The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-08-18
CROCKETT'S COON.
The Trick that Elected the Griz-
zlles to Congress.

zlles to Congress.
How He Secured the Disintsrested
Votes of His Constituents "Ad
Libitum" Without Money.
In 1927 Crockett was elected to Con.
gress. In this canvass he played the
famous eoonskin trick, which he re.
lates as fOllows:-
"Well, 1 started off to the Cross
Roads, dressed in my hunting shirt,
and my rifle en- my shoulder. Many
of our constituents had assembled
there to get a taste of the quality OF
the candidates Grating. Job Smelling,
a gander-shanked Yankee, VINO had
been caught somewhere about the
Plymouth Bay and been shipped to
the West with a cargo of Goldfish and
rum, erected a large shanty and set
up shop for the occasion. A large
posse of the voters had assembled be-
fore l arrived, and my opponent had
already made considerable Roadway
with his speeding and treating,
when they spied me about a rifle
shot from the camp, s%auntering along
as if I were not a party in the BUSH
ness. There comes Crockett cried
one. Let us hear the colonel cried
another, and SO I mounted q stump
that had been cut down for the oc-
casion and began to bushwhack in
the most approved style.
II had not been up long before
there was such an uproar in the
crowd that I could not hear my own
voice, and some of my constituents
let me know that they could not list
en- to me on such a d:y subject as the
welfare of the nation until they had
something to drink, and that ] must
treat 'em. Accordingly [ jumped
down the rostrum and led the way to
the shanty, followed by my constitu-
ents, shouting, 'Huzza for Crockett
and Crockett forever
"When we entered the shanty Job
was dealing out his rum in a way
that showed that he was making q
good days work of it, and 1 called
for a quart of the best, but the crook
ed criter made no other answer than
by pointing at a board over the
bar on which he bad chalked in large
letters, PAY to-day and trust to-
morrow" Now that idea brought
me all up standing; it was a sort Of
cornering in which there was no
back cut, for ready money in the
West in those times was the shyest
thing in all natur', and it was par
ticularly shy with me on that occa-
sion.
The voters, seeing my predicament,
fell off to the other side, and l was
left deserted and alone, as the Cover
nor will be when lie no longer has
any offices to bestow. I saw, plain
as day, that the tide of popular opin-
ion was against me, and that unless
got some rum speedily [ should lose
my election as sure IS there are
snakes in Virginny-and it must be
done soou OF even burned brandy
wouldn't save me. So I walked
away from the shanty, but in a diff
ferent style from the way l entered it,
for on this occasion [ had no train
after me, and not a voice shouted,
'Huzza for Crockett Popularity
sometimes depends on a very small
matter, indeed; in this particular it
was worth a quart Of New England
| rum and no more.
l.. Well, knowing that a crisis was at
band, | struck into the woods with
my rifle on my sheulder-my best
friend in time of need-and, as good
fortune would have it, I had net
been out more than a quarter of IN
hour before | freed a fat coon, and in
the pulling Of the trigger he lay dead
| at the root of a tree. [ DON whipped
his hairy jacket off his back and again
bent my way toward the shanty, and
walked up to the bar, but not alone.
for this time 1 bad half a dozen of
my constituents at my heels. I
threw down the coonskin upon the
counter and called for a quart of
rum. and Job, though busy in deal
ing out rum, forgot to. point to his
chalked rules and regulations, for he
knew that a coon was as good legal
tender for a quart in the West as a
New York shilling any day in the
Year.
My constituents now f1ocked about
me and cried. 'Huzza for Crockett
Crockett for ever and finding the
tide had taken a turn, I told
them several yarns to get them in
good humor, and having oon dis
patched the value of the coon, I went
out and mounted the stump, without
| opposition, and a clear majority of
| the voters followed me to see what I
had to offer for the good OF the ma
ton. Before I was half through one
of my constituents moved that they
would hear the balance of my speech
after they had washed down the first
part with some of Job Snelling's ex-
tract of cornstalk and molasses; and
the question being put it was unani-
mously carried. It wasn't consider
ed necessary to tell the yeas and
nays, so we adjourned to the shanty,
and on the way 1 began to reckon
that the fate of the nation pretty
much depended on my shooting an
other Don
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 be-
tween the logs that supported the
bar. I gave it sort of a quick jerk,
and it followed my hand as if l had
been the rightful owner. 1 slapped
it on the counter, and Job little
dreaming that he was barking up
the wrong tree, showed along another
bottle, which my constituents quick
ly disposed of with great good humor
for some of them saw the trisk, and
then We withdrew to the rostrum to
discuss the affairs of the nation.
/ don't know how it was, but the
voters soon became dry again, and
nothing would do but we must ad-
journ to the shanty, and as luck
would have it, the coon-skin was
still sticking between the logs, as if
Job had flung it there on purpose to
tempt me. l vas not slow in raising
it up to the counter; the rum follow
ed, of course, and l wish [ may be
shot if 1 didn't, before the day was
over, get tea quarts for the same
identical skin; and from a fellow, |
too, who in these parts was consid- |
cred as sharp as a steel trap and as
bright as a pewter button.
This joke secured my election, for
it soon circulated like smoke among |
my constituents, and they allowed
with one accord that the man who
could get the whip hand Of Job Smell
1inr in foir tro1a on,,l6 o,,tvif Old