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00:06Let's go.
00:35Let's go.
01:00Let's go.
01:35Let's go.
02:04Let's go.
02:06Let's go.
02:38There are pyramids here, chambers, tombs, descriptions.
02:43They're all over this country.
02:45We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites, and we're going to get to the truth.
02:49Sometimes history isn't what we've been told.
03:03America's history is built on icons, larger-than-life figures who fought and won battles that shaped the United States.
03:14Regular folks who died fighting for what they believed in, like folk hero Davey Crockett.
03:21I grew up with reruns of the Crockett TV show, which made his coonskin cap famous and made him the
03:28king of the wild frontier.
03:29But the real Davey Crockett was a much bigger player in American history than most people realize.
03:37Crockett was an American folk hero.
03:40He was a Tennessee congressman who fought for Native American rights.
03:44And he was a soldier who fought for Texas independence at the famed battle of the Alamo.
03:51It was in the bloodshed of the Alamo where Crockett supposedly died.
03:55But did he really?
04:07A tip I've received claims that's not the case.
04:12So I want to know if one of my childhood heroes has a secret about his own death.
04:19A family in Alabama says it has a land deed proving the legendary Davey Crockett actually lived out his days
04:26in Winston County.
04:28Which already has legendary status as one of the few places in the South that oppose the Confederacy.
04:38Jason?
04:40Hello, Scott. Glad to have you.
04:41Well, that email that you sent, I'm pretty excited about it.
04:44So, I mean, if this land grant that you have is legitimate, well, this tells us a whole new story
04:49about Davey Crockett.
04:51History tells us he died at the Alamo, but if this thing is legit, maybe that's not the case.
04:57Well, I believe it is legitimate, sir.
04:59You know, me and my family have thought for generations that it is.
05:01We'd like to get to the truth about it.
05:03Well, if anybody can get to the truth, I think I can.
05:06I'm ready when you are.
05:07Okay.
05:21Scott, this is my mother, Glenda Alexander.
05:24Hi, Glenda. Nice to meet you.
05:26Good to meet you.
05:27Let's have a seat.
05:32Okay.
05:32This is what we came to see.
05:34It says Davey Crockett right here.
05:37It was granted to David Crockett in 1859.
05:41That's over 20 years after the Alamo.
05:44Yes, it is.
05:45And it also has the president's signature on this as President James Buchanan.
05:54And it also has the president's seal on it.
05:59I believe that it was the said David Crockett that we're speaking of that fought the Battle
06:05at the Alamo.
06:07The Battle of the Alamo in the winter of 1836 took place at a mission smack in the center
06:14of what is now San Antonio.
06:17Texans had booted the Mexican army out of the area, but a general by the name of Santa Anna
06:23fought back with his troops and won.
06:27One month later, Texans inspired by the cry, Remember the Alamo, would get their independence
06:32at the Battle of San Jacinto.
06:35But Crockett, who fought alongside the Texans at the Alamo, wouldn't be around to see it.
06:42Unless he wasn't actually dead.
06:46So you think this is his actual signature?
06:49That's amazing.
06:50I'm kind of thinking that the president granted this to him, and he came here to just kind
06:56of live out the rest of his days in peace.
07:02This is an affidavit where it was registered in Huntsville, Alabama, and it also has David
07:09Crockett's signature on it.
07:11Okay.
07:12Right there.
07:13Would you please read over this?
07:16This is a newspaper article?
07:19Crockett not dead yet.
07:21Right.
07:22He had received a severe gash with a tomahawk on the upper part of his forehead, a ball
07:28in his left arm.
07:29Now, this is interesting.
07:30It says here, he was immediately taken care of and conveyed to comfortable lodging where
07:35his wounds were dressed and every attention necessary to his recovery paid him.
07:39What's the date on this?
07:41April 1836.
07:42So, that would have been about a month after the Alamo.
07:46This article says that he survived.
07:49This is really an important document here.
07:51I think so, too.
07:53I mean, all three of these documents, they really make a compelling argument that he did
07:58survive the Alamo and lived out his days in secret on what is now your land.
08:03Yes, I believe that he was buried here on the place.
08:07You think that Davy Crockett is buried here on your land?
08:09My mother found human bones, yes, here, and she took them to the university to have them
08:17examined, and they did, in fact, they were identified as human bones.
