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Captain Jack

from They Planted a Tree in the Wilderness: Genealogy of Dutch Corner, Bedford County, Pennyslvania. Thomas C. Imler

"There was a man known by many names, though his real last name was never revealed. Sherman Day in his "Historical Collections" and Jones in his "History of the Juniata Valley" both gave the following names he was known by in his time; Captain Jack, The Black Hunter, The Black Rifle, and the Wild Hunter of the Juniata. By his enemies, the red skins, he was called "the White Devil". Captain Jack, flourished from 1750 to 1763 or as some said to 1772. Early he had built himself a cabin in Cumberland County on a branch of the Juniata. His sole pursuit, it would appear, was hunting and fishing by which he procured the food for his family. Even then no one learned his back history and his surname was always a mystery. He was very large and extra strong for his size. Some said he was a half-breed. But the truth was, he was a white man who was intelligent even though he was a backwoodsman. It was while hunting with two others, he returned to his cabin, to find it burned and his wife and two children murdered & scalped. From that moment, he forsook civilized man, living in caves, sleeping in hollow logs or wherever he could find shelter, protecting the frontier settlers from the Indians."

"On one occasion, in the middle of a dark night, a family was suddenly awakened by the report of a gun. Running to the door of their cabin, they saw an Indian fall to rise no more. The light from the open door exposed the Wild Hunter. "I saved your lives" he said and vanished into the gloom of night."

"He was terror to the Indians, and his aim was unerring. His fame became so great, some say Jack's Mountain was named for him as that was the largest thing they could find to honor him. He roamed alone, and for ever a year did not come in contact with other white men. However, he was frequently seen slipping along through the forests like a cougar on the trail. Afterwards a dead Indian would be found and scalped near where he had been seen. When he found his family murdered, he vowed to seek vengeance on all savages. If he did, his vow was faithfully kept, for his fame kept spreading far & wide among the red skins & many found their way to the Happy Hunting Grounds by his trusted rifle & unmatched aim. Once in a while in a hand to hand combat, a savage got away. However he would always carry scars of knife & tomahawk caused by the blackghost. The Indians couldn't believe a human could do the things Black Jack did. And the fame of any brave who could have brought in the scalp of the Wild Hunter would have lived forever."

"In one case he saw a lone Indian brave. He shot him, only to have 3 more jump him. But he had heard them coming & had time to reload his gun. He shot a second one, with tomahawk & knife fought the other two, finally killing one, at which the other slunk off leaving him victor of the field of combat. Weak & faint as Jack was from his own wounds, he scalped the 3 dead Indians & hung the scalps on brush along the path. He made his way to a settlement where he had his wounds dressed. He had 8 or 10 wounds for the fray." "With the eye of an eagle, his tracking ability & a constitution that could brave the heat of summer as well as the cold of winter, he pursued his private vendetta. His clothing was always dark & his rifle blackened to reflect no light. This is one reason that Black was used in so many of his names. He roamed the forests like an uncaged tiger. He fought the Indian on his own ground & with their weapons & added a few more bone-chilling ways of merciless & savage warfare. It had been told that no one ever matched his use of the rifle. These qualifications not only made him a terror to the Indians, but famous among them as they looked up to a good fighter even an enemy."

"When the white men wanted to form a posse to go after a bunch of Indians, they wanted Captain Jack as their leader. He did form a group, for awhile, known as Captain Jack's Hunters. They dressed like Indians, with hunting shirts, leather leggins, & moccasins. They were all good marksmen as they were hand picked & trained by the Wild Hunter. He taught them how to use the knife & the tomahawk. Some were as good as he with the knife, others practiced his way of throwing the tomahawk by trying to split the skull of a charging panther. He taught them how to stay alive. But none, no not one, could shoot as accurately as he. Their name was hunters, but all the game they hunted was for food; after that their hunting was for scalps. They sent a list to the Quaker Government of the number of dead or wounded enemy. No one is sure how the life of the Wild Hunter of Juniata ended as he left his regular grounds in 1773 never to be seen again. So comes the end of the tale of a man whose legend will be told by those who look up to him for many generations."

The case for Captain Jack and John Imler (son of Wilhelm Imler (iml101)) being the same person:

"It may be a coincident that a John or Jack IMLER, who paid taxes in Bedford County, 1771 - 1772 - 1773 for land on top of Snake Spring Mountain disappeared that same year. He also was legendary in a sense. The COVE IMLER family has it handed down that John lived there very early, having built a cabin & cleared a few acres, for he was more hunter than farmer."

"One day when his two older sons, John Jr. & Henry & he returned from hunting they found his wife & two younger children murdered & scalped, & the cabin burned. For days John wandered around in the forest in a daze over his loss. When he got over the shock, he was near Lancaster. Going into the town to recuperate, he had a double barrel rifle made. With much practice & a strong desire, he was soon able to hit a squirrel at a hundred paces. When he returned to his former home, he found a cave, which was easy to defend, but hard to find. Here he lived when he was not on one of his mysterious missions into the unknown forest. For a long time no one knew where he went, or how, until they began finding dead Indians near where he had been seen, & thought to be hunting. In a way he was hunting for vengenance upon the race which deprived him of his wife & little daughter & son. After that his fame & his rifle were soon known for many miles around. He was a good man to have around but not too near as he seemed to hate humans. Maybe he just did not want to talk of the things he was doing."

" A wealthy man found him one day & offered him a very large section of southern Morrison Cove for his rifle. John turned to this man & with a grin which would have put the fear of God into any man & said, "How many of those savage devils will that land kill for me?"

"Up to 1773 his life was spent wandering through the forest in hopes of stopping another Red Skin. To this day no one knows for sure where he went. The only clue is, that about that time a man & 2 sons showed up in Franklin County with the name of John IMLER. Captain Jack was seen at Chambers Fort."

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