The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-11
TERROR OF ROAD AGENTS.
ADVENTUROUS EXPLOITS OF SCOTT
DAVIS, WESTERN OUTRIDER.


riders during the stage days to the
Black hills, and who is credited with do
! ing more than any one man to break up
the bands OF road agents. is still in the
| harness after twenty-five years in the ser
vice man hunter" detective and scout.
and from his appearance he will remain
in the business for another quarter OF a
century.
| There are no Buffalo Bill" character
istcs about Davis. He never tells OF
! his own experiences, although his life 5
history reads like novel.
| 1t was in the spring of 70 that Davis,
then strip of boy seeking adventure,
found himself in Deadwood, having cross
ed over from the Union Pacific with a
| freightng outfit. He had no money, and
| it did not take him long to learn that
the country was overcrowded with men
! looking for work. The stage lines were
having trouble with road agents" and
decided to send two armed guards called
| 'outriders" with each coach. Davis
| learned that men who were good shots
were wanted and the pay was 800 per
| month and a fixed sum for each robbec
killed. He decided to apply for a posi-
! ton and called on Al Patrick, then man
ager for the stage line.
Patrick sized up the fellow as a tender
| foot, asked him the usual questions of
his ability, experience and # he had ever
killed a man" Davis replied that ne
| had not, but considered himself a good
| shot, and he was hired more because men
! We're wanted by the stage line than from
any idea of Patrick's that he would be a
| success.
His Early Experience.
Davis first trip out of Deadwood was
uneventful and the job suited MIN. 1t
was different the second trip. While
crossing the plains on the northern part
of Nebraska three road agents suddenly
appeared and Davis was compelled for the
| first time to sight over his Winchester
at man. There were a number of shots
fired on both sides, and when the bat
tie was over two dead highwaymen and
one wounded were made additional bag
gage for the stage the rest of the jour
ney. 1t is not known who killed the men,
but Davis was considered a good man
from that time on.
|. In two months time he figured prom
inently in four attacks and the highway
men soon learned that Davis could not be
outwitted, and a stage coach he accom-
panied was avoided if possible. 1t is said
Of him that no stage accompanied by him
was ever robbed.
In his second year as an "outrider" Da-
Wis had an experience that he will never
forget. He saved his charge from being
robbed, but one of his passengers was
killed. The stage was leisurely rolling
over the hills one sultry day, Davis riding
on horseback a little distance in advance
When approaching one of the stations to
change horses he noticed the stableman
was not out with fresh horses and sus-
pected something was wrong. A log had
been removed from the stable and Davis
knew that bandits were there waiting for
the stage to drive up. He brought his
horse to a walk so the stage could catch
up with him. and without arousing sus-
picion, told the driver to wheel the horses
and escape
Just as the horses turned a shot was
| fired from the stable and one of the lead
horses fell, the horses became tangled
and the excited passengers left the coach.
| While seeking shelter one of them was
killed
When Davis gave the order to the driv-
er he dismounted and ran to the only
tree in that vicinity, which was located
| about fifty yards from the sta
Bile. He attempted to dislodge the
men in the stable and shot when
ever he had a chance, while the rob-
bers took shot at him at every opportu-
nifty. After a lull of half an hour one of
the hold-ups appeared at the door of the
stable pushing the stableman ahead of
him In such manner that Davis dare not
shoot for fear of hitting the man in front.
Thrashed Deserter.
When they advanced about halfway he
commanded them to halt or he would
shoot regardless of consequences The
robber tried to argue and promised to do
! him no harm if he would let them get at
the stage 1t was useless to argue and
the man backed up to the stable, still
keeping the hostler in front of him. The
men finally abandoned the attempt and
! left by keeping the stable between them
and the spot where Davis was.
Another time an effort was made TO rob
his stage while it was in the hills The
| bandits selected a lonely road and hid in
| a canyon below the road. The first warn
ing was a shot that brought down one OF
the lead horses Davis slid down off the
| boot" on the rear of the stage and took
a shot at a head he saw exposed. His
| driver and partner "outrider'' left and
| took to the hills. He had several occa-
sions to shoot and finally got a shell fast
ened to his gun. His shots were c.ose
enough to the bandits to let them know
they had tackled an outfit that was go
| ing to put up q night, and they We're not
situated to get at anyone lying on the
road. After a lull of half an hour Davis
found that the road agents" had aband-
oned him. When he found his compan-
ions he gave his partner a sound thrash
ing and refused to allow him to accom-
pany him.
Davis was usually sent out with the
treasury coach and it was well known
that a successful raid on this stage would
net large returns. At one time the treas
ury coach, in charge of others, was rob-
bed by four men. Davis was put on the
trail to run them down. In company with
arothCr fearless man. they chased the
bandits over the bad lands i'm Northern
Nebraska for a number of days. They
came up to them Unexpectedly one night
and had an exciting fight in which two
OF the bandits were killed. The other two
escaped and were never captured Their
escape was considered a blot on Davis
career, in his own estimation.
HOrsethieVes Are Corrnlled.
After the railroads superseded the
stage, Davis became ranchman, and
while so engaged five horsethieves drove
off n herd containing GOO head of horses
from one of Al Patrick's ranches. Know
ing Of Davis ability as "A man hunter
Patrick sent for him. When he arrived
the trail was three days old and he in
sisted on taking it up alone He follow
ed IT for "A week without losing track of
them Occasionally he would lose them
for a day and. finally. after fifteen days