The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
JOCK DARLING OF MAINE.
a HUNTER, GUIDE, AND OUTLAW,
VINO LONG RULED THE FOREST.

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stories Absut Him Recniea by EHis Deats-Hi
KNOWLEDGE or woodcran-Ilsw re Killed .
Moose with y Penkuirs-A LoaG Copteai
with the Law. In which ne was Heater,
LOWELL. Me-, Jan. 14.-No hunter in Ameri
cn had n wider circle OF acquaintance thar
"Unclc jock" Daring, who died here In his big
farmhouse carly this month. He was known
and referred to rs nm authority upon wood
craft by people in all parts OF the country fol-
fully half q century. Some liked him, almost
worshipped him, on account Of his skill with
the rifle and paddle and his knowledge Of ami
mails and their habits. Others spoke Ill Of him
because he killed all kinds Of big game In sea
son and out Of season, regardless OF law, and
valiantly defended his conduct by saying that
It was better that every deer In tho world should
perish than that one human being should suffer
from hunger. But whether no was liked or
hated, he always ruled the Maine woods, like
an outlaw chief, commanding a degree of re.
spect from his admirers that kept the game
wardens in awe and caused them to intimate
to tho SheriTs that they had better let Uncle
Jock alone. Though ho never protested my
particular liking for the Indians, believing, rs
he did. that an Indian could do nothing 80 well
as n white man, the braves of all the Eastern
tribes looked to him rs q sage or sachem, and his
words wero far moro potent with them than
those Of any legally chosen chief. The guides,
knowing his great skill, went to him for advice;
tho far-back squatters, relying upon him for
many favors, kept the best beds and the best
food in their cabins in readiness against the
time when no came around. and the smugglers
and outlaws who infested the Canada and New
Brunswick borders we're willing to fight and
die for him. For more than half q century
he held complete sway in tho Maine woods,
and though he was convicted Of poaching and
suspected Of smuggling, nobody has ever &C.
cused him of bctraying friend or foe.
1t was n saying Of Jocks that he believed the
first toy which his parents gave him In child
hood was q shotgun. When he was IL years
old he kept the family supplied with partridges.
shooting them with an old flint lock kings
arms muskct that weighed more than ten
pounds. The autumn before he was IL years
old he was out for cartridges one day and met
his first moose. a good. sized bull, which charged
upon him from the further side OF n clearing,
compelling him to climb to the top of II sapling
pine. AS the limb of the tree were broad. Jock
was able to pull up his musket before the moose
arrived. Then while the mad animal butted
tho tree. scraping Off limbs and bark with his
antlers, Jock sat on an upper branch and blazcd
away at his foe. 1t took a long time to load a
fint.lock gun. and when he had fircd vice
without doing any apparent harm Jock saw he
must resort TO desperate measures II he wanted
to save his life. He carried in his pocket u
small knife. called in those days a pcnknifc, be-
cause it was intended for making and nlending
the so9seiquill pens used in writing: Having
wadding well down. he wound paper around
tho knife until IL fitted tightly in the gun barrel
waiting until the moose was side to, he aimed
for the animals neck: lie severed the spinal
s snid that Ii he b SafS cd he ns W sas'f the only SS'p pe rs%aTi IN
the world who had ever killed IA moose with a
penknife.
When he was about 80 years old. Jock. hav-
ing made some money from working In the
woods, bought u large tract OF land. including
it was well clad with big timber, most of which
grew close to the shores of Sicatous Lake, one
of the largest bodies Of water east OF the Penob-
scot River. After cutting. n lot of logs and
running them down the lake Jock found that
the Nicatous stream from the foot of the lake
was so rapid and rough that 10 log could get
through without breaking.
For two years after this he spent his time in
building roads around the rapids, but the cost
of teams made the. work Improbable, so he
went into partnership with some men having
money and undertook to build u sluicc from the
foot OF Lake Nicatous to below the rapids. Tho
lake was damned and more than 100000
feet Of pine timber was brought down and
posing the sluice were ten inches square. The
sluice itself was four feet deep, eight feet wide
small that the logs floated through in safety.
Il dhn Mns o ana anotGer to to H Keep It f E II repa lGsdT Whes
winter came the sluice filled up with snow and
ice, which froze and thawcd. throwing the tim
leaked out Lcfore 1t was half way down tho
hill. The proprietors patched 1t and patched it,
leaked, and soon after the war began the great
work. which had cost more than $4,000. was
abandoned.
BY this time the hide hunters and crust hunt
ers had killed off so much of the big game in
the State that the Legislature passed laws for
tanned n national reputation as a poaGher and
outlaw. His summers were generally spent
at Bar Harbor, where, he made birch bark and
canvas canoes and sold them TO visitors, beat
ing the Indians a. their own callings. No
sooner had the black flies gone from the swamps
through the open season. When the legal close
time GanGoc cam into on me ne collect COLLECTED an his traps bso and Im, went nnft
mails. Thousands OF reports telling what an
outlaw Jock Darling was were forwarded to the
were sent In to bring him out, dead or alive.
For four or five winters the deputy sherifs
gains SAt the State tie" in TT trying yin S' e catch rat ' the eff famous n
outlaw. They found yards filed with the car;
casses of dead moose and caribou which he had
his trans; They found his camp with the
ashes still warm upon the hearth. but from
the old man whom they all wanted.
Two or three who met him at those times
came back with black eyes, and sore limbs
particulars. Warden Atkins and two assist.
ants who went up the West Branch to take him
dead or alive found him camped on tho shores
OF Chesuncook Lake and walked all the way
back to the nearest lumber camp followed by
Jock. who carried a. loaded rifle to accelerate
their progress. Stories of the old mans deeds
became 80 common In the cities that the oti.
GERS resolved to make up a posse OF woodsmen
and chase him down. When they asked the
backwooGs settlers to join. Offering good pay.
nobody could be hired. The men had nothing
against Jock, and would not take any part In
occurring lia nrrpat The following gprinu lock
came out with n big pile of peltry and delivered
himself up TO the commissioners, who. after
hunting tor weeks to get evidence against him,
were compelled to let him 20 free.
In the meantime Jock had been at work on
mis- big sporting camp half way up Nicatous
Lake. No sooner was 1t completed than hunt
ers from all over New England went there, fill
ing the spacious building and keeping II full for
years. There had been several fishing camps