Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-09-27

Gees sses v...k11lieg . 1teer-
New 1Deacsn 3.'s loerse vWen
. 0oeeSvvo00es9Ae e0r1ogs
Maaces With eloe SD
Dsiseso...A 0Doee..A S0s
aacDous 1Dog~r0e CaP.
taSp's Return - hts
D0oasev Aas &c.
In Col. Marccy's Thirty Years Of Army
Life on The BosdeI,, We ind sketch Of the
late Capt. Martin Scott. the celebrated freo>
tier officer and disting sishsd "shot," from
which ~ quote:
CAPT. MARTIN SCOTT.
Wheu Rsss joinsd my seginsot (ths 6sh
| y. 8. infantry af fert loWasd, Green Bay
IN ~ 0psle9 8 lSs2, l waa asei0nea y
I'D" Company. then commanded By Capt.
Merlin Scott, Of coon notoriesy.
TIE coon story has been 80 eiten related
| thstit Is probably familiar TO many bot -
aome may not have heard II, and a. shall
hare good deal TO say Of Capt. Scott, whose
peeulisf reputation il aptly illustrates, Il may
not be amss TO give . brief repetition Of Il
here.
The story. ~ ! understand, first appear
ed in newspaper published in Utica. NY.
in 1910, and the purpori oft was something
like the following C-ps. Scott, with sever,
al tricndA, vsge supposed to have bcso hunt
| ing in ths wood, end had become separa-
ted. A they were passing along, ono Of
them discovered raccoon sitting upon the
highest limb Of one Of the tallest trees, and
fired q him. but missed the object aud went
on. Soon another Of the party made his ap-
pcsrance and delivered shot, but with The
same result and after this. several others
took shota 1T him. but all were equally Nh :
successful: the coon was not harmed Az.
ter . while however. Capt. Scott passed
that way, aud, ~. ing the raccoon, drew up
his rifle, and was in the act Of pulling the
trigger, whom the coon said to him. "Who
are your" He replied, my name is Scott"
What Scott!" inquired the coon. why,
Capt. Scott care you Capt. Martin
Scott ;" aid ths coon. 1.-THE sams," was
the answer. "Then," said the coon, ''you
ncrd not shoot, I'll come down."
| Upon one occasi0n. after he bad been Oh
sent in the Far West ior quite numbsr Of
ycars, and had accumulal ed considerable
sum Of money, hc obtsine' furlough for
the purpose q reviHiting his friends in Ben
nington. Tie had lett there poor farmer 4
boy, and 10 resolved TO make respectable
appearance On his return. lie owned two
OF the iinest horses that have eves seen,
aud negro boy for whom be paid % .
pound, and whom he subsequently Get free.
Capt. Scott was seated in beautiful new
gig. drawn by his magnificent white horse,
followed by Jack dressed in livery as an
outrider. aud mounted on his thorough bred
horse dandy" and the rear Of the covlcee
was brought up BY some 20 fullblOodcd
dogs Of various breeds and descriptions -
In this order he drove through the quiet
streets Of Bennington nd halt, d II the VII
lago inn. where . great crowd Of iuquisitivs
c tlzcns where soon assembled, all ma.ifeats
oflhis distinguished stranger. No one, how.
ever, recognized him ~ he entered the house
aud took his seat by the window. lie did
no, remain there long before he saw his
brother passing with yoke Of oxen, where
upon he went ont and accostcd him shy ing,
You have a very tine pair of oxen there
81, do they belong TO you'' His brother,
not rccoSniz TX hin. anw.red that they were
very good cattle, hut belonged TO one Of his
ncghbors, aud tina, he was not allie TO pur-
chase them.
The Captain then inquired what they
could lie had for, and when his brother
mentioned the sum. he took out his purse,
handed him tho amount, telling him that he
liked his appearance 10 much that he would
make him = present Of the oxen. This most
extraordinary hbsrslity astonikhed his
brother, who could hardly believe il poss,-
bic that man should show such muniH-
csncc to u stranger. lie, however, took the
money and cEpssssed his profound gratitude
70 his benessclsr.
The Cap,siA then asked him where he
liveds aud rseasrksd that he wo, n, u he
had no objections, like to make him call,
10 which his brother replied that no had
rented a smnl farm near BY, and il vas only
BY the most rigid economy end industry
that he could manage 10 support HE family
and pay HE rents; but that, Of course, he
would bs glad to receive visit from one
Nho had shown such gcnercsity to him
He then inquired OF his brother what price
the owner put upon his farm: adding that
he believed he should like to present him
with that also. His brother nov looked at
tcntiyely st him, and for the first time recsg.
nizcd him.
| a. those persons who arc not fa,riliae
with the history Of Capt. scott may have
some desire 70 know shat b. eaws Of him,
will add, for their information, that he was
killed While CALAMITY leading forward his
command in tnat u-ost sangunary battle Of
The Mexican war, Molino del Reg.
This officer had served for many years at
our n,oss remote RENTER posts. and hs had
Away ,4agns shc reputation OF having been
the bost shse q his day. His smba,ion con-
sisted - ounine eAe best Aosses, 0oGs and
H. ~ 4
hunter besides beisg tsishsul and gallant
oDldier 90
At an early day. when no was boy only
II years Of agc, living at his home 10 Ben
ninet"n, w., bsar anAde bic appearoacs u
shas nei4hborhooa, eoomsetine lPeat hasss
among the iarsaess' sheep, and esvosine
much alasm among the timsd inhabisants Of
the Surrounding county.
So great was the excitement produced bv
The advent Of this savage intruder, that The
people Of several towns tu. ned out ID mass 70
hunt him down. They Organized into par
ties to scous IL tAs aajass6l moanosine and
woodlands on . certain day, end Wsre 70 -
ssmhls at the hotel In Bennington after the
days hunt veeover.s
Nov our )N1ns hero felt On earnest de-
sire to participate in this exciting sport, but
hs was perfectly weli aware that his father
would not give his consent to such pvopos
- Il il ~as suggeelsd - hin. r. there
NE very quietly 81 ~ &sfo0 - light .
the appointed day. took an old smooth
bored gun Of his fathers, loaded Il. and
started out alone into the mountain There
the hear vas last heard from. lie wander.
ed abest aeasly ~ day, hut vi hout dissov.
ering any SIGNS Of the an NAL, and ct length
turned towards home, and q he Was de-
scendins the mountain he came to shelv>
ing rock, aud was iust In the act Of passing
over Il, when suddsnly he came upon the
bear lying apparently asleep Just beneath
where be stood. He ct once raised the gun
to his shoulder and fired. aud he fortunately
lodged its contents in the vitals OF the beast.
killing him instantly. lie thea s.arted ior
the tavern, where many Of the hunters had
slready congregated, and were relating to
each other the history Of the days expert.
ence. AHeV IBID the4 that hc had titled the
bear, ba4snkTnid . h(lievs i(p osible, md
4 40 with eeat dmoolty lit he finally
persu61s1 sDuie sftAs sfssseo 70 Wieh him
70 verify his statement. When they reach.
I'd the place where the animal lay. they
we're amazed that % s0all led should havo
I'D the tsmseity 10 attack sach monster
he was huge fellow, and they were obliged
70 construct esto1l iletw te1asR IN 40
t,wn. wheus the 3l5,tsd ~ mo