08:23Really?
08:23Very old, very old.
08:25What happened to the bones?
08:26She put them back where she found them.
08:29Are there any other clues or any other evidence that you have that suggests he might be here?
08:34Well, we have a lot of artifacts.
08:36Can you take me to where you found these artifacts?
08:38Let's go.
08:45Take him together, the newspaper account of Davy Crockett's survival and the land deed
08:50with his signature are a one-two punch that challenges the story that Davy Crockett died
08:55in the Battle of the Alamo.
08:58If he was on this land, then there's bound to be evidence here, too, that sealed the deal.
09:04So, Jason, tell me a little bit more about Davy Crockett coming back here to Sweet Home, Alabama.
09:11I mean, why here?
09:13Well, this is a unique place.
09:15Now, this happens to be the boundary of the creek in the Cherokee Nations.
09:19Now, Davy Crockett was a great Indian sympathizer, a Native American sympathizer.
09:24I believe it was after the atrocities that had been performed on the Native Americans that he
09:28come back here to spend the rest of his life, you know, and live out with him.
09:32Okay.
09:33Well, you know, Davy Crockett was a well-known person in his time.
09:37Why the secrecy?
09:39Well, I have a theory about it, Scott.
09:41You got a $20 bill?
09:42I do.
09:44There's one right here.
09:46Okay.
09:47Who's the man on there?
09:48Well, that's Andrew Jackson.
09:50Of course, you know Andrew Jackson was president at the time.
09:52Yes.
09:53Well, Davy Crockett served under Andrew Jackson at one time.
09:56Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson had a great falling out.
10:00He opposed Andrew Jackson on several things, and one of the biggest things was the Indian Removal Act.
10:06The Indian Removal Act was a law passed in 1830 under President Andrew Jackson.
10:13The controversial law forced five Native American tribes off their land.
10:18More than 180 years later, resentment remains.
10:23Today, some Native Americans refuse to handle the $20 bill because it bears Jackson's image.
10:30Maybe the Alamo was a perfect cover for Davy Crockett to fake his death, to go into hiding.
10:37Maybe what he did is he waited for Andrew Jackson to leave office.
10:41And then years later, when Buchanan came into office, perhaps he signed this land deed document for Davy Crockett.
10:48Tell me a little bit more about some of the artifacts that you found out here.
10:52Certainly.
10:53Here's a few.
10:55Okay.
10:55Let's take a peek here.
10:58Okay.
11:00Well, that's an arrowhead.
11:02And this is pottery, Native American pottery, I presume.
11:08And this looks like maybe an old button.
11:13Maybe going back to the 1800s.
11:15Yes, sir.
11:16You mentioned that Davy Crockett ended up here on your land.
11:19You think he is here.
11:21And that there are a lot of artifacts.
11:22Maybe if we brought in some GPR equipment, ground penetrating radar, maybe we could find some more artifacts.
11:28What I'd like to do is ask a friend of mine who's an archaeologist to come here and help us
11:33with this excavation to see what we might be able to find here.
11:36I think that'd be great.
11:37Maybe if we learn more about what happened, we can get to the bottom of this mystery once and for
11:41all.
12:15I'm investigating the incredible secret life of Davy Crockett.
12:20Clues suggest that the hero of the Alamo didn't just live on as a legendary symbol of American defiance.
12:27If a news article and land deed are right, then perhaps Crockett himself lived on after the battle and came
12:34here to Alabama.
12:45I've got a good one for you.
12:46You remember Davy Crockett, the king of the wild frontier?
12:49Of course.
12:49Folk hero.
12:50Davy Crockett was not only this American icon and hero, but he may have survived the Alamo and then lived
12:57out his days here.
12:58Wow.
12:59The people that I just talked to here that own this property believe that not only did he live here,
13:04but he died here and is buried here.
13:06And I'm hoping that you can help us find some artifacts that might directly tie to Davy Crockett.
13:12It's not uncommon for there to be rural cemeteries and people would be buried on their homesteads.
13:16If he died out here, he could be buried here.
13:19So it's entirely possible that if there was an early to mid-19th century homestead here, we're going to find
13:25evidence of it.
13:26What would happen if we found remains?
13:29If we find human remains, we have to call the district medical examiner.
13:32Another angle would be to track down some of Davy Crockett's descendants and see if we can get a DNA
13:37sample.
