Crockett Beginnings  

In 1968, various students from each of the south side Austin schools were told that they had to move to a new school because of space constraints. Those students that were moving to Crockett elected representatives to meet with the new school administrators to decide on the school mascot and colors.

Suggestions were sought from all the students before the committee began eliminating names from the long list compiled. Among the suggested names were the Riflemen, Plainsmen, Frontiersmen and Crockett Crickets. Finally, the group narrowed the mascots names to Cougars, Bears, and Texians. The Texians was the most popular choice for the school mascot as there was a desire to have the band uniforms be a leather with fringe design somewhat like Davy Crockett wore in the show and the movies. Through ballots, Cougars won by a close margin over the Texians, while the Bears lost to third place. As a side note, the school’s name of “Crockett” was chosen because the School Board wanted to keep the theme of the surrounding area schools; i.e., Travis, Bowie, Austin (heroes of the Alamo).

Among the three top colors to chosen from - red, white, and blue; green and gold; and buckskin and gold - buckskin and gold was the color chosen over the others. Over the years however, the buckskin color changed to brown. Additionally, the TexAnns' color guard uniform of today is very similar in design to those worn in the first years which were more golden in color and were more silky in their appearance with a sheen.

Even from the beginning, the Crockett band was a first rate band. In their first University Interscholastic League (U.I.L.) competition, they received a first division rating in marching, concert, and sight reading. They then were selected, along with four other Texas bands, to play at the 1969 New Year's Cotton Bowl half-time finale with the Texas Longhorn Band. Since then, the band has achieved many various awards and honors and still maintain a high standard of excellence.

Taken from the "Austin American-Statesman" and other sources