Scott was born in Lewisburg, West Virginia of Scottish descent. He studied mining and architecture, and later worked in the west as an engineer. Many of his stories are based on this experience.

Around 1914 Scott met Mexican rebel leader Pancho Villa, he later joined the French Foreign Legion and fought during the first world war, rising to the rank of a captain. After the war, he worked as an engineer while writing in his spare time. Around 1930, he moved to New York to become a professional writer.

In 1936, writing as Jackson Cole, Scott created Jim Hatfield Texas Ranger. After seven short stories, he wrote the first novel Terror Stalks the Border (1937). He wrote novels based on the character until at least 1948, after which he lost the rights to the character in a dispute with his publisher. Other authors also used the Jackson Cole pseudonym to write Hatfield stories.

The character has been used extensively in comics, beginning with comics associated with the novel's publisher Standard Magazines, Exciting Comics (Pines, 1940 Series) v1#1 (April 1940).

Scott subsequently created vigilante Walt Slade and wrote at least 125 adventures under the pseudonym Bradford Scott (1956-1973). Apart from the name, there was little difference between Hatfield and Slade.

Scott was a quick writer, sometimes publishing nine novels in a year. He wrote about 250 novels during his life.