13:37I know we talked about doing some ground penetrating radar.
13:40Ground penetrating radar is a great tool.
13:42It's a non-invasive tool used to find buried archaeological features.
13:47And if we were looking for the 19th century occupation here, GPR is the tool you want.
13:53I have to say this, based on everything I've seen so far, these documents that they have are very compelling.
13:58So if you can help us find something that could corroborate this story, I mean, this would be fantastic.
14:05This would be a big story.
14:07Yeah, let's just rewrite history.
14:14While Mike and his team do their own research into the land grant and prepare for the search, I need
14:19to find out more about Davy Crockett, an American icon who became a congressman after shedding his coonskin cap.
14:36To do that, I'm starting not at the beginning of his life, but where it supposedly ended.
14:42At the place history says he died.
14:44A mission that was the backdrop for the most memorable battle in Texas history, the Alamo in San Antonio.
15:01After quitting politics, he fought here with Texans desperate for independence.
15:08Just 189 defenders faced a force of around 1,800 Mexican soldiers.
15:15The Mexicans bombarded the Alamo with hundreds of cannonballs during a week-long siege.
15:22Under the final assault, the defenders lost the battle.
15:26And this is also where historians like Michael Wallace say Davy Crockett lost his life.
15:52Michael, thanks for meeting me here today.
15:54My pleasure.
15:55I have to say, I just saw some very interesting symbolism in the keystone above the entrance there.
16:01A stylized AVM that I know was used by the Freemasons and by the Templars.
16:07But that's not why I came here to talk to you.
16:09I want to learn more about Davy Crockett.
16:11Great.
16:12Well, you've come to the right person.
16:22Tell me a little bit about how did Davy Crockett get here in the first place?
16:26He fought in the Creek Indian Wars, and he fought under Andrew Jackson.
16:32He witnessed so many atrocities that really just seconded him, especially the killing of Indian women and children.
16:39He wouldn't know more of that business at all.
16:41And this is a man who lost his own grandparents to the Cherokee people.
16:47They killed him back in the late 1700s.
16:50And Jackson wanted to move five tribes out of the southeast United States, including the Cherokees and the Creeks.
16:58And Crockett stood against him.
17:00To be sympathetic to the natives to the point that it cost him essentially his political career.
17:05Doesn't that say a lot about his character, though?
17:08I think it says a lot about his character.
17:10I think you're dead on right there.
17:12One of the things he's best remembered for in Congress is standing up to Andrew Jackson, who by this time
17:18was the president of the United States.
17:20It was a bold, brave, audacious, some would say foolhardy move that not only cost him his job in Congress,
17:29but ultimately his life.
17:30You know what he said when he left Congress?
17:33You know what he said when he left Congress?
17:34You all can go to hell.
17:52Some of America's biggest historic figures had lives that were tragically cut short.
17:58But could some of them actually have lived on in secret?
18:04Jesse James, Jimmy Hoffa, and others are all said to have faked their death.
18:10But what about Davy Crockett?
18:13There's a family that says the King of the Wild Frontier had a secret life we know nothing about.
18:21While Mike Arbuthnot plants an archaeological dig in Alabama, I'm at the Alamo, finding out about Crockett's last stand and
18:28whether he could have cheated death.
18:32So, rest assured, the Alamo didn't look like this back in 1836.
18:37These big live oaks weren't here, and this library behind us wasn't here.
18:42And there was really no roof on that building there at all.
18:45So it looked very different.
18:47It did indeed.
18:48Well, the Alamo was where Davy Crockett was supposed to have died.
18:53Tell me a little bit about his life. I'd like to know more about that.
18:55There are so many legends and myths about this man.
18:59David Crockett, he never used the word Davy for himself.
19:03He always signed documents, letters, David Crockett.
19:09Some of his pals called him Davy, but he always went by David Crockett.
19:14David Crockett is the name on the land grant I looked at in Alabama.
19:18And based on what Michael Wallace says, that's exactly how Davy Crockett would have signed his name.
19:25David Crockett, that's a clue that tells me that the land grant could be more legit than legend.
19:30Did he really kill a bear at age three?
19:32David Crockett did not, nor was he born on a mountaintop.
19:37Okay.
19:37It was a great story when you're nine years old, but the adult story is even better because Crockett overcame
19:46so much turmoil and angst in his own life.
