Texas ? Just two months before he perished defending the Alamo, Davy Crockett described to his daughter and son-in-law the land he treasured enough to die for its independence.

“I must say as to what I have seen of Texas it is the garden spot of the world,” the famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee wrote. “The best land and the best prospect for health.”

The Texas Historical Commission announced Tuesday it bought the letter, which is believed to be the last that Crockett penned before he and about 200 other Alamo defenders were killed by Mexican forces led by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

Gov. Rick Perry accepted the letter on behalf of the state during a brief ceremony Tuesday at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

“He stood tall against overwhelming odds and he refused to run away,” Perry said of Crockett. “It’s clear that he cherished his principles above his life and died nobly in their defense.”

The state bought the letter for $490,000 from Simpson Galleries, a Houston fine arts auctioneer.