NEWSPAPERS: Jackson County, Oregon *************************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with United States Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by noncommercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *************************************************************************** Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Elizabeth Corethers 20 July 2003 *************************************************************************** Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune Thursday, 15 Sept 1910, p. 1, c. 7 MISTAKEN FOR DEER; IS KILLED Roy M. McLean of Woodville Shoots George Megerle by Mistake--Is Prostrated by Grief--First "Mistaken for Deer" Victim in Southern Oregon This Year. The first "mistaken for a deer" victim has been claimed this year in Jackson county in the person of George Megerle of Woodville, who was shot and instantly killed a few miles from Woodville Wednesday afternoon by Roy McLean, a merchant of Woodville. The two were close friends. Mr. McLean is prostrated by the tragedy. The two men were hunting deer a few miles from Woodville. Megerle had two guns with him and was coming down a hillside with one over each shoulder. McLean heard a noise, and on catching a glimpse of what he thought to be a deer, the two guns looking like a pair of antlers, he shot and instantly killed his friend. The day before the tragedy young McLean went out hunting and when a few miles above Woodville he scared up a deer, but was unable to kill it. Yesterday, accompanied by Sherman S. Carroll, he went out to see if he could find and kill it. When the scene of the tragedy was reached Carroll and McLean separated, Carroll going over the ridge. A few moments later McLean saw something moving in the brush and though tit to be a deer, owing to the guns which Megerle carried on his shoulders. The likeness to a deer was further brought about by a cap with flaps which Megerle wore, the flaps resembling the ears of a deer. McLean, before shooting, whistled, a prearranged signal he had with Carroll. When the moving object did not pause, he shot. Megerle was hard of hearing, and for that reason he could not have heard the whistle. After shooting, McLean rushed to the spot and found that he had killed a man. He immediately fired five shots into the air, which brought Carroll on the run. When Carroll arrived the young man was frantic with grief. He took the gun away from McLean, fearing that he might do himself harm. The two men rushed to the town and reported the killing. The coroner's jury is now in session considering the case. McLean has been a hardware merchant in Woodville for the past year. His father is the Rev. Robert McLean of Grant's Pass, where he has filled the pulpit of the Presbyterian church for several years. Immediately upon hearing the news, Rev. McLean hastened to Woodville and this morning called upon Mrs. Megerle. The young man is highly respected in Grant's Pass, where he made his home for years. Mr. Megerle leaves a family. For some time he had been ranching in the neighborhood of Woodville and had many friends in this city and throughout the county.