19:50He was born on the frontier in 1786.
19:55His father indentured him out as a servant when he was just a lad.
19:59Yes.
20:00And it was a tough life to be on the frontier at that time.
20:04It sounds to me like he was very resilient.
20:07He kept coming back, whatever got in his way.
20:09Resiliency is one of Crockett's main traits.
20:13One of the great stories of resiliency is when he and two of his cohorts went on a long hunt,
20:20which he loved to do, down into what is now Alabama.
20:24While they were down there, they became separated.
20:26He was by himself.
20:27He became very ill, very, very ill.
20:31And it looked like it was the end for Mr. Crockett, but he always came back.
20:36I find it very interesting.
20:37You said he was in Alabama before he was here at the Alamo, right?
20:41Yeah, he was.
20:42I was just in Alabama, and I met with a family that firmly believes that he survived the Alamo and
20:48lived out his days on their land.
20:51Now, this may seem like a tall order, but they showed me some very compelling documents, including a land deed
20:57with Davy's name on it.
20:59Have you ever heard any stories about David Crockett surviving the Alamo?
21:03I've heard plenty of stories about Crockett surviving the Alamo.
21:07But people want to keep legends alive, and Crockett is one of those people.
21:15They don't want them to die.
21:23Tell me about the battle.
21:25The year is 1836.
21:27The Texas War of Independence is raging, and Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, right?
21:34He does.
21:35And he really came down here to jumpstart his career.
21:39He was gypsy-footed.
21:41He was a wonder.
21:41He wanted to get away from Washington, get away from his family, his obligations, go hunting.
21:48So they promised him some acreage.
21:50In order to get that acreage, he had to join the militia and come to San Antonio, and that's what
21:55he did.
21:56So really, the whole battle at the Alamo was really more a function of bad luck than it was planning,
22:03right?
22:04Bad luck and very, very poor timing.
22:07A few hundred defenders facing this large array of Mexican infantry, 13 days of blood and guts, and the smell
22:18of smoke, small arms fire, people wounded, the screams of the wounded, the agony of the dying.
22:27You could almost smell the adrenaline in the air, and the fear in the air, and the courage in the
22:34air.
22:34But finally, on March 6, 1836, the final assault began, and the troops breached the Alamo.
22:44And, of course, General Santa Ana that morning said there will be no quarter given, which meant take no prisoners,
22:52kill them all.
22:53Tell me, how did Davy Crockett die? What exactly happened to him?
22:57Well, there are many theories about how he died and the manner of his death and so forth.
23:02I personally subscribe to what I call the De La Pena theory.
23:07De La Pena was a high-ranking Mexican infantry officer who witnessed the capture of Crockett and a few others,
23:14about a half dozen men.
23:15They were brought to Santa Ana. Crockett was wounded. They were very bedraggled.
23:21They begged to spare Crockett's life. The other officers, they said, this is the great naturalist, Crockett.
23:27Santa Ana said, I don't care. No quarter will be given.
23:31He and the others were ban at it.
23:33Gills put on the pyre, and all the bodies burned.
23:36So, somewhere today, under the streets of this great Alamo city, are the charred bones of Crockett and all the
23:46other defenders.
23:47When I think about this whole thing, I still see that there was an opportunity that Davy Crockett could have
23:53survived.
23:53I do truly believe he died here that day, but I'll give you this.
23:59On March 6, 1836, David Crockett died here at the Alamo in San Antonio.
24:08But Davy Crockett rode on, and he rides on today.
24:44I went to the Alamo in Texas looking for clues that Davy Crockett didn't go down fighting, as history has
24:50long suggested.
24:52Crockett was taken prisoner by Mexican forces ordered to kill him.
24:56But was he really executed?
25:00A land grant in Alabama from 1858 bears the signature of David Crockett, suggesting he cheated death.
25:08While preparations for a dig to unearth clues about his true fate are taking place on that land, I'm headed
25:15to investigate a new lead.
25:18At the Alamo, I saw Crockett's name on a Masonic plaque, meaning that he must have been a Freemason.
25:24And I'm hoping a Masonic brother I know might share secrets with me about his fate.
25:53Jack, I know you know a little something about Texas and the Battle of the Alamo.
