April 26, 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



247 



had no train after Van, unct'nOtti voice. 'shouted 'Huzza for 

 Ordckettc Popularity sometimes depends on a very small 

 matter, indeed; in this particular it was worth a quart of 

 New England rum, avid no more. 



"Well knowing that a crisis was at hand, 1 struck into 

 the woods with my rifle on my shoulder, my best friend 

 in time of need, and, as good fori line would have it. I had 

 not been OUt more than a quarter of an hour before I treed 

 a fat 'coon, and in the pulling of a trigger he lay dead at the 

 root of a tree. I soon whipped his hairy jacket off his. back, 

 and again bent my way toward the shantce, and walked up 

 to the bar, but not alone, for this time I had half a dozen of 

 my constituents at my Heels. 1 threw down the 'eoou skin 

 upon the counter and called for a quart, and Job, though 

 busy in dealing out rum, forgot to point to his chalked rules 

 and regulations, for he knew that a "coon was as good legal 

 lender for a quart iu the West as a Nett York shilling any 

 day in the year. . . . 



"My constituents now flocked about, me and cried 'Huzza 

 for Crockett.' 'Crockett for ever,' aud finding the tide had 

 taken a turn, I told them several yarns, to get them in a 

 good humor, and having soon dispatched 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 1 

 had to offer for the good of the nation. Before 1 was half 

 through, one of my constituents moved that they would hear 

 the balance of my speech after t.hcy had washed down the 

 first part with so'rne more of Job Snelling's extract of corn- 

 stalk and molasses; and the question being put up, it was 

 curried unanimously. It wasn't considered necessary to 

 tell the yeas and nays, so we adjourned to the shantce, and 

 on the way I began "to reckon that the fate of the nation 

 pretty much depended upon my shooting another 'coon. 



"While standing at, the bar, feeling sort of bashful while 

 Job's rules aud 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 business. I gave it a sort of 

 quick jerk, and it followed my hand as natural as if I had 

 been the rightful owner, 1 slapped it on the counter, and 

 Job, little dreaming that he Wits barking tip the Wrong 

 tree, shoved along another bottle, which my constituents 

 quickly disposed "of with great good humor, for some of 

 them saw the trick, and then we withdrew to the rostrum td 

 discuss the affairs of the nation. 



"I don't know how it was, but the voters soon became 

 dry again, and nothing would do but we must adjourn to 

 the shantce. 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. I was uot slow in raising it to the 

 counter; the rum followed, of course, and 1 wish I may be 

 shot, if I didn't, before the day was over, get ten quarts for 

 the same identical skin, and from a fellow, too, who in 

 those parts was considered as sharp as a steel trap and as 

 bright as a pewter button. 



"This joke secured me 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 Snelling in fair trade, could outwit Old Nick himself, 

 and was the real grit for them in Congress. Job was by no 

 means popular; he boasted of always being wide awake, and 

 that any one who could take him" in was free to do so, for 

 be came from a stock that sleeping or waking had always 

 one eye open, and the other not more than half closed. The 

 whole family were geniuses. His father was the inventor 

 of wooden nutmegs, by which Job said he might have made 

 a fortune, if he had only taken out a patent and kept the 

 business in his own hands; his mother, Patience, manu- 

 factured the first white oak pumpkin seeds of the mammoth 

 kind, aud turned a pretty penny the first season; aud his 

 aunt, Prudence, was the first to discover that corn husks, 

 steeped in tobacco water, would make as handsome Spanish 

 wrappers as ever came from Havana, and that oak leaves 

 would answer all the purposes of filling, for no one 

 Could discover the difference except the man who 

 smoked them, and then it would be too late to make a stir 

 about if. Job, himself, bragged of having made some use- 

 ful discoveries; the most profitable of which was the act of 

 converting mahogany sawdust into cayenne pepper, which 

 1). = said was a profitable and safe business, for the people 

 . so long accustomed to having dust, thrown in their 

 , there wasn't much danger of being found out. 

 ' "The way I got to the blind side of the Yankee merchant 

 !y generally known before election day and the re- 

 sult was that my opponent might as well have whistled jigs 

 to a mile stone "as attempt to beat up for votes in that dis- 

 trict. I beat him out aud out, quite back into the old year, 

 and there was scarce enough left of him after the canvass 

 was oyer to make a small grease spot. He disappeared with- 

 out even leaving a mark behind, and such will be the fate of 

 Adam Huntsman, if there is a fair fight and no gouging. 



