National Plott Hound Association News

Howdy, folks! I hope you and yours are well and survivingthis endless summer heat wave. It has proven to be unrelent-ing here in North Carolina, with six straight days of over 100degree highs – and it seemslike a month or more sincewe have been lower thanthe mid-90s. Severalmornings I have fed thedogs before going to workand it is already in the 80sand incredibly humid withthe sun barely even up.Our only respite has beenbrief, but violent thunder-storms. However, insteadof cooling things down, itjust leaves us even morehumid and muggy. Somepeople like this sort ofweather —not me!

Again, I remind you andyour dogs to be carefulworking, hunting andtraining in this weather.Heat stroke is serious stuffand is often fatal, so takeextra precautions to avoidit if at all possible.

By the time you read this NPHA Plott Days will be history.I hope those of you that were able to make the trip to Indianahad a wonderful time there. The competitions are always funand highly anticipated, but to me it is the family reunion feelof these events that truly makes them special.

Seldom will we have so much living Plott history at onelocation. It’s always wonderful to visitwith old friends and make new ones, butit is also a unique opportunity to learnfrom many of the legends of our sport –folks like Harold Pace, Gene Walker,Orville Mansholt, Marion Allison,Wayne Allen and too many others tomention them all.

And it’s also a good time to reflect onall the missing breed icons – like GeneWhite, Berry Tarlton, Frank Methven andLawrence Porterfield – that have recentlypassed away or that may have been betoo ill to attend. We should never forgetthem and what they have done to perpet-uate the Plott breed. Keep them forever inyour thoughts and prayers.

Sorry to digress, but it is my sincerehope that you were indeed able to attend this great event andthat you and yours had a wonderful time in the process.Congratulations and thanks go out to all the NPHA officersand for the Perry County Coon Club for putting on such astellar gathering.

I know that my friend Danny Scoggins of Rock Island,Tennessee was there, and I believe that he picked up a cou-ple of pups from Bill Harrell – another man well-known forhis fine Plott dogs.

Danny has raised and hunted Plotts for over a quarter of acentury, and his foundation stock originated with none other

By Bob Plott, 146 Backcreek Lane, Statesville, NC 28677,beardogs1750@yahoo.com or bob@bobplott.com

than other than the legendary Berlin King. The Harrell Plotthounds combined with the Scoggins/King dogs should makefor a dynamic cross. I wish them luck in this process.

Speaking of pups, CharlieMarkham sent me somemore pictures of the firstregistered Finnish Plotts. Itold you that story lastmonth and thought thatyou might enjoy seeingsome more of these pho-tos. Thanks Charlie, forsharing them.

My buddy Rusty Gill ofOld Town, Florida, reportsthat our newest litter ofVon Plott pups is doingwell and will be weanedfrom their mama by thetime you read this. I bredRusty’s gyp to my BudLyon bred Von Plott dog onMarch 31 and the pupswere whelped on June 2,2012. We are excited andhonored to carry on thisgreat tradition that was

begun with Von Plott and continued for nearly half a centu-ry by C.E. “Bud” Lyon.

I think the hot weather and the fact that many folks areeither on vacation or preparing for the trip to Plott Days hasresulted in a slower than normal month for both mail andphone calls. And it makes sense as this is not only a busytime of year for most families, but as I said, it has been too

hot to do much of anything but search for ashady, cool place to relax.

However, several folks did take the timeto call or write and I wanted to mention afew of you in particular, as well as sever-al that have been ill.

I hope that my friend Duane Smith con-tinues to recuperate from his recent ill-ness. Duane, you are in my thoughts andprayers and I hope we can talk or writeagain soon when you are feeling better.The same applies to Mr. Hoke Rawlins,and Bud Lyon as well. And I am happy toreport that Bud is indeed doing much bet-ter – so that’s good to hear. I hope we canvisit soon, Bud.

I heard from my friend Rick Jenkins, ofAsheville, NC this week. Rick is a hard

hunter and dedicated Plott man. One of his fine Plott dogshas been experiencing some serious health issues of late andI hope they are resolved soon. I saw the dog at Breed Dayswhen he was just a pup a couple of years ago, and I was real-ly impressed with his looks and performance. Good luck,Rick!

Steve Zimmerman of Wilmington, NC and me have beenplaying phone tag of late, but I hope to speak with him abouthis Plott dogs soon, and the same applies to Jim Wanta ofMichigan and Oren Midzinski of Utah –both of whom I owephone calls. I also enjoyed talking with Lynwood Jackson of

Indiana coon hunter and dedicated Plott man Chris Miller with his Army bud-dies in an Afghan war zone. Note the Pocahontas Kennel hat that Chris iswearing in the picture.