25:57I do. I grew up in Houston, Texas. I grew up hearing and studying about the Battle of the Alamo,
26:03hearing the legends of how Davy Crockett died heroically defending the Alamo during the Texas Revolution.
26:09Were there other Freemasons involved at the Alamo?
26:11In fact, members of the Mexican army on the other side were also Freemasons.
26:16General Santa Anna himself was a Scottish Rite Freemason.
26:19Really?
26:19In the case of Santa Anna, we have copies of his Scottish Rite Membership Certificate.
26:24And I have those right here.
26:31Well, it's in tough shape.
26:33Oh, I see we've got some Latin here.
26:35And this is in Spanish.
26:37So you've got Freemasons on both sides.
26:41Right.
26:42What happened to Santa Anna?
26:43About a month later, at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured by the Texan forces.
26:48And strangely enough, as hated as he was, his life was spared.
26:51Why do you think that was?
26:53Well, one of the legends is that he gave the Masonic sign of distress and was spared by General Sam
26:59Houston, who was also a Freemason.
27:02I believe that the Masonic sign of distress could be the same as the Knights Templar's sign of distress.
27:09The Freemasons were one of the groups that I think carried on the Templar's ideals.
27:17I believe the sign is made by raising both hands in the air as depicted in multiple artworks with a
27:23Templar connection.
27:25But to this day, the gesture is one of many secret Masonic signs that are for members only.
27:31And my friend Jack isn't about to reveal any of them.
27:35There are certain ways that Freemasons can indicate to other Freemasons that they're brothers.
27:40Scott, I took an obligation not to reveal the Masonic sign of distress.
27:44So both Davy Crockett and Santa Anna were Freemasons?
27:48That's correct.
27:48Let's say they met on the battlefield.
27:50It is possible that he escaped by giving the Masonic sign of distress.
27:54We have documented instances of that happening in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
27:59So it seems even more plausible that Davy Crockett could have survived.
28:03You realize that if this is true, I mean, this is explosive new information.
28:08That the history we've been told about Davy Crockett isn't right.
28:12One thing's for sure, dead men cannot sign their name.
28:31Everything that I've heard so far makes me think there's a real chance the history books have it wrong when
28:36it comes to Davy Crockett.
28:40If he didn't die at the Alamo, could he have died here, on the property connected to the land grant
28:46bearing his name?
28:49And if that is the case, then there should be clues or bones left behind.
28:56We've got a 400 megahertz antenna down there that's going to shoot radar waves down to see the variation in
29:02speed at which it comes back.
29:03To give us some idea of what's going on down underground.
29:06Okay.
29:07On this screen, you're going to be looking for little chevrons on the center part.
29:10And that just means that there's been something down there, the radar has hit, and we really don't know what
29:14it is until we dig it up.
29:15Let's start in the corner and we'll work our way across.
29:17Okay.
29:18Okay.
29:54Hey, guys.
29:55I think I got something here.
29:57Seriously.
29:58It looks pretty big.
29:59Let's take a look.
30:01Is that what I think it is?
30:02That is a bright anomaly.
30:03That's a big anomaly.
30:05Okay.
30:06So I'm reading this thing right.
30:08Mm-hmm.
30:09So there's something down here.
30:11Right underneath your feet?
30:12I mean, what if it was something, an artifact that somehow connected to Davy Crockett?
30:25How's the data looking?
30:27Great.
30:27So remember that first anomaly you saw?
30:29Yes.
30:29At a depth of about one meter, so about three feet down there.
30:33It's oriented about east-west, which is consistent with 19th century American burial.
30:39Now, that's not to say that's what this is.
30:41I understand.
30:42It's very interesting that that's what we found there in that location.
30:45That is exciting.
30:46It would be incredible if it was Davy Crockett's body.
30:49It doesn't connect to anything else like a root wood or anything like that.
30:52It's got good promise.
30:53Well, we're probably going to need the backhoe that Jason has all fired up, and I think
30:57he's ready to go, and I'm ready to go.
30:59So what do you say, guys?
31:01Let's go dig.
31:02All right.
31:03Let's go dig.
31:32Go ahead.
31:36You see anything cultural in there?
31:38There's nothing cultural so far.
31:39There's no artifacts, historic or prehistoric, in here.
31:42We need to go a little deeper.
31:43Let's go deeper.
31:44Let's go down.
