Black and Tan Coonhounds can trace their ancestry back to American and Virginia Foxhounds as well as Bloodhounds that were around back in colonial times. They were bred and developed to hunt raccoons which were a source of food, fur as well as fat for immigrants who first settled in both the southern and western territories back in the day. The hounds these frontiersmen produced were highly skilled at tracking raccoons at night through swamps until their prey went up a tree. The hounds would then bay to mark the location for the huntsman.