"After the election was over I sent. Snelling the price of 

 the rum, but took good care to keep the fact from the 

 knowledge of my constituents. Job refused the. money aud 

 seat me word that. it. did him good to be taken in occasion- 

 ally, as it served to brighten his ideas; but I afterward 

 learned that when he found out the trick that had been 

 played upon him he put all the rum 1 had ordered in his bill 

 against my opponent, who, being elated with the speeches 

 he had made on the affairs of the nation, could not descend 

 to examine into the particulars of a bill of the vender of rum 

 in the small way." 



Iu 1829 he was re-elected to Congress. The honest old 

 "backwoods bear hunter" had won great fame among the 

 Whigs by his course at Washington ; and when in 1834 he 

 made a tour through the North, his progress was a continued 

 ovation from Baltimore to Boston. In Philadelphia, on his 

 first visit he was proffered the rifle : 



"I was hardly done making my bow to those gentlemen, 

 before Mr, James M. Sanderson informed me that the young 

 Whigs of Philadelphia had a desire to present me with a 

 fine rifle, and had chosen him to have her made agreeably 

 to my wishes. 1 told him that was an article that I knew 

 something about, and gave him the size, weight, etc." 



While he was in New York, there was considerable curi- 

 osity to witness an exhibition of his skill as a marksman, 

 and this desire, he gratified by a visit to a Jersey City range: 



"I now started to Jersey City, where I found" a great 

 many gentlemen shooting rifles, at the distance of one hun- 

 dred yards with a rest. One gentleman gave me his gun, 

 and asked me to shoot. I raised up off-hand, and cut within 

 about two inches of the center. I told him my distance was 

 forty yards, off-hand. He loaded his gun, and we walked 

 do\vn to within forty yards when I tired,' aud was deep in 

 the paper. I shot a second time, and did the same. Ool- 

 onel lYiapes then put up a quarter of a dollar in the middle of 



a black spot, and asked me to shoot at it. I told him he had 

 better mark the size of it and put his money in his pocket. 

 He said, 'fire away.' I did so, and made sleight-of-hand 

 work with his quarter." 



Returning to Philadelphia upon the adjournment of Con- 

 gress, he found the rifle ready: 



"Next morning I was informed that the rifle gun which 

 was to be presented to me by the young men of Philadel- 

 phia, was finished, and would be "delivered that evening; 

 and that a committee had been appointed to wait on me and 

 conduct me to where I was to receive it. So, accordingly, 

 in the evening the committee came, aud I walked with them 

 to a room nearly foment the old state house; it was crowded 

 full, and there was a table in the center, with the gun, a 

 tomahawk, and butcher knife, both of fine razor metal, 

 with all the accoutrements necessary to the gun— the most 

 beautiful I ever saw or anybody else; and I am now happy 

 to add as good as they are" handsome. My friend, John M. 

 Sanderson, Esq., who had the whole management of getting 

 her made, was present, and delivered the .gun into my hands. 

 Upon receiving her I addressed the company as follows: 



" 'Gentlemen: 



" T receive this rifle from the young men of Philadelphia 

 as a testimony of friendship, which 1 hope never to live to 

 forget. This is a favorite article with me, and woidd have 

 been my choice above all presents that could have been 

 selected, I love a good gun, for it makes a man independ- 

 ent, and prepared either for war or peace. 



" 'This rifle does honor to the gentleman that made it. I 

 must say, long as I have been accustomed to handle a gun, 

 I have never seen any thing that could near a comparison to 

 her in beauty, I cannot think that ever such a rifle was 

 made, either in this or any other country; and how, gentle- 

 men, to express my gratitude to you for your splendid pres- 

 ent, I am at a loss." This much," however, I will say, that 

 myself and my sons will not forget you while we use this 

 token of your kindness for our amusement. If it should be- 

 come necessary to use her in defence of the liberty of our 

 country, iu my time, I will do as I have done before; and if 

 the struggle should come when I am buried in the dust, 1 

 will leave her in the hands of some who will honor your 

 present, in company with your sons, in standing for our 

 country's rights. 