One of the pups from the first registered lit-ters of Plott dogs in Finland.

Asheville, NC about his new Plott dog too. And it’s always apleasure to hear from my old buddy Roger Bryson ofCashiers, NC –a guy who is continually willing to work hardto promote the Plott breed.

I had a delightful email from Jack Dobson recently. Jack isan avid coon hunter originally from Surry County, NC. Heshared some great stories with me, as well as a lead on a liv-ing piece of Plott history that I recently contacted and inter-viewed. There will be more on that topic in upcoming arti-cles. Thanks Jack, I hope to talk with you again soon.

In an earlier article I had commented on getting an emailfrom Sgt. Larry Plott who is currently serving our countrywith the US Army in Afghanistan. And Jose Gardner –a hardcore Alabama hog hunter and Plott man – is now out of theMarines and going to college after doing a combat tour of hisown in the Middle East.

Jose is the son of Dan Gardner who has been a tireless sup-porter of the Plott breed for years. And Jose has followed dili-

gently in his father’s footsteps. I think Jose is now attendingcollege at Auburn and we wish him the best of luck in hisfuture endeavors.

Today my friend Gene Walker sent me a great photo of ayoung friend of his — Chris Smith – who is also serving ourcountry in Afghanistan. According to Gene, Chris is a nativeof Indiana and an avid coon hunter.

Chris is also a strong supporter of Gene’s PocahontasPlotts, and owns a dog that came out of Gene’s famous CodyII female, and Gus. He and his army buddies are pictured inthe Afghan war zone with Chris proudly wearing hisPocahontas Kennels cap. I have sent Chris an email myself,and hope to learn more about him soon. But in the mean-time, I would like to thank Chris, Jose, Larry – and all ourAmerican veterans past and present –for their service to ourgreat country.

My dear friend Bill Carter of Fuquay-Varina, NC, surprisedme with a gift this week. He sent me a book called War Dogs.

More photos of the firstregistered Plott pups inFinland courtesy of Char-lie Markham

.32 caliber and a .50 caliber muzzleloadingrifles once owned by David, Robert and HubPlott and possibly Henry Plott.

Accoutrements: Powder horn, shot bag,bullet mold, etc. for the 32 and 50 calibermuzzle loading rifles. Engraved patch box of Amos Plott’s hunt-

ing rifle. Note his name on the engraving.

..44 caliber pistol captured from a Unionofficer by Robert H. Plott during hte CivilWar. Photos of muzzle loading pistol once used by Montraville Plott kill 211 bears.

It is the story of all the dogs that the U.S. Military has usedin combat since World War I. It’s really a great book and Itruly appreciate Bill’s kind gift and friendship.

Bill is a retired Special Forces Colonel who served inVietnam. He owns a Plott hound named Robert that is out ofmy deceased Archie dog and John Jackson’s Sweet Pea.

Robert was one of the Plott dogs featured in the TV showthat we did for the History Channel last year. He is a beauti-ful Plott specimen and extremely intelligent.

Being an army veteran, Bill is very patriotic and raises theAmerican flag outside his home on a daily basis. He alsotaught his dog – Robert – to salute the flag when it is beingraised. I know this may sound like a tall tale, but you can goto my website – www.bobplott.com – and see a short videoof Robert doing this. Robert and Bill will be special guests atPlottfest next year, so please make plans to come out and seethem.

It’s always great to hear from folks that like my books, andI was especially pleased to get a message from some mem-bers of the Orr family a few weeks ago. I had written about

Will Orr, a famous western North Carolina hunter, in mysecond book and the Orr’s had enjoyed the profile.

I hope to meet with them soon to learn more about theirfamily and particularly about their relative the late AndyOrr. Andy was a rough character from the mountains ofGraham County who reportedly killed seven men and laterdied in the federal prison in Atlanta. He allegedly murderedfour of his victims for hurting or insulting his hunting dogs.I hope to get the real story about him through the Orr clanand get a photo of Andy as well.

One of the great things about writing books – or any histor-ical piece – is doing the research on the subjects in the story.I profiled another old-time hunting legend – GranvilleCalhoun – in my second book too. And I included a pictureof him and some other bear hunters in one of my recentAmerican Cooner magazine articles.

