Texas commission buys Davy Crockett's last written words

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Posted: 9/5/07

AUSTIN - Just two months before he perished while defending the Alamo, Davy Crockett gave his daughter and son-in-law a peek at the land he treasured enough to die for its independence.

"I must say as to what I have seen of Texas it is the garden spot of the world," the famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee wrote. "The best land and the best prospect for health" he had ever seen.

The Texas Historical Commission announced Tuesday it has purchased the letter, the last one Crockett penned before he and about 200 other Alamo defenders were killed by Mexican forces led by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Gov. Rick Perry accepted the letter on behalf of the state during a brief ceremony Tuesday afternoon at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

"He stood tall against overwhelming odds and he refused to run away," Perry said of Crockett. "...It's clear that he cherished his principles above his life and died nobly in their defense."

The state bought the letter for $490,000 from Simpson Galleries, a Houston fine arts auctioneer.

Ray Simpson said his grandfather bought the letter from a descendent of Crockett's in 1986 and misplaced it years ago. Simpson said he and his father found it about two weeks ago in their office.

The Associated Press