The fine French hounds of the Gascogne, Porcelaine, Saintongeois and others had been brought to America even before colonial times. These patient, persistent, beautifully voiced hounds continued to be bred in fairly pure form in remote areas of the South.

During the early decades of this century, dog dealers made trips into the Louisiana bayou, the Ozark Mountains and other isolated areas, bringing out hounds of remarkably pure type. These dogs, mainly of the heavily ticked blue color, were often referred to as Blue Gascons or French Staghounds. Crossed with various foxhounds and curs, they formed the basis of the UKC Bluetick Coonhound.

Because the Bluetick Coonhound were registered as English Coonhounds along with dogs of a very different type, distinct strains of these blue dogs became famous. The Ozark Mountain strain was said to be the closest to pure French and came to prominence in the 1930s. Famous dogs of this strain included "Missouri Valley Echo," "Bailey's Blue Dollar" and "Grant's King Bo."

In the 1920s, the Sugar Creek strain began, with dogs of this bloodline remaining today. They have some old-type Black and Tan in their makeup and are very like the French hounds in their style of hunting. Famous Sugar Creek hounds included the peerless "Blue Bones," who won the first field trial for coonhounds in 1924, and later "Top Notch Drum," "Huey Long," and the prepotent "Cornerstone." Bloodhound, Bluetick, and Porcelaine, as well as Gascogne blood, flowed through the veins of the Old Line strain, another very famous line which included the studs: "Lee's Troop," "Florida Blue" and "Green's Panther." The Bluetick Coonhound dogs were much sought after during the late 1930s and the War years, but Old Line is simply gone. The Smokey River and Bugle strains were also prominent in the development of the breed.

Breeders of these blueticked dogs wanted to keep their old style of hunting. They feared a trend to make the majority of hounds registered as English faster and more hot-nosed. To maintain the old-fashioned type, they officially broke away in 1945 and established the breed known as the Bluetick Coonhound.

For a time, blueticked pups from a litter could be registered as Blueticks, and the re-dticked whelps became English Coonhounds. But soon the stud books were closed, and this practice was no more.

Bluetick Coonhounds still have devout followers and are fine coonhounds. But some owners feel these dogs recently have given way to the current trend of foxhound type and speed in order to participate in the competitive events, as the English hound did before them. Those who want the original big, cold-nosed, old-fashioned type have thus converted to the Blue Gascon and the Majestic.