yes how did we get to be old men.

The Crisco Kid said:

Looking back it's a wonder we're still alive. We used to hunt each other in the woods with our BB guns, among other things probably just as stupid.

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We used to have dirt bomb fights - throwing dirt clods at each other.

I had a Hopalong Cassidy outfit with silver plated cap pistols. Playing at night with one of those shiny cap guns in hand, I remember trying to sneak up on some of my friends. They spotted the gleam of my cap gun as I passed near a streetlight and instead of me ambushing them, they ambushed me. That lesson impressed me. Ever since that childhood incident I have shunned shiny guns.

springfield art said:

I loved the Disney Davy as a kid; never noticed things like I saw on TV recently; filmed in Florida where they're fightin' the Seminoles; the chief has a Plains Indian Buffalo-horn head-dress! Then Davey is wading thru water, at one point his horn goes into the drink! They ALL have horns that are WAY too long hanging way down flopping around. Like many here, I got started in history by watching the series on Disneyland TV Sunday nights in the 50's, so I'm being loving, not critical! The attacking Mexicans at the Alamo climax actually look pretty good! Uniforms, etc. It was a shock as a kid to see them "go down"! They followed up with the River Pirates episodes, remember Big Mike Fink?? Who could forget him?

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I too, grew up in the 50's watching Disney's. Davey Crockett. Looking back, it seems as if he never measured his powder. I suppose it's possible. Had a true 'old timer' that grew up during the muzzle loading days, tell me that it didn't matter how much powder you put down a barrel, only so much would burn and what didn't burn would be blown out the muzzle. Always suspected that he was 'funnin' a young kid. Never wanted to put the truth of his words to the test. though. Another thing that puzzled me was that D.C. would pour his powder then tamp before loading a ball. Always seemed to me just wasted effort. And, never, ever saw a patched ball being loaded!

The Crisco Kid said:

Looking back it's a wonder we're still alive. We used to hunt each other in the woods with our BB guns, among other things probably just as stupid.

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We did that also, you knew when you were dead. Ah how times have changed. LOL

Fess Parker, was a really nice guy, had a Winery in CA in later years. Parker Vineyards, I think, died a few years ago. Good decent guy.

Dark Angel said:

I too, grew up in the 50's watching Disney's. Davey Crockett. Looking back, it seems as if he never measured his powder. I suppose it's possible. Had a true 'old timer' that grew up during the muzzle loading days, tell me that it didn't matter how much powder you put down a barrel, only so much would burn and what didn't burn would be blown out the muzzle. Always suspected that he was 'funnin' a young kid. Never wanted to put the truth of his words to the test. though. Another thing that puzzled me was that D.C. would pour his powder then tamp before loading a ball. Always seemed to me just wasted effort. And, never, ever saw a patched ball being loaded!

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Just enjoy the old show

During the 1950's Crockett craze, there were neat-o souvenir items in the local five & dimes; keys to the Alamo on a card, other stuff, I'm sure someone has a collection of such stuff. I have a Log fort or cabin set with wood fencing from that period. Has Crockett on the box; about the only thing left from that period of my toys.

Juice Jaws said:

BB gun wars, those were the days. No aiming for the face but I did take a few pot shots at the back of my cousins head. Forget who but someone shot my cousins left front tooth out, ( that ended the fun and games for (awhile) , my older brother shot me in the arm with his arrow, we learn to swim along the river bottom, yes how did we get to be old men.

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We were stupid kids too and had BB gun wars. A kid we grew up with shot his brother's eye out.

.50cal.Mike said:

We were stupid kids too and had BB gun wars. A kid we grew up with shot his brother's eye out.

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Well his Mother was right

Now they have air-soft; much safer! Wish we had as a kid!!

Juice Jaws said:

Just enjoy the old show

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Yes!

I was curious about the location of the ole Betsy rifle so I emailed the Parker Winery several years ago. I asked what happened to the rifle if anyone there could tell me. I was surprised when Fess Parker emailed me back. He said that at the end of filming the river pirates show Disney studios took the rifle back. He had not seen it since that time.
I in later years saw a picture of Parker dedicating a rifle to the Alamo Museum.
Yes I watched the whole series like all of you.

Strange coincidence this discussion would come up now. Just this past Friday evening Grit TV aired the Davy Crockett movie which I believe was made from the first three episodes followed by the Davy Crockett and the River Pirates movie made from the last two episodes I believe. I wasn't born until late 1957 so I didn't see the original episodes when they first aired, but saw them later in the 60s on the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings. Last year I found on Amazon the dvd of the old Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Disney series and a dvd with a few of the Disney Swamp Fox episodes. I was in first grade in 1964 when Fess Parker started playing Daniel Boone on tv, so I can be excused for doing childish things. I'm not a gun builder but I built my first "flintlock" back then. I found a nice sized stick on the ground. There were these fern like things which grew in clumps and got quite long. We used to pull them up and run them through our hands to get the green fuzzy things off and sword fight with them. I got one of those to use as a ramrod and taped it beneath my stick with black electrical tape. Finally I got two popsicle sticks and a couple really small nails. I nailed one of them on the stick with the lower end flush with the bottom of the stick and the other right behind it with an end below and above the stick. That was my trigger and cock, the front popsicle stick was the frizzen. When I would pull the "trigger" the "cock" would actually pivot forward and hit the "frizzen" pushing it forward. I finished my gear up by finding an old short board and a discarded wallet. I punched two holes in the wallet with a knife and tied it to the board with that string like we used on kites. Then I tied a longer piece of sting around both ends of the board as a strap. I used to spend hours in the woods alone playing Daniel Boone with that setup.