 First edition hardback cover | |
| Author | Wilson Rawls |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1961 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 245 |
| ISBN | 0-440-22814-X |
| OCLC | 39850615 |
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. [1] It's a work of autobiographical fiction based on Rawls' childhood in the Ozarks.
In 1961, Adult Billy Colman rescues a redbone hound from neighborhood dogs and takes it home to recover. The incident reminds him of the faithful dogs he owned as a child in the Ozark Mountains.
In 1911, Ten-year-old Billy wants nothing more than a pair of redbone hounds for coon hunting. After seeing a magazine ad for coon hounds, he spends the next two years working odd jobs to earn the $50 he needs to buy a pair of pups and walks 20 miles to Tahlequah to retrieve them. As he returns with the dogs, he sees the names "Dan + Ann" carved on a tree and names the pups Old Dan and Little Ann. With his grandfather's help, he trains the dogs to hunt.
On the first night of hunting season, Billy promises Old Dan and Little Ann that if they tree a raccoon, he will do the rest. They do so in a huge sycamore tree, which he believes is far too large to chop down. Remembering his promise, Billy spends the next two days attempting to cut down the sycamore. Exhausted, he prays for the strength to continue, whereupon a strong wind blows down the tree.
Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann become renowned as the best hunters in the Ozarks. Billy's grandfather bets Rubin and Rainie Pritchard that Old Dan and Little Ann can tree the legendary "ghost coon" that has evaded hunters for years. After a challenging hunt, Old Dan and Little Ann succeed in treeing the ghost coon, but Billy, having seen how old and clever the animal is, decides not to kill it. Billy tries to prevent Rubin and Rainie from killing the ghost coon, and this leads to a brawl with Rubin. During the fight, Rubin's dog attacks Billy, prompting Old Dan and Little Ann to come to his aid. Rubin attempts to scare Old Dan and Little Ann away with Billy's ax, but he falls on the blade and dies. Although Billy is deeply troubled by the tragic turn of events, he does not regret his decision to spare the ghost coon.
Billy's grandfather enters him in a championship raccoon hunt against experienced hunters. The hunt is scheduled during a particularly cold week, and many of the hunters give up. Billy, who is used to harsh mountain winters, can reach the final round. On the last night, Old Dan and Little Ann trap three raccoons in a single tree, but a sudden blizzard forces Billy to take shelter. The following morning, Old Dan and Little Ann are found covered with ice but still circling the tree. All three raccoons are captured and Billy wins the championship and a $300 prize.
One night while the trio is hunting, a mountain lion attacks Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy fights to save them, but the mountain lion turns on him. The dogs kill the mountain lion, saving Billy's life, but Old Dan later dies of his injuries. Over the next few days, Little Ann loses the will to live and finally dies of grief, leaving Billy heartbroken.
Billy's father tries to comfort him by explaining that he and Billy's mother have long wished to move to a town where their children can get an education, but could not afford to do so without the extra money brought in by Billy's hunting. Knowing that Old Dan and Little Ann would suffer in town and that Billy would be devastated to leave them behind, they intended to allow him to live with his grandfather. His father believes that God took Old Dan and Little Ann as a sign that the family was meant to stay together.
On his last day in the Ozarks, Billy visits Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and finds a giant red fern growing between them. Remembering a legend that only an angel can plant a red fern, he also comes to believe a higher power was at work.
Adult Billy closes by saying that although he has never returned to the Ozarks, he still dreams of visiting Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and seeing the red fern again.
The novel was adapted into a 1974 film starring Stewart Petersen, James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, and Jack Ging. A sequel was released in 1992, starring Wilford Brimley, Chad McQueen, Lisa Whelchel, and Karen Carlson. A remake was released in 2003, starring Joseph Ashton, Dabney Coleman, Ned Beatty, and Dave Matthews. [2]
Although sales of the novel began slowly, by 1974 over 90,000 copies had been sold. [3] In 2001, Publishers Weekly estimated that it had sold 6,754,308 copies. [4]
There is a statue of Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann at the Idaho Falls Public Library. [5]
A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.
Scent hounds are a type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than sight. These breeds are hunting dogs and are generally regarded as having some of the most sensitive noses among dogs. Scent hounds specialize in following scent or smells. Most of them tend to have long, drooping ears and large nasal cavities to enhance smell sensitivity. They need to have relatively high endurance to be able to keep track of scent over long distances and rough terrain. It is believed that they were first bred by the Celts by crossbreeding mastiff-type dogs with sighthounds. The first established scent hounds were St. Hubert Hounds bred by monks in Belgium during the Middle Ages.
The Black and Tan Coonhound is a breed of hunting dog. Developed in the United States from crosses between the Bloodhound and the Black and Tan Virginia Foxhound, this scent hound runs its game entirely by scent and is used primarily for raccoon hunting.
A coonhound, colloquially a coon dog, is a type of scenthound, a member of the hound group. They are an American type of hunting dog developed for the hunting of raccoons and also for feral pigs, bobcats, cougars, and bears. There are six distinct breeds of coonhound.
