The execution of Thomas Scott
Vol XCIII, No. 311
Wednesday, May, 7, 2014
$100,000,000,000.01
Why did Thomas Scott get executed?
Who is the deceased ?
How was his life before he died?
As Thomas Scott came over to Canada from Ireland in the summer of 1869, Scott arrived at Red River and found employment as a labourer on the “Dawson Road” project, a new wagon road connecting Red River to Lake Superior, under Superintendent Simon Snow. In a dispute with Simon Snow in August, Scott led a strike against Snow, who wisely capitulated after Scott threatened to throw him into the Seine River near Red River. Thomas Scott was charged and convicted of assault and was fined £4. As Louis Reil came into the picture Scott payed less attention to the "Dawson Road" Project, Scott became more involved with George Schultz who was leading his own anti-Riel rebellion. They were arrested and placed under guard at Fort Garry after their attempt to capture Reil. He was arrested a few more times before his life sentance was assured. So in the end though Thomas Scott had good intentions, summarily he was executed by Reil's men for committing insubordination following a trial.
What happened at his time of execution?
The deceased is Thomas Scott. Thomas Scott is an Irish born canadian who immigrated to Ontario when he was 21. Thomas spent his youth in in Ireland and had a normal childhood. His parents were tenant farmers in the estate of clandeboye in the neighborhood. Later on in his life, as he got older he became more of a violent and boisterous man. In 1863 he turned up in Canada and worked as a laborer for the government. Scott is one of those historical enigmas. While others call him the "skin-head" (meaning a young man of a subculture characterized by close-cropped hair and heavy boots, often perceived as aggressive). Others, believe he was martyr meaning killed for his belief, beacaue all Thomas Scott wanted to do was unite canada as nation and Louis Reil and his men killed him.
When the men of Louis Reil brought him outside to kill him, the firing squad of 6 people failed to kill him as only two of the 6 bullets hit Thomas Scott. One hit Thomas Scott wounding him once in the left shoulder, and once in the upper chest. One of the soldiers put a gun to his head and shot him again. But apparently he was still not dead and was put into a coffin screaming from which he continued to scream for the entire day. He then cried out for "God's sake take me out of her or kill me." He was denied and the captin said "for this coffin shall be tour hell because God loved your race too much to send you to his."
Where is the body of Thomas Scott?
Who Killed Thomas Scott? Why Did They Do It?
What did they do with it?
There are a lot of different stories about how his body was disposed of. In some his coffin was found to have been full of rocks. In others all they found in it was a piece of rope. It is thought that Louis Riel had Scott's body thrown into the river through a hole cut through the ice made by his men. Thomas Scott's body was never found and although a body did wash up on the Assiniboine later in that spring it was never identified to be accounted as him.
George Schultz and bunch of others were with Scott at the Anti-Reil rebellion, he and a bunch of others escaped and planned to capture Louis Riel. As Scott failed to capture Louis Riel he was arrested again. While he was in jail Scott was an extraordinarily difficult, opinionated and verbally abusive to the police guards. Louis Reil had a choice, a choice that could spare a life or end one. Due to his hatred towards Thomas after he tried to capture him, Louis Reil's choice was to kill Thomas Scott.