Calhoun was not only a great hunter and dog man, but hewas a superb businessman and humanitarian. He lived to be103 and I talked to him often as a boy in Bryson City, NC,where he told me of his early days as a hunter and fisherman

Skinning knife used by Montraville Plott. Lock of early Bean flintlock rifle that wasonce traded for a Plott hound.

Early Bean flintlock rifle that was once trad-ed for a Plott hound.

Model 1905 Winchester autmoatic rifleonce owned by game warden Cody Plott.

Blowing horn owned by Von Plott

John Plott second from left holding hisStevens shotgun.

Three photos of 1892 38-40 Winchester rifle once owned by Von Plott. Note the battered stock. This gun saw some hard hunting.Rifle was reportedly given to Von by a revenue agent law officer.

John Plott holding the shotgun that is nowback in the Plott family.

Little George Plotton left holding 18908mm Mauser rifle.Gun is now back inthe possession ofthe Plott family.

on Hazel Creek. Calhoun was also a closefriend of the illustrious writer and out-doorsmen Horace Kephart. Kephart wrotequite a bit about Plott dogs, local bear hunters, and all formsof hunting and fishing stories in his books and magazine sto-ries.

Kephart is much more famous than Calhoun, and wellknown for both his literary work and for his efforts in the for-mation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Butwhile perhaps lesser known, Granville Calhoun was anequally extraordinary man.

Recently an individual –who has asked to remain anony-mous – contacted me to show me a collection of GranvilleCalhoun artifacts, photos and documents. I was a bit skepti-cal at first, but it turned out to be the real deal.

The collection included Calhoun’s pistol, hunting knives,fly rod, creel and other hunting and fishing gear, as well ashis gold pocket watch (that still works,) along with too manyinteresting documents and photos to mention them all.Needless to say, I was honored to gain access to this collec-tion and I hope to write more in detail about it in the future.

But let’s get back to the mail bag. It was good to hear frommy buddy Johnny Mash last week. Johnny is a farmer inAshe County, NC, and long time Plott dog enthusiast.Johnny hopes to add another Plott dog to his kennels in thevery near future.

Thanks go out to Mike Mehaffey of Clyde, NC, as well asto Joe and Henri McClees of the NC Sporting DogAssociation for their efforts in protecting the rights of N.C.hunting hounds people. And thanks also to Irv Corbin, PatAlcisto, Marion Diotte, and a host of other west coast dogmen for their efforts in trying defeat the California SB 1221– a bill that basically will outlaw hunting with dogs inCalifornia.

That about covers the mail bag for now. As always, Iencourage you to write and share your photos and storieswith me to include them in this column. I have said manytimes before that I want this be your column – but I can’t doit without your help.

I will close this month with a bit of Plott history regardingweapons used by well-known Plott family members andhunters that are still owned by several Plott family memberstoday. I originally wrote this article back in 2009, but haveupdated it as more weapons and artifacts have surfaced andhave come back into possession of the Plott family since thattime.

All of these items are special, but none more so to me thanthe weapons of “Little” George Plott and his father John.They were returned to the Plott family in late 2011.

And seeing the battered Winchester rifle of none other thanVon Plott will bring chills down the spine of any true Plottenthusiast. Man, if these weapons could only talk—whatamazing stories they could tell!

But I am getting ahead of myself. Here’s the article, I hope

1928 Plott brothers bear hunt in Graham County, NC.John Plott is kneeling in center holding double barrel shotgun.

you enjoy it:

PLOTT FAMILY WEAPONSBy Bob Plott Copyright 2009

If there is anything hunting houndsmen love almost asmuch as their Plott dogs, it is their hunting rifles. And a fineexample of this is the arsenal of weapons owned by the Plottfamily – many of which still survive today. Probably the ear-liest and some of the best examples of these guns are the .32caliber and .50 caliber muzzle loading rifles once owned byDavid, Robert Henry, and Herbert Plott.

David Plott, the third son of Henry Plott was the originalowner of these weapons and he passed them down to his son,Robert Henry, who in turn passed them down to his sonHerbert. They are of particular interest in that they bothwere originally flintlock rifles, later converted to percussion,and both – especially the .50 caliber rifle – were probablyoriginally built in the late 18th century. Considering thatDavid was not born until 1807, it is highly likely that theserifles were originally owned by Henry Plott (1770-1810) andlater passed on to David by his father. If this is indeed thecase, we are looking at a gun, or guns, once owned by HenryPlott, the man who brought the first Plott dogs to the GreatSmoky Mountains around 1800. What a piece of Plott histo-ry!