The Bluetick Coonhound is a breed of coonhound originating in the United States. The Bluetick Coonhound is known for its friendly personality, cold nose, and deep bawl mouth. It is most commonly used as a raccoon hunting dog, but is also kept as a pet.
The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to individuals.
The Treeing Walker Coonhound is a breed of hound descended from the English and American Foxhounds. The breed originated in the United States when a stolen dog known as "Tennessee Lead" was crossed into the Walker Hound in the 19th century. The Treeing Walker Coonhound was recognized officially as a breed by the United Kennel Club in 1945 and by the American Kennel Club in 2012.
The Redbone Coonhound is an American breed of hunting dog. As a coonhound, the Redbone is primarily a hunter of small game that hide in trees, such as raccoons, opossums, and squirrels, but is also capable of handling big game like bears and cougars. Its hunting strategy is to tree wild game where hunters can then shoot the target, rather than directly hunting and subduing the prey.
"The Hunt" is episode 84 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on January 26, 1962 on CBS.
A feist is a small hunting dog, descended from the terriers brought over to the United States by British miners and other immigrants. These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier, and the now-extinct English White Terrier. These dogs were used as ratters, and gambling on their prowess in killing rats was a favorite hobby of their owners. Some of these dogs have been crossed with Greyhounds, Whippets or Italian Greyhounds, and Beagles or other hounds —extending the family to include a larger variety of purpose than the original ratter, or Rat Terrier.
The Treeing Feist is a breed of feist from the Southeastern United States. Originally considered a single breed, Treeing Feist and Mountain Feist are now separately recognized by the United Kennel Club. Feist, originally bred to hunt squirrels, were separated into several breeds, often crossed with rat terriers. Several Appalachian breeders chose black Feists and bred smaller to tree, 'ring' and retrieve squirrels.
The Black Mouth Cur, also known as the Southern Cur, Southern Black Mouth Cur and the Yellow Black Mouth Cur, is a medium to large sized breed of cur-type dog from the United States. Originating in the south of the country, the breed is a popular hunting companion used to hunt a large variety of game.
The Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is a specialized and restricted pet cemetery and memorial in rural Colbert County, Alabama, US. It is reserved specifically for the burials of coon dogs. The cemetery was established by Key Underwood on September 4, 1937. Underwood buried his own dog there, choosing the spot, previously a popular hunting camp where "Troop" did 15 years of service. As of August 2014, more than 300 dogs were buried in the graveyard.
Boar hunting is the practice of hunting wild boar, feral pigs, warthogs, and peccaries. Boar hunting was historically a dangerous exercise due to the tusked animal's ambush tactics as well as its thick hide and dense bones rendering them difficult to kill with premodern weapons.
The Treeing Cur is a breed of dog that originated in the mid-west of the United States. It was first recognized by United Kennel Club on November 1, 1998, due to the efforts of Alex and Ray Kovac. "Most Cur breeders were not well off and so they required a dog that could serve multiple purposes: hunter, guardian, and stock dog. The result was the Treeing Cur, which is the most varied in size and colors of the Cur breeds", according to United Kennel Club. They are primarily used to tree squirrels, raccoons, opossum, wild boar, bears, mountain lion, bobcat as well as to hunt big game.
The American English Coonhound, also referred to as the English Coonhound or the Redtick Coonhound, is a breed of coonhound that originated in and is typically bred in the Southern United States. It is descended from hunting hounds, especially foxhounds, brought to America by settlers during the 17th and 18th centuries. The breed's first recognition came from the United Kennel Club in 1905 as the English Fox and Coonhound. Further recognition has been granted in recent years by the American Kennel Club, first in the Foundation Stock Service and in 2011 as a fully recognized member of the hound group.
A bay dog is a dog that is specially trained to find, chase, and then bay, or howl, at a safe distance from large animals during a hunt, such as during a wild boar hunt.
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 2003 American family adventure film directed by Lyman Dayton and Sam Pillsbury and starring Joseph Ashton, Dave Matthews, Ned Beatty and Dabney Coleman. Based on the children's book of the same name by Wilson Rawls and a remake of the 1974 film of the same name, it follows the story of Billy Colman who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhound hunting dogs to hunt raccoons in the Ozark mountains.
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1974 drama film directed by Norman Tokar and starring James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, Stewart Petersen and Jack Ging. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same name.
Coon hunting is the practice of hunting raccoons, most often for their meat and fur. It is almost always done with specially bred dogs called coonhounds, of which there are six breeds, and is most commonly associated with rural life in the Southern United States. Coon hunting is also popular in the rural Midwest. Most coon hunts take place at night, with the dogs being turned loose, trailing and putting the raccoon up a tree without human assistance. Once the raccoon is in the tree, with the dog at the base, it is referred to as "treed", with "treeing" being the active verb form.
Only Coonhounds Need Apply at Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery in Tuscumbia Alabama