River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1900-07-19
The Festive Coon.


Mr.. Editor:-The closing sentence Of
my article on Looking Backward"
published in the JOURNAL some six
months ago, may have suggested the
inference that wild animals, as a nat
ural concomitant of the wilderness
frontier of these parts fifty years ago,
abounded to infinity. | thought, my
self, when | pitched my tent in the
edge Of the woods over there in what
is North Clifton, and the Chesebro
place, miles from neighbors, that
such wild scenery as the woods and
brush and mounds and valleys, and
neighboring heights and declivities
adjacent to the wild and beautiful st.
Croix, captioned by the indescribable
grandeur of Kinnickinnic's unparal-
leled solitudes, must be the home and
hiding grounds of bears, deer, wolves,
ETC., which might contend for the
mastery. But it was mistake; these
more formidable creatures were
scarce; so scarce that my acquaintan-
ces with them affords but scant
grounds for story, therefore, as in
clination and partiality cites my pen
Gil to the raccoon, which it appears
was here first, we will just put down
what we know Of him. In the begin
ming, 10 years and more ago, in Ohio,
we children bad pet coon and it was
so friendly and frisky and kittenish
that it begat an innocent friendship
known only to perfection in the con-
fdence of childhood. Well, in due
time as things will come round, i
found cut that Clifton woods were
full of coons. One night was start
led in my slumbers by a noise on the
roof like "forty-leVen" oYen--tramp,
tramp, on the loose shakes; you know
how it sounds to one half asleep.
What on earth now! But as there
was nothing else to do, out and at 'em
in half dress | sailed. 1t was bright
moonlight and there sat four coons in
row on the very comb, looking very
glad" as Crockett says; but modesty,
or something (they had on furs) at
my denude appearance FASTENED their
exit, for down they tumbled all in a
hurry and out into the woods. One
evening in the twilight / came across
three coons at play, yes at rollicking
scamper in the grass right oyer yon-
der south of the Wilcox mound on
the lower end Of what is now the
Glass place. / had beer over to Big
River to see about a road matter and
the dark was after me, and so with
out further interruption with a
hearty good evening / passed on TO r
home, still miles away through the
brush and the dark. / believe these
creatures are about half civilized
from the way they initiate US. Mr..
Woodruff encounter a meeting of
them in the Eastwood grove once big
enough for county affair when he
took seven of them out of hollow
tree, and this he thought was not a
quorum. But it is more particularly
to our friendship in the long, long
ago that / want to revert. The coon
then did us service in an election,
Il mean the wing party of the old days
of Grandfather Harrison) which ena-
bled US to succeed. Though not a
voter he was a president maker as
m I1ob q Q NO rtuioIy of Ep01an1 moo n
king maker. 1T was In this way:
Harrison was the presidential candi-
date OF the wings in 1896, and again
in 1910, in the first he was beaten
but was elected in the latter cam
paign. Harrison, though college bred,
had been on the frontier in public
since a boy, as agent, commander,
governor or something and the dem
ocrats made fun of him by reverting
in song and carricature to his want
of polish, using the hard-cider, COON
skin and log cabin epithets in great
glee; so in 1910 the wings took these
same cudgels of ridicule and almost
set the nation afire with merriment;
the excitement was at white heat;
the very atmosphere was permeated
from the ground up; the victory was
overwhelming and the greatest factor
was the coon with his characteristic
adaptability to the wants of the fun
maker-amiability, and for years no
whig premises in the rural districts
of the west were in complete attire
unless the fence, barn door and out
buildings generally were adorned with
pictures of this famous "yarmint."
The coon-skin cap with the tail on
was EN- blematical Of Harrison times
and quoted at premium.
OsBORN STRAHL