Cut for coon

Posted by ESC on March 30, 2009 at 18:57

In Reply to: Cut for coon posted by Doug Sundling on March 30, 2009 at 08:53:

: I read the following in an 1891 newspaper published in Indiana, USA.

: The soil and timber were grand. There was a distance of seven miles without a stick amiss, only as they were cut for coon. The timber was tall and good.

: The question is: "coon" is for raccoon, but what meaning is the phrase, "as they were cut for coon"?

Hunters would cut down trees to get at coons. The pelts were valuable. The New York Times archives has an old story about a hunter who used this practice. It says the coons had their winter nest in old hollow trees.