Samuel Mason - Arrest and Death

Arrest and Death

According to Spanish colonial court records, Spanish officials arrested Mason and his men early in 1803 at the Little Prairie settlement, now Caruthersville, in southeastern Missouri. Mason and his family members were taken to the colonial government in New Madrid, where a three-day hearing was held to determine whether Mason was a pirate. Although Mason claimed he was simply a farmer who had been maligned by his enemies, the presence of $7,000 in currency and 20 human scalps in his baggage convinced the Spanish he indeed was a pirate. Mason and his family were taken under guard to New Orleans, where the Spanish governor ordered them handed over to the American governor in the Mississippi Territory, as all their crimes appeared to have taken place on American territory or against American boats.

While being transported upriver, Mason and gang member John Sutton (aka Wiley Harpe) overpowered their guards and escaped, with Mason being shot in the head during the escape. Although one 1803 account {Rothert .p. 247} claimed Captain Robert McCoy was killed by Mason in the escape attempt, McCoy, the Commandant of New Madrid, actually died in 1840 – nor was he crippled by Mason. The American governor immediately issued a reward for their recapture, prompting Sutton and another man to bring Mason's head in an attempt to claim the reward (whether they killed Mason or whether he died from his wound suffered in the escape attempt has never been established). They were recognized as two of the pirates, arrested, tried in federal court, found guilty of piracy, and hanged in Old Greenville,Jefferson County § Mississippi in early 1804.