Daily globe., 1883-08-15
-CROCKETT'S COON TRICK,
A0w Davy Worked an Election to Congress
in the Early Days of Tennes4ee.
from Forest and Strean.1

in the Early Days of Tennessee.
From Forest and Strean1l
In 1927 Crockett was elected to Con-
gress. In this canvass be played the
famous 'coon-skin trick. which he re-
lates as follows:
"Well, I started off to the Cross
Roads, dressed In my hunting shirt. and
my rifle on my shoulder. Many of our
constituents had assembled there to get
taste of the quality of the candidates
at Grating. Job Smelling, a gander-
shanked Yankee, who had been caught
somewhere about Plymouth Bay, and
been shipped to the West with cargo
of Goldfish and rum, erected large
shanty, and set up shop for the occasion.
A large posse of the voters assembled
before [ arrived, and my opponent had
already made considerable headway
with his speechifying and his treating,
when they spied me about rife-shot
from the camp, sauntering along as if I
was not party in business. There
comes Crockett, cried one. Let us
hear the Colonel cried another, and so
1 mounted the stump that had been used
for the occasion, and began to bushwack
III Gno mOSb approved SJyle.
Il had not been up long before there
was such an uproar in the crowd that I
could not hear my own voice, and some
tof my constituents let me know that
they could not listen to me on such
dry subject as the welfare of the nation
until they had something to drink, and
that l must treat 'em. Accordingly l
jumped down from the rostrum and led
the way to the shantee, followed by my
constituents, shouting: sHazZa for
!Crockett' and Crockett forever
when we entered the shanty Job
was busy dealing out his rum in a style
that showed that he was making a good
days work of it, and I called for
quart of the best, but the crooked
crittur returned no other answer than
by pointing at 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; it was sort of cornering in
which there was 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.
"Thevoters, seeing my predicament,
fell off to the other side, and I was
left deserted and alone, as the Govern
ment will be when it no longer has any
offices to bestew. I saw, plain as day,
that the tide of popular opinion was
against me, and that, unless l got some
rum speedily, I should lose my election
as sure as there are snakes in Virginny
and it must be done soon, or even
burned brandy wouldn't save me. So
I walked away from the shanty, but in
another sort from the way I entered it,
for on this occasion had no train after
me, and not voice sounded Huzza for
Crockett Popularity sometimes de
pends on very small matter; indeed,
in this particular, it was worth quart
of New England rum, and no more.
well knowing that crisis was at
hand, struck into the woods with my
rife on my shoulder, my best friend in
time of need, and, as good fortune
would have it, [ had not been out
more than quarter of an hour before
I treed fat coon, and in the pulling
of a trigger he lay dead at the root OF
tree. I soon 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 I
had dozen of my constituents at nv
heels. I threw down the 'coon-skin
upon the counter and called for 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 quart in the West as a
New York shilling any day in the year.
"My constituents now focked about
me and cried 'Huzza for Crockett
Crockett forever!' p and, finding the tide
had taken turn, [ told them several
yarns to get them in good humor,
and, having soon dispatched the value
of the coon, [ 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 nation. Before 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 up, it was car,
ried unanimously. It wasn't consid-
cred necessary to tell the yeas and nays
so we adjourned to the shanty, and on
the way L began to reckon that the fate
OF the nation pretty much depended
spon my shooting another coon.
While standing at the sbar, 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 it there in the hurry of bust
ness. [ gave it a sort of quick jerk,
and it followed my hand as natural as
if had been the right owner. I slipped
it on the counter, and Job, little dream
ing that he was barking up the wrong
tree moved along another bottle which
my constituents quickly disposed Of
with great good humor, for some of
them saw the trick, and then we with
drew to the rostrum to discuss the af-
fairs of the nation.
Il don't know how it was, but the
VOTERS soon hncamn drv AGAIN and