LOOKING BACK AT THE "DANIEL BOONE" SERIES

Here's a reprint of the NY Times overview of the Daniel Boone legend as seen on TV.......

October 29, 2006
DVD

A Tubful of Coonskin and Corn
By VINCENT COSGROVE

EIGHTEEN months after the premiere of the television series “Daniel Boone” in 1964, the Kentucky Legislature approved a resolution to express its displeasure with the show’s historical inaccuracies.

The actor Fess Parker responded in much the same way he played Boone: with a gentle firmness. Pointing out that his show was a mix of fact and legend, he described “Daniel Boone” as an entertaining and wholesome series for the whole family.

Then, with a wryness the real Boone (1734-1820) might have appreciated, Mr. Parker added that he was “certain that if Boone were alive today he would be as astonished as I that that august body of men, the Kentucky Legislature, has turned into a passel of television critics.”

The controversy faded, and “Daniel Boone” went on to a lucrative six-year run. The first season is now available in an eight-DVD collection.

Of course, the Kentucky Legislature was right. In the series, Boone and his wife, Rebecca (Patricia Blair), have but two children. In reality, they had seven surviving offspring by the mid-1770’s, the era in which these episodes are set. Boone did not explore Kentucky and establish Boonesborough at the behest of George Washington. He did not save Benjamin Franklin from hanging by the British. Unlike the strapping 6-foot-5 Parker, Boone stood 5-foot-10 by the most generous estimate. And he hated coonskin caps.

That cap is a telling link between Mr. Parker’s Boone and Davy Crockett, the role that made Mr. Parker a star in the 1950’s. John Mack Faragher, in his excellent 1992 biography, “Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer,” wrote that “Mr. Parker’s Crockett/Boone, in fact, is largely responsible for the persistent popular confusion that exists today between these two frontier heroes. Is it true, people ask, what they say about Daniel Boone’s death at the Alamo?”

Unlike Crockett, Boone was one trailblazer who avoided violence whenever possible. Mr. Parker’s Boone shares this philosophy, although he does raise Tick Licker, his trusty rifle, in self-defense, usually against attacking Indians. It’s unfortunate that over the opening credits, Boone shoots an Indian as the theme song declares, “He fought for America to make all Americans free.”

On the other hand, one of Boone’s closest friends in the series is Mingo, an Oxford-educated Cherokee played by Ed Ames. (Mr. Ames made broadcast history during a 1965 appearance on the “Tonight” show, demonstrating his prowess with a tomahawk by hurling one at the painted outline of a man — and embedding the blade in the figure’s crotch.)

Mr. Parker was correct when he told the legislators that his series was wholesome family entertainment. “Daniel Boone” at its best offers exciting stories of conflict that teach tolerance and stress a basic humanity among pioneers, Native Americans and Redcoats. Some incidents are grounded in fact, though filtered through the standard Hollywood simplifications. At its most routine, the series can be slow and contrived, with Daniel endlessly stalking an enemy or bear. Given that there are 28 black-and-white episodes in Season 1, the show’s batting average is solid. But what appeal “Daniel Boone” may have among kids in an iPod-Xbox-YouTube world is unclear.

The real Boone’s adventures became the stuff of folklore, tales told around a campfire. Boone’s event-filled life inspired writers as diverse as James Fenimore Cooper (Natty Bumppo owes much to Boone) and Lord Byron, who devoted seven stanzas to Boone in “Don Juan.”

Mr. Parker’s series, in a way, added its own shades to Boone’s legend, luring an audience around the modern version of the campfire — the television.

That image of television as a campfire would be invoked again in the opening credits of 'Amazing Stories'.

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MRS. CROCKETT GETS BOONED

Fess Parker's roles as 'Davy Crockett' and 'Daniel Boone' are the official televersions of Earth Prime-Time. Other portrayals - like Peter Graves' Boone and Tim Dunagin's Crockett - would be assigned their own Toobworlds in the TV Multiverse.

As such, you look at them side by side and you can't help noticing how similar the two men looked. (Remember, we're now looking at them from within the Toobworld perspective. The fact that Parker played both roles doesn't enter into it.)

Since telegenetics is so strong in Toobworld, there should be only one conclusion - Daniel Boone was the biological father of Davy Crockett.

Daniel Boone was 52 when Crockett was born. He'd be around for another 34 years and Davy would only outlive him by 16 years. So Boone was hale and hearty enough to have made a really solid Tennessee excursion in his fifties. And while there he could have sired the young cub Davy.