' ' 'Accept my sincere thanks, therefore, gentlemen, for your 

 valuable present — one, which I will keep as a testimony of 

 your friendship so long as I am in existence.' 



"I then received the gun and accoutrements, and returned 

 to the hotel, where I made an agreement with Mr. Sander- 

 sou and Col. Pulaski to go with them the next day to the 

 Jersey shore, at Camden, and try my gun. 



"Next morning we went out. I had long been out of prac- 

 tice, so that I could not give her a fair trial. I shot toler- 

 ably well, and was satisfied that when we became better ac- 

 quainted the fault would be mine if the varmints did not 

 suffer. " 



Returning home with his gun he was greeted by many 

 friends, who gathered around to inspect the arm : 



' 'A large, fellow stepped up and asked me why all the mem- 

 bers did not get such guns given them. I told him I got 

 that gun for being honest, in supporting my country, instead 

 of bowing down and worshiping an idol. He looked at me 

 and said, that was very strong. 'No stronger than true, 

 my friend,' said I. 



'"In the course of a few days I determined to try my new 

 gun upon the living subject. I started for a hunt, and 

 shortly came across a fine buck. He fell at the distance of 

 130 steps 1 Not a bad shot, you will say. I say, not a bad 

 gun either. After a little practice with her, she came up to 

 the eye prime, and I determined to try her at the first shoot- 

 ing match for beef. 



"As this is a novelty to most of my readers, I will endeavor 

 to give a description of this Western amusement. 



"In the latter part of summer our cattle get very fat, as 

 the range is remarkably fine; and some one, desirous of 

 raising money on one of his cattle, advertises that on a par- 

 ticular day, and at a given place, a first-rate beef will be 

 shot for. 



"When the day comes every marksman in the neighbor- 

 hood will meet at "the appointed place with his gun. After 

 the company has assembled, a subscription paper is handed 

 round, with the following heading: 



"A. B. offers a beef worth twenty dollars, to be shot for, 

 at twenty-five cents a shot. Then the names are put down 

 by each person, thus : 



D. C. puts in four shots, $1 00 



E. P. " eight " 3 00 



G. II. " two " 50 



"And thus it goes around, until the price is made up. 



"Two persons are then selected, who have not entered for 

 shots, to act as judges of the match. Every shooter gets a 

 board, and makes a cross in the center of his target. The 

 shot that drives the center, or comes nearest to it, gets the 

 hide and tallow, which is considered first choice. The next 

 nearest gets his choice of the hindquarters; the third gets the 

 other hind quarter; the fourth takes choice of the fore- 

 quarters; the fifth the remaining quarter; and the sixth gets 

 the lead in the tree against, which we shoot. 



"The judges stand near the tree and when a man fires they 

 cry out, 'Who shot?' and the shooter gives in bis name; and 

 so on, till all have shot. The judges then take all the boards 

 and go off by themselves, and decide what quarter each man 

 has won. Sometimes one will get nearly all. 



■ 'This is one of our homely amusements— enjoyed as much 

 by us, and perhaps more, than most of your refined enter- 

 tainments. Here each man takes a part, if he pleases, and 

 no one is excluded, unless his improper conduct renders him 

 unfit, as an associate." 



This is all that Crockett has told us about the rifle. In 

 the latter pages of the Autobiography there are references to 

 "Betsy," but this was his flint-lock, which he took to Texas, 

 leaving the Philadelphia rifle with his elder son, John W. 

 Crockett, from wdiom it has descended to the present owner. 

 One description, that of a shooting match at Little Rock, 

 Ark., when on his way to Texas, we quote: 



"As there was considerable time to be killed, or got rid of 

 in some way, before the dinner could be cooked, it was pro- 

 posed that we should go beyond the village, and shoot at a 

 mark, for they had heard I was a first-rate shot, and they 

 wanted to see' for themselves whether fame had not blowu 

 her trumpet a little too strong in my favor; for since she 

 had represented "the Government" as being a first-rate 

 statesman, and Colonel Benton as a first-rate orator, they 

 could not receive such reports without proper allowance, a's 

 Congress thought of the Post-office report. 



"Well, I shouldered any.Betsy, and she is just about as 

 beautiful a piece as ever came out of Philadelphia, and I 

 went out to the shooting ground, followed by all the leading 



