The Missouri dog that helped popularize the saying ‘man’s best friend’
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
JOHNSON COUNTY, Mo. – A great many songs, poems, books, and essays have been written about the virtue and simple nobility of the dog. Mark Twain once opined, “The dog is a gentleman,” and wrote that if admission to Heaven were based on merit, “you would stay out and your dog would go in.” But chief among the accolades bestowed upon our furry friends is the distinction of “man’s best friend.” A 19th-century Missouri court case about a dog is credited with further popularizing that nickname for our beloved canine companions.
The story begins in the fall of 1869 in Johnson County, Missouri, with a frustrated sheep farmer named Leonidas Hornsby.
Hornsby had lost over a hundred sheep to wild dogs and wolves. His anger finally spilled over and he told anyone who’d listen that he’d shoot the next dog or wolf that wandered onto his property.
On the evening of October 28, Hornsby observed a hound dog in his yard. Hornsby’s nephew, Samuel “Dick” Ferguson, believed they should shoot the dog. According to Hornsby, he told Ferguson to only scare the animal by loading a rifle with corn and shooting it. Ferguson did as he was told and shot the dog. Hornsby later claimed the dog jumped in pain, then jumped over a small fence and ran away.
Hornsby’s brother-in-law, Charles Burden, lived on a neighboring farm and heard the shot. Burden, who owned many dogs, called after his animals. All but one dog returned home: a black and tan hound dog named Old Drum.
When the dog failed to return home by the following morning, Burden went to his neighbors and eventually his brother-in-law, asking if they knew what may have happened. Hornsby acknowledged that his nephew shot at a dog but denied seeing Old Drum specifically.
Burden later found Old Drum along the muddy bank of the Big Creek, approximately six miles southwest of Kingsville, face down in the water. Burden saw evidence that led him to believe his beloved hunting dog didn’t walk the creek but had been carried and left there. He suspected his brother-in-law to be the culprit.
According to the Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society, Burden threatened to kill Hornsby but opted for legal justice instead. He sued Hornsby for $100 in damages (approximately $2,281.81 in 2024 dollars). The amount was later amended to $50, but jurors could not agree if Hornsby had ordered his nephew to shoot Old Drum. The case was retried in January 1870, with Burden being awarded $25 and court costs.
Hornsby’s appeal was heard in March 1870. According to court testimony, Hornsby and Ferguson went to Big Creek, found Old Drum’s remains, and removed the lead bullets from the dog’s body. But because Burden’s attorneys could not prove Hornsby directly caused Old Drum’s death, the court reversed the previous decision and awarded Hornsby court costs.
Burden filed for a new trial, citing new evidence on the matter. Both sides hired prominent Missouri lawyers to litigate the matter this time around. Francis M. Cockrell and Thomas T. Crittenden argued on behalf of Hornsby, while John F. Philips and George Graham West joined Burden’s existing legal team. West
In this fourth trial, held at the Old Johnson County Courthouse in Warrensburg, Hornsby testified that he told his nephew to shoot a dog but claimed it wasn’t Old Drum. Burden’s attorneys pointed out that no other dog was shot dead in the area.
On September 23, West delivered closing remarks to the jury and chose a peculiar tactic. He made no specific mention of Old Drum nor did he speak of the case or evidence. Instead, West appealed to jurors with a eulogy for all dogs and their unconditional love.
Gentlemen of the jury: the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that 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 our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the 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 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.
Gentleman 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 the 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 fall 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.
George Graham Vest, “Eulogy of the Dog“
Vest’s words won the day, and the jury awarded Burden a $50 judgment. Hornsby appealed again, this time to the Missouri Supreme Court. In July 1872, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the ruling in favor of Burden.
Monuments were later built in memory of Old Drum and Vest’s dramatic courtroom speech. In December 1947, Fred Ford placed a stone monument along Big Creek near the location where Old Drum was found. In September 1958, Italian-born sculptor Reno J. Gastaldi fashioned a bronze statue of Old Drum. The Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce, along with donations from all over the country, paid for the statue. The monument is adorned with a plaque containing the words of Vest’s eulogy.
More recently, a bust of Old Drum can be found in the Missouri Supreme Court Building. And in the summer of 2017, the Missouri Legislature approved a measure designating Old Drum as the state’s official historical dog.
According to the City of Warrensburg website, Burden and Hornsby made amends in the years after the case. Both men are buried close to each other in the Hornsby Cemetery, located near Kingsville.
And what of the phrase “man’s best friend”? It’s become state legend that the nickname was derived from this court case. Unfortunately, that’s a canard—an old wives’ tale. Now, it is true that Vest’s closing arguments contributed to the growing popularity of “man’s best friend,” but the phrase draws its origins across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.
King Frederick II of Prussia is widely-credited with having the first recorded use of the term “man’s best friend” while speaking of one of his Italian greyhounds. The French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire used the phrase in his “Dictionnaire philosophique” in 1764.
As for the United States, a C.S. Winkle poem published in 1821 refers to the faithful dog as “man’s best friend.” It didn’t become a widespread term until 1941, when American poet Ogden Nash published “An Introduction to Dogs.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
