Wilson Rawls wrote a children’s book titled Where the Red Fern Grows in 1961 about a boy who buys two hunting dogs. A work of autobiographical fiction, the book is based on Rawls’ own upbringing in the Ozarks.
Main plot line of Where the Red Fern Grows
Billy Coleman, an elderly man, saves a redbone hound that was being attacked by nearby dogs. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. He recalls a time when he was ten years old and living in the Ozark Mountains as a result of this incident. Billy Coleman, a young man, is desperate to get a pair of Redbone Coonhounds to go coon hunting. Billy works odd jobs for the next two years to save up the $50 he needs to purchase two puppies after seeing a magazine ad for coonhounds. Tahlequah, more than 20 miles away, receives Billy’s dogs. Billy decides to walk the distance. He decides to name the puppies Little Ann and Old Dan after a heart bearing the names “Dan + Ann” carved on a tree as he returns with the dogs. Billy instructs his dogs in hunting with the aid of his grandfather. Billy and the dogs have a strong bond of loyalty.
Billy tells the dogs on the first night of hunting season that if they kill a coon, he will take care of the rest. Billy believes that the massive sycamore tree they planted is far too large to be cut down. After remembering his promise to his dogs, Billy makes an effort to cut down the sycamore for the following two days. A strong wind then topples the tree as Billy, who is exhausted, begs for the strength to keep going. The best hunters in the Ozarks are known as Billy and his hounds. Old Dan and Little Ann are to find the fabled “ghost coon,” which has evaded hunters for years, according to a wager made by Billy’s grandfather with Rubin and Rainie Pritchard. Old Dan and Little Ann finally catch the raccoon after a protracted and difficult hunt, but Billy is unable to bring himself to kill it after realising how old and shrewd the ghost raccoon is. Billy gets into a fight with Rubin when he tries to stop the Pritchards from killing the raccoon. Old Dan and Little Ann attack Old Blue in an effort to remove him from Billy after the Pritchards’ dog Old Blue joins the altercation. Rubin attempts to use an axe to chase Billy’s dogs away but trips fall on the blade and perish. Despite being greatly disturbed by the tragic turn of events, Billy does not regret sparing the ghost coon.
In a championship coon hunt, Billy’s grandfather enters him against more experienced hunters. Prior to the start of the main hunt, Billy enters Little Ann in a hound beauty contest. The hunt is scheduled during a particularly cold week, and many of the other hunters are forced to give up. Many of the other hunters are forced to give up because the hunt is planned for a particularly cold week. On the final night, Billy is forced to seek shelter after Old Dan and Little Ann capture three raccoons in a single tree. The dogs are discovered the next morning still circling the tree despite being covered in ice. Billy and his dogs successfully capture all three raccoons, winning the championship and a $300 prize.
The dogs are attacked by a mountain lion one night while the group is out hunting. The mountain lion attacks Billy as he fights to save his dogs. By killing the mountain lion, the dogs are able to save Billy, but Old Dan later succumbs to his wounds. Billy is devastated when Little Ann eventually loses her will to live and passes away on top of Old Dan’s grave after several days.
Billy’s father tries to console his son by saying that without the extra income generated by Billy’s hunting, he and Billy’s mother would not have been able to move to a town where their children could receive an education. They intended to let Billy live with his grandfather because they knew that Billy’s dogs would suffer in town and that Billy would be heartbroken to leave them behind. Billy’s dad thinks that God used the dogs to indicate that the family was intended to remain together. Billy discovers a huge red fern growing between Old Dan and Little Ann’s graves on his final day in the Ozarks. Billy also starts to think that maybe there really was a higher power at work after remembering a myth that claims that only an angel can plant a red fern. Billy the adult concludes by saying that even though he hasn’t gone back to the Ozarks, he still fantasises about going to their graves and seeing the red fern once more in the future.
