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Interesting. But Crockett was notorious for his tall tales. And when you read his actual letter, his account certainly comes across as more supernatural than anything:
Quote:
“Whether it was the axe’s disturbance or possibly the heat of the high sun which caused an apparition to slowly form in front of my eyes, I know not. As a Christian man, I swear to you, Abe, that what spirit came upon me was the shape and shade of a large ape man, the likes we might expect among the more bellicose and hostile Indian tribes of the Territories. The shade formed into the most deformed and ugly countenance. Covered in wild hair, with small and needling eyes, large broken rows of teeth, and the height of three foundlings, I spit upon the ground the bread I was eating.
“The Monster then addressed a warning to me. Abner, it told me to return from Texas, to flee this Fort and to abandon this lost cause. When I began to question this, the Creature spread upon the wind like the morning steam swirls off a frog pond. I swear to you, Abner, that whatever meat or sausage disagreed with me that afternoon, I forswore all beef and hog for a day or so afterward.”
Sounds a bit to me like he had a precognitive hallucination. It formed before his eyes, and then it dissipated into the air like fog. He probably was having doubts about his participation in the war and those thoughts he attributes to the apparition were actually his subconscious mind expressing what he wasn't allowing his conscious mind to believe. Not sure why it appeared in the form of a bigfoot though...that's bizarre.
"the creature spread upon the wind like the morning steam swirls off a frog pond.”
Interesting story, but Im not sure what this last part means...?
It means that the creature dissapeared, suggesting that he didn't see a physical creature, but a metaphysical apparition.
From a historical standpoint this is of some interest, as he wasn't a frontiersman at this point, but an ex-congressman approaching 50 years old (and about to meet his fate in the Alamo). He was also not alone, but had dozens of men traveling with him.
It almost reads like a dream, and I would say it's more relevant that it suggests a foreboding of his own death.
Heavy drinking and the telling of tall tales was a favorite leisure time activity of frontiersman like Crockett. Take his stories with a grain of salt.
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