David Crockett spent 49 years in Tennessee, moving from his birthplace near Limestone on the Nolichucky River to his last home in present-day Rutherford in Gibson County before leaving in November 1835 for Texas and eventual martyrdom at the Alamo. Born into grinding poverty in the dangerous American wilderness, he came to embody the frontier pioneer through physical strength, determination, and persistence shaped by his early upbringing and Scots-Irish culture. During the War of 1812, fearing hostile atrocities would reach his home on Beans Creek, he enlisted for two terms of service and fought in several hard-pitched battles in Alabama, including Tallusshatchee and Talladega. Although widely known as a bear hunter, he devoted almost forty percent of his life to public service, beginning in 1817 as a Justice of the Peace, then serving as Colonel of the 57th Militia, a state representative, and a United States Congressman for three terms. His chief concern in office was helping squatters obtain land at affordable prices, and his bitter opposition to President Andrew Jackson's policies, especially the Indian Removal Bill, later cost him his political career.