Treeing Walker Coonhound Breed Magazine - Showsight

We’re called the Treeing Walker Coonhound

He pronounced that the coon was laying about three feet down in the snag portion, and soon punched him out with the air of a two-cell flashlight. The coon looked as big as a shepherd dog to the 14-year-old who’s heart was pounding faster than ever before. At this very instant, the coon hunting bug had bit- ten young Lester Nance, and at the same moment he realized that not all hounds were created equal. This night in the timber near the small settlement called Walnut Grove in central Indiana, the seed was plant- ed that would take 20 years to germinate, but the fruits of which are still harvested 80 plus years later, with no sign of reduction in yield. The experience of the night gave Lester the desire to hunt with Queen as often as her owner, Glen Newby, would allow. After a couple more hunts, Lester knew there was a great difference between the abilities of dogs and set a goal to someday own a hound that could be determined Queen’s equal. During the 20’s, other things were happening with- in a 30 mile radius of this same timber that later affected Lester’s now heart set goal. A traveling sales- man by the name of Shell, had a regular stop in a small town in southern Ohio. Having made friends with a couple of local hunters, he was very impressed by the performance of a Walker Foxhound they called Ring. It was commonly accepted that if you

could find a Walker that would tree, you could catch some coon. Mr. Shell asked about buying the dog, and learned that he had no real owner. All the hunters in town used him and saw that he was cared for. Since no one would accept his offer after two to three years of trying, Shell took the dog to the next town and had him shipped to his brother in Indiana. Ring was a large, black, saddle-back, with a white ring around his neck. He earned the title “straight cooner”, because he was never known to open on anything but a coon track. After his first year in Hoosierland, he was bred to another fine Walker female and from this litter came a well-known female called Spottie. Spottie was bred to a black and tan-colored male called Frank. Frank was purchased for 100 bushel of corn, at a time when few farmers had cash to spare. In 1929, Frank treed 11 coon on the outside, at six years of age. This was an unheard of number, as most hunters pent the whole season getting four or five. These 11 coon were sold for $11 each, which much more than made up for the 100 bushel of corn in those pre-depression days. From the litter of Frank and Spottie, came a female known as Foland’s Queen. Foland’s Queen was of the true Walker style in that she was a hunting and strike dog deluxe, and soon became a natural tree dog. Queen was a trim-built dog that was primarily black

Lester C. Nance reads FullCry, surrounded by his Treeing Walker hounds Rowdy , King , Boone and Sparkie .

S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE • O CTOBER 2010 • 87

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