The Turnbo Manuscripts

by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925


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A WOUNDED BUCK KILLS A HUNTER’S DOG
By S. C. Turnbo

In the year 1843 Lewis Herrean and Betsey Herrean, his wife, emigrated from Morgan County, Illinois, to the state of Missouri and settled on Big Creek in Taney County. Mr. Herrean laid his claim two miled above what is known now as the Jack Nance place where they lived two years. While Mr. Herrean lived on Big Creek bread corn commanded a high price and cattle rated at an exceedingly low price and Herrean gave Paton Keesee who lived on Little North Fork a span of fine three year old steers for 10 bushels of corn and was glad to exchange the cattle for that amount of corn for bread. There was an abundance of fat bear on Big Creek then. One day while Mr. Herrean was hunting on the creek he met a family of bears at the foot of the hill where the road leads up from Dit Post Office to Hercules. The family of bruins consisted of a mother and three cubs the size of coons. He shot the old one and after she had run 100 yards she fell and died. The cubs went up a small tree and he shot them. In a day or two after this Mr. Herrean took his favorite dog and went near the same locality to meet more bear but he found a big buck instead and he shot and wounded it. He put his dog on the trail which soon overhauled the antlered beast, and the enraged animal turned on the dog at once and plunged at it and pierced the helpless canine’s body through with its sharp pointed horns and killed it on the spot. When the fierce beast finished the work of killing the dog it raised its head in great anger, sniffed the air and looked about for another enemy. At this moment Mr. Herrean shot it the second time and brought it down or no doubt the hunter would have been compelled to fight the buck or hurry up a tree out of danger of it.

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