As  a  breeder  of  the  best  and  more  thorough-bred  horses
in  the  State,  if  not  in  the  whole  Southwest,  he  naturally
and,  as  things  went  then,  necessarily  became  a  patron
of  the  turf. Truxton's  breed  ruled  the  Southwestern
race-track  for  many  years. It  may  be  said  that  the  Trux-
ton  colors  were  never  lowered  until  the  advent  of  Lex-
ington, who  not  only  brought  down  the  Jacksonian  su-
premacy, but  transferred  the  head-quarters  of  horse-
breeding  from  Tennessee  to  Kentucky. In  the  epoch
under  consideration,  however,  "the  Commodore,"  as
Truxton  was  nicknamed,  was  in  his  prime  and  without
a  rival. It  has  been  written  of  him  by  Mr. Alexander,
of  Kentucky,  that,  "during  the  years  of  his  prime,  he
was  never  beaten  in  a  two-mile  heat  himself,  and  he
begot  more  than  four  hundred  colts  alike  victorious  on
every  track. He  did  not  live  to  a  very  old  age,  but  while
he  was  alive  and  serviceable  he  made  more  money  for
Andrew  Jackson  than  any  other  single  piece  of  property
he  ever  owned. Colonel  Samuel  Donelson,  a  grand-
nephew  of  Mrs. Jackson,  has  told  the  author  that  the
General,  so  long  as  he  owned  Truxton,  invariably  vis-
ited his  stable  and  carefully  inspected  him  and  his  sur-
roundings the  last  thing  before  retiring  at  night. The
horse  grew  very  fond  of  his  master,  and  though,  when


PERSONAL,    POLITICAL    AND    MILITARY  221

he  got  old,  he  became  unruly  and  ill-tempered — as  thor-
ough-bred stallions  usually  do — the  General  could  always
manage  and  control  him  when  no  one  else  could.*

His  prominence  and  usefulness  as  a  breeder  of  fine
horses  during  these  years  may  be  judged  from  the  fact
that  he  seldom  had  on  his  plantation  less  than  fifty  or
sixty  head,  including  colts,  and  that  other  breeders  in
the  Southwest  were  wont  to  come  from  quite  distant
points  to  buy  brood-mares  or  young  stallions. This  was
of  advantage  to  Jackson  in  more  ways  than  one. It  was,
of  course,  a  source  of  income ;  much  of  the  time  his  prin-
cipal source. Besides,  the  other  breeders  who  patronized
his  stud  were  men  of  mark  and  influence  in  their  own
localities,  and  it  was  seldom  that  Jackson  entertained  a
man  at  his  home  and  sold  horses  to  him  without  at  the
same  time  winning  a  valuable  friend  and,  in  most  cases,
a  devoted  adherent. 