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This historical information was orally and carefully delivered to me by an elderly gentleman who used to live in Washington, Arkansas. He is a scholar, and has always presented himself in an honest and trustworthy manner. I believe it to be true.

Unless you mention where Davy got his Arkansaw toothpick, I will have to discount this story as an old wives tale.

Can you? Can the man who told you?

This should be interesting.

In mid sixties Washington Arkansas was a really neat little town. Both central in the beginnings of Texas (local tavern was much used in Texican planning and organizing) and one time capital of the Confederacy.

I sincerely hope it has not been reduced to grovellling PC by today's reconstructionists.

I THINK someone claimed that "the" Bowie knife was forged there but without a lot of supporting evidence. At any rate, the Bowie of that time was not much like the versions we see today.

I live in Texarkana and have visited Washington Arkansas numerous times. I am not aware of this Crockett story but if you got it from somebody from Washington arkansas it is most likely accurate. See there is very little TO Washington Arkansas BUT history. Since history is about 90% of Washington's importance, most people there are pretty familiar with it.

Probably the reason I'm not familiar with the Crockett story is because there is another man, also of Alamo fame, who is far more a significant man of history to this area than Crockett, and that is James Bowie. He is supposed to have built his famous "Bowie knife" in Washington Ar. which is just a short drive northeast of Texarkana and was the site of a ferry (which is still there, but no longer used). In fact the Texas side of Texarkana resides in the extreme northeastern portion of texas in the county of Bowie, named for James Bowie.

As to the "toothpick" fable; I've heard both stories, that it was the bone of a raccoon penis and that it was the Bowie knife. Early on I just decided to believe it was the Bowie knife and am unaware of whether a raccoon has a bone in it's penis. I would point out though, one poster mentioned that bears have bones in their penis. Well raccoons are related to bears, supposedly, so maybe it does have a bone also.

As to the violence and crime that existed around the Texarkana area from the mid 1800's all the way through the early to mid 1900's; This is true. In fact Texarkana for most of those years had a nick-name, it was also called Little Chicago. In fact, I can't remember what year it was, but there is supposed to be a time magazine that was written which listed the top 10 most dangerous cities in the country, and Texarkana was one of them. It was home to many criminal gangs, and most notably the dixieland mafia. This was due to texarkanas' strategic location both as a crossing point of 4 or 5 (memory vague on that one) railroads, and as the gateway to the southwest, a trail having been travelled for hundreds of years, even before white settlement it had been the way into what is now Texas. The criminal gangs preyed on travellers and settlers, so IMO your Crockett story could easily be true. There were several different ferry crossings along the red river at that time.

I am pleased to be able to report that things have changed though. Texarkana these days is a very friendly city with a below average crime rate compared to other cites around the country. Why that is I don't know, but it's now a city where I rarely lock my door, things I leave in my yard stay in my yard, and I leave my keys in the car even at the mall. Texarkana and the metropolitan area around it has around 200,000 in population now and we have an average of 1 - 2 murders a year, with many years in which there is no murder or rape or anything like that. Our schools still don't have guards or metal detectors, if that tells you anything. The principal is still the "security" in our schools.