Show historical orical rh luf amno ma scott cc wait aj released by western newspaper union A famous coon story NE of the classics of early 0 ONE american humor Is the story ot of davy crocketts interview with a coon according to the usual version this famous amous tennessee frontiersman was out hunting one day when he spied a raccoon high up in a tree instantly he leveled his bis deadly rifle at the animal whereupon the coon cried out Is that you crockett then dont shoot ill come down I 1 although this is readily recognized as a tall tale and a bit of 0 frontier folklore it has been repeated innumerable times as a tribute to crocketts unerring marksmanship but like so many other yarns associated with his name it Is also a borrowed story and another man was the hero of it when it was first told visit the historical museum in bennington vt and there ther eyou you will see a long rifle which according to the card beside it is the 50 caliber gun used by col martin so scott ott native ot of bennington and sharpshooter it was m made tie at harpers ferry in 1814 and alist first used in 1818 in the fifth rifle regiment of the v I 1 I 1 DAVY regular army this gun was often used by colonel scott while at fort howard at green bay wis W where here he and captain merrill were commandants mand ants beginning in 1834 11 this is the rifle used by the man who was the orf original ginal hero of the famous coon story scotts scott s reputation as a mighty hunter was established while lie he was still a boy at the age ot of 12 he killed a notorious bear that had been preying upon the livestock live stock of 0 the farmers around bennington and young scott was brought into town in triumph astride the carcass ass of the bear during his hunting expeditions ions he roamed westward into new york and it was near lake bonaparte in the foothills of the adirondacks that a coon in a tree seeing him approaching said Is that you martin scott then dont shoot ill come down dow nl at least such a yarn was printed in a utica N Y newspaper in 1837 and when the new york sun and other papers reprinted it it was given wide circulation davy crockett had been killed during the texan war for independence the previous year and as one of the heroes of the alamo his fame became even greater than it had been while he was an indian fighter bear hunter and congressman from tennessee so it is easy to see how some of his admirers knowing the widely reprinted story of martin scotts interview with the coon appropriated it for their hero and attributed tri buted the incident to crockett commissioned a captain in the fifth rifle regiment of the united states army scotts fame as a marksman spread rapidly once he demonstrated his ability by tacking an ace of clubs on a tree and firing feuring three shots at it with his muzzle loading rifle no doubt the one in the bennington museum in a minute and 20 seconds col B R B marcy commander of the regiment regimen t examined the target and announced one hit and two misses thereupon sott scott called tor for an ax chopped into the tree and showed three bullets in the single I 1 hole scotts career ended in 1817 1847 when he be was as killed while leading his company in the battle baltic ol of molino del rey in mexico in 1847 before marching away to the war in mexico scott visited his boyhood home in bennington he had left it as a poor and obscure lad he came back rich and famous according to a contemporary account he returned in a fine new gig drawn by a superb white horse following him as an outrider was a negro slave jack dressed in livery and mounted on a thoroughbred and 20 or SO 30 full blooded dogs of various breeds scott Is said to have paid 5 a pound tor for jack and later treed freed him |