31:57There's something right there.
31:58Wow.
31:59There sure is.
32:00You feel it?
32:01Can you strip it?
32:02You feel it?
32:03I feel it.
32:04You scrape the top of it.
32:10Can you hand me that shovel?
32:12Right here.
32:23Not Davey, is it?
32:24It's not Davey Crockett.
32:26Well, Mike, this is that thing that got us excited.
32:29We thought maybe we hit something significant, but it's just a rock down near the water table.
32:35That is 110 centimeters, so that's basically a meter.
32:39That's where the anomaly showed up.
32:41I think what we should do is we have that other anomaly over here.
32:44If you guys don't mind digging that up and seeing if there's anything significant there,
32:49I'm going to head over to Tennessee.
32:51There's somebody over there who has a very interesting and solid connection to Davey Crockett, and I'd like to talk
32:57to them.
33:10I'm disappointed that we haven't found anything yet at the dig site, but something else could be key to this
33:16Crockett mystery.
33:18I need to compare the signature on the landing with an actual signature from Davey Crockett.
33:30Tell me how you're connected to Davey Crockett.
33:34I'm a fourth great-granddaughter through his oldest son, John Wesley Crockett.
33:39So you're a direct descendant.
33:41I'm a direct descendant, and I can prove it.
33:43Well, let's talk about Davey Crockett for a second.
33:45Why is Davey Crockett such a legend?
33:48Why do people revere him so much, even to this day?
33:52He is obviously still considered a hero.
33:56You've got to remember that David came from nothing.
33:59He had no training, no school.
34:02Can you imagine what all that man has done?
34:04The coonskin cap, where did that come from?
34:06Is that real or is that myth?
34:08It's real.
34:09His youngest daughter, Matilda, tells about seeing her father leaving for Texas and waving to him,
34:16and that he was dressed in his hunting outfit with his coonskin cap.
34:20He's always looking for a greener pasture.
34:25I've met with a family down in Alabama who are absolutely convinced that Davey Crockett survived the Alamo,
34:32came to their property, and lived out his days for about 20-something years after the Alamo.
34:38They really believe that he was there.
34:41I cannot imagine David Crockett surviving the Alamo and remaining quiet in Alabama and nobody knowing he was there.
34:50That is not David Crockett.
34:52That's not his personality.
34:54Can't you imagine the tales that he would have had to have told about what happened at the Alamo?
35:00To me, that is a real myth.
35:01Okay.
35:02And I run into that.
35:04They're not the only family.
35:05I have had that before.
35:07What do you say to those people, or how do you handle that?
35:09I write back and I say, give me what you know.
35:12And if you do that, then you find that you're not what you think.
35:18When David lived here, there was two or three other David Crocketts in this area, too.
35:23Okay, so it sounds to me like you're open to people coming forward that might be connected.
35:28Oh, we have new cousins every day that have got all the information they need.
35:33Oh, that are legit?
35:34Oh, yes.
35:35Okay, okay.
35:36Yes.
35:36Our last reunion, which was in, um, it was in Paris, our last reunion.
35:43Paris, France?
35:44Well, Paris, Tennessee.
35:46Oh, okay.
35:48Every two years, we have a Crockett reunion.
35:52We really do have legitimate people come forward.
35:55I want to get back to this document that I saw that this other family had.
35:59It does say Davy Crockett, but do you have anything that I might be able to use to compare
36:05that signature with one of something we know is Davy Crockett's, uh, actual handwriting?
36:10Well, here is, is one, uh, that right here, right here is David Crockett.
36:16And I think that the, this is 1829.
36:211829.
36:22Okay.
36:22This is going to work very well.
36:24So, I appreciate this.
36:25I'm going to go back and take a look, and I'll let you know what I find out.
36:29I'd like to know that.
36:46Davy Crockett is an American legend, and history says he went down fighting at the Alamo.
36:52But what if that's wrong, and he found a way to survive the battle and live out his days
36:57here in Alabama?
36:59That's a question I'm hoping to answer.
37:05Scott, how was Tennessee?
37:07Tennessee was great.
37:09Um, I met with one of the, uh, direct descendants of Davy Crockett.
37:14I got to hear her thoughts, and she gave me a couple of documents here that have been authenticated
37:20as being legitimate documents signed by Davy Crockett.
