| Captain Jack Crawford – Poet Scout of the Black Hills - Part 1 |
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Few characters in Black Hills history were ever as flamboyant, or as poetic, as John Wallace “Jack” Crawford.
Crawford was born in Donegal County, Ireland, in 1847. His parents brought the family to the United States from Northern Ireland when Jack was 14, and settled in the Pennsylvania coal-mining region at Minersville. Jack’s mother, Susan Wallace Crawford, was a descendent of Sir William Wallace, the famous Scottish hero who waged war to gain Scotland's freedom in the early 14th century. Susan’s influence and his Celtic heritage played a large part in Jack’s upbringing, and in his later life.
Jack began to support his family by working in the mines when his father enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. By some accounts it was a blessing that the elder Crawford went off to war, as he was a hopeless alcoholic.
As the War escalated, Jack enlisted in the Pennsylvania Regulars and headed south to fight. He was twice wounded in heavy fighting during the last days of the War, and spent a great deal of time convalescing in a hospital. It was while he was a patient that a Sister of Charity taught the young soldier to read and write.
Upon returning from the War, Jack continued to support the family. Crawford married Maria Stokes in 1869, and the union was blessed with four children (Eva, Harry, May (died in 1886), and Elizabeth Esther - also called May). He took pride in family, and often related the story of his promise to his mother made two years after returning from the war. As she was dying, worn out from struggling with family problems caused by her husband's alcohol addiction, Susan Crawford received a deathbed vow from her son that he would never drink liquor. Captain Jack not only kept the promise, he professed it to all that would, and would not, listen. He lived the sober life, and it became one of his trademarks in his adopted home–the American West–during the following decades.
He had also combined his God-given talents of storytelling with writing to become a relatively proficient newspaper reporter and poet. Jack had made his way to Nebraska in 1875, where he was working as a paid journalist for several newspapers. He found himself professionally and personally drawn to the activities occurring in the Black Hills of Dakota. Joe Gossage, the editor of the newspaper in Sidney, Nebraska (later the owner and publisher of the Rapid City Journal) lent Crawford a horse to make his first reporting trip to the Black Hills in 1875.
Jack began to immerse himself in the country he was chronicling for eastern newspapers, and after arriving in Custer City, Dakota, was elected to the town council. During the months that followed news reports and sensationalism from the journalist helped to fan the fire of the famous Black Hills gold rush.
Jack was also appointed the first 'Captain' of the newly appointed Black Hills Rangers militia in August of 1875. He found work as a military guide and scout in the region. His manner of dress, flamboyance, temperance, and gift of poetry made Crawford one of the Hills’ earliest celebrities. He was one of a very few “teetotalers” among the army scouts, and the only man on the frontier who could be entrusted to deliver an unopened bottle of whiskey, according to William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Cody described in his autobiography a meeting with Jack in July of 1876:
“It was here that we were overtaken by Captain Jack Crawford, widely known East and West as "The Poet Scout." Crawford had just heard of the Custer massacre, and had written a very creditable poem upon receipt of the news. His pen was always ready, and he made many epics of the West, many of which are still popular throughout the country.
Jack was a tenderfoot at that time, having lately come to that country. But he had abundant pluck and courage. He had just brought dispatches to Crook from Fort Fetterman, riding more than three hundred miles through a country literally alive with hostile Indians. These dispatches notified Crook that General Terry was to operate with a large command south of the Yellowstone, and that the two commands would probably consolidate somewhere on the Rosebud. On learning that I was with Crook, Crawford at once hunted me up, and gave me a letter from General Sheridan, announcing his appointment as a scout. He also informed me that he had brought me a present from General Jones, of Cheyenne.
"What kind of a present?" I inquired, seeing no indication of any package about Jack.
"A bottle of whisky!" he almost shouted.
I clapped my hand over his mouth. News that whisky was in the camp was likely to cause a raid by a large number of very dry scouts and soldier men. Only when Jack and I had assured ourselves that we were absolutely alone did I dare dip into his saddle pockets and pull forth the treasure. I will say in passing that I don't believe there is another scout in the West that would have brought a full bottle of whisky three hundred miles. But Jack was "bone dry." As Crawford refused to join me, and I was never a lone drinker, I invited General Carr over to sample the bottle.”
Custer's death at the Little Big Horn inspired the following lines from Jack’s quill:
Did I hear the news from Custer?
Well, I reckon I did, old pard.
It came like a streak o' lightning,
And you bet, it hit me hard.
I ain't no hand to blubber,
And the briny ain't run for years,
But chalk me down for a lubber
If I didn't shed regular tears.
It wasn’t long after that Jack was prompted to write the following to mark the untimely passing of Wild Bill Hickok at the hand of Jack McCall in Deadwood:
Sleep on brave heart, in peaceful slumber,
Bravest scout in all the West;
Lightning eyes and voice of thunder,
Closed and hushed in quiet rest.
Peace and rest at last is given,
May we meet again in heaven.
Rest in peace
Captain Jack replaced Buffalo Bill Cody as chief of scouts for the 5th Cavalry on August 24, 1876 – only two months after the Custer massacre at the Little Big Horn, and a mere three weeks after the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood.
Under the command of General George Crook he would make his famous horseback ride with urgent dispatches from the Battle of Slim Buttes to Fort Laramie, a distance of approximately 350 miles, in four days.
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Jack Crawford, Continued . . .
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