Killing Davy Crockett attempts to answer basic questions concerning the death of the famous hunter, trapper, soldier, and politician. Crockett--several times a member of the US Congress and foe of President Andrew Jackson--was ultimately defeated for reelection to Congress and chose to throw his famous coonskin cap into the struggle for Texas independence.

Killing Davy Crockett encompasses this homespun Tennessee hero's early years, military, then political experiences, and his trip to beaconing "Texes," as he called it. Davy entered the Alamo, an old Spanish mission turned into a makeshift fort, with a small group of marksman volunteers. They dedicated and lost their lives when the small garrison at the Alamo was besieged--then assaulted--by Mexican president and general-in-chief Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's large Mexican army.

Did Davy lose his life in combat, or was he executed by the Mexicans? This work attempts to answer that question, which has long been debated among eminent Texas historians.