37:23But before I go through that, tell them about the dig.
37:27The dig.
37:27Uh, well, we did some additional research, and, uh, we completed the archaeological investigation.
37:33Unfortunately, no signs of Davy Crockett.
37:35The fact that you didn't find anything directly connected to Davy Crockett doesn't prove that
37:40he wasn't here.
37:41What that does is that really puts even more importance on the analysis of these signatures.
37:46Um, you've presented your land deed, the newspaper article, and this document, uh, with Davy Crockett's
37:53signature.
37:56So when you look at it, the first letter is the D. And the D, in this case, is a
38:01problem.
38:02They don't match. Clearly, they do not match. And it was because of this that a handwriting expert who did
38:08look at this document concluded that this was not the same person.
38:11Okay? Now, I don't know if I agree with that. And here's why. If we continue on and look at
38:18the AVI in David, they are virtually identical. Okay. Now, when we go to Crockett, the C's are slightly different.
38:26I can see where somebody would argue they're different. However, this document is 1829. This one is 1858. We're talking
38:34almost 30 years apart. I can tell you, as you age, your signature changes. And it doesn't get better.
38:41I've seen a lot of examples of how signatures change with age. Take the autographs of our presidents. Comparing letters
38:50and proclamations from George Washington show differences before and after he was in office. JFK's signature had become a near
38:59squiggle after his election. And at the end of his life, Richard Nixon merely signed his letters as Dick.
39:09Davey Crockett, according to the newspaper article, he was shot in the arm. Maybe he was shot in that arm
39:14that he used to sign his signature with. And it may have affected his signature. If I were a betting
39:21man, I think that's Davey Crockett's signature.
39:24I bet on it all, sir. What do you think?
39:26With the similarities and all, I'd have to agree with you, too. I'm not no expert, but it does look
39:31similar.
39:35Well, I can't explain the similarities in the signature, but I have a possible explanation for the differences.
39:41And that would be that this is a different Davey Crockett. And we discovered that about this time, early 1860s,
39:50late 1850s, a man named Davey Crockett Cagle moved to Winston County, Alabama.
40:00He actually joined the Confederacy right in Jasper. He fought for the Confederates, and he had a change of heart.
40:06And then he joined the Union. And he lived here for some years. He owned property here right about the
40:13time this land deed was signed.
40:16Well, let me just push back on that a little bit. Why would he not have signed his name Davey
40:21Crockett Cagle?
40:23I don't know. Believe me, that's an odd one. Especially on a legal document.
40:28You have to put your whole name on a legal document, or it's not legal.
40:33I think you're making a good point. The fact that the Cagle is missing from this document, to me, is
40:37a problem.
40:38I don't believe he died at the Alamo. I believe it could be his signature.
40:42It's been a lifelong mystery of mine. It was a lifelong mystery of my mother's. Is it really him? I
40:50don't think it's no Cagle.
40:52I have seen a lot of evidence here that really questions the established history of Davey Crockett. Not conclusive, but
41:00very powerful.
41:01It is possible he survived the Alamo, that he lived out his days, very likely here, based on the documents
41:06you have.
41:07And I think that we owe that to him. We owe that to history. To leave that door open until
41:13we have really conclusive evidence to draw that final conclusion.
41:23The story of Davey Crockett proves one thing. There's always more to know about a person and their past.
41:31After everything I've seen, I think it's possible Davey Crockett could have survived the battle at the Alamo.
41:39Crockett and his adversary in battle, General Santa Anna, were both Freemasons.
41:44And enemies on the battlefield would sometimes spare their fraternal brothers' lives.
41:50Bonds went beyond borders, meaning that the old news article about Crockett's survival and recovery might be fact, not fiction.
41:58When it comes to celebrated icons, people will always believe tales of their heroes defying death.
42:06But I think in the case of Crockett, it could be that more than just legend lived on after the
42:11Alamo.
42:12Perhaps he did too.
42:19If you have a mysterious artifact or sight I need to see, I want to know about it.
42:24Go to history.com slash unearthed.
42:28Next time on America Unearthed.
42:30Most of the myths say that the lost Dutchman mine seems to be somewhere out here.
42:35Searching for gold and superstitions, it's cursed.
42:38There is the lost Dutchman mine and it does exist.
42:40You're saying you know where it is.
42:43You're saying you know where it is.
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