Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-02

youth he was captive among the Iroquois and
learned their tongue, customs and woodcraft to
perfection. Later he built a rude cabin for
himself and family on an island in the Juniata
near its mouth, above Duncannon. cleared q
little land, and happy and free from care
amused himself with the pleasures of hunting
and fishing But one evening on his return
from a days sport he found his cabin burned
and his wife and child murdered. From that
hour he was a changed man. Swearing undying
vengeance upon the redskins, he formed band Of
resolute forest rangers for the protection Of the
captain from the colonial governor of Pennsyi-
vania (the record is still preserved in the state
archives at Harrisburg, and proceeded thence
forth to wage an untiring warfare upon the
tribes. His band, by reason of their famous
exploits, became q veritable terror to the In
dams: Jack was variouslv known as Capt:
Jack. the BLACK Hunter, "Black Rife" and
the Wild Hunter of the Juniata." Washing
ton Irving speaks of him highly in his biography
Of George Washington, and describes infinitely
the personal appearance of his band as clad in
their leather hunting shirts, leggings, and moe
casins, they threaded with noiseless footsteps
the tangled jungle of the wilderness in the time
Of Gen. Braddock.
CAPT. JACKS MEMORY.
"Jack's" name is bequeathed to the imposing
mountain that runs north and south from the
brink of the river, which cuts it in two and
passes hurriedIy through the two-mile glen
known as Jacks Narrows," between Mapleton
and Mount Union. On the very summit of the
mountain, 1000 feet above the sea level, in the
center Of o wooded table land of mile or SO in
diameter, bursts up Jacks spring." a magnif-
cent fount Of ice-cold water, absolutely trans
parent. Its reservoir, IL feet long by feet
wide and feet deep, is lined by nature with
snow-white sand stones. The outgoing stream
is enormous and never fuctuates in volume
even in the dryest weather. Strange to say,
nowhere is there any higher ground than that
occupied by the spring. Where its water comes
from, therefore, is a subject Of interesting
speculation. young man OF Huntingdon,
twelve miles up the river, not long ago wrote
Of it enthusiastically:
This lofty nook this living pool.
No heats q noon can find place in.
Its rocky snowy sanded basin;
AnG as the fount itself Is fair,
And rainbow colors glinting there.
SO lovely are the sights that bound it.
TO north, where thrive the Am.shmen.
While east and west 10 fsrthest ken
Bright views Of hills and river thrill US;
Down tumbling DER the mountain flows.
With many frolicsone cantata."
At the foot Of the mountain it breaks into
series Of charming waterfalls before emptying
into the river, a mile above Mount Union, and
right in that vicinity, where he was wont to
drink from the refreshing torrent when heated
no one knows the exact spot, as it is not
marked-the redoubtable Captain Jack s" bones
lie buried to this day. W. W. Fuller of Mount
Union, who has written a long poem concern
ing Jacks Narrows," speaks of the peaceful
sleeper by the rivers shore thus
"a friend to friend. foe to foe.
To stand he not slack;
The narrows wear that hero's name
The name Of Captain Jack"
JD.C.