Old Drum,

A Tribute to the dog.

Ever wondered where the saying that a dog is man's best friend came from?
September 23, 1870 and George Graham Vest, later to become a senator, is representing Charles Burden, who is suing a neighbor for shooting his prized hunting dog, Old Drum. The defendant, Leonidas Hornbsy was not contesting the fact he shot the dog, just the monetary value put on this 'mere animal'. The claim of $50 (some say $150) was the maximum permitted at the time. Initially the case was heard, and lost, in the Common Pleas Court. After a series of appeals by Burden, the case is heard before a jury in the State Circuit Court In Warrensburg.

Enter, George Vest..

"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 absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and 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 in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may 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 encounters 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 sad eyes open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

The second part of the address has been lost in the annals of time, but it took only a couple of minutes deliberation for the jury to find in the plaintiff's (Burden) favor, amongst scenes of much jubilation and wild celebration. Thomas Crittenden, who represented Hornsby, reportedly later recalled,

"I looked at the jury and saw they all were in tears. The foreman wept like he had lost his dearest friend.
I said to Hornsby and my partner that we had better get out of the courthouse or we would be hanged."

A statue of Old Drum was later erected on the Johnson County Courthouse Square in Warrensburg, Missouri, where the trial occurred and the saying 'A dog is man's best friend' was born. The case was appealed to the supreme court, who upheld the decision.

© Alistair Wise, 2007