Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-06-09
CROCKETT's COOJ TRICK.

How Davy Worked It for an Election to Congress in the Early Days of Ten
 nessse.
 [ In 1927 Crockett was elected to Con
 gress- In ttls canvass he played the
 famons 'coon-skin trick, which he relates
 as follows:
 Well, 1 started of to the Cross
 Roads. dressed in my hunting skirt, and
 my rifle on my shoulder. Many of our
 constituents had assembled there to get
 a taste of the quality of the candidates
 at orating. Job Smelling, 8 gander-
 shanked Yankee, who had been caught
 somewhere aboIt Plymouth bay, ana
 been shipped to the west with a cargo Of codfish and rum, erected a large shanty.
 and set up a shop for the occasion. 4 ! large posse of voters assembled before !
 arrived, and my opponent had already
 made considerable headway with his
 speechifyiag and his treating, when they
 spied ne about a rifle shot from the
 camp, sauntering along as If was not | a party ln business. There comes | Crockett cried one. Let us hear the | Colonel cried another, and SO ] mounted the stump that had been used | for the occasion, and began tO bush | NudCh ID tue LuCSl GppEONG0 etf ACs "I had not been up long before there | was such an uprCar m the crowd that | could not hear my own voice, and some
 of my constituents let me know that | they could not listen to me on such 6 | dry subject as the welfare of the nation
 until they had something to drink, and tha5I must treat 'em. Accordingly ! jumped down from the rOstrum and led
 the way to the shanty, followed by my
 constituents, shouting, 'Huzza for Crockett and Crockett for ever.
 "WLen We entered the shanty Job
 was busy dealing out his rum in Q style
 that showed that he was making good
 days work of it, and l called for quart
 of the best, but the crooked critter re
 turned no other answer than by point
 ing at a board over the bar, on which
 he had chalked in large letters, Pay to- day and trust tomorrow. Now that
 idea brought me all up standing; 1t was sort of cOrnerlng in which there Tas no
 back out, for ready money in the west in
 those times was the shyest thing in all
 natur, and it was most particularly shy
 with me on that occasion
 "Ghe voters, seeing my predlcameut,
 fell off Go the other side, and l was left deserted and alone. as the governor
 will be when he no longer has any offices to bestOw. I saw, plain as day. that the tide of popular opinion was against me, and that, unless got some rum speedily, l should lose my election as sure as there are snakes lu Airglnny and it must be done soon. or even burnt brandy wouldn't save me. So | walked away from the shanty, but in another sort from the way l entered It, for on this occasion I had no train after me, and not voice shouted "Huzza for Crockett Popularity sometimes de- peuds on a very small matter; indeed iu this particular, 1t was worth quart Of New England fum, and no more.
 "Well, knowing that a crisis was at hand, struck into the woods with my rifle on my shoulder, my best friend m time of need, and, as good fortune would have 1t, had not been out more than 8 quarter of an hour before t7eed & fat coon, and in the pulling of a trigger he lay dead at the root of tree. ! soon whipped his hairy jacket OE his back, and again bent my way towar. the shanty, and walked Lp to the bar, but not alone, for this time l had hall dozen of my constituents ct my heels. | threw down the 'cOOn-skln upon the counter and called for a quart of rum, and JCb, though busy in dealng out rum, forgot tO point to his chalksd rules aDd regulations, for he knew that a coon was as good legal-tender for a quart m the west as Q New York shilling any day in the year.
 My constituents now tlOcked about me and cried 'HuZZa for CrUckettr Crockett foreverr and finding tine tide had taken turn, told them several yarns to get them in a good humOr. and having soon dispatched the value of the coon, went out and mounted the stump without opposition. and a clear Of the voters followed mo tO the nation. Before I was half rhrough one of my constituents moved that they would hear the balance of my speech after they had washed down the first part with some more of Job Snellings extract of cOrnstalk and mOlasses; and the question being put mp, t Was carried It wasn't considered ne- cessary tO tell the yeas and nays, SO we tO the shanty. and on the way l began tO reckon that the fate 0f the nation pretty much depended upon my shooting another coon.
 While standing at the bar, feeling sort of bashful while Jobs rules and regulations stared me in the face, I cast down my eyes and discovered one end of the 'coon-skIn sticking between the logs that supported the bar. Job had slung 1t there m the hurry of business. I gave 1t a sort of quick Jerk, and it fol- lowed my hand as natural as if l had been the rightful owner. l slapped 1t on the counter, and Job, little dreaming that he was barking up the wrong t-5e showed along another bottle, when my quickly disposed Of with great good humor. for some of them saw the trick, and then We withdrew tO the rOstrum Go discuss the affairs of the na- .ion.
 "I don't know how 1t was, but the vo- tors soon became dry again, and nothing would do but we must adjourn to the shanty, and as luck would have it, the 'cOon-skin was still sticking between the logs, as if Job had flung 1t there On pur- pose to tempt me. I was not slow in raising it Co the counter; the rum fol- lowed, of course, and l wish l may be shot fl didn't, before the day was over, get ten quarts for the same identical skin, and from fellow, too. who in those parts was considered as sharp as a s. el trap and as bright as a pewter button.
 "Ihls joke secured me my election. for 1t soon circulated like smoke among my constituents, and they allowed with one accord that the man who could get the whip-hand of JOb Smelling iu fair trade could Outwit Old Nick himself. and was the real grit for them in Con- gress. After the election was over sent Smelling the price of tbe rum, but took good care to keep the fact from the knowledge of my constituents. Job re- fused the money and sent me word that It dld him good to be taken in occasion ally, as 1t rved tO brighten his iGeas, but ! afterward learned that when he 'ound out the trick that had been played upon him he put all the rum had or lered in his bill against my opponent, who. being elated with the speeches he had ma le on the affairs of the nation, -Ould not cOndescend to examine into he particulars of bill of the vender of rum in small way.-Written by Davy Crockett.