EARLY HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA
ENCOUNTER WITH A PANTHER
and the Bounty System
Several incidents are related of this town, at the period of its first settlement, among which the following encounter with a panther, in 1819, is related by Jairus Rich, the hunter. It occurred near Hyde Lake, about three miles from the village of Plessis. He had set his traps for wolves, and had arrived within a few rods of one of them, when he observed a panther spring up and run with a trap to one of his hind legs. He fired, but missed his mark, and his game made off into the thicket, when he returned to a house nearly a mile distant, procured a small dog, and having again repaired to the place, and stationed himself where he could start the entrapped animal, he observed the head of a panther emerge from the bushes about five rods distant, upon which he fired and killed him instantly. He soon found that this was not the one in the trap, and a heavy shower of rain coming on, he found it difficult to load his rifle again, which he at length did. The dog, meanwhile, had engaged the other panther, upon which he fired and wounded him, and finding he could not reload, on account of the rain, he threw down his piece, and seizing his hatchet, sprung upon him, when there ensued a fearful struggle, in which, finally the beast got under, with one of the man's hands in his mouth; the hatchet was lost, but with the other hand he drew from his pocket a knife, opened it with his teeth, and finally succeeded in cutting the throat of the ferocious animal. The hunter was badly torn, but managed to crawl to the nearest house, where, after many weeks, he recovered, but carried the scars of the conflict with him to the grave. We have condensed this account from one published soon after the occurrence, in the Independent Republican.
The bounties for the destruction of wild animals were then so great, that the inducements for gain led to ingenious measures for securing the rewards, and it is related of the same person, that having trailed a she wolf to her den, and killed her, he found in her cave ten young whelps, but too small to be entitled to the bounty. He accordingly built a pen in the forest, and fed them daily upon wild meats which he obtained in hunting, until they were grown. He became strongly attached to one of them, who would follow him like a dog, but the temptation of $50. was too strong to resist, and he slew his favorite pet, to gain the premium. This breeding wolves for the market, had its parallel in an instance in this town, in which a hunter, to gain the reward that might be offered for the secret, professed to know of a salt spring, to which he was induced to conduct a certain person, and in which he had a little previous buried a bag of salt. The water being duly "analyzed," by measuring, evaporating, and weighing, a purchase of nearly 800 acres was made, without a knowledge of the spring by the landholder, nor was the trick discovered before the bargain had been sealed and the sale perfected.I
You are our 858 visitor since March 20, 2001--
Last Revision :Wednesday, 21-Mar-2001 08:24:30 MSTReturn to Town of Alexandria Index Page
[NY ALHN]