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The Story of Old Drum 
© Cedarcroft Farm Bed & Breakfast - Warrensburg, MO
Ever
wonder where the old saying, "A man's best friend is his dog," came from?
Well, if you guessed Warrensburg, Missouri, you were right!
Senator George Graham
Vest won a court battle and the hearts of dog lovers everywhere when
he paid his famous tribute to the dog during the 1870 Burden vs. Hornsby
court case in Warrensburg. The speech included the line, "The one absolutely
unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one
that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous,
is his dog."
The "eulogy
to the dog" won the case for Charles Burden whose favorite hound,
Old Drum, was shot by a neighbor & brother-in-law, Leonidas Hornsby,
who had sworn to shoot the first sheep-killing dog that came onto his
land. Although Hornsby had hunted with Drum and acknowledged him to
be one of the best hunting dogs he had ever seen, he also suspected
that Drum was the dog that had been killing his sheep. Hornsby, carried
out his threat when one night a dog was found prowling in his yard.
That dog was Old Drum.
Burden immediately
sued Hornsby for damages, and the trial quickly became one of the strangest
in the history of this area of the country. Each man was determined
to win the case. After several trials at magistrate court and district
court, punctuated by appeals by the loser in each trial, the case finally
reached the Supreme Court of Missouri. The award of $50 in damages to
Burden for the loss of his favorite hunting dog was upheld.
The many trials involved
prominent attorneys on both sides. David Nation, whose wife Carrie made
a name for herself in the Temperance Movement, appeared for Burden in
one of the early encounters. The last jury trial, held September 23,
1870, in what is now the Johnson
County Historical Society museum, featured the most prominent lawyers.
Hornsby, the defendant,
was represented by the firm of Crittenden & Cockrell. Tom Crittenden
had been Lt. Col. of the 7th Cavalry, Missouri State Militia (Federal),
in the 'late unpleasantness'. He was to go on to the Governership of
Missouri in 1880; Tom Crittenden issued the reward that motivated the
Ford brothers to kill Jesse James. His partner was Francis Marion Cockrell,
recently a Brigadier General commanding the 1st Missouri Brigade (CSA),
one of the hardest-fighting units in the Confederate Army of Tennessee
(see Cedarcroft B&B's
Civil War bibliography for more on his history). Cockrell later
spent 5 terms in the U.S. Senate.
Appearing for Burden
was the Sedalia-based firm of Phillips & Vest. John Phillips had been
a Union Colonel & Tom Crittenden's immediate superior; he was later
a congressman and a federal judge. George Graham Vest had been a strong
secessionist, having written Missouri's Articles of Secession while
in the state legislature in 1861. His war service was in Richmond representing
Missouri in the Confederate House of Representatives and Senate. He
later served in the U.S. Senate for 4 terms.
Perhaps because he
spent the war talking rather than fighting, George Vest was known as
one of the finest extemporaneous speakers in an age when the spoken
word was the most important means of communication for most people.
Vest's closing argument in the Old Drum case, known as his "eulogy to
the dog," won the case and became a classic speech, recognized by William
Safire as one of the best of the millenium.
Through the direction
of the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce and coordinated efforts by many
dog lovers across the country, Old Drum was immortalized in a statue
on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn in Warrensburg on September 23,
1958. Previously, in 1947, Fred Ford of Blue Springs placed a monument
to Old Drum at a crossing of Big Creek where Old Drum's body was found.
If you're interested in exploring the Old Drum sites, check our our
Old Drum
Tour.
While no record was
kept of the last half of Vest's tribute to a dog, the first portion
has fortunately been preserved. It was this speech that originated the
saying, "A man's best friend is his dog."
WARNING - GET A
TISSUE BEFORE YOU CONTINUE!
George Graham Vest
speaking:
"Gentlemen of the jury,
the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become
his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may
prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us -- those whom
we trust with our happiness and good name -- may become traitors in
their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from
him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed
in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall
on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first
to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our
heads. The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this
selfish world -- the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous
-- is his dog.
"Gentlemen of the jury,
a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness.
He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow, and the
snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will
kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and
sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards
the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other
friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls
to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through
the heavens.
"If fortune drives
the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the
faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him
to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the
last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace,
and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other
friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog
be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert
watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."
Resource
© 1996 - 2002 Cedarcroft
Farm Bed & Breakfast
431 SE County Road Y, Warrensburg, Missouri, USA 64093-8316
(660)747-5728
info@cedarcroft.com
Western Missouri's
Ultimate Romantic Hideaway Bed & Breakfast with jacuzzi-like air-jet
thermal massage tub, fireplace and lots of other special romantic amenities
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