Now, there's no way either of these men could live up to their legends in the real world. Maybe Boone was uncouth and unfaithful in real life, but the rules should apply in this as well when it comes to Toobworld. The facts of the real world should not contradict what is established in the televised story. Therefore, the Toobworld Daniel Boone doesn't seem likely to have betrayed his betrothed, Rebecca.

Still, Toobworld does provide an exit strategy to get out of this situation.

The precedent can be found in a 1973 'Gunsmoke' two-parter, "Matt's Love Story". Marshall Dillon was in Arizona when a bullet grazed his head and caused him to suffer amnesia. He fell in love with the woman who tended to his wounds, but he left her behind once he regained his memories and returned to Dodge City.

It wasn't until the 'Gunsmoke' TV movies of the 1990's that we - and Matt - found out that he fathered a daughter. (I wrote about this just the other day in a theory of relateeveety to connect 'Gunsmoke' to 'Fury'.)

The same situation could apply to Daniel Boone. He could have traveled south to Tennessee from Kentucky, only to get a head wound, perhaps from a tomahawk. After losing his memory, he meets Rebecca Hawkins Crockett who takes him in to bring him back to health. Perhaps her husband John was away with his former mountain men cronies from the war, but there would still be four children underfoot. (There would be four more children after Davy.) Still, she might have taken a fancy to this big man (as he is described in the theme song.) She may have wanted to find out exactly how big a man he really was.

Maybe Boone was able to remember that he was supposed to be with a woman named Rebecca and so easily acquiesced to her advances. And pretty soon he had her spread wider than that tree he split in the show's opening credits. (Whoa, Nellie! Don't want this turning into slash-fic!) Daniel Boone's memory may have returned while he was away from Mrs. Crockett's company, and he might have returned to his own Rebecca without ever remembering what he had done. Nine months later, David Crockett would be born on a mountain top in Tennessee, the spitting image of his biological father, Daniel Boone.

Daniel Boone was a man, alright!

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FESS PARKER AS DANIEL BOONE: A GALLERY

Continuing with our memorial of Fess Parker, here are some publicity pictures of him as Daniel Boone.......

Good night and may God bless.....

"DANIEL BOONE" SUNG BY FESS PARKER

AS SEEN ON TV: DANIEL BOONE

Remembering Fess Parker, who passed away at the age of 85.....

AS SEEN IN:
'Daniel Boone'

AS PLAYED BY:
Fess Parker

From Wikipedia:
Daniel Boone (October 22, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and hunter whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the U.S. state of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1778 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
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DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE FINAL FRONTIER

"The only real question is whether you believe in the legend of Davey Crockett or not. If you do, then there should be no doubt in your mind that he died a hero's death. If you do not believe in the legend, then he was just a man, and it does not matter how he died."

- Worf

The legend of Davy Crockett at the Alamo informed several episodes of 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.....

From the Memory Alpha wiki:

In 2374, a holosuite program recreating the battle was designed by Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir aboard Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night") O'Brien was to play the role of Crockett; Bashir the role of Travis. Because Garak, who was contracted for making their clothes, was busy decoding messages for Starfleet Intelligence, Bashir offered the role of Crockett to Garak as incentive to hurry up on their costumes. O'Brien was not amused with the offer. (DS9: "Afterimage")

After experiencing the battle, they later had a heated discussion on the subject in Quark's. O'Brien believed that Santa Anna executed Crockett at the battle, supporting his position with the fact that Santa Anna didn't care about the "rules of war," and therefore would have considered the execution a point of pride.

Bashir, however, felt that Crockett was quite old for his time, and that his best days were behind him and that he was surviving on nothing but reputation. He believed that due to these factors, he would not be a man who would fight to his last breath in a clearly hopeless battle. He believed Crockett ultimately surrendered, to which O'Brien neither agreed nor disagreed with, noting that either way, there was no proof.

Worf, however believed that they were both wrong and that the only question is whether of not they believe in the legend of Crockett. If they did believe, then there would be no doubt in their minds that Crockett died the death of a hero. If they did not believe, then Crockett was just a man, and it did not matter how he died. (DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach")

The Federation starship USS Crockett was presumably named after Davy Crockett. (DS9: "Paradise")

Memory Alpha is a great source for Trek info. You'll find the link to the left....

