Peña's diary was stored away after his death - no one knows where - and resurfaced in 1955 when it was self-published by one Jesús Sanchez Garza, who never disclosed where he had obtained the manuscript or where it might have been since circa 1840. Published in Spanish in Mexico in 1955, the work received no attention from English-speaking scholars, who did not even know it existed.
Potter was trying to establish a narrative for the State of Texas, and the reports of Crockett surrendering, or being taken captive and then executed, did not fit his vision. Reports of Alamo defenders surrendering, however, were circulating as early as 11 March 1836, less than a week after the battle, and the news that Crockett had been one of these was being repeated by 27 March 1836.
By the time he reached the Alamo in February 1836, he was an internationally recognized American hero, and his death at the Battle of the Alamo, at the hands of Antonio López de Santa Anna, was reported worldwide, transforming him finally into the celebrity martyr of the Alamo. Crockett remained a popular figure throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, as early films featured him as a heroic figure of the West.
The 13-day siege and Battle of the Alamo, 23 February to 6 March 1836, is among the most famous in American history, but, like any such event, it has inspired several myths, many accepted as historical fact. Disney's miniseries (1954-1955), especially Davy Crockett at the Alamo, and John Wayne's full-length feature film The Alamo (1960) popularized many of these myths as they were both often people's introduction to the story of the Alamo.