I heard the song was written by Ben. Harrison. Suposedly it was his campain song as he ran for president. The story goes that he had this old mangie coon hound that he took with him as he campained in his early years and the opposite candidates ragged on Harrison so he wrote this song and carried with him through the years. Lem Briggs and Bill Brown were supposedly his running mates. Does any one have any difinate info on this or Barry's story?