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"DAVY CROCKETT": THE SHOW

From Wikipedia:
By the late 19th century, Crockett was largely forgotten. His legend was reborn in a 1950s TV show by Walt Disney, which also introduced his legendary coonskin cap. In 1948, Disney told columnist Hedda Hopper that it was "time to get acquainted, or renew acquaintance with, the robust, cheerful, energetic and representative folk heroes". As part of a deal that allowed him to build a theme park, Disneyland, Disney would produce weekly one-hour television programs for ABC. Disney wished to highlight historical figures and his company developed three episodes on Crockett—"Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter", "Davy Crockett Goes to Congress", and "Davy Crockett at the Alamo"— starring Fess Parker as Crockett. According to historians Randy Roberts and James Olson, "by the end of the three shows, Fess Parker would be very well known, the power of television would be fully recognized, and Davy Crockett would be the most famous frontiersman in American history." The shows sparked heated debate, with many questioning whether Crockett was really deserving of the amount of attention he was now receiving. Letter writers also questioned the series' historical accuracy.

Nevertheless, the shows proved very popular. They were combined into a feature-length movie in the summer of 1955, and Parker and his co-star Buddy Ebsen toured the United States, Europe, and Japan. By the end of 1955, Americans had purchased over $300 million worth of Davy Crockett merchandise ($2 billion by 2001). The television series also introduced a new song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". Four different versions of the song hit the Billboard Best Sellers pop chart in 1955. The versions by Bill Hayes, TV series star Fess Parker, and Tennessee Ernie Ford charted in the Top 10 simultaneously, with Hayes' version hitting #1.

The shows were repeated on NBC in the 1960s after Disney had moved his program to that network. The 1960 repeats marked the first time that the programs had actually been shown in color on TV. Davy Crockett made a return with Disney in two further adventures: "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates". In these two episodes Crockett faced off against Mike Fink, another early American legend. A three-episode 1988-89 revival was made entitled "The New Adventures of Davy Crockett", in which Tim Dunigan took over Fess Parker's famous role. Johnny Cash played an older Davy in a few scenes set before he went to Texas.

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DAVY CROCKETT'S COONSKIN CAP CRAZE

From Wikipedia:
In the 20th century, the iconic association [of the coonskin cap] was in large part due to Disney's television program 'Disneyland' and the first three "Davy Crockett" episodes starring Fess Parker. In the episodes, which once again made Crockett into one of the most popular men in the country, the frontier hero was portrayed wearing a coonskin cap. The show spawned several 'Disneyland' Davy Crockett sequels as well as other similar shows and movies, with many of them featuring Parker as the lead actor. Parker went on to star in a 'Daniel Boone' television series (1964-1970), again wearing a coonskin cap.

Crockett's new popularity initiated a fad among boys all over the United States as well as a Davy Crockett craze in the United Kingdom. The look of the cap that was marketed to young boys was typically simplified; it was usually a faux fur lined skull cap with a raccoon tail attached. A variation was marketed to young girls as the Polly Crockett hat. It was similar in style to the boys' cap, including the long tail, but was made of all-white fur (faux or possibly rabbit). At the peak of the fad, coonskin caps sold at a rate of 5,000 caps a day.

By the end of the 1950s, Crockett's popularity waned and the fad slowly died out.
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AS SEEN ON TV: DAVY CROCKETT AT THE ALAMO

In memory of Fess Parker....

DAVY CROCKETT

AS SEEN IN:
'Disneyland'

AS PLAYED BY:
Fess Parker

From Wikipedia:
David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo.

The siege ended on March 6, when the Mexican army attacked just before dawn while the defenders were sleeping. The daily bombardment by artillery had been suspended, perhaps a ploy to encourage the natural human reaction to a cessation of constant strain. But, the garrison awakened, the final fight began.

Meanwhile, most of the noncombatants gathered in the church sacristy for safety. According to Susana Dickinson, before running to his post, Crockett paused briefly in the chapel to pray. When the Mexican soldiers breached the north outer walls of the Alamo complex, most of the Texians fell back to the barracks and the chapel, as previously planned. Crockett and his men were too far from the barracks to be able to take shelter. and were the last remaining group within the mission to be in the open. The men defended the low wall in front of the church, using their rifles as clubs and relying on knives, as action became too furious to allow reloading their weapons. After a volley of fire and a charge with bayonets, Mexican soldiers pushed the few remaining Texians back toward the church.

The Battle of the Alamo lasted almost 90 minutes.

Once all of the defenders were dead, Santa Anna ordered his men to take the bodies of the Texans to a nearby stand of trees where they were stacked together and wood piled on top of them. That evening, a fire was lit, and the bodies of the defenders were burned to ashes.



Fess Parker died 12 days after the anniversary of Davy Crockett's death.....

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FESS PARKER AS DAVY CROCKETT: A GALLERY

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