The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1883-11-10
Captain Mayne Reid.

a dispatch from London announces
the death of Captain Mayns Reid, the
we'll known novelist, after short illness,
at his London residence. He was o ma
tive of the north of Ireland. He was
born in 1918 and was descended from one
of the pioneers of the "Ulster Planta-
tions. His father was q Presbyterian
clergyman, and he fondly hoped that his
son might follow in his footsteps. With
that end in view he gave him q theologi-
cal education and destined him for the
church. It would have been far easier
for the father to have tanned tiger than
to have controlled young Reid's inclina-
tion for adventure. The boys brain was
full of romance. He thirsted after travel
and deeds of daring. The prairie was
more to his taste than the pulpit One
day in 1888 he threw away his books and
started for Mexico. On his arrival in
New Orleans he made direct for the
haunts of the red man, and hunted and
traded among the Indians of the Red
river country and those of the
Missouri. This wild kind of life
delighted the young Irishmsn. He be-
came almost an Indian himself. He de.
veloped immense strength, could run
like deer and was crack shot with the
rife. Witnessing and participating in
many stirring ARRAYS on the prairies and
the forests in the great west, he spent
what he often said were the happiest
and most joyous years of his life. He
hunted the buffalo and the bear, and
learned from his dark associates their
method of finding their way unerringly
through trackless, gloomy woods and
hOln6inCa T1loInd M tunn6nr hot l.,
acquired an immense amount of informa-
ton concerning the primitive customs of
the Indians and gained an extensive
istics of the country. Five years were
through nearly all the northern, south
civilized life, he settled in Philadelphia
and began to write for American period
icals. Drawing from his great store
house of treasured "reminiscences, he
wrote most interesting articles for the
press of this city and Philadelphia.
The Mexican war broke out, and Reid
commission in the United
States army as second lieutenant In Bur-
nett's regiment of New York volunteers.
He was present at the siege and capture
of Vera Cruz and distinguished himself
in several battles. At <Churubusco he
led the last charge of infantry, and also
the forlorn hope at the storming of Cha
pultepec. In this attack he was shot
down at the head of his men, and was
reported killed. He recovered, and had
the satisfaction of being praised in more
than one dispatch for gallautry. The war
over, he resigned his commission. The |
next undertaking of note that he was
connected with was the organization of a |
in this city in 1849. His OBJ |
lect was to assist the heroic Kossuth, who |
was then fighting hard for the |
of Hungary Full of |
this idea. he went to Paris and heard the |
tidings that the efforts |
Of the Hungarians had been crushed |
mainly by the aid of Russian armed in
;ervention, and that Kossuth had been
forced to seek refuge in Turkey. Reid |
hen went to London. took up his quar-
,ers there and began to write stories of
adventure and romance. III which he
many of the episodes of his
own life on the prairies and among the |
Mexicans and Indians. So fascinating |
we're the tales that issued from his facile |
pen and SO entertaining to the youthful |
mind especially. that his books were
'oon in great demand among the London
publishers. They attained an immense
'eputation and circulation commensu-
ate with their charm. Very noticeable
indeed is the deep and wide knowledge
,f natural history displayed throughout
III his writings. 1t is hard to distin-
yuish, also, on which he was the best
authority history, geology or
botany. As writer of bows books he
Eas unsurpassed, and he has delighted
he hearts of the juvenile population on
both sides of the Atlantic, and it is not
N unsafe prediction to say that his
Forks viii continue to be as popular so
7ears hence at they are to day.
he visited the United States on MANY
'ccaslons after he became famous as an
'uthor, at one time lecturing in the city
n defence OF Lord Byron, of whom he
vas an enthusiastic admirer, and at an
'ther giving in letter to the Herald
ome suggestions as to the management
4 horse cars, especially directed to their
rivers. An indefatigable writer he was
ne author of more than fifty works of
lctlon and several of zoology. He was
$50 versatile contributor tn neusna