There is an original powder horn and shot bag, with shoot-ing accoutrements – bullet mold, priming horn etc. – accom-panying the rifles. While these artifacts are almost impossi-ble to specifically date, they are nonetheless at least 150years old and are treasured Plott family heirlooms. Theywere used by three generations of the Plott clan – David,Robert Henry and Herbert Plott – all legendary bear hunters.

The hunting rifle of David Plott’s brother, iconic hunter

and guide Amos Plott was a more ornate weapon, and it too,is a valuable piece of Plott history. The name of Amos Plottis engraved on the patch box and clearly it was once a top ofthe line gun. Before it was found and salvaged by its currentowners, the Amos Plott rifle fell on to hard times. It report-edly was being used as a fire place utensil to “poke” the firewhen found and purchased by a family member. This rifledates back to the mid-1800s and was carried by one of thefinest bear hunters of that era – Amos Plott (1805-1865.)

In addition to his rifles, Robert Henry Plott (1840-1926) alsohunted bears with a muzzle loading pistol. This .54 caliberhand gun was captured by Plott during the Civil War. It is notknown how many bears he killed with the weapon, but itwas no doubt a significant number as he was a prolifichunter. Plott also captured a .44 caliber pistol from a Unionofficer which he used for personal protection. It is interestingto also note that Robert Henry Plott was likely the lastConfederate prisoner of war released by the Union during theCivil War. Both of his pistols remain in the Plott familytoday.

Of course, there is no more famous pistol in Plott historythan the hand gun owned by Montraville Plott (1850-1924.)This pistol was probably built about 1860. Plott used thisweapon to kill 211 bears during his distinguished huntingcareer. And the Plott family still has the skinning knife thatMont used to skin many – if not all – of these bears as well.

Family legend maintains that Montraville Plott, or possiblyhis son Von Plott, traded a Plott hound for a Baxter Bean .45caliber flintlock rifle. This may not be true as it probably wasMont’s father, John T. Plott, or even more likely his grandfa-ther, Henry, who traded for the gun.

We make this assumption based on several facts. The riflewas a flintlock and was never converted to percussion cap asmost early flintlocks later were. Since most flintlocks werenot converted until 1822 and since a dog was so valuable, thegun would have to be of equal value to the dog. So it is high-ly unlikely that the Plott family would have traded an“antique” gun that was of little practical use to them, for oneof their prized hounds. Therefore, it is safe to assume thatthe rifle was considered a high end gun worthy of trade, andthat the trade was consummated in the early 1800s. In otherwords, a valuable dog would not have been traded for any-thing less than a premium weapon that was still highly cov-eted as a hunting rifle. And certainly a Bean rifle fits thatdescription during this early time period.

The Bean family was some of the most renowned rifle mak-ers in southern mountain history. William Bean, a huntingpartner of Daniel Boone, first settled in east Tennessee in1768. His son, Russell, was said to be the first white childborn in east Tennessee in 1769. William Bean would laterserve with distinction fighting the British at the Battle ofKings Mountain. He was the first of the Bean family riflebuilders and he established a gun shop near Jonesboro,Tennessee in the late 1700s. The Bean family legacy of gunbuilding continued until the late 1800s with a succession ofprominent gunsmiths including Baxter Bean – who built theBean rifle traded to the Plott family.

Baxter was the son of Russell Bean, and was born around1790. He learned gun building from his father and grandfa-ther and it is believed that the rifle now owned by the Plottfamily was built by Baxter Bean about 1820 –perhaps earlier.However, it is possible that the gun was traded at a later datewith Mont or Von, and that the old gun was thrown in justto sweeten the deal as an after thought. But either way, theBean rifle is truly a piece of Smoky Mountain and Plott fam-ily history. Due to its pristine condition and because itremains an original flintlock, the Bean rifle is extremelyvaluable and remains a prized possession in the Plott familytoday – along with several hunting bags and powder horns.

The favorite hunting rifle of Plott icon Von Plott (1896-1979) also still survives today and it is a testament to his

hard hunting style. The rifle – a Winchester model 1892 38-40 – is battered and beaten due to extreme use. I have seen alot of rifles, but few can match the battle scars of this his-toric gun.

