THE EXECUTION of SCOTT at FORT GARRY, CANADA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 316, 23 September 1874, Page 4

THE EXECUTION of SCOTT at FORT GARRY, CANADA.

The execution of Scott by order of #qwaqrgent Riel hat hitherto been undeecribed,. although the tragedy took place four years ago. Mr John Bruce, ex&t«Mknt of Riefr original Provisional Government, has now supplied the following statement relating to the execution of Thomas Scott, on the 4th of March, 1870, un^er sentence of " a .{••••roi-, .-in. :■„■■■ >■ tribunal of war " ;— •'Six soldiers bad been chosen to shooVScott. I have here to write the name of a man whose behavior in that circumstance reflects on him the greatest honor. Auguatin Parisien, on«nf tbe;six soldiers, declared openly that fre wtfaid not shoot at Scott; and, in fact, he took off the cap from his gab^ before the word of command— •TOiient^was given. Of the five balls remaining only two hit the poor victim, one in the left shoulder, the other in the upper part of the cheßt above, tire heart. Had the other soldiersmiesetltbe mark unintentionally, or had they willingly aimed too higb, too low, or aside? It is unknown. However that may be, as the two wounds were, not sufficient to cauee death— at least sudden death — a man named Guillemetre ' stepped forward Sid discharged the contents of a pistol ose at Scott's head while he was lying on the ground. This ball, however, took a wrong direction. It went into.; the upper part of the right cheek, ahd came out somewhere about the cartilage of the nose. Scott was still not dead, but that did not prevent his batchers from placing him alive, and stUjl., speaking, into a kind of coffin Aiade of four: rough boards. It was nailed and placed in the south-eastern bastion, and an armed soldier was placed at the door. This would teem like a story made at one's ease, if there were not several witnesses full of life who heard, between the hours of 5 and 6 in the evening, the unfortunate Scott speak from nnder the lid of bis coffio, ftiijd l il is known that he had been shot at half-past 12. What a long and horrible, agony 1 and what a ferocious qraelty on the part of his butchers ! The words beard and understood by th« French Metis were only these: <My God! My God 1* Some English Metis, and others speaking Scott's tongue, heard distinctly these words:— 'For God's sake, take me oat of here, or kill me!' Towards eleven o'clock — that is, after ten and a . half hours of frightful agony — a person, whose name I shall withhold for the preeent, went into the bastion and gave him the finishing stroke with a butcher's knife, according to some; with a pistol, according to others. The same person, after having inflicted the last blow on poor Scott, said, as be was coming back from the bastion, * The dog shall not speak any more; he is dead this time.' TJh^corpse was left in the south-eastern bastion a few days, being kept by soldiers, relieved each in their turn. On the third or fourth night, I could not say precisely which, the corpse was taken out of the bastion, placed in Dr SchultzY sleigh, taken towards the Bed River, and stopped about one mile and a half from the fort, nearly opposite the river ' La Seine. By means of a large stone, tied to the corpse, the body of Thomas Scott went to the river's bottom, to come thence no more. A few^words more, and I am through this horrible tragedy. It was in the afternponof the day when the execution occurred that the corpse was placed in the coffin, and it was later taken out of it in thi* bastion; bur, in order to avoid suspicion, a grave had been due inside the gate, facing the Assinboine River, a. few step's to the right, and it is there', the coffin, which was thought to contain Scott's body, was lowered." Louis Rie?^ 1 who ordered or sanctioned the execntioff'of Thomas Scott, has been, it-wjH be remembered, elected a m^ovr; bef of theJPominion House of Commons, an4(. there was great excitement af Ottawa when it transpired that, on the 30th March, he went to the clerk's office, took the oath, and signed the Parliamentary roll. It is stated that a military force was kept in readiness to act in case of need. It appears that a true bill was found against him on the charge of murder, and that a warrant \b out for his apprehension. The case was discussed in the House, and an order was made that be do attend in his place. But it was doubted whether he would judge it safe to make his appearance.: