Legends
There are many famous/infamous people that the much we know about them is legend. The accounts of their lives have been embellished through the years that legend is bigger than the person. The tragedy to all this is many times their real lives were just as interesting as the legend. This section is dedicated to those people.
Pocahontas Daniel Boone Davy Crockett
Casey Jones Lizzie Borden Sergeant Alvin York


Pocahontas

If you've browsed my War of Independence Section you might read where I mentioned Walt Disney's "butchering" of the story of Pocahontas. Walt Disney needs to stick to Mickey Mouse and forget historical cartoons. Did you know that Pocahontas was a nickname, her real name was Matoaka. She was not adult when she met John Smith, but a child of ten to twelve years old. She died when she was only 22 years old. Following are some good pages about the real life of Pocahontas, a young woman greater than the legend.
The Real Pocahontas
Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Jamestown and Virginia
Powhatan History Page - The Myth of Pocahontas

Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone adventurer that blazed the trail for westward expansion. While he didn't wear a coon-skin cap as depicted in movies and children's books, his life was certainly filled with adventure and danger.
The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone - Myth and Reality in American Consciousness
American Pioneer and Trailblazer
Boone County, Missiouri GenWeb Daniel Boon Page

Davy Crockett
David Crockett is probably best known for his adventures in the wilderness, and for dying at the Alamo in Texas.  Did you know that while he was living in Tennessee, he was a state legislator and a later was elected to the national congress where he opposed the removal of the Indians from the South-East?
A Brief Bio.
Davy was a famous orator. This page is good source for quotes
"Be always sure you are right, then go ahead."
Finally, read about the Alamo here

Casey Jones
Killed in train accident at Vauhghn, Mississippi, Jonathan Luther "Casey" Jones became an American Legend.  He and the accident would probably soon been forgotten if had not been for the song of a black "wiper" (engine wiper) named Wallace Saunders.  Was the accident Casey's fault, or the fault of other railroad employees?  Read and decide.
Tribute to Casey
Historic Railroad Disasters
The True Story of Casey Jones
Water Valley Casey Jones Railroad Museum

Lizzie Borden
Murderess?  "Lizzie Borden took an axe gave her mother forty whacks when she saw what she had done she gave her father forty one", so the legend goes.  What do you think?
Lizzie Borden Unlocked  (you'll have to have Internet Explorer to view this one)
Lizzie Took An Axe
Lizzie Borden Museum

Sergeant Alvin Cullum York

Sgt. York was a World War I hero from Pall Mall, Fentris County, Tennessee.  A rowdy turned christian fundamentalist, he would enter the army at age thirty as a conscientious objector.  He would distinguish himself at the battle of the Argonne Forest in the fall of 1918 and receive the French Medaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre, the Italian Groce de Guerra and the American Medal of Honor.  The story of Sgt. York was made into a movie in 1941 with Gary Cooper playing the lead role.
The Life of Alvin C. York
A Thumbnail Bio
Sgt. York Historic Park
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