The Winchester 38-40 was a favorite weapon of bear hunt-ing mountaineers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Itwas short, light, and easy to carry through rugged terrain.Moreover, it packed enough knockdown power to kill abear—though not at long range. The lever action of the gunwas very reliable and allowed for fairly rapid fire, while bothpistol and rifle cartridges could be used as ammunition. Thiswas extremely important as ammunition was often difficultto acquire back in those days and made the gun even moreversatile and valuable.

Cody Plott, (1884-1948) the son of Robert Henry Plott, wasa notable bear hunter and game warden, who helped intro-duce Isaiah Kidd to the Plott breed. Cody favored a more“modern” Winchester rifle – the Model 1905 .35 caliberautomatic. This was an automatic firing weapon that whilepopular, never really caught on in a big way with localhunters. Perhaps it was the cost of a newer gun, or maybethey preferred the older lever action models, or even in somecases ancient muzzle loading guns. But Cody liked the rifleand he is thought to have been the only Plott that ever hadone. His grandson still owns it today.

Cody’s brother, James Robert Plott, (1879-1967) enjoyedusing a Spanish American War Krag rifle and it served himwell on many bear hunts. Their brother Herbert “Hub” Plottprimarily used his father’s old muzzle loading rifles to huntwith as Hub enjoyed preserving the old-time ways. Hub’swife, Nannie Plott also was a crack shot and kept a vintage1901 .22 caliber rifle in her kitchen to shoot varmints with.

Speaking of Plott women, nd while on thesubject of Plott family weapons, perhaps we should alsoinclude a frying pan to our list. Julia Plott, wife ofMontraville Plott, supposedly once killed a wolf with a skil-let. The wolf had made the mistake of damaging her laundryand she was forced to take action.

Other notable weapons still owned by the Plott family –though not hunting related – include a World War I swordand .45 caliber pistol owned by Big George Plott. Big Georgewas a veteran of the border war with Mexican revolutionaryPancho Villa, as well as World War I and World War II.

Another Civil War era sword, once owned by Verlin Plott,brother of Amos Plott, remains in the family, as do severalCivil War muskets and a shotgun, along with multiple pis-tols. These guns were likely later used as hunting weapons aswell – though no one knows for sure. Unfortunately severalvintage flintlock hunting rifles once owned by John AmosPlott were reportedly stolen from his home after his death.And these were reportedly early Bean rifles too — similar toaforementioned Bean flintlocks.

Also thought to be missing or stolen were the hunting riflesof both John, and his only son, “Little” George Plott.However, as it turns out, only the muzzle loading guns wereactually stolen. Three of these precious artifacts resurfacedin 2011 and are now back in the possession of the Plott fam-ily.

These weapons include a double barrel H Model Stevens 12gauge shotgun circa 1900. John Plott (1874-1959) used thishammerless weapon as his preferred bear hunting gun andloaded it with heavy slugs to ensure a clean kill. This is theshotgun that John is shown holding in the classic 1928 photoof the Plott brothers – John, Sam and Von – bear hunting inGraham County, NC.

Also included in this collection is an 1890 8MM GermanMauser. It is a top loading, short barreled rifle that holds afive round clip. This was “Little” George Plott’s favoritehunting rifle and he is shown holding it in several vintagehunting photos taken at the famous Hazel Creek, NC hunt-ing lodge in the 1930s.

He was said to prefer this short-barreled weapon because itwas easier to handle in the rugged mountain terrain – plus ithad solid knock-down power. “Little” George Plott diedheroically serving his country while fighting in World War IIon Christmas Eve 1944 – his story is profiled in detail in mythird book.

This rifle is in fine shape and can still be fired – and itincludes two original clips and a box of original bullets,though I would be reluctant to fire them. However, we areconsidering taking the Mauser on one last bear hunt to honorLittle George in the near future.

The final piece of this previously missing piece of Plott his-tory is an 1873 .32 caliber first model Winchester repeatingrifle. It too, was originally owned by “Little” George Plottand he hunted with it often. He reportedly loved the rifle butdid not like its weight or longer barrel. Like the other twoguns, the Winchester is in mint condition and can still befired today. The Plott clan is honored and ecstatic to havethese illustrious historical weapons back in the family fold.

Clearly the Plott family arsenal was as equally impressiveas their dogs, and just as rich in historical value. We areindeed fortunate that so many of these weapons survive stilltoday and that various Plott family members have allowedus to enjoy them as we imagine and appreciate their storiedpast.

I hope you enjoyed the article and photos. We’ll sign off fornow. Until next month, may God bless you, your family andyour dogs. Good hunting!