1833 – "It doesn't take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell that the man who serves the master one day, and the enemy six, has just six chances out of seven to go to the devil. You are barking up the wrong tree, Johnson."—James Hall, Legends of the West, p. 46.[1]
1833 – "I told him that he reminded me of the meanest thing on God's earth, an old coon dog barking up the wrong tree." -- Sketches of David Crockett," p. 58. (New York).[1]
1834 – "[The Indians] to use a Western phrase, barked up the wrong tree when they got hold of Tom Smith." [2]
1836 – "You've been barking up the wrong tree, cried the Ohioan." -- Knickerbocker Magazine, p. vii. 15 January 1836.[1]
1838 – "Instead of having treed their game, gentlemen will find themselves still barking up the wrong tree." -- Mr. Duncan of Ohio in the United States House of Representatives, July 7: Congressional Globe, p. 474, Appendix.[1]
1839 – "The same reckless indifference which causes a puppy to bark up the wrong tree. -- Chemung (NY) Democrat, September 18. 1839.[1]
References
^ abcdeThornton, Richard H. and Louise Hanley. (1912). An American glossary, p. 43.
___________. (1886). Barking up the wrong Tree; a Darkey Sketch in One Act and One Scene. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald. OCLC20640219
Boye DeMente, Lafayette. (2007). Cheater's Guide to Speaking English Like a Native, Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-804-83682-1; OCLC 148660284
Conald, James. (1872). Chambers's English Dictionary: Pronouncing, Explanatory, and Etymological with vocabularies of Scottish words and phrases, Americanisms, &c. London : W. & R. Chambers. OCLC37826777
Thornton, Richard H. and Louise Hanley. (1912). An American glossary. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. OCLC318970
Walsh, William Shepard. (1909). Handy-book of Literary Curiosities. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. OCLC1032882
