Two experts in historical documents say they doubt the authenticity of a Davy Crockett letter that the Texas Historical Commission bought this week for nearly half a million dollars. Both questioned the handwriting, and one said the grammar was just too good to belong to the Alamo defender.

"The letter has better grammar, better punctuation than Davy Crockett had ever used," said Kevin MacDonnell, a seller of antique books in Austin.

Everett Wilke, a private appraiser of historical manuscripts based in Bluffton, said he compared the handwriting with that in known Crockett letters owned by East Carolina University.

"Those are genuine Crockett letters, and it (the letter purchased by the state) don't look a thing like them," Wilke said. "It's not that difficult to tell it's not real."